The Amityville Horror (20 page)

Before George hung up, Kekoris asked whether there was a dog in the house. George said he had Harry, a trained watch dog. Kekoris said that was good because animals were very sensitive to psychic phenomena. Again George was puzzled-but at least be had the first tangible evidence that help was on the way.

At three in the afternoon, Father Ryan left the Chancery in Rockville Centre. The Chancellor was concerned about Father Mancuso's mental welfare in the Lutz case, and since one of his duties in the diocese was to minister to the rectories, Father Ryan decided that now would be a good time to visit the Long Island rectory.

He found the bearded priest recovering from his third attack of flu in the past three weeks. Father Ryan said he was well aware of how highly the Bishop esteemed Father Mancuso as a cleric. But he wanted to know if Father Mancuso thought the recurring affliction could be psychosomatic. Wasn't it possible that his emotional state could be influencing his rash of illnesses?

Father Mancuso protested that he was rational, that he still believed that strong evil forces were responsible for his debilitation. He was willing to undergo a psychiatric examination by anyone the Chancellors selected.

The Chancellor made no further demand that Father Mancuso remain away from 112 Ocean Avenue, but stated that the decision would have to be his. Father Mancuso was surprised and frightened. He understood he was being tested: If he did accept responsibility for the Lutzes, he would have the Chancellors' approbation; and if not, they would understand. But there was no way he was going to involve himself to that extent. He was deeply moved by the anxiety and problems that the Lutzes were undergoing and he could not, in conscience as a priest, simply excuse his own inherent fear, but he was terrified.

Father Mancuso finally said that before he made any more decisions in the case, for the Lutzes and for himself, he would like to talk directly to the Bishop. Chancellor Ryan recognized the urgency in the priest's request and said he would be in touch with the superior later in the day. He would call Father Mancuso that evening.

Kathy's mother called her around six o'clock, wanting to know if they were coming to her house to spend the night. Kathy took it on herself to say no: the house was still in a mess after the storm and she would have a lot of washing to do the next morning. And besides, Danny and Chris would have school, and they were missing too many days as it was.

Mrs. Conners reluctantly agreed, but made Kathy promise that she would call if anything out of the ordinary occurred; her mother would then send Jimmy over immediately. After Kathy hung up, she wondered aloud to George if she had done the right thing.

"We're gonna stick it out," he said. "Before you send the kids to bed, I'm going to go through the whole house with Harry. Kekoris said dogs are very sensitive to things like this."

"Are you sure you won't make them mad again?"

Kathy asked. "You know what happened when we went around with the crucifix."

"No, no, Kathy, this is different. I just want to see if Harry can smell or hear anything."

"And what if he does? What are you going to do then?"

The dog, still in his aggressive mood, had to be kept on his leash. Harry was very powerful and George had to take a snug grip just to keep from being pulled along. "Come on, boy," he said, "sniff me out something." They went down to the basement.

George removed the leash from Harry's collar and the dog leaped forward. He circled the cellar, sniffing, sometimes scratching at spots along the bottom of the waUs. When the dog came up against the storage closet that hid the red room, Harry again sniffed at the base of the paneling. Then his tail dipped between his legs, and he sank to his haunches. Harry began to whimper, turning his head to George.

"What is it, Harry?" George asked. "You smell something there?" Harry's whimpers grew more frantic and he began to crawl backwards. Then he barked at George, stood up, and ran back up the cellar steps. He waited at the top, quivering, until George came up and opened the door for him.

"What happened?" Kathy asked.

"Harry's afraid to go near the secret hideaway," George told her. He didn't put on the leash again, but walked Harry through the kitchen, dining room, livingroom, and enclosed porch. The dog's spirits picked up and he friskily sniffed around each room. But when George tried to take him upstairs, Harry hung back on the first step of the staircase.

"Come on," George urged him. "What's the matter with you?" The dog put one paw on the next step, but wouldn't move beyond that.

"I can get him upstairs!" Danny shouted. "He'll follow me!" The boy climbed past the dog and beckoned to him.

"No, Danny," George said. "You stay here. I'll handle Harry." George reached down and jerked the dog's collar, Harry moved reluctantly, then ran up the steps.

The dog walked around freely in both the master bedroom and the dressing room. Only when he approached Missy's room did Harry hang back. George put both hands on the dog's haunches and pushed him, but he wouldn't enter her room. Harry behaved the same way in front of the boarded-up sewing room. Whimpering and whining with fear, Harry tried to wedge himself behind George.

"Goddammit, Harry," he said, "there isn't anyone in there. What's bugging you?"

As soon as Harry came into the boys' room on the third floor, he jumped up on Chris' bed. George chased him off. Shooed out of the room, the dog headed directly for the stairs, passing the play room without so much as a glance. George couldn't catch up with him.

George arrived downstairs behind the dog. "What happened?" Kathy asked. "Nothing happened, that's what happened," he said.

Father Mancuso confirmed his appointment with the Bishop's secretary. The prelate personally telephoned and suggested that if the priest felt well enough to travel, he should be at the Rockville Centre diocese the following morning.

Father Mancuso said that it was only fifteen minutes away, and his temperature was normal. Though high winds were forecast, the weather promised to remain above freezing. Father Mancuso told the Bishop's secretary that all signs pointed to his being there.

At the Lutzes', as the day came to a close, the whole family was again in the master bedroom. The three children were in the bed, and George and Kathy were sitting up in chairs next to the damaged windows. The room seemed overly warm and everyone's eyes bad begun to sting. George and Kathy thought it was from fatigue. One after another, they drifted off-first Missy, then Chris, Danny, Kathy, and finally George. Within ten minutes, everyone was fast asleep.

But very shortly, George was rudely shoved awake by his wife. She and the children were standing in front of his chair, tears in their eyes. "What's the matter?" he mumbled sleepily.

"You were screaming, George," Kathy said, "and we couldn't wake you up!"

"Yeah, Daddy!" cried Missy. "You made Mama cry!"

Not fully awake, feeling almost drugged, George was completely befuddled. "Did I hurt you, Kathy?"

"Oh, no, honey!" she protested. "You didn't touch me."

"What happened, then?"

"You kept yelling, 'I'm coming apart!' And we couldn't wake you up!"

23 January 12 - George couldn't understand. Why did Kathy say he was yelling, "I'm coming apart!"? He knew perfectly well what he had said was "I'm coming unglued."

Now he remembered he had been sitting in the chair when suddenly he felt a powerful grip lift up the chair with him in it and slowly turn him around. Powerless to move, George saw the hooded figure he had first seen in the livingroom fireplace, its blasted half-face glaring at him. The horribly disfigured features became clearer to George. "God help me!" he screamed. Then he saw his own face emerge from beneath the white hood. It was torn in two. "I'm coming unglued!" George yelled.

Now still groggy, he began to argue with Kathy. "I know what I said," he muttered. "Don't tell me what I said!"

The others backed off. He's still asleep, Kathy thought, and he's having a bad dream. "You're right, George," she said gently. "You didn't say that at all." She pulled his head to her breast.

"Daddy," Missy broke in, "come to my room. Jodie says he wants to talk to you!"

The urgency of his daughter's voice broke the spell. George snapped out of it and jumped up, almost bowling Kathy over. "Jodie? Who's Jodie?"

"That's her friend," answered Kathy. "You know-I told you she makes up imaginary people. You can't see Jodie."

"Oh, yes, Mama," Missy protested. "I see him all the time. He's the biggest pig you ever saw." Then she trotted out of the room and was gone. George and Kathy looked at each other.

"A pig?" he said. It struck them both at the same time. "The pig's in her room!" George ran after Missy. "You stay here!" he yelled at Kathy and the boys.

Missy was just climbing on the bed when George stopped outside her bedroom door. He didn't see Jodie or anything like a pig. "Where's this Jodie?" he asked Missy.

"He'll be right back," the little girl said, settling the covers around herself. "He had to go outside for a minute."

George let out his breath. After the weird dream of the hooded figure, George had expected the worst when he heard the word "pig." His neck felt stiff and he rotated it, trying to work out the tight feeling. "It's all right!" he yelled back to Kathy. "Jodie's not here!"

"There he is, Daddy!"

George looked down at Missy. She was pointing to one of her windows. His eyes followed her finger and he started. Staring at him through one of the panes were two fiery red eyes! No face, just the mean, little eyes of a pig!

"That's Jodie!" cried Missy. "He wants to come in!"

Something rushed past George on his left. It was Kathy, screaming in an unearthly voice. In the same move that it took her to reach the window, she picked up one of Missy's little play chairs and swung it at the pair of eyes. Her blow shattered the window and shards of glass flew back on top of her.

There was an animal. cry of pain, a loud squealing and the eyes were gone! George rushed to what was left of the second-story window and looked out. He saw nothing below, but he still heard the squealing. It sounded as if it was headed for the boathouse. Then Kathy's crying whimper caught George's attention. He turned to his wife.

Kathy's face was terrifying. Her eyes were wild and her mouth was tightly screwed up. She was trying to choke out words. Finally she blurted: "It's been here all the time! I wanted to kill it! I wanted to kill it!" Then her whole body slumped. George caught his wife and silently picked her up. He carried Kathy into their bedroom, Danny and Chris following. Only Chris saw his little sister get out of bed, go to the smashed window, and wave. Missy turned away only when George called her to come into his bedroom.

In the morning, while George and Kathy were still dozing in their chairs, the children asleep in the big bed, Father Mancuso bundled up and drove to Rockville Centre.

He shivered in the cold, nippy air. Father Mancuso hadn't been outside too often since winter started and after the ride he felt a little giddy. He was grateful when the Bishop's secretary offered him tea. The young priest had often spoken with Father Mancuso and he admired the older priest's legalistic mind. They chatted until the Bishop buzzed.

The meeting was brief-all too short for what Father Mancuso had in mind. The prelate, a venerable, white haired cleric, was a moralist of national reputation. He had the Chancellors' file on the Lutz case on his desk, but to Father Mancuso's surprise, he viewed the report with reluctance and caution.

The Bishop was very firm about the priest's dissociating himself from the Lutzes and said he'd already assigned another cleric to pick up the investigation.

Father Mancuso had nothing to say. "Possibly you should see a psychiatrist," the Bishop continued.

At that, Father Mancuso became upset. "I will if I may choose my own." The Bishop read the displeasure in his visitor's manner, and his voice softened. "Look, Frank," he said, "I'm doing this for your benefit. You've become obsessed with the idea that demonic influence is involved. I get the impression that a good deal of it centers around you personally. That may or may not be."

Standing up, the Bishop walked around his desk to Father Mancuso's chair and put his hand on the priest's shoulder.

"Let someone else pick up the burden," he said. "It's affecting your health. I've got too much for you to do here. I don't want to lose you. You do understand, Father?"

On Monday morning, Kathy was determined that Danny and Chris go to school. Ready to fly apart herself, she stiffened her backbone and did her duty as a mother. While George slept on, she awakened the boys, fed them breakfast, and took all three children with her in the van.

George was up when she returned with Missy. As she bad coffee with him, Kathy realized he was still in a zombie-like state after the previous night's affair. For the moment, Kathy was determined to be strong for both of them. She talked to her husband in everyday terms, slipping in the reminder that he had to fix the smashed window in Missy's bedroom. Later there would be time to deal with the decision of moving from 112 Ocean Avenue.

Upstairs, George had just nailed plywood over the shattered window frame to protect the room from damage by the weather when Kathy called up from the kitchen that his office in Syosset wanted him on the telephone. The company's accountant reminded George that the Internal Revenue Agent was due to come by at noon.

Not wanting to leave the house, George asked the accountant to handle the tax situation himself, but the man refused. It was George's responsibility to determine how to pay the taxes. George hesitated, certain that something would happen if he left. But Kathy signaled that he should go.

After be hung up, Kathy said that the appointment shouldn't take too long. She and Missy would be all right while he was gone. She would call a glazier in Amityville to drive over and fix the broken panes in Missy's window and throughout the house. Meekly, George nodded at his wife's advice, then left for Syosset. Neither had mentioned Jodie's name.