# XIV: Enid explained — Short Fiction

> Chapter companion for Short Fiction by Manly Wade Wellman.

## What happens

Enid Mandifer, instead of fleeing, follows Lieutenant Lanark into the woods, armed with a hand-mirror and a Bible. She encounters the transformed Persil Mandifer and other grotesque undead creatures, including a headless torso and a living head without a body. Driven by terror, she retrieves Lanark's revolver but is herded by the undead toward the base of Fearful Rock, where she finds Lanark poised to strike something emerging from a hole.

## Themes in this chapter

### Supernatural Evil and Occultism

Enid encounters undead creatures, a headless torso, and the transformed Persil Mandifer, all animated by dark forces.

### Fear and Control

Enid is herded by the undead like a sheep, with Mandifer mocking her helplessness and controlling her path.

### The Power of Belief and Ritual

Enid clutches a Bible as a talisman, reciting a psalm for deliverance, paralleling Jager's use of the Long Lost Friend.

## Character check-ins

### Enid Mandifer

Follows Lanark into the woods, armed with a hand-mirror and Bible; encounters the transformed Persil Mandifer and undead horrors.

### Kane Lanark

Fights off attackers with saber and revolver; found poised above a hole at Fearful Rock.

### Persil Mandifer

Appears as a slimy, dark, featureless humanoid; mocks Enid and speaks in an unknown language with his son Larue.

## Key lines

> Deliver me from mine enemies, O my God … for lo, they lie in wait for my soul.

Enid prays for God to rescue her from her foes who are ambushing her soul.

_Enid recites a verse from the Bible as a protective talisman._

> That is useless. You do not hide from the power that rules this place.

Persil Mandifer tells Enid that hiding is futile against the ruling evil of the area.

_Mandifer's transformed form speaks to Enid, asserting the dominion of the local supernatural force._

> These are no more than dead men, whipped into a mockery of life. They will prepare you a little for the wonders to come.

Mandifer explains that the undead are merely corpses animated to torment Enid before greater horrors.

_Mandifer taunts Enid, revealing the nature of the pursuing creatures._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_37_se/chapters/xiv-enid
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_37_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_37_se/chapters