The Devil in the Valley Read online

  In his quiet Vermont home, a man named Taft, dispirited “ex-teacher, ex-scholar, ex-abstainer,” sits alone, except for a bottle of Sir Walter’s scotch, and wonders what’s missing from his life. He’s at a loss until a voice startles him from the rocking chair, where a stranger has appeared, seemingly out of nowhere. He’s well-dressed, smooth-talking, proves to be a devilishly charming drinking partner, and he offers Taft the chance to have anything he’s ever wanted—for a price.

  So begins The Devil in the Valley, the new novel by the acclaimed Castle Freeman, Jr. Placed in Freeman’s classic setting of a dark, moody rural Vermont, this beguiling tale touches on temptation and greed and all the things we desire for ourselves and for others in this life. A captivating story that explores the supernatural while staying rooted deeply in our world, The Devil in the Valley is a seductively powerful novel, as bewitching as Old Nick himself, by a master of his craft.

  Copyright

  This edition first published in hardcover in the United States and the United Kingdom in 2015 by Overlook Duckworth, Peter Mayer Publishers, Inc.

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  Copyright © 2015 by Castle Freeman, Jr.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who wishes to quote brief passages in connection with a review written for inclusion in a magazine, newspaper, or broadcast.

  ISBN: 978-1-4683-1289-8 (e-book)

  For Stona Fitch

  But thinkest thou heaven is such a glorious thing?

  I tell thee, Faustus, it is not half so fair

  As thou, or any man that breathes on earth.

  —CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE,

  The Tragical History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus (1604)

  Act II, Scene 2

  CONTENTS

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Epigraph

  PROLOGUE

  The Closer and the Cop

  CHAPTER 1

  Backpacker in the Dark Wood

  CHAPTER 2

  Happy the Man whose Father Goes to the Devil

  CHAPTER 3

  Callie at the Depot

  CHAPTER 4

  Night Court

  CHAPTER 5

  Beasts on the Bus

  CHAPTER 6

  Sorry for Cats

  CHAPTER 7

  Eli’s Way

  CHAPTER 8

  Show Business

  CHAPTER 9

  A Hell of a Martini

  CHAPTER 10

  Split Pea

  CHAPTER 11

  The Maid Is Not Dead, but Sleepeth

  CHAPTER 12

  The Diving Woodchuck

  CHAPTER 13

  A Thousand Ships

  CHAPTER 14

  Friends in Low Places

  CHAPTER 15

  The Devil in the Valley

  EPILOGUE

  Largely Attended

  About the Author

  PROLOGUE

  THE CLOSER AND THE COP

  COOKING RIGHT ALONG, WITH THE TOP DOWN AND THE breeze whistling past his hairy, slightly pointed ears, on a fresh new mission, feeling fit and frisky in the warm early-spring afternoon, Dangerfield, the account man, the closer, motored into the valley at the wheel of his beloved MGA, a classic like its driver. Spinning through the curves of the little two-lane, admiring the blooming trees, the blooming shrubs, the blooming daffodils or whatever the hell they were by the roadside, he at first missed the cruiser in his rearview, its blue light going.

  Damnation, said Dangerfield. He pulled over.

  Dangerfield watched the cop car in his side mirror. Then he smiled. For there emerged from the cruiser not the massive, bull-necked, buzz-cut colossus of his expectation, but a slender young woman who looked to carry no more than a hundred pounds, most of it in the equipment belt which, on leaving the cruiser, she settled atop her narrow hips. She placed a flat-brim state trooper hat on her head, leveled it, and approached the MGA. Dangerfield waited. This was going to be fun.

  Is there a problem, officer? asked Dangerfield when the young woman stood at his window.

  “No, sir,” said the cop, “but there soon will be. You’re about to run out of road. Pavement ends right up here around the bend. After that, it’s pretty soft for a mile or so, pretty muddy. I saw you heading for it. I thought I’d warn you. A friendly warning.”

  Thanks, Sweetheart, said Dangerfield. I’m not worried about a little mud.

  “You should be, sir. You’ll never make it in this.” The young officer glanced dubiously over the MGA.

  I’ll make it. I always get where I’m going.

  The young officer gave him an appraising look. Did she sense something not right about this stop, something off?

  “Where are you going, sir?” she asked.

  Taft. I’m looking for a Mr. Taft. You know him?

  “No, sir, but I know his place. He’s up here past the unpaved section. Like I said, you won’t make it this way. You might go around the other way.”

  Sure, sure, said Dangerfield. He smiled at her. Tell me, Sweetheart, he said, are you really a cop?

  “Trooper Madison, sir. Brattleboro Barracks. Vermont State Police.”

  Reason I ask, said Dangerfield. For a second, there, I thought maybe you were a Girl Scout.

  The trooper’s eyes narrowed. “Sir?”

  But then, Dangerfield went on, I guess the Girl Scouts aren’t issued three-fifty-sevens, even in Vermont. Or are they? He smiled again, blandly, and nodded at the revolver mounted on the young trooper’s heavy belt.

  The trooper didn’t smile.

  “May I see your license and registration, sir?”

  Dangerfield feigned surprise. Absolutely, officer, but why? I thought this was a friendly warning.

  “License and registration, sir, please.”

  Dangerfield handed them over. The trooper examined them.

  “What kind of a license is this, sir?”

  Special permit.

  “Wait here, please, sir,” the trooper said. “I’ll have to run this.”

  Mind if I stretch while you do that? said Dangerfield, and made to open his door.

  “Remain seated, please, sir. Do not exit your vehicle.” Dangerfield sat back. Now for the fun.

  The trooper returned to her cruiser. She removed her hat and slipped into the driver’s seat. She bent to her radio. Suddenly, the man in the little car looked to her like all kinds of wrong, all kinds of bad news. She would run his license, if it was a license; and, though she hated to do so, she would call for assistance. She keyed her radio. She looked up and toward the sports car to get a plate number. She looked again.

  The MGA was gone. The driver was gone. He hadn’t driven off. He and his vehicle had disappeared. The road was empty. Where the car had been, beside the road, was nothing but the budding woodland and the nodding daffodils. Dangerfield had vanished.

  1

  BACKPACKER IN THE DARK WOOD

  MATERIAL, SAID TAFT, CONTENT, PLOT. WHERE’S THE PLOT? Need a plot. Not doing well. Could be doing better. In a bit of a spot, here, no question. Why? What lacks? Have he
alth, friends (well, one friend), enough money, a place, the right place—a home. And yet, feeling checked, feeling stuck, hung up, as though the train’s come to a halt but hasn’t arrived. There’s no station, there are no people. Out the window and all around, cinders and dry weeds and trash: food wrappers, old tires, busted supermarket carts, plastic bags blowing. Waste ground. That feeling. What is that? Age? Sounds like it. Age, and, thus, nothing new: just another backpacker in the Dark Wood. Got off the trail. Got lost. Old story …

  Bored.

  … Old story. Needed? A path, a push—What’s that?

  I said, bored. Bored, bored, bored.

  Taft jumped. “What?” he asked. “Who?”

  Bored. You’re bored, Chief. You’re boring yourself to death.

  “Who’s there?”

  Over here.

  Taft turned. Dangerfield was sitting in the rocking chair on the porch to his left. Dangerfield was enjoying the old rocker. Back and forth, back and forth went Dangerfield. Pleased with the simplest things. A big kid he was, really, in some ways.

  “Who are you?” Taft asked.

  I’m your pal. I’m your sidekick. I’m the guide at your side.

  “Guide to what?”

  To whatever you need. To everything.

  “I don’t need a guide,” said Taft.

  It appears you do, though, Chief. Am I right, or am I right? You just said it. You’re lost. Therefore, you need a guide. In any case, here I am.

  “Uh-huh,” said Taft. “Alright, okay. What are you selling?”

  I’m not selling anything, Chief. I’m buying. You’re selling.

  “Hah. Not likely. How did you get here?”

  It wasn’t easy, said Dangerfield. Would you believe, I almost got busted by some female baby cop, some Campfire Girl of a state trooper? I told her, I heard this was pretty wild country, but I didn’t know the Girl Scouts carried three-fifty-sevens. Pretty good, I thought: Girl Scouts? Three-fifty-sevens? Hah. She didn’t laugh. Silly bitch. What the hell is that? Is that your idea of law enforcement up here?

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” said Taft. “What trooper?”

  Don’t have much to do with the police, I guess?

  “No.”

  No wonder you’re bored. My advice? Transgress.

  “Not my style.”

  Take a cruise.

  “Not interested in cruises.”

  Ever been on a cruise?

  “No.”

  Come on, Chief. How do you know you’re not interested, then?

  “Come on, yourself,” said Taft. “You don’t have to have had a thing to know you don’t want it. Have you ever had the plague?”

  Quite a few times. It’s not too bad when you’re used to it.

  Taft looked at him. A stout man, around Taft’s own age, prosperous, sleek, well-barbered, his dark, graying hair combed straight back and worn full behind, his beard neatly trimmed. A bit of a dude as well, turned out in dapper suburban gentleman’s motoring outfit: houndstooth-check jacket, blue oxford shirt, good cord trousers, kid leather driving gloves, cloth cap. Dangerfield rocked his chair gently, his gaze moving to take in the surround: Taft’s porch, his side yard, the road, the woods across the road, the distant hills, green, then blue, then gray, then gone in the distance.

  No wonder you’re bored, Dangerfield said at last. This place is five miles the other side of nowhere. What do you do up here for fun?

  “The same things everybody else does,” said Taft. “The same things you do.”

  I doubt that, Chief.

  “What do you want?” Taft asked him.

  I don’t want anything. You do. You want to feel better. You want to not be stuck. You want to not be bored. You want to get off of that train. You want action. You said it yourself: plot. You want a plot. I can get you a plot. I can get you a hell of a plot. I’ve got a deal for you, Chief.

  “What deal?”

  It’s pretty simple, really, said Dangerfield. Then he stopped. He looked to his right, past Taft’s shoulder. Suddenly alert, he dropped his voice. Who’s this? He whispered.

  Eli Adams came around the corner of the house. He had been at Taft’s putting new glass in a broken window upstairs. “You’re all set,” said Eli. “Who’s here? Was somebody here?”

  Tell him nobody, whispered Dangerfield.

  “Nobody,” said Taft.

  Eli looked at the rocking chair, creaking gently to and fro. “What’s the matter with your chair?” he asked.

  The wind, murmured Dangerfield. Tell him it’s the wind.

  “Nothing’s the matter with it,” said Taft. “The wind’s moving it. Feel the draft?”

  “Who were you talking to?” Eli asked him. “I thought I heard you talking to somebody.”

  “Myself.”

  “Oh,” said Eli. “Oh, okay. Listen: you want me to, someday, I can get a ladder to that big tree around there and trim that branch so it won’t hit the window when it blows. That’s your trouble, right there.”

  “Someday,” said Taft. “How much do I owe you for today?”

  “I don’t know,” said Eli. “I’ll put it on your tab.”

  “Sure, you will,” said Taft.

  Eli gave the rocking chair a last look. “Well, I’m due at Marcia’s,” he said.

  “Marcia, yes,” said Taft. “How’s Billy?”

  “Sean. Kid’s name’s Sean. He’s not good. Not good at all.”

  “I’m sorry,” said Taft.

  Eli turned and started back around the house where his truck was parked. “Okay,” he said.

  “We’ll see you,” Taft called after him.

  Who was that? asked Dangerfield when Eli had gone.

  “Oh, that’s Eli,” said Taft. “Lives on the next hill. He helps out with things. He’s handy. I’m not. He’s a friend.”

  Asks a lot of questions, doesn’t he?

  “I don’t know. Does he?”

  Watch out for him, said Dangerfield. Be careful. That was good, though, just now. The draft? Talking to yourself? That was very good. That works. You catch on fast, Chief.

  “Eli couldn’t see you, could he?” asked Taft.

  No. He couldn’t see me.

  “Can anybody see you?”

  You can.

  “Anybody else?”

  Nobody you know, Chief, said Dangerfield.

  “Ah,” said Taft.

  So, that’s how we work it, see? Dangerfield went on. That’s how we work our deal. It’s a partnership. I’m the silent partner. Very, very silent. We keep it close. We keep it dark. You and I? We’re together. I’m with you, you’re with me. We’re clear. Everybody else, no. If you’re with me, you’re alone for everybody else. Get it?

  “Not so fast,” said Taft. “What do you mean, ‘That’s how we work our deal’? We don’t have anything to work. We don’t have a deal.”

  Don’t we, Chief?

  “No.”

  What’s the problem?

  “What’s the problem? Well, for one thing, I don’t believe you. Not a word. Okay? You’re full of holes, you are. For example, you said a state trooper pulled you over on your way here, right?”

  That’s right. So?

  “How, though?” Taft demanded. “You’re invisible. But the trooper saw you?”

  She thought she did. Then she didn’t.

  “What’s that mean?”

  Look, Chief, said Dangerfield. It’s got to do with the Talents, okay?

  “What talents?”

  Dangerfield was impatient. He waved his hand dismissively. Gifts, he said, abilities, tools. Powers. Talents. You don’t need to get way off into the high grass about the Talents. The Talents are my department. Let me worry about them. Suffice to say: they’re impressive. They’re what you need, Chief. I have them. I give them to you. Well, I lend them to you. You use them. They’re fun. Have fun with them.

  “Fun?”

  All kinds of fun, said Dangerfield. That plot you’re looking f
or? The Talents are the plot. They’re the plot’s front end. They’re something, Chief. You’ll see. But remember: be careful. If you’re talking to me, you’re talking to nobody. Don’t forget that. Your neighbors, that guy that just left—they’ll think you’re nuts if you’re not careful.

  “They think that as it is,” said Taft. He looked narrowly at Dangerfield. “Maybe they’re right,” he said. “Maybe, at last, they’re right. Maybe that’s what this is.”

  Meaning maybe you’ve gone around the bend? said Dangerfield. Wrong. You’re not nuts. You were, maybe, or on the way. You’re not any more. It’s all real.

  “It’s all real,” said Taft.

  What do you think, Chief? That’s my deal. How do you like it?

  “How do I like it? How do I know? All I see so far is about you. Your being here or not being here. Your so-called Talents. Everybody’s got talents, don’t they? What are yours? Can you play the ukulele? Can you wiggle your ears? Can you fly? So what? What’s that do for me? What’s your deal, for me? What can I have?”

  That’s not the question, Chief. The question is, what do you want?

  “Ah,” said Taft.

  Beginning to get it now, are you?

  Taft was silent.

  Chief? Dangerfield pressed him. But Taft wasn’t ready.

  “Why should I believe you’re what you say you are?” he asked.

  What do I say I am, Chief?

  “You know as well as I do,” said Taft. “Don’t fence with me. Tell me how I know you can do what you say you can.”

  Try me.

  Taft thought for a moment. Then he smiled. He turned to Dangerfield. “Alright,” he said. “Something I need? Something I would really like? New tires for the truck. It will never pass inspection this year. Four new tires. What about it?”

  Come on, Chief, said Dangerfield. Spread your wings a little, here. All the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them, I offer you. Riches beyond the dreams of avarice I offer you. And you go for new rubber?

  “I don’t need all the kingdoms of the world, and the rest of it,” said Taft. “I do need tires. This is a test, right? I hear you mocking me, I hear you talking large, I hear you quoting fancy verse, but I don’t see you making anything happen. Can you?”