by Nick Younker
A day turned into two days and two days turned into a week. Search parties had been formed and they combed the old stripped mining areas where the coal companies had been. Whatever happened to the boy was soon coming to closure.
Siders had joined in on the search party and it was he who came walking over a hill that obscured the old ventilation shaft from one of the original Oarshire installations in the area. The shaft had been decommissioned years before and someone would’ve really had to be looking for it to find it, because it was covered in wild brush and vines.
Siders came walking over the hill carrying the lifeless body of that young boy. He had told them he had pulled the boy out of the shaft and it had appeared that he had fallen into it, and that was what had killed him.
Linton had given clear instructions to everyone in the search party not to move any body they found, but rather to call them and they would tend to the remains. He knew that Siders knew it, but he had pulled him out of that shaft anyway, painting himself as a hero.
But it was immediately apparent to Linton that Siders couldn’t have cared less about the hero status. There seemed to be something more rewarding in it for him than the fame or the glory. He just stood there while Linton questioned him about removing the body from the shaft. He didn’t move his head. He never even blinked.
His eyes were what bothered Linton the most. He could have sworn up and down that if he had poked one finger into Siders eye, he still wouldn’t have blinked. To Linton, Siders seemed almost like a dummy, the kind that ventriloquists used. That’s what Siders eyes reminded him of.
It was only later, when they set up a perimeter around the shaft, that they found another body inside. It was the body of a boy that the original boy had been fighting with in school. The rumor was that they were enemies because of a girl, but others had told him that the mutual hatred went further back.
The investigation concluded that they had both agreed to meet in the area and settle their differences. It was presumed that they had fought at some point and both went down the shaft. But for Linton, the fact that Siders found the boy in such an obscure place, the fact that his demeanor seemed almost lifeless, as if he did not have a conscience, gave him the chills any time he saw the man.
But at that moment, he couldn’t be too picky about who was allowed to help him go up to the Jeffries plateau and potentially save some lives.
He turned around and opened the back door of the Bronco.
“Hop in,” Linton said.
***
3
Joe and Noah peeked around the corner of councilman McCallister’s house in Squaw Creek and saw Siders getting into Linton’s Bronco, then heading north to what appeared to be the fire up on Jeffries hill.
“This may be our only shot at going back and bringing that body back out. Otherwise, we’re sure to get killed by that maniac. We have to prove he’s guilty,” Joe said.
Noah looked worried.
“Let’s just do this quick!” Noah said.
They took off from the councilman’s yard. They had no idea that Roman and Patty McCallister were inside their home, decaying. Their bodies hadn’t been able to handle the fog cloud and all its gifts. Roman’s heart had given out first. Patty had lain over him and mourned, and then had followed him out of this world.
* * *
When they reached Dean and Mark Chapman’s house, they found Mike Brownsman’s big truck in the driveway. Rush Amiano and Carrie LeBalte had driven it there and were knocking on the door. Rush was holding Mark’s jambox.
Joe and Noah both approached the front door out of breath.
“Jesus, boys. Did you run all the way here?” Carrie asked.
“We have to get Dean and Mark and head back out to the sinkhole,” Noah said while Joe caught his breath.
Rush handed the jambox to Carrie.
“Why?” Rush asked.
“We found something down there. Something awful,” Noah said. Joe smacked the back of Noah’s shoulder.
“What did you find?” Carrie asked.
“I’m not sure we should say until we pull her out,” Joe said.
Carrie gasped and dropped the jambox. Rush put his hand on Joe’s shoulder.
“Just slow down a minute and tell us. What did you find down there? Did you find a body?” Rush said.
Noah and Joe traded looks and decided to give in and tell them.
“We saw Shane Duncan Siders down there yesterday. He was pulling along one of those big grain sacks they used to use at the Co-op, and we could a see a girl’s hand hanging out of it. We think he killed her and took her down there to dump her body,” Joe said.
“Did you tell the Boss?” Carrie asked.
“We just tried to, but when we caught up with him down at Gil’s, Siders came walking up and we bolted,” Noah said.
“Holy shit! Did you come straight here?” Rush asked.
They all heard a racket from the side of the house. They could hear empty aluminum cans rattling around. Brad Oxley was barking orders at Mark from the front side of the house.
“Just squeeze them all in there and make sure the tailgate closes. We need to get to Derbie before three,” Oxley said from the side of the house.
Joe held a finger up to indicate silence to Rush and Carrie. They both stayed quiet and gave a jolt when Dean opened the front door to answer Rush’s knock.
“Hey guys. What’s up?” Dean said as he walked out to give Joe a high-five, but Joe was less than enthusiastic about it.
“We have to get back out to the sinkhole today and take care of a little business,” Joe said, trying to keep his voice down.
Dean took a quick look around the side of the house to make sure his stepfather wasn’t listening before he responded.
“I would, but Brad is making Mark go with him to Derbie to drop the cans off at the recycling center. I don’t want Mark to go alone,” Dean said.
Joe whispered into Dean’s ear and told him about the girl’s body and how he didn’t want Mark with them when they went. It was the perfect opportunity to do it, since Mark going to Derbie. Dean worried about Mark when he was with his stepfather, but he knew the worst that could happen would be for something of his to get broken. He wasn’t too afraid of Brad physically harming his brother.
Dean agreed to go and went back inside to get his jacket.
“Listen, boys, I don’t want you three going out there alone,” Carrie said.
She looked over at Rush and he went along with her idea without her having to say a word.
“Okay. You walk over to the ’Bend and I’ll drive them out there. We’ll take care of it,” Rush said to Carrie.
Carrie beamed and rose onto her tiptoes to kiss him.
“Don’t be long,” she said as she wiped the side of his mouth off and turned to leave for the ’Bend.
The boys got into the truck with Rush about the same time Brad Oxley was backing his old truck out of the driveway with Mark in tow. They puttered down the highway toward Derbie.
“Are you boys sure about this?” Rush asked.
“Yeah. One hundred percent,” Noah answered.
Rush put the truck in gear and went through the Chapman’s back yard and toward the sinkhole.
***
4
Linton had driven all over Fogstow and could not find anyone with a four-wheel drive truck that could get some man power up over Pine Hill to help with the fire. This frustrated him. Of all days that people would sick or go missing, it had to be the day that his best friend got killed and he had to deal with a massive fire on a hillside full of inbred cannibals.
He was ashamed of thinking that way. It almost made him feel guilty to be so selfish. But he didn’t care at the moment. He pulled the Bronco up behind the Co-op and parked it. He needed to go upstairs and see if Kelly had reached the county for the units and fire trucks.
As Linton pulled up, Siders could see from the back seat what Joe and Noah were up to. They were getting into a truck wi
th that Amiano boy and heading back toward the sinkholes. He was going to have to blow off Derr and go take care of this himself.
It also seemed to Siders that Derr was giving him the run around, like he was stalling for time or something. He probably sent those boys out to the sinkhole to pull that girl out, all the while keeping him within his sights so that he could arrest him as soon as he had hard evidence.
He could get out and walk away from Derr and Stark right now and they wouldn’t be able to do anything. They would also be too tied up with the fire to be able to deal with him as well. Right then was the best time to take care of business, while Derr and that deputy were preoccupied. He would take care of this now, and take care of Derr later.
Linton got out of the Bronco and sprinted up the stairs. Stark sat in the passenger seat and waited for him.
Siders opened his door and got out of the Bronco. He didn’t say anything to Stark when he walked away. Stark just stared at him as he made his way across Locust out to the caddy-corner. For Stark, Siders’ weird departure was a blessing.
* * *
As he watched Siders walk away, Stark saw the fire trucks wailing in from the highway. The deputies were close behind. They brought all the manpower they could muster, but it was going to be a battle just getting the fire trucks up the muddy hill.
Linton came hurdling back down the stairs and ran toward the fire engine. He and the driver talked over a plan of action and drove off down Locust onto Main Street, then Highway 66 ,to the only known turnoff for Pine Hill that could lead them up to the Jeffries’ plateau.
The fire was starting to die down when they reached the hillside, which was so slick there was no way they could get their fire engines up it.
Linton decided to cram as many firemen into his Bronco as he could, and they barreled up the hill. Several deputies followed them on foot, but by the time they got there, the houses were mostly burnt down and it didn’t look like there were going to be any survivors. They started searching for anyone who might need medical attention.
What a mess! Linton thought.
***
5
Carolyn and Lucy had made their way into the ’Bend for ice cream when they met up with Carrie just outside the door.
“Hi there, Carrie. What brings you out here today?” Carolyn asked.
Carrie kept her hands buried in her vest pockets and smiled at them.
“I was just hoping I could hang out here until my boyfriend gets back. He ran the boys out to the sinkhole to . . .” she wondered if should say anything just yet and decided against it, “. . . to see if their bikes were still out there.”
Carolyn unlocked the ’Bend and motioned Carrie and Lucy inside.
“Okay,” Carolyn said, and decided not to press any harder. If nothing else, she could use the extra company.
After Carrie walked inside, Carolyn heard a commotion down at the docks. She walked across the street and looked down the bluff and could see all the people congregating around the Stow. She saw blankets wrapped around them; they all appeared sickly. Their skin was pale, their bodies looked frail and they were hunched over as if they were in pain. That was enough to worry her. It appeared as if there was a bug or something going around, and her first thought was to get Lucy, Kelly and herself out of town before they caught anything. She would go ahead and take Carrie with them if she wanted to come.
Carolyn made her way back to the ’Bend, asked Carrie to keep an eye on Lucy, and walked up the stairs in the alley and went into Linton’s office. Kelly was sitting at the desk waiting on Linton to call in on the comms.
“Kelly, I think we better get out of town.”
This startled Kelly. Surely Carolyn didn’t think the fire was going to reach all the way down the hill and spread across the town.
“I don’t think the fire is that bad,” Kelly said.
“It’s not the fire that I’m worried about,” Carolyn said. She walked across the room and opened up the window that overlooked Main Street in the Highland district and gave them a view straight down the bluff and onto the docks.
Kelly got up and looked out the window and saw what Carolyn had been talking about. The people weren’t just sickly; they were drinking out of the channel! She was both scared and disgusted. Some of them were furiously scratching their fingertips with rocks and others were drooped over like they were about to pass out.
“Oh, Jesus. What’s wrong with them?”
She noticed several who looked like they had lost ten pounds overnight. It was frightening to see such an awful thing happening to her own people, but Carolyn was right. If they stayed, they could catch it, too.
“I can’t say for certain, but it looks like an epidemic of some sort. All I know is I want to get you and Lucy back to Derbie before we catch anything.”
Kelly nodded and got on the CB with Linton. She told him they were heading to Derbie. She would call Amy Strange when they got back to the Reservation and let her know what was happening. Someone needed to get down there and help them. They didn’t deserve to suffer like that!
Carolyn had already grabbed Kelly’s jacket and they both left to get Lucy from the ’Bend.
Carrie had decided to stay there and wait for Rush and the boys to get back. She had taken a liking to the boys, and she wanted her own family. She and Rush were both eighteen and they had graduated high school last spring. It was time to start their lives, and she really hoped he felt the same way.
Kelly let her stay in the ’Bend, and Carrie promised to lock it up when she left. But she couldn’t help but go across the street to see what they had been talking about. She could see at least 50 people down there, just as Carolyn had described.
Carrie rushed back to the ’Bend, shut the door and locked it. That had been one of the creepiest things she had ever seen. When Rush returned, she would insist they get out of town. Maybe go stay with some of their friends down in Barrelton or take one of the cabins at Carolyn’s reservation, if she would let them. But Carolyn Weyerbacher-Derr had always kept those cabins closed off to the people around here.
***
6
About the same time everyone in Fogstow was waking up to the new Hoosier Dawn, Cam Wright was taking a johnny from the Bucky Cole barge over to Rocky Pointe Marina just outside of Cannelton. He wanted to hitch a ride back into Fogstow. The captain had given him leave so he could go back and check on something. Cam hadn’t told him the real reason why, though. He’d made up a story about his grandmother being sick and all alone. He had said he wanted to go check on her.
He had made his way off the barge and had said he would come back to Rocky Pointe later in the day to pick up the johnny and rendezvous with the Bucky Cole on its way back up the river.
When he got to the Marina, he met up with a guy driving short hauls on a milk tanker. He said he could get Cam as far as Derbie, but his route cut off there and circled back around to Ferdinand, out by the interstate. Cam shook his hand and climbed in. He could easily find a ride into Fogstow from Barrelton.
The truck dropped by all the local farms to pick up the milk. After the driver’s route was complete, he would take it to the dairy plant in Holland. The guy was an independent contractor for the West Dubois Dairy Company, after they had cancelled their contract with Cliff Holder’s trucking company.
Cam actually enjoyed the ride. They didn’t have to make many farm stops as they cruised along the scenic byway of the Ohio River. He’d seen a lot of the river on the barge, and he couldn’t have cared less about watching it at the moment. The sky was overcast and the day was dark. Not much sunlight was going to spill through, so Cam just leaned back in his seat, pulled his UMWA hat over his eyes and took a nap.
* * *
Once they reached Barrelton, the driver woke him up and dropped him on the square in front of the Five and Dime Store. He gave the man a wave and the driver blasted his horn as he drove away.
Cam walked down to the filling station, about two blocks from t
he square. He was glad that he had remembered to wear his long underwear under his vest. The day was cold and his ears were starting to hurt. He bundled his jacket up, and when he walked inside the gas station, he bought a cup of coffee and looked around for anyone he might know, preferably someone who lived in Fogstow and with whom he could catch a ride.
Although he knew no one inside the station, he did see an extended-cab truck wheel by with Cliff Holder behind the wheel and Bret Holder in the passenger seat. Even in a residential area, that wealthy old man still trucked through like it was his own personal racetrack. He always drove like he was in a hurry, and people had a habit of simply getting out of his way. He was cantankerous, ornery and downright greedy. He had his hand in just about every lucrative business in Jamison County and Cam had about as much use for him as he did for a tampon.
Although he had expected a lot of people from Fogstow out and about in Barrelton today for deer season, he would wait there another hour and a half before he would find a ride back into town.
It was Russ Morgan who finally pulled through and picked him up. Russ had his gun hitched on a rack behind their heads in the truck, and Cam noticed it when he hopped in. Can saw there wasn’t any dead game in his truck bed.
“No luck today?” Cam asked.
Russ wondered what he was talking about, and then realized Cam thought he had been hunting.
“Oh. No, I don’t hunt. Me and the old man just go out and shoot the guns on opening day.”
“Speaking of the old man, where is he?”
“I’m not one hundred percent sure, but he left the Elk’s dinner last night with Alice Konicke and never came home. I wasn’t brave enough to go to her house this morning to pick him up for the trip, so I just went alone.”
