Dunston Falls Read Online Free PDF Page A

awning, which extended, nearly to the curb. Doctor McCoy was out front of the group and spotted Peck.
    “What the hell was that, Dave?” McCoy shouted.
    “I don’t know,” Peck admitted.
    “Sounded life a rifle,” somebody in the group said.
    “A rifle shot?” McCoy said. “Who in the hell would be firing a rifle in the middle of the night in this weather?”
    As dozens of town residents now occupied the street, Father Regan joined Peck and McCoy. “What’s happening?” the priest wanted to know.
    At that moment, another loud crack sounded, followed by a thunderous boom.
    Peck stepped forward. “It’s coming from the woods.”
    “He’s right,” somebody said. “I think it’s the woods to our left.”
    McCoy looked at Peck. “Somebody’s in the woods with a gun? In a storm like this, I find that hard to believe.”
    An old man stepped forward and stood next to Peck. “Listen”
    Peck looked at the old man. “Listen to what?”
    The old man moved out to the street, away from the shelter of the awning. His eyes lifted upward, above the line of sight of the town and toward the woods. After a few moments, he turned and stared at Peck. “It’s the trees,” the old man said.
    Another loud crack sounded, followed by an echoing crash.
    “It’s the trees,” the old man said. “They’re falling.”
     
    A hundred yards past the line of Main Street, a pine tree, covered in thousands of pounds of ice, brittle from its frozen burden, snapped in two and fell to the ground a hundred feet below. As it broke apart, its fragments produced the crisp sound of rifle fire. When several tons of frozen wood hit the Earth below, it shook the ground with a thunderous, echoing boom.
     
    Peck turned his head to look at the old man. “He’s right. It is the trees.”
    McCoy stepped forward. “I think this would be a good time to get back inside.”
    Peck turned to the crowd. “Everybody, back inside where it’s safe. There’s no sense is freezing or getting hurt.”
    The crowd dwindled until Peck was alone with Father Regan. “You, too, father. Inside, please.”
    Regan smiled at Peck. “The power of nature is nothing more than the power of God.”
    “No disrespect, father, but the power of God is going to drop something pretty damn heavy on your head if you don’t get inside.”
    Regan nodded. “Goodnight, sheriff.”
     
    For the second time that night, Peck sat at his desk with a finger of scotch in his plastic cup and smoked a cigarette. The woodstove crackled lightly in the background. The only light source in the room came from a single, thin candle on his desk. Suddenly, from outside came another loud crack, followed by a thunderous crash. Peck winced at the noise as if in pain.
    Minutes passed without another tree falling. Peck lit another cigarette and as he smoked, his eyes went to the tiny flame of the candle. He followed the flame as it flickered and danced as hot air from the woodstove moved across the office.
    A haunted, lifeless expression washed over Peck’s face as he stared at the flame. His eyes did not blink until the cigarette in his lips burned to the filter, then he snatched the singed butt and squashed it in an ashtray.
    He took a final sip from the plastic cup, and then added another ounce from the bottle. In the distance, another tree cracked loudly and hit the ground with a thunderous crash.
    He smoked another cigarette as he finished the scotch. The cot near the woodstove beckoned to him and he finally gave in to his exhaustion and returned to it for some much needed sleep.
    Before his eyes closed and his mind set for some much needed rest, another tree cracked loudly outside. When it hit the Earth, Peck felt its vibrations in the cot. Then silence settled in and he fell asleep.
     

 
     
     
     
    TWO
     
     
    Peck woke at first light with a stiff back and aching knees from a bad night’s sleep in a cot too small to accommodate his large body. He tossed the army blanket around his