Invaders From Mars by Ray Garton Page A

wish you wouldn’t—”
    Two quick footsteps made Ellen shriek as she shot to her feet and whirled around, coming face to face with George.
    “My God, George,” she snapped, instantly angry, pressing a hand to her chest. “You scared the shit out of me!”
    Another man stepped out of the shadows behind him and stood at his side. Ellen had never seen him before. He was a tall man with a square jaw, a high forehead, and deep-set eyes.
    George was wearing a suit, but it looked sloppy, as if he hadn’t dressed with his usual care.
    “This is Ed,” he said. “Ed, this is my wife . . . my son.”
    Ed looked from David to Ellen, but said nothing.
    Ellen’s arm snaked around David’s shoulders again, more protective than comforting this time. There was something about this man that made her very uncomfortable. In fact, there was something about George that didn’t seem right. He looked and acted as if he were suffering from a heavy-duty hangover.
    From beyond the hill, sounding hollow and mournful, a whippoorwill cried in the night, sending goose flesh across Ellen’s back. She suddenly felt a chill in the warm, calm air.
    “How do you do?” she said to Ed, breaking the frigid silence.
    “Couldn’t do much better,” he replied. The words sounded as if they should be accompanied by a smile, but they weren’t. In fact, Ed’s face was quite blank. “And yourself?”
    “I’m . . . yes, I’m fine.” She turned to George and leaned her head forward, looking at him from beneath lowered brows. “George, where were you? David and I have been worried sick! I even called the police. They’re over the hill looking for you now.”
    “Over the hill?” George asked quietly, looking beyond them toward Copper Hill.
    “Well, I guess I better be going,” Ed said. “I have to pick up Alice and Heather.”
    George turned to him, no smile, no handshake. Just a nod. “See you later, Ed.”
    The man turned and walked into the darkness, silent as a shadow.
    “What happened to you?” Ellen asked George, even angrier than before. “And where did that guy come from? Who is he?”
    “That’s Heather’s dad,” David said, his voice quavering a bit. “She sits next to me in class. I think he’s kinda . . . kinda weird, Dad.”
    George ignored him and turned to Ellen. “Ed works for the phone company,” he said. “The switching division.” As if that explained everything.
    “Since when are you working with the phone company?” she asked.
    “We had a special meeting . . . the new hookup at the base.”
    Something about that reply didn’t sound right. Ellen squinted at him curiously, but said nothing.
    “Well,” George said, holding his arms a few inches from his sides, then letting them drop, smiling faintly, “I’m home now.”
    David would have given anything to pull down the collar of Ed’s coat to see if there was a cut on his neck. He had little doubt that he would find one. He had that odd, sickly look about him . . .
    Spots of light darted around David and his parents as the two policemen came back down the hill, flashlights in hand. David turned at the sound of their footsteps just in time to see Officer Kenney buttoning his collar clumsily with one hand and Chief Ward straightening his tie.
    They’re hiding their necks! David thought, wanting to scream, to run. He tugged on his mom’s arm, whispering breathlessly, “Mom. Mom!”
    She rested a hand on his head, but otherwise ignored him as the men approached.
    “I see you’re back,” the chief said to Dad.
    Dad nodded at them, just as he’d nodded to Ed, and they returned the gesture, as if they’d expected to see him!
    Officer Kenney adjusted his hat, locking his eyes with David’s. “Your little lad’s got quite an imagination,” he said rather sternly.
    “Yes,” Dad agreed, looking down at David. “I know.”
    The look in his eyes made David want to shrivel up and blow away. He suddenly felt hot and stuffy under the scrutiny of his dad