cave after cave, vault after vault, emptying out the devil's cathedral, and the strange 
cavern where Chulthe fed and dwelt and dreamed, foaming and splashing through tunnels and 
galleries and underground chasms.
    After a while, there was silence. Dan looked at me, and sajd 'That's it. It sounds 
like we've done it.'
    'Is anybody going to check?'
    'Maybe later. But that's the county's responsibility. Let them handle it. If I were 
you, I'd go right back to being a plumber.'
    I said to the medics: 'Let's go, guys. I don't think there's anything else to wait 
for.'
    One of them said: 'Your cat's sitting up front. I hope you realise that animals 
aren't strictly allowed in medical emergency vehicles.'
    I closed my eyes. I was very tired. I told them softly: 'Shelley's no animal. 
Shelley's my friend.'
    Dan closed the ambulance tailgate, and I think I heard the siren begin to whoop as 
they drove me away to hospital. I couldn't be sure.
    Rheta came to see me the next morning. I was sitting up in bed, reading a dog-eared 
copy of McCall's, and occasionally looking out at the rain which ran down the hospital 
windows. I felt stiff and bruised, and a little distant, but I was anxious to get home 
and sort out my flooded living-room. I was anxious to get back to normal.
    Rheta was wearing a plain black wool suit which made her look severe but very sexy. 
She sat down by my bed, and laid her hand on mine, and gave me a smile that made me feel 
better than a whole week's course of penicillin and two anti-tetanus jabs.
    'How are you feeling?' she asked me.
    'Fine, I guess.'
    'Your still haven't told us what really happened.'
    I dropped my gaze. 'Give me some time. We could talk about it over dinner one 
evening.'
    She kept on smiling. 'Maybe,' she said.
    'Is Dan okay?' I asked her.
    'He's fine. Just fine. Oh, and I talked to my friend at the sheriff's office. They 
found that man Karlen. You know the one they thought was missing, and had turned into a 
crab-creature? He was in Philadelphia, seeing some woman. It was all pretty complicated, 
but he was alive, and well, and he hadn't turned into anything nasty.'
    'Good,' I nodded. I didn't know what else I should say.
    Rheta said: 'You'll probably want some help fixing up your house again.'
    I laced my fingers between hers. 'I could sure use it.'
    She looked me straight in the eye. 'Well, we'll be glad to help. If you need anybody 
to wash drapes, or clean rugs, we'll come up next weekend, and give you a hand.'
    I paused. The television in my room was turned down low, but it was so quiet that I 
could hear one of the girls in As The World Turns say: ' This is it, then? The finish?'
    'We?' I asked Rheta. Carefully.
    She smiled. 'Kenny Packer. I guess you could say we're engaged.'
    I kept my fingers interlaced with hers. It would have been childish to break free. It 
would have seemed like jealousy.
    'You're going to marry Pigskin Packer?' I asked her. 'I mean, really marry him?'
    'Yes,' she said, very soft.
    I closed my eyes. I could imagine Rheta as the devil had offered her to me, in that 
flame-red bra which. exposed her nipples; in those scarlet stockings and that tiny red 
G-string. I could see the way the tight elastic came up between the white cheeks of her 
bottom.
    No wonder, I thought. No wonder. No wonder people served the devil, and made deals 
with him. No wonder people used to worship the beast-gods who lived in the sunken 
mountains of Atlantis. There are always moments of regret, of frustration, of lust for 
somebody or something that we can never hope to have.
    And as long as men and women are susceptible to greed, and jealousy, and wanton 
desire, then the dried-up remains of Chulthe, in their caverns under Connecticut, will 
always be a threat to us. When it thunders hard, and it rains hard, and nights get dark, 
then Satan could very easily stir again.
    I said to Rheta: 'Make sure that Shelley's getting his chopped liver, won't you?'
    She smiled. 'Sure I will. But I know you can trust Dan.'
    She bent forward and kissed my cheek. She smelled warm and fragrant and I probably 
wouldn't feel her this close to me again. She whispered: 'I'll always be fond of you, 
Mason. You know that.'
    After she'd gone, and left me with a couple of Florida oranges and a copy ofjaws 2, I 
muttered under my breath: 'Like hell you will.'


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