Crybaby - Chapter Four

Chapter Four of the blockbuster new novel, Crybaby by best selling, multi-award-winning author Mark Watson...

CRYBABY

©Copyright 2024 by Mark Watson

CHAPTER 4

The Constable

The Shaman was dying. He knew it in his subconscious. Whatever he had ingested was killing him, and he didn’t know why. His earthly body lay motionless as his spirit floated above it. He could see that his friend, the mahout, had already passed away. They were very old men, drugged and sedated beyond their limits, pushed from the land of the living into the realm of death.

The Shaman didn’t understand why his powers had started working now, after a lifetime of failure. He had always been more of a sham than a shaman, never performing anything truly magical or mysterious. His act had been a facade to earn a few pennies, consisting of dancing around fires, smoking, and drinking whatever he could find. His main trick had been “making it rain,” which was easy enough in the rainforest where rain was frequent.

He had also been known for curing animals and talking to animal spirits, neither of which required more than hollering gibberi…