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"And?"
"You could hear crows calling. I waited until it got a half a block from me, moving so slow you could barely see it, but it got louder and louder, like a huge flock of crows. Scared the bejesus out of me. I went home, looked up the name I'd written down during the night, and they lived in the neighborhood I'd been in. The shadow was coming out of the mountain for the soul vessel. "
"Did it get it?"
"I guess. I didn't. "
"And nothing happened?"
"Oh yeah, something happened. The next time the shadow moved faster, like a cloud blowing over. And I followed it, and sure enough, it was heading right for a woman's house whose name was on my calendar. That's when I realized that the Great Big Book wasn't bullshitting. "
"But the shadow thing, it never came for you?"
"Third time," Vern said.
"There was a third time?"
"Oh yeah, like you didn't think this was all a load of crap when it first started happening to you?"
"Okay, good point," Charlie said. "Sorry. Go on. "
"So, the third time, the shadow comes down off a mountain on the other side of town, at night, during a full moon, and this time, you can see the crows flying in it. Not like really see them, but like shadows of them. Some people noticed it that time. I got in my car again, took my dog, Scottie, with me. I already knew where the thing was going. I pulled up a couple of doors down from the guy's house - to warn him, you know. I didn't realize yet what the book was saying about us not being seen, otherwise I would have just gone for the soul vessel. Anyway, I'm at the door, and the shadow is coming across the street, all the edges shaped like crows, and Scottie starts barking like mad, and runs at it. Brave little guy. Anyway, as soon as the shadow touches him he yelps and drops over dead. Meantime, a woman comes to the door, and I look in and see a statue, like a fake Remington bronze on the table in the foyer behind her, and it's glowing red, like red-hot. And I blow by her and grab it. And the shadow evaporates. Just like that, it's gone. That's the last time I was late getting a soul vessel. "
"Sorry about your dog," Charlie said. "What did you tell the woman?"
"That's the funny thing, I didn't tell her anything. She was talking to her husband in the next room, and he wasn't answering her, and she runs back to see what happened to him. Didn't even look at me. Turns out the guy was having a heart attack. I took the statue, went and picked up Scottie's body, and left. "
"That had to be tough. "
"I thought I was Death for a while, you know, special. Because the guy croaked with me there, but it was just coincidence. "
"Yeah, that happened to me, too," Charlie said. But he was still disturbed by the whole "great battle" revelation. "Vern, would you mind if I took a look at your Great Big Book?"
"I don't think so, Charlie. In fact, I think we'd better say goodbye. I mean, if the Great Big Book is right, and I don't have any reason to believe it's not, then we shouldn't even be talking. "
"But it's a different version than I have. "
"You don't think there's a reason for that?" Vern said. His eyes magnified in his big glasses made him look like a madman for a second.
"Okay, then," Charlie said. "But e-mail me, okay? That shouldn't hurt. "
Vern looked in his coffee cup like he was thinking, as if by telling the story of the shadow that came down out of the mountains, he'd frightened himself. Finally he looked up and smiled. "You know, I'd like that. I could use some pointers, and if something weird starts to happen, we'll stop. "
"Deal," Charlie said. He drove Vern back to his car, which was parked around the block from his mother's house, and they said good-bye.
Jane met Charlie at the door. "Where have you been? I need the car to go get her floss. "
"I brought doughnuts," Charlie said, holding up the box, maybe a little too proud.
"Well, that's not the same, is it?"
"As floss?"
"Dental floss. Can you believe it? Charlie, if I'm still flossing on my deathbed, you have my permission to garrote me with it. No, I'm leaving you instructions to garrote me with it. "
"Okay," Charlie said. "So other than that, she's okay?"
Jane was digging in her purse, had found her cigarettes and was looking for her lighter. "Like gum disease is the big danger at this point. Goddammit! Did they take my lighter at the airport?"
