Bone Key
Page 19
By the time Dean was out of the shower—and his hair was back to normal, thank God—and dressed, Bobby had returned from the hospital, and the three of them started digging around the tree in question. Eventually, they came across the remains.
"No coffin?" Sam said.
"It was my wish," Naylor said from behind them. "I wanted my remains to fertilize the house's garden."
Bodge, who had brought over a pitcher of ice water, said, "Well, they did a good job. It's a beautiful garden, Captain."
Nicki was present also, and added, "I'm sorry you won't consider staying. Having a ghost'd increase our bookings like you wouldn't believe!"
Dean knelt and, using a garden spade, cleared away the dirt from around Naylor's bones.
"That is quite distressing," Naylor said. Dean had to admit to finding Naylor's discomfort to be hilarious.
Sam spread salt on the bones while Bobby took care of the lighter fluid. Dean stood with his lighter, just about ready to get the roast started, when he hesitated. He wasn't used to doing this while the spirit was standing over him and approving of the whole procedure.
"Uh, anyone wanna say anything?" he asked lamely.
"As a matter of fact, Mr. Winchester, I would," Naylor said. "One doesn't often get the chance to speak at one's own funeral."
Putting the lighter back in his pocket, Dean said, "Go ahead, then."
"I do not know if I am bound for Paradise or elsewhere. It seems I have already spent time in purgatory, for I have been trapped in this place that I built for so long. But now, thanks to the graces of these good people, I may at last move on to my just reward. Regardless of where my soul is destined, I can say with assuredness that my life—my after-life, that is—has been enriched by these two young men, who have sacrificed so much. I'm proud to have known you both, Misters Winchester, and I hope you continue to be a beacon of hope in a dark world."
Dean hadn't expected quite so sentimental an outpouring from the old crank. But then, Dean had gotten a certain amount of insight into the captain as well, though it was fading now, and he said, "I don't think there's any doubt where you're going, Cap'n. It's been a privilege."
Naylor simply nodded.
After looking around at everyone else, Dean pulled out the lighter, flicked it alight, and bent over to ignite the bones.
Within a few seconds, the skeleton was burning, flames leaping toward the sky.
Captain Naylor faded from view.
"Rest in peace, Cap'n," Dean said.
They considered spending more time on the island, but Sam reminded Dean that there was a series of odd disappearances that happened in Neah Bay, Washington, every tenth of January. If they started immediately, they'd just make it to the Washington coast town—which was as far from Key West as it was possible to be and remain within the continental U.S.—in time.
After saying their good-byes to Nicki, Bodge, and Snoopy—the latter with many licks of Dean's face—and to Yaphet—who gave all three of them a free poem—Dean and Sam drove Bobby to the Key West Airport to catch his flight back to Sioux Falls.
"Good work, boys," Bobby said, giving each of the boys a hug. It was a little too emo for Dean, but for Bobby, he didn't mind so much.
Once Bobby went off to check in, Dean drove around the island to Route 1, and they headed northward through the Keys.
"You realize," Sam said as they started over the Seven-Mile Bridge, "that all the spirits are probably still supercharged? I mean, Naylor was still the way he was when we got there, even after we exorcised the demon."
"So Hemingway'll still be kicking cat lovers out of his house?" Dean asked with a grin.
"And Truman playing poker at the Little White House, and who knows what else? If nothing else, it'll probably keep Cayo Hueso Ghost Tours in business, even with the double homicide."
"Yeah." The breeze blew through Dean's hair as he reached into the pile of tapes trying to find the right one. "And thanks again for savin' my ass."
"Thanks for savin' mine," Sam said. "And I ain't gonna stop doing it, either."
"I know you won't." Dean sighed. "Hey, maybe the horse will talk."
"What?"
"Never mind." He finally found the tape he wanted and plunked it into the deck. The strains of Van Morrison's "Brown-Eyed Girl" echoed through the Impala as they headed out of the Keys.
Author's Note
Those of you who bought my previous Supernatural novel, Nevermore, will recall that I provided a playlist that served as a soundtrack for reading the book. In the interests of laziness—and in getting those of you who didn't buy Nevermore to do so—I'm not going to reproduce that list here, but instead refer you to it as a starter for what to listen to while reading Bone Key. In addition, I would add the following tunes to that list:
The Animals: "House of the Rising Son"
Asia: "Heat of the Moment"
Bachman Turner Overdrive: "You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet"
The Band: "Don't Do It" (either the version on Rock of Ages or The Last Waltz)
Boston: "Don't Look Back," "Foreplay/Long Time"
Creedence Clearwater Revival: "Run Through the Jungle"
The Charlie Daniels Band: "The Devil Went Down to Georgia"
The Doobie Brothers: "Long Train Runnin' "
Huey Lewis and the News: "Back in Time"
John Fogerty: "Eye of the Zombie"
Screamin' Jay Hawkins: "I Put a Spell on You"
Jethro Tull: "Pibroch (Cap in Hand)," "Some Day the Sun Won't Shine for You," "Valley"
Van Morrison: "Brown-Eyed Girl"
Queen: "Fat-Bottomed Girls," "One Vision"
Billy Squier: "The Stroke"
The Temptations : "Ball of Confusion (That's What the World is Today)"
Tom Waits: "Gun Street Girl," "Mr. Siegal," "Tango Till They're Sore"
There's an artist I first saw as the opening act for Mark Knopfler named Paul Thorn. You can check out his work at www.paulthorn.com, but every time I listen to his music, especially to his amazing album Mission Temple Fireworks Stand, I get a Supernatural vibe. So feel free to mix him in.
Finally, for Key West color, I recommend all the albums by Michael McCloud (www.michaelmccloud.com) and Black and Skabuddah (www. blackandskabuddah.com). The former plays practically every day at the Schooner's Wharf and is a Key West institution (he wrote "The Conch Republic Song" whence derives this book's epigraph). The latter, a pair of transplanted New Yorkers, used to play regularly at my favorite Key West saloon, Captain Tony's, and now are regulars at Sloppy Joe's. I've taken several trips to Key West over the years, and listening to my CDs by those two acts always serves as a pleasant reminder of that glorious island.
(And no, there's no Jimmy Buffett.)
— Keith R.A. DeCandido
Somewhere in New York City
January 2008
Acknowledgments
The usual thanks: to my wonderful editors John Morgan, Chris Cerasi, and Emily Krump; to my even more wonderful agent Lucienne Diver; to Eric Kripke, Ben Edlund, John Shiban, the amazing Sera Gamble, and the various other scribes who chronicle the weekly adventures of Sam and Dean Winchester on Supernatural; and to Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles, and Jim Beaver, for providing face and voice and character for Sam, Dean, and Bobby.
Thanks to the various online Supernatural resources, from the official Supernatural site at supernatural.warnerbros.com to the "Super-wiki" at supernatural.oscillating.net to the Supernatural entries on the main Wikipedia to the various other folks on the Internet who support, discuss, overanalyze, and lust over the show, particularly the folks on the various Supernatural communities on LiveJournal and the forums at TV.com, TelevisionWithoutPity.com, and the Supernatural FaNily Club at spnfanily.yuku. com. Also thanks to the websites for the Hemingway Home and Museum (www.hemingwayhome.com), the Bull and Whistle (www.thebullandwhistle.com), and the Little White House (www.trumanlittlewhitehouse.com) for background on those locales and to the official Ernest Hemingway website (ww
w.ernesthemingway.com). Huge thanks to the good folks at the Key West branch of the Monroe County Public Library, from which I gained much of my knowledge of the lives and times of wreckers and of the Calusa Indians, and to artist Theodore Morris for his visual renditions of the Calusa (which can be seen at www. floridalosttribes.com). And finally, thanks to Rachael, a.k.a. RaeSofSunshine, who provided a transcript and breakdown of the show's exorcism ritual on her blog at raesofsunshine.blogspot.com.
Thanks to my beta readers for invaluable feedback: Constance Cochran, Kara Cox, Jen Crawford, GraceAnne Andreassi DeCandido, Heidi Ellis, Marina Frants, Nicholas Knight (author of the excellent Supernatural: The Official Companion for seasons one and two), and Lesley McBain. And thanks to the many and varied folks who e-mailed me after Nevermore came out; hope you enjoy the follow-up...
Thanks to Kyoshi Paul and everyone at the dojo for enlivening my body and my spirit.
And thanks to them that live with me, both human and feline, for everything.
About the Author
This is Keith R.A. DeCandido's second Supernatural novel, following 2007's Nevermore. Keith has written more than thirty novels, as well as a mess of short stories, a smattering of novellas, a bunch of comic books, a dollop of essays, a gaggle of e-books, and many bits of editing. Most are in various media universes: Star Trek (most recently the Klingon Empire novel A Burning House, the Myriad Universes novel A Gutted World, and the Klingon issue of the second Alien Spotlight comic book miniseries), CSI: NY (Four Walls), Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Blackout, The Deathless), World of Warcraft (Cycle of Hatred), Doctor Who (the Short Trips anthologies Destination Prague and The Quality of Leadership), StarCraft ( Nova and its forthcoming sequels), Resident Evil (the novelizations of all three films), Spider-Man ( Down These Mean Streets), and whole bunches more.
The majority of his non-tie-in work is in the world of his 2004 novel Dragon Precinct. Keith is also a musician, currently the percussionist for the parody band the Boogie Knights. A fan of classic rock (Dean Winchester would approve of much of his iTunes "favorites" playlist), Keith is also a brown belt in Kenshikai karate and a devoted fan of the New York Yankees. Learn less about Keith at his official web site at DeCandido.net, read his tiresome ramblings at kradical.livejournal.com, or e-mail him directly at keith@decandido.net.
Table of Contents
FIRST PROLOGUE
SECOND PROLOGUE
ONE
TWO
THREE
FOUR
FIVE
SIX
SEVEN
EIGHT
NINE
TEN
ELEVEN
TWELVE
THIRTEEN
FOURTEEN
FIFTEEN
SIXTEEN
SEVENTEEN
EIGHTEEN
NINETEEN
TWENTY
Author's Note
Acknowledgments
About the Author