Voodootown

Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Camo

It had only taken a moment for Strap to pull the lid off the charcoal grill that stood in the backyard.  Usually, it was Hehet's father who did the grilling, but earlier that night Hehet had started another fit, and her mother had been forced to pack away the koshari she had just cooked.  Camo had tried to calm her human during the food tirade, but it was an uphill battle.  Hehet wouldn't stand for any food that didn't seem completely American, and even though she loved her mother's koshari, she hadn't eaten it in years.  Instead, she had thrown charcoal briquettes into the grill and made hamburgers by herself.

Strap tapped the grate with the tip of one hand, obviously testing its temperature, then latched onto it and pulled it off to the side.  It clanged down onto the damp grass and rolled a few feet away.  "Uh...what are you doing?" Camo asked.

Without answering, Strap grabbed the barbeque tongs, and using them like a giant spear, poked them into the coals and stirred.  Camo, standing on the wooden side table attached to the grill, looked down and saw the glow from the red coals buried under the ash.

Then, Strap turned to Camo and pointed down into the barbeque.  "Fire walk.  That's the challenge."

"Cloth is flammable," Camo said.  She stayed on the table, wished she had Strap's power to stick to things.   If she had a power like that, she would have grown roots down into the wood slats of the side table to keep away from those coals.  "We're flammable."

"And challenges are supposed to be dangerous," Strap said.

"But not fire dangerous."  Camo knew that dolls could heal from most anything given time, but fire was different.  Fire could burn away everything, to the point where a doll couldn't reform.  That could kill her and Hehet.

She couldn't back out of the challenge.  That wasn't possible.  But she could end it.  "I concede.  I apologize for Hehet's behavior.  I will do my best to make her treat her mother better."

"Not accepted," Strap said.  "Challenge is still on."  She slid down the rounded side of the barbeque to the edge of the ash pile.  "Whoever can stand on the coals longest wins.  Get down here."

Camo didn't move.  There was no way she was going to move.

"Now," Strap said.

A noise from the side of the yard made Camo turn her head.  It had sounded like someone walking around the garage.  She followed the noise, but couldn't see anything in the darkness.

"Come down now or I'll pull your arm off," Strap said.

That made Camo move, but backwards, not toward the barbeque.  She stopped and thought about it.  Losing an arm wasn't anything she'd volunteer to do, but it was better than burning.  The arm could be reattached and eventually the cloth would heal.  Burning to death was permanent.

"Come down now or I'll throw you onto the coals."  Camo's hopes fell when she heard that.

She took several small steps toward the edge and looked down.  The rounded walls were steep, though not much taller than she was.  They led directly down to the pile of hot coals in the center with what looked like a small ring of cool ash around the outside where Strap stood. 

With one hand, she tested the wall.  It was still warm, but not hot enough to burn.  She eased one foot over the edge, then the other.  She thought about sliding down on her back the way Strap had, but thought she was more likely to fall that way.  She flipped over and started to ease down on her stomach.

But then another noise came from the bushes at the back of the garage.  She turned and saw them shaking.  She couldn't see what it was, but something bigger than a doll was moving in there.