Sneak Peek!

Todd Bauer, glancing round the yard, suddenly noted Lori Carbone’s sunglasses and flip-flops, as well as her cell phone and a pack of Parliament cigarettes, over by the pool; he was about to point them out to the others when all at once it seemed to him that some faint noise had caught his attention. He stood listening for a moment or two. Presently it sounded again. The others heard it too, for they stood now with their brows creased and exchanging, each with the other, one or two puzzled and questioning glances. And through the long interval of silence that followed, Scott Webler asked, “You guys hear something?” His brother Terence drew closer to him and looked uneasily round the yard. “Yeah,” said Todd Bauer, “I did.”

Kerry Stark was nodding his head. “Me, too;” he said, his voice sinking a little; “it kind of sounded like someone crying.”

Just then they heard it again—this time less faint, and more sustained—low soft whimpering and sobbing.