by Amy Cross
"Fuck her straight," Lawrence Evans says in the back of my mind.
"You're the master of your house," Henry says, "and you're the only one who can decide what to do. I'm sure you'll make the right choice."
At that moment, the door to the saloon bar opens and John Saxon enters the room. A curious, idle gentleman who arrived in Devil's Briar just over a week ago, Saxon seems to be content just milling around, spending his time drinking and gambling and getting to know people in the town. He seems harmless enough, although as Mayor I have a responsibility to keep an eye on all new arrivals. There is also the question of his link to Victoria; on more than one occasion, he has said things that make me think he has some prior acquaintance with both my wife and her uncle, and it certainly seems that the downturn in Victoria's mental health coincided with Saxon's first appearance. I cannot help but wonder whether it would be worth my while to gently suggest that he conclude his business in Devil's Briar and leave.
"I guess I missed breakfast again," Saxon says, glancing across the bar.
"Breakfast finishes at ten," Henry replies, "but I can rustle you up a cup of coffee and a sandwich."
"Don't worry about the sandwich," Saxon says. "I'm not really hungry, I guess. Serves me right for staying up late with a bottle of whiskey. Wouldn't mind a coffee, though."
"Coming right up," Henry says, getting to his feet and wandering over to the bar.
"I trust you are having a pleasant stay in our town," I say to Saxon, hoping to engage the man in conversation so that I might better measure his character.
"Pleasant enough," he says with a smile. "Pleasant enough."
"Might I inquire as to your business?" I continue.
"This and that," he says. "A little of this. A little of that. You know how it goes."
"Quite," I reply, although the truth is that I have no idea what he means. The man seems content to just loiter, and if there is one thing I do not like, it is a man who loiters. I cannot help but think that he has some scheme in mind, and that it would be wise of me to keep an eye on him. "Won't you join me?" I ask, gesturing to one of the other seats at the table.
"Don't mind if I do," he says, sitting opposite me. "I must say, Devil's Briar is a friendly little town. I've met a lot of good folk over the past week." He pauses for a moment. "How's Victoria doing? I haven't seen her around recently."
I bristle at the mention of my wife's name. What business does such a ruffian have, asking after Victoria's well-being? "She is fine," I say as Henry brings Saxon's coffee to the table. "As you can imagine, she is busy getting used to married life. I'm afraid I was a bachelor for many years, and my household therefore requires a few changes to be made in order that it can accommodate a woman's touch."
"Undoubtedly," Saxon says, sipping from his coffee. "I hope she hasn't been too affected by the death of her uncle. An awful trauma for a young lady, especially seeing as the guy blew his head off. God only knows what was going through that man's mind as he put the gun in his mouth and pulled the trigger."
"Quite," I say.
"This guy's trouble," Lawrence Evans whispers. "He knows something. Look how confidently he stares at you. He thinks he's got you over a barrel, Albert. I can't help wondering if he knows the taste of Victoria's sweet little pussy."
"I must say," I continue, hoping to block out the voice in my head, "I am quite interested to discover the true nature of your relationship with the late Mr. Paternoster. I cannot shake the feeling that perhaps you and he knew each other before your time in Devil's Briar."
Saxon smiles. "Did Victoria tell you that?"
"Absolutely not," I reply. "It is merely a supposition of my own."
"He's like me," Lawrence Evans says. "Think about it, Albert. We both arrived in town out of the blue. We both seemed to have nothing to really do in Devil's Briar. Maybe he and I come from the same place, if you know what I mean."
"I must confess," Saxon says, "I have had dealings with Thomas Paternoster in the past. Many years ago, in fact. We were in Las Vegas at the same time. Have you been there?"
"I have not," I reply.
"They're really building something out there in the desert," he continues. "It's a real opportunity for a man who wants to invest some time and money and see if he can make a killing. That's where I first ran into Paternoster. We got on at first, but you know how these things go. Sometimes a man sours on another man, and things don't work out." He pauses for a moment, sipping from his coffee. "I don't want to get into the details," he says eventually, "but it would be accurate to say that Paternoster and I ended up not liking one another very much. It wasn't all his fault. Anyway, the point is, I never had nothing against Victoria. As far as I can see, she's a fine, upstanding young lady who'll make a pretty wife for any fellow who's lucky enough to land her. Of course, things might be complicated if she's all caught up in her uncle's plans and schemes."
"And what plans and schemes would those be?" I ask.
He smiles. "I'm not a smart man, Mr. Caster. I don't claim for one moment to understand what Thomas Paternoster was up to. All I know is he has these designs, and he was looking to build some kind of transmitter. He was always trying to raise money, and most of the time he ended up in trouble and had to skip town. From what I've heard, he never settled long in any one place." Getting up, he wanders over to the window and looks out across the town square. "That's a fancy big cross you got out there," he says after a moment. "Now, if I were to hazard a guess, I'd say maybe Paternoster himself was responsible." He turns to me. "Well? Wasn't he?"
"Mr. Paternoster gave the town a magnificent gift," I say. "He was a very religious man."
Saxon laughs. "If that's what you want to call him." Finishing his coffee, he sits for a moment and stares at me, as if he's daring me to ask another question. There's an arrogance about this man that I do not like, and I am starting to think that it might be better for all concerned if he took this opportunity to leave Devil's Briar. "I'm just messing with you," he says finally, getting to his feet. "Thomas Paternoster wasn't a bad guy, though I'd be careful around his experiments. They tended to go boom in a pretty big way, and I'm not just talking about the machines. Victoria might be beautiful, but she's still his work. You want to be careful. Don't turn your back. She goes from one extreme to the other, and it can get messy."
"I don't need your advice regarding my wife," I say, trying to remain polite. "However, seeing as Mr. Paternoster is sadly no longer with us, and Victoria Paternoster is a married woman, I imagine you'll be wanting to get out of town in the near future. After all, a man such as yourself must have business elsewhere, surely?"
"Maybe," he says. "I don't know, Albert. Sometimes I just like hanging around and watching people. You can tell a lot about folk just from their faces. Sometimes you can even tell their secrets. Those little dark truths they'd rather keep all hidden, like the names of their former lovers, or the way they used to pay people to cause terror in a small town just so as they could keep on going as Mayor." He walks to the door. "See you around, Albert. I'll be here a few more days yet."
Once he has left the room, I take a deep breath and try to decide what I should do next. There is no doubt that John Saxon's comments amounted to a veiled threat. I do not know how, but he seems to have learned about my dealings with Lawrence Evans, to the extent that he might even start putting pressure on me. If this is some kind of extortion racket, I shall have to work fast to ensure that I nip it in the bud. On the other hand, Saxon seems like the kind of man who merely likes to play with the fears of others, in which case I should be more concerned about his plans for Victoria. As Mayor of Devil's Briar, I could have the rascal thrown out immediately, but I fear a better approach would be for me to bide my time and come up with a more effective plan. For now, my focus must be exclusively on Victoria and her problems.
As the day draws on, however, and I continue with my various mayoral obligations, I find myself unable to shake the feeling that John Saxon has a distast
eful interest in my wife. I cannot help but think that he wishes to steal her away from me, which is perfectly understandable given that Victoria is so beautiful. I am quite sure that she is loyal to me, but I also know that I am hardly the most attractive man in the world. I am older than her, and I am rather large and set in my ways. I am also old-fashioned, and my work as the town's mayor means I have to work long hours. Am I a fool to think that Victoria would be happy as my wife? After all, John Saxon is a good-looking man, and he seems to have known Victoria and her uncle before they came to Devil's Briar. It is even possible that Saxon and my dear wife had some kind of relationship long ago, in which case Saxon's aim in staying here must surely be to rekindle their romance. Finally, the entire situation makes sense to me and I realize that I face a terrible challenge to keep hold of my wife. If I am not careful, Saxon will steal her away and make me a cuckold. I take a deep breath and decide that I shall simply have to get rid of this troublesome man.
Chapter Four
Today
"They obviously didn't survive for long," Ed says, stepping forward and approaching the small collection of huddled skeletons. "And there's not enough of them. Where are the rest?"
I move a little closer. There are clearly at least a dozen bodies here, all of them gathered together in a small clearing. It looks as if they died together, clutching one another; over the years, their bodies have rotted and the bones have collapsed into a heap, but there are a number of skulls dotted around the place. As I get closer still, I see that some of the skulls still have a few patches of skin and hair. My immediate thought is that these people were herded out here by someone, or they were sheltering from the cold. Then again, why would they do that when the town was so close?
"Let's not make too many assumptions," Ed says. "We don't know that these people were from Devil's Briar. Even if they were, there's still the question of where everyone else went."
"If these were the only survivors," Dr. Cole says, "perhaps they stayed behind for a reason. Perhaps the others went to get help, and they left the old and the sick."
"It's possible," Ed says, peering at something on the ground. "There's a bible here," he continues after a moment.
"There's another one over here," Dr. Cole adds. "Make that three."
"A group of people, huddled just outside the town, clutching bibles," Ed continues. "Anyone got any idea what might have happened here?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Dr. Cole says. "Something scared them. Something made them leave the town, but they didn't go far. Maybe the weather was particularly bad, and they thought the danger would pass, so they huddled here for a short while and then..." He pauses for a moment. "We found Victoria Paternoster on the road near Florence. Maybe she went off to get help, and never made it back."
"Florence is too far away," Ed points out, "especially if the weather was bad. There's no way anyone would think they could make that journey on foot."
"If they were desperate," Dr. Cole replies. "When people are desperate, they can be motivated to do things that would otherwise seem totally foolish. Suicidal, even."
I walk over to the bones and crouch down, staring straight at one of the skulls. "Finally," I mutter. After all this time, rooting through the abandoned remains of the town, we've finally found at least some of the people who lived here. I was beginning to think we'd never make any progress in working out what happened to them, but now it looks like we've got somewhere to start. We can learn a lot from these bones, maybe even enough to be able to work out a cause of death.
"Careful not to disturb them," Dr. Cole says as I reach out to touch one of the skulls. "We've got to analyze this site carefully."
"Agreed," Ed says. "This might be our only chance to work out what happened here. We also need to check the surrounding area. There might be more."
Glancing back toward Devil's Briar, I can just about make out some of the buildings on the very edge of the town. "This doesn't make sense," I say, before turning to Ed. "Why would they die here, when the town was just a few hundred meters away?"
"Maybe they were lost," he replies. "Maybe conditions were bad, which would have meant visibility was low, and they became disorientated? Maybe..." He pauses. "I don't know, maybe they couldn't go back. Or wouldn't. Maybe Satan himself turned up in the middle of town, and a bunch of God-fearing locals ran screaming into the woods? Who knows?"
Standing up, I walk around the piles of bones. It's so strange to think that they've been out here in the forest all this time, waiting to be discovered. It's also pretty odd to see that they don't seem to have been disturbed. There must be wolves and other creatures out here, but there's nothing to indicate that the bodies have been targeted by scavengers. These people just died here and rotted. No-one from the town came out to look for them, or came out and stumbled upon them by chance. Surely they would have been given a proper burial? The only explanation is that by the time these people died, there was no-one else left to bury them, in which case these must have been the last people to leave Devil's Briar.
"We need to shift our focus," Ed says. "We need to examine these bodies and determine a cause of death."
"That's going to be next to impossible without proper equipment," Dr. Cole points out. "Unless they were killed by some kind of trauma, we're going to need to get them back to a lab."
"Agreed," Ed replies, "but let's do everything methodically. First, we need to do a toxicology panel and check for any kind of substance that might pose a threat. Then we catalog everything. I want to be able to recreate a detailed 3D map of every bone when we get back to Boston. I want to know exactly how these people were huddled together."
"Look!" I say, pointing to one of the bones as something glints in the sunlight. Nestled in the palm of one of the hands, there's a small metal crucifix; it's almost as if the person was holding it, hoping it would protect them in their final moments. Without thinking, I reach out and take the crucifix, holding it up to get a better look.
"Don't touch anything!" Ed says, grabbing my shoulder and pulling me back. "Paula, seriously, you can't disturb anything."
"Sorry," I say, surprised at my own thoughtlessness. It's as if, just for a moment, I couldn't help myself. I stare at the crucifix in my hand and try to imagine what it must have felt like to have been facing death, and to have only this little thing to hold onto. I've never been religious, but there's no doubt faith can be a very powerful thing in the mind of a believer.
"Why was this place called Devil's Briar anyway?" Dr. Cole asks. "I mean, it's not a very cheery name."
"I guess they were very religious people," Ed says. "The name was probably historical, and they stuck with it for some reason. Maybe they thought it warded off evil."
"Then this could have been mass hysteria," Dr. Cole continues, staring at the bones. "If the circumstances are right, people can panic over the smallest of things. I know you were joking earlier, Ed, but it's possible that these people really did believe that Satan was in their town."
"There's another Bible," I say, spotting a book tucked under one of the skulls. I reach out and start to pull it loose, but Ed grabs my arm and drags me away.
"Stop touching the site!" he says firmly, showing a flash of anger. "Paula, this is evidence! You can't go poking around. We have to preserve everything!"
"Sorry," I say, shocked by how harsh he's being. "I just -"
"Just leave it," he continues. "Maybe you should go back and finish your work on the cross."
I stare at him for a moment. "You don't want me here?" I ask.
"I think it'd be good if we compartmentalize our work," he replies. "If you work on the cross, Reuben and I can work on the bones. For now, anyway."
"Sure," I say, taking a deep breath and turning to start the walk back into town. The last thing I want right now is to get into a full-on argument. It's weird, but I feel as if I'm starting to lose my focus. I've always prided myself on being able to detach my human curiosity from my scientific work, but now it's as if I'm g
etting caught up in the mystery. There's no way I should have just reached out and taken the crucifix from the pile of bones, and normally I'd never do something so stupid. I need to keep my head together.
When I get back to the town square, I walk back over to the spectrometer and reach out to switch it on, before realizing that something's changed. The back of the machine is crumpled, and some of the wires are hanging out. I carefully isolate the battery before removing the rear panel, at which point I discover that the interior of the unit has been gutted. My heart starts to race as I realize someone must have done this deliberately. Glancing around at the buildings, I half-expect to see someone standing nearby, perhaps even Bill. After all, there's no way either Ed or Dr. Cole would have done this, and there's also no way they had the opportunity. This is deliberate damage, and it's firm proof that there's someone else here in Devil's Briar.
"Bill!" I call out, convinced that he must be nearby. God knows why he'd decide to start sabotaging our equipment, but perhaps all this time alone has led to some serious mental problems. "Bill!" I shout again, but all I hear is my own voice echoing across the square. Lost in thought, I'm suddenly startled by movement in the corner of my eye. I turn and look toward the hotel, and it takes a moment before I realize that there's someone standing in one of the windows. It can't be Ed or Dr. Cole, so it must be...
"Bill?" I say quietly, under my breath, watching as the figure moves out of view. "Bill!" I shout, running across the town square and racing up the steps that lead into the hotel.
Chapter Five
