An Unhappy Medium

by Dawn Eastman

  Grace stood and walked to the bookcase. When she turned I saw tears glittering in her eyes. I felt my mouth twist in disbelief. Grace was the least emotional person I knew.

  “I couldn’t tell him how I knew for sure that he should pull out, and of course he lost a lot of money. The problem is, it wasn’t his money. He was supposed to be managing the funds for the Milanos but he’d been skimming off the top and had to make up his losses.” Grace swallowed hard and looked at Paul.

  “They threatened us with . . . well, with an unpleasant death if we couldn’t recoup the money.” Paul leaned forward in his chair, hands clasped between his knees. “We did manage to get the money back but not without pretty blatantly using Grace’s . . . talent. The SEC got wind of it and brought charges. Now, they can’t prove insider trading because of course we didn’t use any information we got from an insider and the feds don’t really go in for the psychic investor story.”

  “Grace. I’m sorry,” I said. “Seth told me he thought you guys were stressed at work but I had no idea.”

  Grace nodded at me and gave a weak smile.

  “The problem is, the SEC has been crawling through our books and the FBI heard about our client. Now they want us to testify against them or face charges of our own.”

  Mac shook his head and put his arm over my shoulders.

  “What are you going to do?”

  “We aren’t sure yet, but if anything happens to us, we want to be sure that the kids are safe. It’s one of the reasons we were so willing to let Seth move here. We know it’s a lot to ask, but we hope you’ll agree to take Sophie as well. Paul has no family and it would be one less thing to worry about.”

  I looked at Mac. This was too much to ask.

  “We have to talk about this, Grace.”

  “No,” Mac said.

  “No?” Grace asked.

  “I mean, no we don’t need to talk about it.” He turned to me. “I know if it was just you, you’d take both kids without a second thought. You already took Seth in and I know how much you love having him around.”

  “But this is different, Mac,” I said. “This isn’t your responsibility.”

  “Yes, it is. If it involves you, it’s my responsibility.”

  “You don’t have to sign the papers right now,” Paul said. “And it may not ever come to anything. But if we could have an answer before the end of the weekend, that would put our minds at ease.”

  “Mr. and Mrs. Proffit have already signed.” Rupert pointed to the signatures. “Whenever you’re ready, you can both sign and you will become legal guardians of Seth and Sophie upon their parents’ demise.”

  * * *

  We left Rupert’s office together. Paul and Grace walked back toward Mom’s house and Mac and I turned toward The Daily Grind. We were in desperate need of some coffee and one of Josh’s scones.

  I turned to say something to Mac and noticed a couple of guys wearing dark suits across the street looking at a map. Crystal Haven only has one main street—a map is hardly necessary. I got a weird tingling on the back of my neck as I watched. One was tall with dark hair, cut short and close, giving his head a rounded appearance. His jacket tugged across his shoulders as he held out the piece of paper. The second one was shorter and wore a blond flattop style. He pushed the map down so he could look over the top. They both seemed to be watching Grace and Paul rather than studying anything on the map. Grace tugged on Paul’s hand when they got to the corner and the two of them turned toward the marina. The two suits glanced up and down the sidewalk and then quickly folded the map and walked in the same direction Grace and Paul had gone.

  All of this happened in less than twenty seconds.

  Mac was talking about what kind of scone he was going to have and didn’t notice I had stopped walking until he was already several strides ahead of me.

  “Clyde?” He turned and walked back to where I stood. “What’s up?”

  “Those guys there, in the suits,” I said, and pointed discreetly up the street. Not that they were paying any attention to us.

  “Yeah, I see them.”

  “I think they’re following Grace and Paul.”

  “What? Why?”

  Just as he said that, the two men turned into Alex’s restaurant.

  “Oh,” I said. “Maybe not.”

  Mac smiled. “Grace just has you spooked with her guardian paperwork and stories of mob connections.”

  He slung an arm over my shoulder and turned me in the direction of coffee and scones.

  8

  That evening Mac and I stood shoulder to shoulder in the deepening gloom. The weather had turned on us, April being the most fickle month. The cooler temperatures and slight mist that hung in the spaces between the trees forced me to try to picture the faces of the puppies and kittens at the shelter. Knowing the woods were teeming with crazed zombies egged on by Vi’s contest meant I required all of the maturity I could muster to stay at the starting line.

  Seth and Alex must have sensed my misgivings because I felt them closing ranks behind me. Each runner had three “lives,” or flags, attached to his or her waistband. A zombie could only take one flag from each runner, but now thanks to Vi, the zombies were excessively interested in collecting the scraps of fabric. What had started as a somewhat whimsical way to structure a 5K charity run had turned into a survival drill.

  Alex pulled us into a huddle for his pep talk.

  “Okay, team,” he began. “If we’re going to survive the zombie apocalypse, we’re going to have to trust each other.”

  I glanced around the circle. Mac, Grace, Alex, Seth, Josh, and Tom Andrews were all part of team Tuffy. Sophie had deserted us for Vi’s zombie team after she had tried on the makeup. There were five other teams running and the one with the most members still alive at the end of the run would double their money earned. A large dog food manufacturer had promised to match the donations for the winning team.

  “Here are the rules: One, no man gets left behind—especially if they still have flags left. Two, keep the ones with the fewest lives toward the center of the pack. Three, no drama—I know some of the zombies look scary, but we don’t need to panic, they’re just people.”

  “Plus most of them chose a zombie team because they aren’t very good runners,” Seth added.

  “Four, no whining.” Alex looked at me when he said this and I have to say, I took umbrage at that. Tom was just as likely to whine as I was.

  We held our hands in the center of the circle for a team chant.

  “This is for the orphaned animals,” Seth said. “Go Team Tuffy!”

  The other teams lined up. We were in the second round. Two teams would be released every five minutes—to give the zombies a chance to attack as many people as possible, I assumed.

  Mayor Winchester shot the starting pistol and the first two teams raced ahead. There were no rules as to how to treat the other teams and I was concerned that there would be some intra-team fighting if things got tricky in the woods.

  We lined up next to our partner team. They were from the local medical clinic—three nurses, two doctors, a respiratory therapist, and two receptionists. None of them looked very compassionate. They looked like they would throw us to the hordes the first chance they got.

  Two minutes before it was our turn to go, we heard shrieks from the woods. The first set of zombies must have appeared.

  “Okay, this is good info,” Alex muttered to us. “Three minutes in and we’ll hit the first wave. Be ready.”

  I was edging toward the center of the pack when the gun went off. Grace pushed past me and I found myself on the outside edge of the crowd. I hated running so much, and now I was heading into the dark, damp, zombie-infested woods. How did I let myself get talked into these things? I hoped I could keep up with my gang. I didn’t want to be the reason we all got massacred.
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br />   Just as I hit my stride and passed that point where every muscle was arguing against this fiasco, the first set of zombies approached. They technically weren’t allowed to run, but they sure were moving fast. We moved as a group to the left to avoid the clutching hands, but, just as quickly, the next group appeared. The medical team was on the right side and they hit the zombies head-on. The nurses and one of the doctors started screaming until the receptionist took over and shouted orders. We veered to the right and one of the zombies snagged Seth’s flag.

  “I’m hit!” he said and we all adjusted to let him move to the center.

  “Let’s move, team!” Alex shouted.

  I felt the group pick up speed and I tried to keep up with them. Mac grabbed my hand and pulled me along. Grace tripped over a branch and went down. Tom stopped to help her up and a zombie got one of his flags. The medical team was still shouting and Alex steered us over to them.

  “Stay with us, the next safe zone is just up ahead,” he said to the other group.

  That energized them and we all sprinted to the white flag. We’d have about three hundred meters of safety before we’d enter another zombie zone. Runners were not allowed to loiter in safe zones and could lose a flag if caught. We slogged through the muddy trail, a little less enthusiastically than before.

  I noticed the medical team hung back as we approached the end of the safe zone. Cowards. They obviously wanted us to be the guinea pigs for the next area. My team slowed as we crossed the line and we took up our positions to scan the woods for zombies. Josh was assigned the role of running backward as much as possible to be sure we weren’t attacked from behind. Even though we had marked the areas, the zombies had been given access to their zone to choose their strategy and hiding place.

  I spotted a Girl Scout zombie among the trees and I let out a sigh of relief.

  “Two o’clock, in the trees,” I said.

  The Girl Scout was Sophie’s costume. Surely Vi’s team would go a little easy on us. I saw the pirate just behind Sophie—that was Paul—and then I saw Vi’s horrible, decaying bride of Frankenstein getup.

  Then many things happened at once.

  Josh yelled, “Mayday!” This was the signal that we were being attacked from behind.

  Alex shouted, “Nine o’clock!”

  The Girl Scout ran straight at me and grabbed a flag, while Grace grappled with the pirate.

  The medical team came upon the scene and veered toward the left, straight into the second zombie team that Alex had seen.

  There were zombie faces and hands everywhere and we broke ranks to run as fast as we could for the next safe zone. Even though I knew who all the zombies were, the fear and adrenaline hit my system and I took off running. I heard someone stumble behind me and against all my instincts I turned to help Seth disentangle himself from a pile of loose branches that had been thrown across the path. Mac and Alex ran toward us with Grace in between them—she had lost another flag and only had one left. We had vowed not to lose a member, but we had two more zombie zones to get through before the finish. Josh took up the rear and seemed to be limping, but the zombies had stopped chasing us and had focused on the medical team.

  We slowed down in the next safe zone, just enough to assess the damage to the team.

  Grace was the only one down to just one flag. We moved her toward the center of the pack. Alex and Mac still had all their flags. Alex took the front position and Mac took the back.

  The scoring system was complicated. A team with all members still “alive” at the end of the run got a big bonus point boost. However, each individual with all three flags also earned bonus points. The rules allowed for a one-time transfer of a flag from a member with three flags to a member with one. A team could not resurrect a member after that person had lost all their flags. Alex and Seth had run the numbers obsessively and knew the ramifications of each choice. Grace needed another flag, and either Alex or Mac would be able to give her one.

  Seth and Alex discussed strategy in hushed, urgent tones. Mac jogged next to them and volunteered one of his flags.

  “We still have to get through Diana and Lucan’s team as well as the team from Everyday Grill,” Alex said. “I don’t know if my staff will go after me or go easy on me, and the same goes for Diana and Lucan. They might choose Mac instead to avoid any worry about repercussions later. But Mac and Tom are police, so they might avoid chasing them as well.”

  Seth nodded. “I think it’s an even split—we just have to choose and hope for the best.”

  Mac nodded. “Seth’s right. We can’t predict what they’ll do and it all comes down to opportunity anyway.”

  “Okay, Mac, you give Grace one of your flags and we’ll hope that my employees will go easy on me. I can’t say I have the same hopes for Diana.”

  Mac pulled a flag out and handed it to Grace, who tucked it into her waistband.

  We crossed over into the next zombie zone and were greeted immediately by Diana’s team. This gang was playing a little more according to the no-running-zombies rule and though they limped and hobbled quickly, we escaped with only the loss of one of Tom’s flags. The zombies then turned their attention to the clinic team—this time hanging back had been the wrong choice. The zombies were waiting for them and didn’t have to move very fast to be able to snag a couple of flags, or at least that’s what I assumed based on the zombie cheering I heard rising behind me.

  We now had about a mile of woods to get through, including crossing the river, before we would meet any more zombies. The last two zones had only been assigned one team of zombies each.

  I was tired and felt clammy from sweat and the cool damp air. Seth ran next to me muttering to himself. I thought he said, “Puppies and kittens, puppies and kittens.” But I couldn’t be sure.

  I saw the flag that signaled the next zombie zone. I also spotted one of the teams that had been released ahead of us. They must have loitered somewhere for us to catch up to them.

  Alex ran ahead of us and signaled that we should try to skirt around to the right—the zombies were busy with the other team and maybe we could get through without too much trouble.

  The minute we crossed the line of flags the zombies deserted the other team and headed in our direction.

  “Alex!” they said.

  “Oh, no,” Seth said. He turned and shouted to the rest of the team. “Put Alex on the inside!”

  Chaos ensued. The zombies swarmed us and I lost another flag. Mac was down to one flag and we put him at the center. Since Alex still had all three flags we had to move him to the outside, which got the zombies very excited. Josh hip-checked one zombie to get her to back off her relentless pursuit of Alex and the rest of us sped up to get away from them. Seth and Tom both lost a flag and Alex lost two before it was over, but we burst into the safe zone with every team member still alive. Barely.

  Covered in mud, Josh, Mac, and Tom all limping, we staggered over the finish line. The end of the race had been set up in Message Circle. It was a clever marketing ploy on the part of the mayor, who insisted that if there were going to be spectators, they might as well wait in Message Circle. It was a free-sample kind of place where psychics shared messages with the audience. I don’t think anyone missed the fact that a short message often led to a longer paying session.

  Seth jumped up and down with renewed energy at finishing with an intact team. I lurched toward the water table and felt more like a zombie than a runner. Back slapping and general hilarity ensued as the team realized we were safe and we had finished.

  We sat on the ground and on the benches arranged in an arc around Message Circle. Alex and Seth returned from the judge’s table to report that our team was in the lead.

  9

  The evening air cooled around us as we lounged and ate cookies in Message Circle while the woods grew dark. Seth entertained us with impressions of Grace and Al
ex running from zombies and we cheered the remaining teams as they arrived. The fresh tang of old leaves and new growth faded as the wood smoke from the bonfire filled the air.

  Finally, the last team straggled over the finish line and the mayor blew his air horn to signal the zombies to come and join the runners for the costume contest. We heard them crunching through the forest as they approached Message Circle. Some of them stayed in character and limped or dragged their legs. Others walked normally and were clearly looking forward to becoming human again.

  “Aunt Vi did a better job on the makeup than that team,” Seth whispered to me as the Everyday Grill gang lurched past our bench.

  “This group looks good,” I said.

  “I think that’s Logan’s team,” Seth said.

  I had turned in my seat to see if I recognized any of the Vaughn Jewelry team when Grace came up to us with a wild look in her eye.

  “Have you seen Sophie and Paul?”

  Seth and I shook our heads.

  “They’re probably with Vi, wherever she is,” Seth said. He spun around on the bench and looked toward the food table.

  Grace shook her head. “I just talked to her and she hasn’t seen them since they were in the woods. She asked me where they were.”

  I scanned the crowd. “They must be here somewhere,” I said. I spotted Mac talking to Alex and walked over to where they stood.

  “Have you guys seen Sophie or Paul?”

  They both shook their heads and started to look around the clearing just as I had done.

  Grace came up behind me.

  “Where could they be?” She shivered and hugged her arms across her chest.

  “Did you try calling Paul?” Mac asked.

  Grace nodded. “It’s just going to voice mail. I don’t think I get a very good signal out here in the middle of nowhere.”

  “They can’t have gone far, but they might have gotten lost in the woods,” I said. It was dark outside Message Circle’s bonfire and torches, and someone unfamiliar with the woods could easily lose his or her way.