Chapters (73)
- Cover
- Dedication
- Prologue
- Part IAnnie
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Part IIHarry
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Part IIIAnnie
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Part IVHarry
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Thirty-Nine
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Forty-Two
- Forty-Three
- Forty-Four
- Forty-Five
- Forty-Six
- Forty-Seven
- Forty-Eight
- Part VAnnie
- Forty-Nine
- Fifty
- Fifty-One
- Fifty-Two
- Fifty-Three
- Fifty-Four
- Fifty-Five
- Fifty-Six
- Fifty-Seven
- Fifty-Eight
- Fifty-Nine
- Sixty
- Sixty-One
- Acknowledgments
- About the Author
- Also by Linwood Barclay
- About the Publisher
Annie hesitated, not sure how to begin. “Did you ever see that old movie The Rocking Horse Winner? Or maybe read the story, by D. H. Lawrence?”
Maya thought for a moment. “The movie, I’m pretty sure. Made in the late forties, wasn’t it?”
“Yeah, around then.”
“Refresh my memory?”
“It’s about this boy who has, well, a rocking horse, you know, a wooden toy you sit on and pretend it’s a horse. But there’s something special about it. It has . . . special powers. The kid rides his rocking horse until he gets visions of which horses are going to win at the track. It’s pretty creepy.”
“Okay. Not the first movie about a creepy toy.” Maya smiled. “There’s lots about creepy dolls. Chucky, Annabelle. That more recent one, Megan? That was kind of fun. What was that one with Anthony Hopkins, where he’s the ventriloquist? Came out ages ago.”
“Magic,” Annie said.
“That’s it. That one freaked me out. So what makes you bring up that rocking horse thing?”
“No judging, right? I tell you something that sounds totally off the wall, you’re not going to laugh at me or anything.”
“Annie, you know me better than that.”
She had to steel herself to tell her. “Charlie found some trains.”
“Trains?”
“Some toy trains. Left over in a box up here. An engine and cars and lots of track and some buildings. They were stored in a shed back of the house.”
“My dad had trains,” Maya said, sounding wistful. “When I was growing up, I thought it was kind of weird and didn’t even want my friends to know, but when I got older, I saw that it was good for him. He was a fireman. I ever tell you that? Anyway, it was a good way for him to unwind. It’s a big hobby, or was. Not sure how many kids are into it these days.”
“Charlie asked if he could set it up, and he did, in the studio where I’m trying to get back to work. Sometimes . . . sometimes when I look at them, I get this kind of vibe off them, like there’s something not right with them. Like . . . like they’re looking at me, or they run when there’s no power hooked up to it, or I see thousands of bugs crawling out of it that aren’t really there. And Charlie had a sleepwalking episode last night and wandered up the road to an abandoned rail line, and when I found him I heard the train, saw it coming right at us, and then it was gone.” She let out a long breath. “There, I said it.”
There was a long silence.
“Jesus, say something,” Annie said.
“What do you think’s going on here?” Maya asked. “I mean, you’re not saying this train set is possessed or something . . .”
Annie didn’t say anything.
“Annie?”