Song of Life

by C. L. McCullough

  Her waist was trim, and it was a waist, dipping in and then swelling into hips and legs that seemed to cry out for a man between them, lush and womanly, but in proportion to the rest of her. Her legs she considered her best feature, long for her height, plenty long enough to wrap around Cas and pull him tightly into her. Her face began to burn as she remembered.

  Her belly was maybe a little soft and certainly not flat, again as seen in magazines. Perhaps, if the inn ever made her a rich woman, she too could hire a personal trainer and spend all her time working to perfect her body, but she sincerely doubted it. The hair nestled between her thighs was straight and not very profuse, but it did match the hair on her head. She wasn’t quite sure what the ‘in’ style for pubic hair was these days. Was it still those little strips? Too bad then, she wasn’t into pain.

  She imagined Cas standing behind her, reaching around to cradle her breasts. Immediately her nipples hardened again. She watched, fascinated, as they drew up and pebbled, all without being touched. Almost, she could feel the roughness of his body hair against her back, the hardness of his aroused cock pushing against her; his beautiful eyes watching her in the mirror, looking deeply into hers; those talented lips nuzzling at her neck while his tongue tasted her.

  She jolted from her fantasy when a hidden pipe banged and the toilet gave a half flush in reply. The plumbing in the old inn was iffy at best. All of it needed an overhaul or replacing, a project she hoped to accomplish after the summer tourist run. They were booked solid; if she were allowed to put cots up in reception she could have filled them without a problem. Unfortunately the State looked down on that sort of thing. Still, it should be a profitable season.

  She hurried through her shower, quickly pulled on a pair of jeans and a sleeveless blue blouse and arranged her hair back in its clip, found by stepping on it barefoot. Time to make her rounds, and if she ran into Cas, it would just be in the course of her duties, it wasn’t as if she were looking for him. The hell she wasn’t! She vowed they would have that discussion soon.

  Martha was on duty, just hanging up the phone. She looked up as Sunny approached the reception desk.

  “Oh honey, I was trying to call you. I got some news.”

  “Not bad, I hope,” Sunny replied. “It’s too beautiful a day for bad news.”

  Martha glanced out the window at the overcast sky. “If you say so, darlin’,” she said dubiously. “I just got off the phone from Reese. Cas stayed with him last night.”

  “He did? He did.” Sunny took in an indignant breath. Despite Cas’s desire to keep their relationship quiet, she was quite ready to express her thoughts regarding the sleeping habits of certain males she knew. But Martha’s expression remained serious. In fact, Martha was looking downright upset.

  “What is it, Martha?”

  “It’s Cas,” Martha admitted. “Sunny, ain’t no good way to be saying this–he’s gone and got himself arrested. Ennis picked him up just awhile ago and carried him off to jail. Honey, his daddy’s been murdered and they’re thinking Cas did it.”

  “But…” Sunny was confused. “His daddy’s in California. Cas is here. How can they be thinking that?”

  “Because his daddy was in Eufala. He come to take the boy back.”

  “This all happened last night? While I was sleeping? After…” Sunny’s look of confusion was replaced by a look of determination. “I told Ennis, I told him! I’ll have that sorry excuse of a sheriff–”

  “Sunny, it ain’t his fault! It’s the law. There’s two men dead and you’ll do good to be staying out of it, let those whose job it is sort things out.”

  “Damned if I will! You’re talking about Cas. It isn’t in him to do it, Martha. I thought you knew him. I can’t believe it. I won’t believe it. And Ennis’ll have a piece of my mind.”

  Martha sighed. “Never could tell you anything. Go see Reese before you leave. He said to send you by, he’d explain everything. I suppose I shouldn’t have opened my big mouth.”

  “They can’t make it stick, can they? It isn’t in him to do it.” She was repeating herself, but it was what was uppermost in her mind. He couldn’t do such a thing, and not just because he was the man she loved, because he was Cas, and he’d have killed his father long ago if that were the sort of man he was.

  “I know it isn’t, honey. Go find Reese, he’ll explain it all.”

  “And then I’m going to the jail,” Sunny said with determination.

  “I didn’t doubt that for a minute,” Martha replied.

  Chapter 24

  The Nevis jail wasn’t much as far as jails went. If Nevis had been a few miles to the north, the jail would have been located at Eufala, the county seat of Jefferson county. But Nevis was in Coosa county and had the distinction of being the largest town in that rather under populated sector of the state. Ennis was the proud sheriff of hundreds of square miles containing maybe three thousand people. It was hard to have a productive anything, whether farming or a business, on land that seemed to go straight up and down. Nevis was situated in the only cove in the whole of Coosa county.

  So the jail was rather makeshift. A county had to have a sheriff and a sheriff had to have a jail, but with the Coosa county tax base, it wasn’t easy. The State had to pitch in and make up the significant deficit in monies. Each election season there was talk of combining the Coosa and Jefferson law enforcement; every election it was voted down. The people in Coosa wanted their own sheriff, someone who lived among them and understood them. Jefferson county wanted nothing to do with its poorer neighbor. The number of patrol cars and the amount of gas it would take to cover both counties would have been exorbitant.

  The Nevis jail was located in an old store front that began its history as a barber shop. The striped pole still stood beside the main door. Inside there was a small waiting area, and on the other side of a counter that ran from one wall to the other was a large desk, big enough that both deputies each had a side of it to call their own. In one corner, Marge held sway over the dispatch radio, surrounded by filing cabinets. In what used to be a closet, a microwave and coffee pot had been set up, and a small counter refrigerator held pride of place. Ennis had his own desk, situated behind a folding screen that allowed him to hear everything going on in the office, but still have a bit of privacy if he needed to interview someone.

  The cells were located at the back of the building. The sheriff at the time, who had harassed the State until they gave in just to get rid of him, had managed to squeeze in two, and two was plenty for the amount of business they had. Marge watched curiously as Ennis led Cas through the main office and back to the lockup.

  * * * *

  “Ah, we got a small problem here,” Ennis confided to his prisoner.

  “I don’t think I’d call it small,” Cas said.

  “No, no, ’course not, you got you a big old problem, but this…well Cas, I have to ask you for a favor and a promise.”

  Cas was intrigued. “I promise I won’t try to escape.”

  “Well, that’s just it,” Ennis said, sounding embarrassed. “You could. See, we ain’t usually full in here, ain’t never had the need for more’n one cell. And Johnny Benis has that one. The other, well, the lock’s been broken for some time now, just never had the need to be getting it fixed. Or the money, if it come to that.

  “Now, I can put you in with Johnny, but it’ll be a tight fit, and he may not be just to your liking. Or, I can put you in the empty cell, but you gotta promise you’ll treat it like it’s locked. And not tell a soul, or it’s my job.”

  Cas stared at Ennis in disbelief. “Are you sure this isn’t Mayberry?” he finally said.

  “I wouldn’t do this with just anybody.” Ennis looked uncomfortable. “I know what my reputation is, what some people think of me, but I got more sense than they’re thinking. And I can admit when I’m wrong,” he added. “And I were wrong ’bout you. So if you was to give me your word, I’d take it and be knowing I can trust you to hold to it.”
>
  Cas stood in the open door of what would be ‘his’ cell and looked around. He was glad to see there was a solid wall between this cell and the one next door, it would at least give him a semblance of privacy. There was a bunk bed pushed up against the other wall. Both mattresses were made up neatly with white sheets and a dark brown blanket, and folded across the bottom of each was an afghan; red and bright yellow on the bottom bunk, green and orange on the top. Cas’s eyebrows rose.

  “Well, Ida wanted to make the place look homey.” Ennis looked uncomfortable again. “Weren’t no talking her outta it. She placed some books too.” He pointed to the small table that doubled as both a bedside table and a desk.

  “Kind of her,” Cas commented. “I don’t see a sink or toilet, you got a hole hidden in the floor somewhere?”

  “Well.” Ennis squirmed a bit. He was well aware his jail, which he was secretly rather proud of and was glad to have at any cost, didn’t meet most folk’s standards as being what a jail should be. “They sorta run outta money. There’s a bathroom down the hall here. You just holler when you’re needing it and someone will escort you. Got a shower too,” he added.

  “Hell, Sheriff, that’s giving some desperate character lots of chances to escape. But I give you my word it won’t be me. I want to get this all settled and me cleared. No more running for me. I want to put down roots here. It may be Mayberry, but there’s nothing wrong with Mayberry and it’s where I want to be.”

  “I heard someone tried, way back in the forties–old man McCoy I believe it was–thought hisself a right dangerous man, him being into moonshining and all. The deputy escorting him was a big son of a bitch. Don’t know what McCoy were thinking to be tackling him. Stupid idiot weren’t no bigger than a minute himself. The deputy–believe his name was Morrow…Buddy Morrow, that’s it–I believe he was Sadie’s uncle on her daddy’s side, well of course it would be her daddy’s side, what with him having the same name and all…I done forgot where I was at.”

  “The moonshiner attacked the deputy,” Cas said encouragingly, finding it strange that he could be enjoying Ennis so much when he was being locked up for murder. Or rather not locked up; he wanted to sit down and howl with laughter.

  “Oh right! Well then, that there Buddy, he made him a fist and conked old man McCoy atop his head. Knocked him clean out. Old man McCoy was always complaining about his neck after that, said Buddy done ruined him for life and he oughta sue his sorry ass. Old man McCoy liked to talk a lot, from all I hear, but he never did back it up. Gave moonshiners a bad name,” Ennis decided judiciously. “But we never did have no more escape attempts after that.”

  “That’s good,” Cas said weakly. “Well…”

  He stepped inside the cell and turned to look at Ennis. “Do your duty, Sheriff,” he intoned, managing to hold back his laughter. If he ever got out of this, he might need to see a counselor, because everything he thought he knew had been turned upside down in the space of twenty-four hours. Everything but Sunny. She remained his one constant.

  Reluctantly Ennis pushed the jail cell door closed. “Don’t be leaning against it, now,” he advised, “that would ruin everything.”

  “I’ll remember,” Cas promised, and had to turn away.

  He decided on the top bunk. Hopefully it would seem less claustrophobic. He climbed up and stretched out, and discovered his feet dangled off the end. Folding his arms under his head, he tried to figure a way out of his predicament.

  * * * *

  The Oldest Dragon, living under the highest mountain peak, breathed out. His breath covered the meadow, scented with the heat of day and the coolness of night. It flowed into the gully where it came to rest, obscuring the stanchions of the little bridge. It’s like being on a cloud, thought the Cas-that-watched. Peaceful, quiet.

  A disturbance in the mist. Slowly, oh so slowly, a creature emerged, his misshapen claws pulling his grotesque body up a wooden piling. He felt the need to climb. There was something waiting up there for him, something he wanted desperately, although he was ignorant of its name.

  Cold eyes in the misted gully, cold but blazing red with hatred and anger. “Abomination. Abomination.” The voice was everywhere and nowhere and was the voice of his father. “You do not deserve to live, mongrel. Come, join me and we shall see who has the friends then.”

  The Cas nymph tried to climb faster, but as in the manner of dreams, could not. The blazing eyes moved closer. The Cas nymph winced as he felt a claw rip down his lower body.

  And then he burst above the mist, leaving the eyes behind. His father howled in anger and frustration. The nymph rested, staring up at the stars. He could feel the tear growing, widening. Something wonderful was about to happen.

  He sprang into the air with a cry of joy. His great wings spread wide as they dried, iridescent with color and carrying him high above the mist. A beautiful dragon, glittering with precious jeweled scales, cavorted in the cool night air. The Oldest Dragon huffed a sigh of pleasure.

  How high could he go? How far could he go? He was free, free and what he was meant to be.

  But something held him back from the stars. Something that meant more to him than his very soul. It called to him, he could hear it. “Cas…Cas…”

  * * * *

  Cas opened his eyes. I must have dozed off. The dream voice called again. He sat up, almost hitting his head on the ceiling, and looked toward the iron bars that held him in.

  Sunny was pressed against them, one hand reaching out to him, looking as though she was trying to hold back tears and might not succeed.

  Chapter 25

  “I told you to stay the night.” Her voice trembled, her attempted laugh sounded more like a sob.

  Cas jumped down from the bunk and went to her, holding her outstretched hand tightly. “Sunny, don’t worry, we’ll get it straightened out,” he said tenderly, reaching through the bars to wipe a tear that had escaped despite her best effort.

  “That’s what Reese says, but I don’t understand why they have you locked up. They haven’t charged you, it can’t be legal.”

  “My past coming back to haunt me in more ways than one,” Cas said lightly. “Let’s face it, I was a wandering man until I came here and met you. Why should they trust my word I won’t run?”

  “When are they coming to talk to you?”

  “Haven’t heard.”

  “I’m going to find someone, get this cage unlocked. There’s no reason…”

  “I’m not to talk to anyone until the detectives have at me. I suppose that includes you, but screw that.”

  “I could say something very rude, but I won’t,” Sunny joked, trying valiantly to push her fear for him away. She gently released her hand and cupped his cheek, drinking him in. “We didn’t have long, did we? How is it that I already feel lost without you? But I’ll tell you one thing, Cas Martin. When all this is straightened out–as it will be–we are going to be together. No more his and her rooms.”

  Cas turned his head and kissed the palm of her hand. “I’d rather wake up to you than Reese.”

  Sunny threaded her other hand through the bars. “I can’t get close to you. What have they done, what the hell have they done?”

  “Shush, shush.” He rested his forehead against the bars. “If I tell you something, will you keep it a secret?” he whispered.

  “Yes,” she whispered back.

  He released her hands and moved toward the door of the cell. Craning his neck to check down the hallway, he pushed it open and stood looking at her with a smile in his eyes.

  Sunny almost shrieked before she caught herself.

  “Oh my God,” she exclaimed, trying to keep her voice low. “How could I have forgotten? Ennis’s jail is the joke of the town, but I thank the Lord for it now.”

  She launched herself at Cas and he caught her without difficulty. Her arms wrapped tightly around his neck, her mouth fused to his. She could feel the strong beat of his heart against her breasts; her toes were barely touchin
g the floor but she felt no discomfort. He supported her as he would do all the days of his life.

  “I’ll tell them you were with me all night,” she murmured against his lips.

  “No, you won’t.” He lowered her to the floor, his hands moving up to grasp her shoulders. “You won’t lie for me. Besides, Ennis knows I was at Reese’s.”

  “It should have been the truth.” Sunny frowned, not losing sight of her original complaint. She pressed closer to him, her arms tightening around his neck.

  Cas sighed as he laid his forehead against hers. “Okay, it should have been the truth. But their argument would still stand. I could have sneaked out, stolen a car and done the deed.”

  “Really! So Reese was sleeping all wrapped around you, was he? Because I’m here to tell you, I’d have noticed if you’d left that bed, you just bet I would have.”

  “Hey!” The disembodied voice came from the next cell. “I’m trying to take a nap here. Move it somewheres else!”

  Cas snorted with laughter. “He’s right. You should go.”

  “Tired of me already, are you?”

  “You know that’s not so, but you’ve a business to run.”

  “Oh, Cas.” She stroked his cheek. “I can’t stand that you’re in here.”

  “It’s not so bad, boring mostly. I keep thinking of all the work needing to be done.”

  “I’ll get together some books and magazines. And I’ll bring you supper tonight.”

  “I think they bring it in from Mimi’s.”

  “Order for two. I’ll come eat with you.”

  He smiled down at her. “Bring candles. We’ll make it an occasion. Sunny, I love you.”

  “Oh God, I love you so much. You’d better get your ass out of this mess, Cas Martin. I can’t do without you. I refuse to do without you.”