The Orphan of Awkward Falls Read Online Free Page B

relieved that the whole thing was over.
    “Most impressive, doctor,” called the mayor, in his booming politician’s voice. “But I wonder if we might hear from Mr. Stenchley himself? I’m sure we’d all like to get his perspective on this wonder cure.”
    “Yes, Dr. Herringbone,” agreed the mayor’s wife. “Unstrap the little fellow and let him speak!” The pampered spaniel in the plump woman’s arms gave a little yip.
    The audience applauded the suggestion enthusiastically, but the doctor waved them off, shaking his head.
    “I’m afraid that’s out of the question, madame. You see, Mr. Stenchley has never been without restraints since being admitted to the asylum. It’s standard policy. If anything were to go wrong—”
    “Oh, come now, doctor,” said the mayor. “What could possibly go wrong? You just told us your procedure has rendered the man harmless. Does the Treatment work, or not? If your program is all it’s cracked up to be, prove it, man!”
    “Well, I, I…that is, we…” He looked around at the other surgeons for support, but found them all suddenly staring at their shoes.
    The doctor squirmed for a moment, the color rising in his face, then finally shrugged and gave in. “Very well, Your Honor. Gentlemen,” he murmured, “release the patient.”
    The static fizzing and popping in Stenchley’s ears had kept him from hearing the doctor’s words. As the technicians went about disconnecting the probes and screwing his skull shut again, Stenchley was just starting to return to something like a normal state of consciousness. With stars still blossoming in front of his eyes from the enormous electrical current that had been coursing through his brain for the last twenty minutes, he had no idea that his restraints were about to be removed. He assumed he would now be straitjacketed and wheeled back to his cell as always. He was already looking forward to his usual post-Treatment reward of protein paste, delivered via a tube in his nostril.
    The last thing Fetid Stenchley expected was what happened next.
    Members of the surgical team unstrapped him, lifted him off the gurney, and stood him up next to Dr. Herringbone. For a moment, he thought the surgeons were preparing to inflict some new torture, but they just stood there holding his arms. The muscle-bound orderlies with the straitjacket and leather muzzle, standing off to the side, made no move toward him. He felt oddly naked without the jacket’s belts cinched tightly around him.
    For the first time in a decade, Fetid Stenchley was outside his cell with no restraints.

Stenchley eyed the audience in the seats above him. They all looked so lovely and plump. He tipped his head back and sniffed the air, his nostrils quivering at the rich scent of so much live flesh.
    The hump on Fetid Stenchley’s crooked spine began to throb. It was this deformity, this bowling ball of gristle atop his shoulders, that held the madman’s darkest secret. Stenchley was convinced that a large black python named Cynthia lay coiled inside his hump. The snake had been there for as long as he could remember, whispering in Stenchley’s ear, telling him to do awful things. Cynthia craved blood and flesh, and demanded that he kill for her. The madman had learned long ago that Cynthia was not to be disobeyed.
    Stenchley felt the python begin to stir now for the first time in years, uncoiling from a long hibernation brought on by his solitary confinement. The lack of available victims had sent Cynthia into a long, starved sleep. Slowly, her head now slithered up into his throat and peered hungrily out of his open mouth.
    The madman’s purple lips curled into a tiny smile.
    The mayor smiled back at Stenchley. The man’s face was soft and round, like a pie, and as red as an apple. It was the kind of face a cannibal could love.
    “Hello, Mr. Stenchley! We’re all curious to hear your feelings on this whiz-bang new treatment you have received here at the