A Small Town

by Thomas Perry

  She sat there for a long time. After a while, she heard Bob’s breathing start to rasp and then make an occasional snort. She got up and hugged him, her cheek touching his.

  In her sweetest voice she said, “Come on, Bobby. You dozed off for a minute.” She had her free hand on the rifle’s barrel, and as Bob raised his head she slid the gun out of his loose grasp. She released the magazine and opened the chamber to take out the round, and then set the rifle and magazine back in the toolbox. As he made his way to the tailgate, she stepped to the side and jumped so she could get to the driver’s seat first.

  “I’ll drive,” she said. “You can relax the rest of the way home.”

  35

  When Bob Carpenter woke up the next day, he reached across the bed for Charlotte and found that his hand just kept going across the flat sheet. He patted the spot where she usually was and then opened his eyes. The sun was high already, but it was coming in the wrong side of the house. It took him a second to sort that out—and realize that it was after noon.

  He sat up and said aloud, “Charlotte?” The house was too small to make it necessary to raise his voice much, and his head was hurting and felt as though it had swelled in his sleep. His mouth was dry, so it was not pleasant to talk either. He got up and walked to the next room. They used it as a half-kitchen because it was where the counters and cupboards were. Charlotte mixed and stirred things here, but most of the heating was done at the community kitchen or the big grills outside. He often saw Charlotte here reading or listening to the radio or sewing, but not today.

  He picked up his watch from the counter. It was 2:13 p.m. He had slept away most of the day. She had probably been up since 6:00 or 7:00 a.m. and gone out to be in some work detail with her friends. Today he felt discouraged about things. He took a dismal inventory. He felt practically sick today from drinking, and his wife had not exhibited any interest or even much tolerance for his impulse to have sex with her last night. He had committed both of them to the Swift Sword of the Savior two years after they’d been married, which was now almost eight years ago, and all he’d gotten out of it was a marginal life in the woods. The great change in society that he and Charlotte had signed on to promote didn’t seem to have happened, except in the fantastical speeches of people who worked in politics. There was no sign that Jesus was in a mood to do anything much to make any of that real. As for the regular people, they got nothing out of anything. They were only expected to give up more and more and repeat slogans.

  From year to year, Charlotte had shown less interest in any of it. The whole revolution had disappeared from her talk a long time ago. She had always been mostly interested in the religious part of it anyway, but even that had faded. She was still just as busy and active as ever, but she was engaged in things that weren’t going to bring on a new society or kill any liberals or anything. She was always planting beans, baking bread, or sewing quilts from worn-out clothes with her friends. They were like a bunch of high school girls, spending their time chattering and gossiping or babysitting each other’s kids.

  She used to want kids of her own, but she never asked him to give her children anymore. She had always said it was part of the long-term fight to keep growing the numbers of righteous white-skinned people. Now she seemed to have lost interest.

  He took off his T-shirt and put on a pair of shorts and walked up the hill to the upper lake for a bath. When he got there and stepped out of his boots, he put his feet down gingerly, trying to keep the stones from stabbing his soles. The water felt icy, but as soon as he could, he sat down in the water and raised his feet so he could float a little. He lay back and pushed off the bottom with his hands to drift into deeper water.

  He heard a familiar voice. “Bob!” it said. “Hey, Bob!” He turned and saw Lee Wolf on the shore. When their eyes met, Wolf said, “Taking a break from the morning’s work, huh?”

  He didn’t want to answer that, so he called, “Hey, Lee. What are you up to?”

  “Come on out. I want to talk to you.”

  Bob felt reluctant about it. Getting into the lake had been a lot of work, and it had been painful. But he stood, tried tiptoeing over the stones, and was aware that he looked silly and weak trying not to show the pain and chill. When he got to the shore, he stepped into his boots.

  “Let’s walk,” said Wolf.

  Carpenter went with him, clomping along the downward trail with his boots untied.

  “You’re one of the stalwarts,” Wolf said. “One of the elders of the church. You and Charlotte have always been people the rest of us count on. The penalty for that is that when we’re in need, you get called on more often than most people.”

  Bob Carpenter was dreading the next thing. Was Lee Wolf about to berate him for sleeping all day? “Is there a problem?”

  “Right now we’re developing one. I hope it’s temporary. Not enough money has been coming in this summer. We have been doing some heavy building to improve things, and in the long run something like a new field of crops will help us be self-sufficient. But it costs money to buy tools, seed, fertilizer, water pipes, pumps, and so on.”

  “Well, if it’s the money from the little work trip Dave Sherman and I just took, that money belongs to the community. I’ll bring it to you as soon as I get dressed.”

  “Keep it for now, Bob. I think we may need to spend some on the plan we’re working on. You and I and two others—probably Dave Sherman and possibly Lonny Mann—will be going out to raise some real money.”

  “How?”

  “I haven’t wanted to do this, and I’ve resisted it for years, and I’ve been praying on it. But I think that, for once, we have to do it the direct way, just once, to get us through the next year. We’ve got to rob a bank.”

  “When?”

  Wolf threw his arms around Bob and patted his back, hard, then released him. “That’s what I mean about you. Some people might hem and haw or argue about it. You just say, ‘When?’” He paused. “I think the time to begin is right away—maybe a couple of days.”

  “Where is there a bank we can rob?”

  “I’m guessing Louisiana. We can make it look like we came and went from Texas, and come back here to Arkansas and lay low. But we’ll have to do some shopping to pick the right bank. We need to get started on it.”

  The next night, the evening meeting was a bit dull. One after another the leaders, or at least influential members, of various work crews gave progress reports about their projects. The winter vegetables had been planted in the vast new garden, the irrigation system construction was complete and had been run for two days to get the growth period of the new crops started. A separate crew of weeders would begin making regular passes over the ground in a week. The windmill electricity project was still under study because of the high cost of the machines required. Besides the financing problem, there was also a question of how much additional visibility would be caused by mounting a windmill in a high place.

  Lee Wolf was at the meeting, but he didn’t say much or seem to be anything more than one of the members of the community. While one of the reports was delivered, he would nod in approval at everything and then clap his hands like everyone else.

  As Ed Leonard watched Wolf, he developed a greater respect for his talent for leadership. That night he saw that Wolf was underscoring his humility and the purity of his motives. He behaved as though the accomplishments all belonged to the laborers and their crew chiefs. He didn’t act as their leader complimenting them. Instead he knew when to listen and shut up. Four leaders gave reports during that meeting, and every one of them left the tent that night thinking that Lee Wolf was pure benevolence and wisdom, and was a personal supporter of theirs. When the meeting was over, he watched Wolf shake hands with each of the four and thank them simply and quietly, but with a big, generous smile.

  Edison Leonard started to leave along with Lonny Mann, but Wolf spotted them and trotted after them. As he walked with them toward the storage building, he said, “How
are you guys doing these days? Catch me up.”

  Ed said, “I’m doing fine. I think I’m slowly making some friends. I’m not in any hurry to go back out to the world again.”

  Wolf patted his back. “That’s what I’ve been hearing, and when I’ve seen you, it seemed you were happy.” He turned. “How about you, Lonny?”

  “I don’t know,” said Mann. “I’m getting by. I figure that as long as the time keeps passing, I’m getting safer.”

  “We all are,” Wolf said. “Just hang in as well as you can, smile at people, and speak when spoken to. There will be people who appreciate it and come to like you for your quiet ways. Just make sure you keep contributing. They’re sharing with us, and so we have to share too—money, work, ideas.”

  “I will,” said Lonny.

  They reached the storage building and went inside. Wolf said, “I don’t want to forget to tell you what I’m up to.”

  “What is it?” asked Ed. “What’s going on?”

  “I’m going to take a few guys out and get us some money. It’s going to be quick and efficient in execution, but first we’ve got to pick out what we can hit.”

  “What do you mean? Is this a robbery?”

  “Sure is,” Lee Wolf said. “Ararat needs money. I want you to know that by not taking either of you, it’s not to say I don’t trust you, or you’re not the best men I could take. You are. But there are other considerations. One is that you and I have an extra problem hanging over our heads. A fingerprint of ours left in the bank would launch a manhunt, even if we did nothing. But also, these men I’ve picked are part of the community. They have loyalty not just to me, but to each other, and that is essential. Besides, if this place is to survive, I’ve got to get the key men dedicated to it in a deeper way. I need them committed. When you’ve broken a few laws and taken some real risks, it’s got a hold on you, and you don’t ask if it’s worth sacrificing for anymore. You already did some of the sacrificing, so it must be.”

  He looked at them with regret. “This time it won’t be you, but this will pay off for all of us in the long run.”

  Edison Leonard said, “It’s fine, Lee. I appreciate your coming to explain it. I won’t worry about it, just wish you luck.”

  Lonny Mann sat for a moment with his brows knitted and his lips pursed. “I don’t care. After that visit to Weldonville, I’d just as soon stay here.”

  Wolf stared at him for a second and then shrugged. “Well, I’ll see you guys around.”

  When Wolf left, Mann said to Leonard, “What? You want to start robbing banks too? Be my guest.”

  “No, not really. But I think I would like to spend the next year or so in a remote place like this surrounded by men who think of me as a close friend of theirs. It’ll throw off the police and FBI, and it will also give the people Weldonville hired to kill us time to give up and move on.”

  Mann shrugged. “I have no desire to spend years dirt farming and working odd jobs in and out of these shitty little towns.”

  “Not forever, no,” said Leonard. But for now it’s not so bad. People have been willing to share with us and accept us, even though we add to their risks.”

  Mann stood up. “I’m going to bed. But before I do, I should warn you. Wolf isn’t trying to get this little heaven-on-earth out of a financial bind. He’s rebuilding his army of suckers to make him rich. Good night.” He walked to the other end of the building and turned off the light.

  Leah Hawkins spent time studying the aerial maps of the land from the highway intersection where Wally’s Sky Club stood and the beginning of the narrow uphill road where she had followed the red pickup truck.

  Leah wanted to hunt down the woman with the yellow T-shirt. She had seen her face for only about ten seconds, but she thought she would recognize it if she saw it again. She knew that driving up that road was not a good idea, and she wasn’t ready to try walking up there before she knew more about what she would find and how far the walk would be. Meanwhile she would be looking for other T-shirts with the same picture on them.

  She went to Wally’s Sky Bar several times, searching for the woman or the T-shirt, whichever turned up first. There wasn’t any dancing on weeknights, so she ordered food and stayed for a couple of drinks, but the place never filled up, and the woman didn’t return.

  She changed rental cars and then set up a surveillance on a paved spot about a half mile from the entrance to the uphill road where the red pickup had gone. She bought a spotter’s scope and aimed it at the place where the smaller road met the highway.

  In the early morning beginning at five o’clock before the sun came up, a few cars came down the road to the highway and kept going. Leah photographed each one at the point where it reached the last turn and had to slow down and stop to watch for highway traffic. They seemed to be carpools, because each car had three to five people in it. It looked like a bunch of commuters lived up that road.

  The next day was the same, and the next. On the fourth day she came back from her hotel with a few transponders for attaching to cars so she could use a computer to see where they went.

  She watched through her rear window as a car full of men emerged from the mountain road. It was too many people to be anything but a carpool with multiple stops, so she let it disappear down the highway. Then there was a truck containing two women, but they both appeared to notice Leah’s car. The third vehicle was a silver Toyota Corolla with three women in it, and it was going slowly down the mountain road to the highway.

  She rested the scope on the seatback beside the right headrest and focused on the next vehicle. There seemed to be three men in a gray car. No, four men. The hood ornament on the front looked like the Subaru medallion with the stars. The vehicle was about the size of a Crosstrek or a Forester. Her breath caught in her throat. The man in the passenger seat looked like Lee Wolf.

  She set the scope on the passenger seat, pulled out the Glock with no serial numbers, and pulled the slide back to let the first round into the chamber. Then she put on her baseball cap to cover her hair and her sunglasses on, and waited.

  The car was coming up fast. She lowered the windows on both sides of the car, sat back, and held her pistol in both hands. If the women who had seen her earlier had warned them by phone, they might very well stop to investigate. She wanted to start her engine, but that would turn the taillights on, so she didn’t.

  She leaned back in her seat and watched the car in her side mirror coming toward her. The man she had thought looked like Lee Wolf was sitting in the right-hand seat, and she was in the left. She kept her eyes on that space. He would come within about ten feet of her face in three seconds … two … one.

  As the other car arrived and flashed past, she kept her eyes on the mirror to her left. He was Lee Wolf. But in another second the car was a hundred feet past, and then far ahead of her and gaining ground. As she started her engine, she glanced at the gas gauge to be sure it still read full. This could be a long ride.

  36

  Charlotte Carpenter passed by Ed Leonard at the edge of the vegetable garden that morning about an hour after the men left for Louisiana. She said only, “Eleven seventeen?” and he said, “Sure.” Then the long, hot day passed, and the evening brought cooler breezes.

  When it was 11:17, she opened the back window of her house, but she didn’t look outside. She knew that Edison Leonard would be there. He climbed in over the sill. Before she shut the window, she let him see the nightie she was wearing. It was silky and clingy with string straps and a hem that came right up within one inch of the level where it would have shown everything.

  He seemed to like the cool, smooth feel of the fabric. He didn’t just lift it off as she had pictured. He reached up under it to place the palm of his hand on her belly and then moved it to her backside and then everywhere, as she kissed him, excited by it and eager already. She was remembering the first time and thinking about what he had done then and what he might do this time. She had thought about him for days, an
d every time she caught him looking at her again with that longing and intensity, she had felt the fluttering in her stomach. She had given him a stern, cold look to make him stop, but she had wanted to put her arms around him and whisper to him to save it all up for now.

  He seemed to have done that. He was touching her skin, moving in swirls on her back and belly and then every forbidden place, and she loved it. She felt appreciated and treasured and understood and claimed and possessed. She knelt on the mattress in front of him, undid his belt, and undressed him, lingering to touch and kiss and hold.

  And then he pulled the garment up over her head and off, and knelt down with her. He did all the things that she had wished he would think of doing, not in the kind of hurry he had been in the first night. He took his time so that when each move came, she was eager and then grateful. She savored every feeling until it ended. She lay back and he lay beside her, both of them catching their breath.

  She said, “We don’t have to worry tonight. Bobby isn’t going to come home. He went with Lee Wolf and Dave Sherman and Tony Wagner to do some work out of state. He’ll call me as soon as they head home.”

  “Good,” said Ed. He knew they had gone in the morning and what they were planning, but he could not see how talking more about her husband would help him.

  She seemed to read his mind. “You don’t like my mentioning him, do you?”

  “I’d rather think about you.”

  “Don’t you love the feeling that you’re naked with another man’s naked wife? Doesn’t that feeling that you’re doing something forbidden turn you on a little? That she’s yours when you want to take her, that she’ll do this for you? And this? That you can take her over and over, and—”

  He moved swiftly over her and she stopped talking, or stopped using words. The night passed without either of them noticing the hour. Each time they stopped, something happened that made them turn to each other again. Then they heard the tweets of small birds, high in the trees, and then the first warbles.