Ancil“Sense of smell,” Anansi said.
“Exsssactly,” Mama Glow hissed. “He may come at midnight.”
“We have a lot of time to get out of here,” Megan said. “By Midnight we’ll be gone.”
“No matter how far I run he will still find me. I not running. Allyuh could go. This isn’t allyuh fight,” Anansi said.
“It not that easy,” Mama Glow started. “I’m sure you people sleep on the bedssss here, eat the food and touched the wallssss. Your scents all over this housssse. Unless you burn this house to the ground he will latch on to your scentssss and find you all too.”
“So none of us could run?” Megan said.
“Running will delay HIM but HE is persssistent. Persistent and hungry. Once HE latch on to your scent, you good as dead,” Mama Glow said.
“I guess running away is not an option,” I said.
“We could fight,” Sara suggested.
Mama Glow watched her with the same look that Sam and Anansi watched her with. That kind of suspicious look.
“Killing HE is physically impossible,” Anansi said.
“We have guns,” Cornell said.
“Guns? Guns useless against HIM. There is a certain class of creation that immune to guns,” Anansi said. “Their bodies laced with a force field that propels bullets away by creating a more powerful force that does deflect it. HE possesses that force field but only at night.”
“That’s probably why when I shot the Midnight Robber on top of the Red House he didn’t die,” Megan said.
“And Dee Baba,” I added.
“You can’t touch or kill somebody with a force field unless you also possess a force field. Anansis like me are a class of the Midnight Robber’s creations that also possess the force field….” Anansi started.
“So you can attack……HE?” I asked.
Anansi looked at Maggie with a somber expression then said, “I once had a force field but I opted to have it removed.”
“Why?” Megan asked.
“My force field was preventing me from being with my beloved Maggie. We couldn’t touch each other. Every time we tried to touch each other the force field will push her away. I got it removed so that I could finally feel the warmth of the human touch that I grew to miss.”
“Awwwww,” Megan said.
“The warmth of a human touch is not going to save us from HE. Whoever HE is,” Sara interjected rudely.
Everyone stared at her and she looked like she almost regretted that she spoke. Almost. She decided to remain quiet holding on to the hope that no one recognized her as Suraj Singh’s daughter.
“Ssshe right,” Mama Glow hissed. “If we don’t come up with a plan by tonight we’ll be all sssskeletons on the floor.”
“So what’s the plan?” Megan asked.
There was a moment of silence.
“We hold HIM off till morning,” Anansi said.
“Eassssier said than done,” Mama Glow said.
“Not really. HE attacks by smell. It is the most powerful of HIS senses. All we have to do is overwhelm HIS sense of smell.”
“For the whole night?” Mama Glow asked.
“We have cattle. I’ll use the combined smell to throw him off till morning. And in the morning when his force field goes down we’ll kill HIM once and for all.”
