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The Child - Six couldn’t punch his grandmother in the back and wake her up, he couldn’t do anything but feel afraid. So he closed his eyes, and the next moment, it seemed, he opened them to see daylight streaming in through the lace-curtained window by the bed. Grandy was already up and gone. Sleepily, Teddy went into the kitchen and found her sitting at the table alone. She was dressed in the same clothes she’d worn the day before, and her suitcase stood waiting by the back door. “Where’s Mama?” he asked, looking around. “In the bathroom,” she answered. “And your daddy’s gone off to work. Think you ought to get ready for school now?” “Uh-huh,” he said, turning to go. But then he stopped and walked back over to his grandmother with a puzzled look on his face. “What was that last night?” he asked. “What was what?” she replied, avoiding his gaze. “Didn’t you hear it, Grandy?” he asked. “Who was that man? I woke up and heard him talking. I didn’t see him, but he scared me. Who was that?” She reached out and enfolded Teddy into her lap. There were tears in her eyes when she finally answered him, and the young boy began to cry, too. “That was the Devil, child,” she told him. “That was the Devil, but don’t you worry about it none. Your grandma took care of him, so don’t think about it any more.” She kissed him on both cheeks and then put him back down on the floor. “Now, go get dressed, and I’m going to fix you a good breakfast. Go on, now,” she commanded. Teddy obeyed, but he was troubled by Grandy’s state- ment. And her tears. If she was frightened enough to cry, he thought, the Devil must surely be a bad, bad man. He was glad that Grandy had promised to protect him. When he returned from school that day, he found his mother and father and grandmother in the middle of a heated argument. “That’s crazy,” his father was saying. “You just got here, for heaven’s sake!” He turned to Teddy’s mother for support, Masquerade of Angels 48 The Child - Six but she just shrugged. “No matter,” Grandy replied. “I want to go home, right now.” “T can’t just load up and drive you all the way back to the farm, Mama,” his father said. “I got things to take care of. Why don’t you wait till next weekend?” Grandy’s expression never wavered. “I’m packed, and I want to leave now. I’m sorry to get in your way, but you’ve got to take me home.” Teddy’s father shook his head. “I just can’t do it, not tonight,” he said. “The best I can do is tomorrow, but this is just crazy.” “Tomorrow, then,” Grandy reluctantly agreed. “You drive me home in the morning.” That night in Teddy’s bed, she read her Bible out loud to him for a long time. And then she prayed in earnest, rocking the boy back and forth in her arms to the rhythm of the whis- pered words. Before breakfast the next day, she was dressed and packed again, waiting impatiently for the family to get ready. When everything was packed and loaded, they set off on the three-hour drive to the old farm. Teddy played happily in the back seat, but he noticed that in the front the grownups were hardly talking. His father looked perplexed, his mother bewildered, and his grandmother simply stared straight ahead without a word to anyone. When they reached the farm, Teddy tumbled out of the car and ran into the yard, eager to stretch and play after the morning’s long drive. His parents helped Grandy take her things inside, and Teddy raced around to the back yard for the tire swing that dangled from a large tree by the fence. The stress of the long trip soon vanished, and he felt exhilarated to be back in the place he loved best. A sudden scream echoed out from the house, and Teddy stopped swinging. There was another scream as he raced indoors, but before he could go very far his mother grabbed him up and hurried him out of the living room. Over her shoulder, he could see his father kneeling on the floor and his beloved Grandy lying there white and still. Masquerade of Angels 49