Read Billy for Free Online Page B

prevailed and he'd dived under the table just in time. Gradually, he recovered his composure. His breath came more gently, the sweat dried on his face. He forced himself to think calmly and clearly. Things were by no means out of control. There were still lots of options.
    If he could figure some way to get out from under this damned table and work his way around behind the boy, he  could put him to sleep in a few moments. Barton was a powerful man; the child had no chance of getting away before the ether overcame him.
     
    Billy labored happily, but not for very long. He had to admit that he was a little tired, and digitizing a tape was a complicated process. Working with sound on a computer was slow, exacting and technical if you were interested in doing it right.
    He killed the program and sat staring at the blue opening screen for a short time. When he thought about it, he wasn't so tired that he couldn't play Dungeonmaster for a while. And why not? Life wasn't supposed to be all work.
    He loaded his Dungeonmaster disks and pressed the red resume button beside the great black door that appeared on the screen. In a moment he was deep in level ten.
     
    Barton edged his way out from under the end of the workbench farthest from where the child was sitting. In the shadows ahead stood a fat old converted coal furnace with an evil grate.
    He slid along inching like a great worm, until at last the furnace was between him and the boy. He pulled himself to his feet and peered out from amid the tentacles of ducts.
    The boy was still playing with the computer. If this was going to work Barton would have to move like lightning. He opened the ether and crouched down.
    Tensing his muscles, bracing, he prepared to leap.
    The last thing he did was to soak his felt in the chemical. Its medicinal stench filled his nose, its coldness made his hand ache.
     
    What was that smell? It was raw and fresh. Billy had been tapping his feet, tipping the chair back as he played. Had he somehow crushed a dropped tube of glue? He checked under the workbench. There was considerable debris down there, including that missing Amiga User utilities diskette. He retrieved it and put it into his diskette box.
    There was no glue, and yet the whole basement reeked of the stuff. There was also another smell, a human smell. Billy sniffed his own underarms. It wasn't him. Could it be Dad, or his  sister? No, neither of them stank. And the glue smell—it just didn't make sense.
    Upstairs was suddenly very far away.
    He decided that he'd had enough for one night. He turned off the computer, slid back his chair and left the basement. Although it wasn't a usual thing for him to do, he locked the basement door behind him. He also left the light burning. Burglars, he thought, don't like light.
    But what would a burglar be doing fooling around with glue?
     
    Too late Barton had realized his mistake. The boy had sniffed, looked around. Obviously he had smelled the ether. And then fear had entered his face. He'd hurried off, locking the basement door behind him.
    After the door had closed there was no further sound from upstairs. Barton was left alone in the light.
    That might just mean that the boy was waiting and listening. Barton contemplated violating a cardinal rule and leaving a trace of his presence: he considered locating and cutting the telephone wires.
    As he looked for the telephone company's incoming service he glimpsed his own reflection in one of the basement windows. It startled him and he jumped back.
    Beyond those black windows he couldn't see a thing. A coldness spread through him as he realized that the boy could be going outside to examine the room from a position of safety.
    Never mind the phone wires, he had to get out of here.
     
    At first Billy had tunneled into his sheets, hidden in his familiar bed with his beloved stuffed Garfie snuggled close to his chest. But that didn't work. Not being able to see out increased his feeling of vulnerability.