As he watched this, wondering what it meant for the town, Lawrence was vaguely aware of some other men volunteering for the trip. He hadn’t noticed who the men were, however, but he didn’t suppose it mattered. So long as it wasn’t Clinton Scarrow. Then one voice rose up and it shocked him back to reality,
“I’ll go too!” Tammy called out from the doorway.
“No!” Lawrence said, but it was lost in the general objection of the men present to this.
“Why not,” Tammy said, “Because I’m a woman? You think my eyes are less able than a man’s to find where this is coming from?”
“It’s not that, Miss Dern,” Allgood said in a fatherly tone, “But...” He didn’t know what to say that wouldn’t be gristle for Hollows’ mill. “Roughing it out in the mountains is no place for a young woman.”
“Why the hell not?” Tammy shot back; she was furious with what was going on. Allgood saw a towering rage coming and came up with a quick solution on the spot,
“OK, Miss Dern, you can go. I’ll take you up myself.” There was another round of disgruntled voices, but Tammy was satisfied.
“What are we going to do if more comes before we can find out the source?” someone other than Hollows called out.
“Well, everyone knows how dangerous this stuff is now, so that in itself lessens the danger posed compared to last night. We are advising that people remain indoors for the present, and there will also be members of the town council wearing protective clothing on duty to stop any small clouds that land near their patrol areas.”
“How are they going to do that?” Hollows asked.
“We will be setting up high netting to the South of town, and the men will have long, lightweight rods to take down the clouds and place them harmlessly on the ground.” Some laughed at this, and others looked around in disbelief at what they’d just heard. Allgood read the room and added quickly, “We will also be open to any ideas for safety and prevention that anyone from the public would like to propose.”
Lawrence looked around and saw that no one else was going to suggest his idea. He raised a hand meekly, and Allgood looked his way,
“Yes, Mr...” he couldn’t recall the name, “You want to say something?”
“Shouldn’t we be thinking about,” Lawrence swallowed, “an evacuation of the town?” This sent a new wave of conversation around the room, and Lawrence was relieved at least that people were not laughing at his idea. It would be fair to say, though, that most were against the idea of an evacuation. But another aerial invasion could quickly swing the balance.
“I don’t think we are quite at that stage yet,” Allgood said. “Let’s wait and see what we find in the mountains before we think of anything that extreme.” Lawrence felt rebuked by this and patronised, and he flushed red. He didn’t want to have a public argument with the Mayor, however, so he thought he might bring it up again in private later as they were setting off as part of the search team. He felt eyes on him and looked to Tammy. She gave him a thumbs up, and a big smile, but he didn’t know if it was for talking up or because they were going to be in the search team together. Either way, he was happy for it.
Chapter 7
An hour or so later, when the meeting was over and people began to go home, Anderson went up on the stage and intercepted Allgood as he started to come down,
“Can I talk to you a minute?” the sheriff said, and Allgood nodded and they walked to a small office just off the hall.
“Why don’t you go outside a minute, Derek, and make sure no one is going near that lump of stuff over the main door. I’ll be along behind in a minute.” Derek looked at Anderson with disdainful eyes, blaming him for this busy work he was humiliatingly being subjected to. He nodded to the mayor and went outside without a word. Anderson closed the door behind and turned to the mayor.
“What are you thinking, sending people up into the mountains to look for this thing for? Have you any idea how dangerous that is?”
“Calm yourself, sheriff. Your deputy will be with them, and they all know not to touch the stuff if they see it.”
“That’s not the point,” Anderson shot back, not bothering to bring up the point that one of his deputies going up there didn’t increase his confidence in this idea. “We should have specialists going up there. We don’t have any idea what this is.”
“What kind of specialists?” Allgood asked.
“I don’t know, scientists, biologists maybe.” Allgood looked out through the glass door at the people still filing out of the hall.
“Anderson, you know we can’t have a circus of scientists and who knows who coming down here poking around at this.”
“Why not?”
“If that were to happen, word would get out almost at once, and we could kiss this tourist season goodbye and that would cripple us.”
“But...”
“Add to that the closure of the Gossamer Springs factory and all the jobs that would cost. I mean, who’s going to drink anything coming from a town under siege from scientists scaring the hell out of everyone?” Allgood was talking in a persuasive tone, and despite knowing this full well, Anderson still found himself thinking about all of this. Of course it was true. Without the tourist season, many would find it hard to get through winter financially. The loss of the factory and all the businesses that relied on it would be ruinous, and the old hotel out by the lake, well, that would be the first place to go.
“I don’t like this,” he said, “but if it has to happen this way, then I want to be the one leading the search team.”
“You don’t think you could serve us better here in town?” Allgood asked.
“I think the deputies would be better here than in the mountains.” Allgood nodded.
“I guess you might be right on that,” he said, “Now I know I said in the meeting that I was going to go up there myself, but I think now I can leave that task in your more than capable hands.” Anderson smiled; he didn’t believe for a second Allgood had ever intended going up there. “This will also give me the chance to stop Miss Dern from going up. I’ll tell her she is to ride with me and then get my aide to alert me to some important business at the last moment which will mean I can't go and thus she can't either.” More lies, Anderson thought, but at least it would keep Tammy out of harm's way. He hadn’t liked the idea of her going up there either. He nodded in agreement with this idea and then went on,
“I think I should let those volunteers go home and get some sleep before we head up to start looking. We can do a car-based search this afternoon and come back down before dark and then if need be go up again and spread out on foot to find the source of this thing.”
“Probably best,” Allgood said, nodding. Anderson was turning to leave when Allgood touched his arm softly. Anderson turned.
“Listen, Anderson,” Allgood said, “I can see that you don’t like keeping secrets from the people, but this is what comes of having responsibility and authority. If we let this ‘event’ destroy our tourist season, you and I would have to leave town no matter what happened. They’d never forgive us.” Anderson felt himself pulled deeper into the mire, and it galled him to know Allgood thought he had him in his web.
“I have a duty to the safety of the people of this town, Eugene. If I think there's a chance that might be compromised, I’ll call in whoever is needed myself.” Allgood flashed his politician’s smile and said,
“Of course, of course,” and he moved by Anderson to go out through the door first. Anderson smiled - it had annoyed the mayor to be called by his first name.
Most of the people who had been at the meeting were outside when Anderson came into the sunlight. They were spread out in small groups, each one talking animatedly about what had gone on inside. The core group of fifteen volunteers stood in one group and looked to Allgood and Anderson for direction.
“Sheriff Schall has decided to take personal leadership of the search in the mountains, so he will instruct you from here on.” He nodded to A
nderson, who stepped forward and addressed the group.
“Most of you look as tired as I feel right now. I want you all to go home, sleep for a couple of hours and then meet me at the station at three o’clock. We will not be searching on foot this evening but will go up in cars. Routes that cover the mountain range facing Gossamer Falls will be divided up so we can get this done as quickly as possible and get back down to town before dark.” A couple of the men had hands up and Anderson waved them away, “Save all questions for when we assemble later on.” He knew when people were rested and had time to think, most of the questions would disappear and only what was important would remain.
For now, Anderson had to go back to the station to tell Harry Sanders he was going to be in charge for the day while Anderson slept and then went up to the mountains. It worried him to place this load on his Deputy but had to hope he could handle it. It wasn’t going to be for all that long, anyway. What could go wrong in only a few hours, he thought.
Didn’t last night show you that, a sarcastic rebounding idea came back.
Chapter 8
Maggie Glymer woke to the sound of chattering birds and she could see at once that it was a beautiful morning outside. She turned over in bed to see the alarm clock and a sudden stiffness shot through her back, straightening her out at once to try to ease the pain. As it lessened, she noticed that she was still in the same clothes she’d been wearing yesterday and also that she was not in bed but just lying on top of it.
The horrors of the evening came back to her like a sledgehammer, and the image of the man being killed by the cloud projected over and over inside her head. Sitting up gingerly, she saw though the open curtains the substance still sitting on Diane’s roof. It didn’t look soft and fluffy now - not that it ever had been either of those things, it had been made to just seem that way. It bore the look of glassy rock this morning, though it was hard to make out details from all the way across the street.
Maggie stood and tested out her back with a few small steps, and it seemed to be tender but not much more. She recalled having the woman with arms around her neck sobbing and pulling down on Maggie as she lost power in her legs. The woman’s name evaded Maggie for the moment, and on thinking about it she couldn't remember leaving Diane’s house to come back to her own.
“Max,” she said then, this nugget surfacing. Max was the name of the man who they’d witnessed dying. Judy was the woman’s name. Phil, Diane’s husband, had come home, and there was a surreal image of them all picking at small plates of a reheated dinner in the middle of the night.
Maggie thought a shower would be best for both her mind and her aching back. The hot water felt good, but she couldn’t shake a rising sense of dread that had been growing imperceptibly since she woke. Something was seriously wrong; she could feel it in the same way she’d known Frank was dead over in Europe before the official word had come to her. Whatever this stuff was, it wasn't finished yet. There would be more danger before long.
“The meeting!” She was missing the town meeting at the high school. She jumped out of the shower and ran back into her bedroom to look at the clock. 11.45am; it would be practically over by now. She’d wanted to go, but she supposed there wasn’t anything going to happen there that she wasn’t going to know by the afternoon by asking around the neighbours who did go. A car engine rumbled along the street, and Maggie looked out to see who it was and then jumped suddenly behind the door when she realized she was standing naked in full view of anyone who might glance in her window. She giggled from her now concealed spot.
After dressing, she went downstairs and put on a pot of coffee. While waiting for this, she tuned the radio to the local station - one she never listened to - to see if there was anything about the clouds. It took a long time, but finally she got the signal tuned in well enough to hear the annoying voice of Jerry Castiano.
“.... will head up to the mountains this afternoon at 3 pm for a preliminary search for the source of these cloud substances that plagued the town last night leading to the loss of three lives that we know of. Remember people, if you see any of this stuff, don’t touch it and get in contact with the sheriff’s office right away.”
Two other people had died in the same horrible way as Max. What an awful way to end your days. Maggie poured her coffee absently, leaving no room for milk. She put the pot down when she saw her hand was shaking. Tears came gushing and took her completely by surprise. She wept harder than she’d done since Frank had passed. Her legs felt weak, and she leaned over and grabbed the refrigerator to hold herself steady. How she wished Frank were here now. They could have faced this thing together and she’d know they’d get through it, but alone and fearful she didn’t know what was going to happen.
Taking up a framed photograph of Frank, she kissed it and held it close to her chest. This helped calm her and she took in some deep breaths to complete the job.
“Where the hell did that come from?” she chuckled, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye.
There was a song on the radio now and she switched it off. She would get the rest of the news from her neighbours. Gently, Maggie placed Frank back down in his position.
“I know you’re still with me,” she said smiling at his handsome face.
Out on the street it was like she was the last person on earth. There was no noise at all and not a single person was to be seen in any direction. Diane’s house would be the obvious place to go, but if Diane had been going to the meeting, wouldn’t she have called on Maggie to go too? Maybe. There was a good chance Diane, Phil and even Judy were all still sleeping.
The sky was the most beautiful pacific blue. Tranquil as it looked though, Maggie knew it could no longer be trusted. Her eyes sought out the high peaks of the mountains. What the hell was up there? The snippet of radio news came to mind, and she wondered why the search was being held off until later in the afternoon. Surely earlier would be better to make full use of the daylight. Was there something else she still didn’t know?
The sound of another car on the street took her attention, and Maggie walked out to the curb and waved them down. She didn’t recognise the car, but after last night she kind of felt there was a whole new sense of community sure to spring up in the town. Whoever this was would be happy to tell her what they knew.
The car sidled over and stopped. Inside was a man Maggie didn’t know. He was unshaven, and his clothes were crumpled and stained. His eyes bore the bleariness of either drunkenness or a total lack of sleep. Maggie leaned to the window and the stench of alcohol was the decider. She arched her head back a little, wrinkling her nose.
“Hi, Mister,” she said as friendly as she could, “Were you at the town meeting?” He looked back at her from under thick eyebrows and a furrowed tanned brow.
“Why the hell would I want to go and listen to a bunch of cry-babies bitchin’ about the sky falling!” he snarled. Maggie wondered why he’d bothered to stop at all.
“Alright,” she smiled and stepped back from the window. “Sorry to have bothered you.” He looked at her, this time letting his eyes fall over her body and she felt uneasy. Glancing around, there was still no one nearby. She wanted to turn and walk away, but she knew he would watch her ass as she did, and she didn’t want to feel this way again. He looked capable of anything, and she was glad his had not been the car passing when she’d been naked in her room with the curtains open. “Bye,” she waved and then walked on the sidewalk past his car so the best he could do was look at her in his mirrors.
A few seconds later she heard the car start up again and move off down the street. She turned and looked after it but couldn't get the licence plate with the glare of the sun beyond the car. She could only hope she wouldn’t run into that man again anytime soon.
Maggie crossed the street to Diane’s house. It was time they were all up now, she decided. She was close to tears and her hand shook as she pressed the doorbell. What was wrong with her? This hadn’t been the first man to look her over w
ith a lascivious eye, after all. It had happened plenty of times. Never when she’d been so vulnerable as she was now, however; that was the difference. The events of the night and now the uncertainty of what was going to happen next had shaken her core confidence. This ugly man had just come along at the wrong moment in her life, and she cursed this chance for getting the better of her.
A car horn honked on the street and Maggie jumped in fright and spun around. She’d expected to see the horrible man but was deeply relieved when she saw it was Phil and Diane pulling into their driveway.
“We thought you’d gone on to the meeting without us,” Diane said, getting out of the car. “There was no answer at your door.” Phil got out of his side and slammed his door and went around the side of the house muttering ‘Asshole’.
“What’s up with Phil?” Maggie asked.
“Oh, don’t mind him. We had a near fender bender with Clinton Scarrow around the corner and Phil’s pissed about it.”
“Was he driving a maroon station wagon?” Maggie asked.
“That’s the one,” Diane said, “Let’s go inside. I don’t like being out right now.” she looked at the sky as she ushered Maggie to the house. Clinton Scarrow; the name stuck in Maggie’s head. She’d never heard of him before. But she wouldn’t forget him now.
Chapter 9
That afternoon at the Sheriff’s Office, there was the second gathering of people that day in Gossamer Falls. Sheriff Schall looked out the window at the crowd and shook his head in dismay before giving the sky a cursory glance.
Gossamer Falls Page 4
