Nothing. She still felt someone was there, but maybe not.
"Angie?" She shuffled forward again, holding her throbbing right hand--her fingers were going to swell, she thought they were swelling already--against her side. She held her left hand out before her, feeling the dark air. "Angie, please be there! My mother's dead, it's not a joke, Mrs. Shumway told me and she doesn't joke, I need you!"
The day had started so well. She'd been up early (well ... ten; early for her) and she'd had no intention of blowing off work. Then Samantha Bushey had called to say she'd gotten some new Bratz on eBay and to ask if Dodee wanted to come over and help torture them. Bratz-torture was something they'd gotten into in high school--buy them at yard sales, then hang them, pound nails into their stupid little heads, douse them with lighter fluid and set them on fire--and Dodee knew they should have grown out of it, they were adults now, or almost. It was kid-stuff. Also a little creepy, when you really thought about it. But the thing was, Sammy had her own place out on the Motton Road--just a trailer, but all hers since her husband had taken off in the spring--and Little Walter slept practically all day. Plus Sammy usually had bitchin weed. Dodee guessed she got it from the guys she partied with. Her trailer was a popular place on the weekends. But the thing was, Dodee had sworn off weed. Never again, not since all that trouble with the cook. Never again had lasted over a week on the day Sammy called.
"You can have Jade and Yasmin," Sammy coaxed. "Also, I've got some great you-know." She always said that, as if someone listening in wouldn't know what she was talking about. "Also, we can you-know."
Dodee knew what that you-know was, too, and she felt a little tingle Down There (in her you-know), even though that was also kid-stuff, and they should have left it behind long ago.
"I don't think so, Sam. I have to be at work at two, and--"
"Yasmin awaits," Sammy said. "And you know you hate dat bitch."
Well, that was true. Yasmin was the bitchiest of the Bratz, in Dodee's opinion. And it was almost four hours until two o'clock. Further and, if she was a little late, so what? Was Rose going to fire her? Who else would work that shit job?
"Okay. But just for a little while. And only because I hate Yasmin."
Sammy giggled.
"But I don't you-know anymore. Either you-know."
"Not a problem," Sammy said. "Come quick."
So Dodee had driven out, and of course she discovered Bratz-torture was no fun if you weren't a little high, so she got a little high and so did Sammy. They collaborated on giving Yasmin some drain-cleaner plastic surgery, which was pretty hilarious. Then Sammy wanted to show her this sweet new camisole she'd gotten at Deb, and although Sam was getting a little bit of a potbelly, she still looked good to Dodee, perhaps because they were a little bit stoned--wrecked, in fact--and since Little Walter was still asleep (his father had insisted on naming the kid after some old bluesman, and all that sleeping, yow, Dodee had an idea Little Walter was retarded, which would be no surprise given the amount of rope Sam had smoked while carrying him), they ended up getting into Sammy's bed and doing a little of the old you-know. Afterward they'd fallen asleep, and when Dodee woke up Little Walter was blatting--holy shit, call NewsCenter 6--and it was past five. Really too late to go in to work, and besides, Sam had produced a bottle of Johnnie Walker Black, and they had one-shot two-shot three-shot-four, and Sammy decided she wanted to see what happened to a Baby Bratz in the microwave, only the power was out.
Dodee had crept back to town at roughly sixteen miles an hour, still high and paranoid as hell, constantly checking the rearview mirror for cops, knowing if she did get stopped it would be by that redhaired bitch Jackie Wettington. Or her father would be taking a break from the store and he'd smell the booze on her breath. Or her mother would be home, so tired out from her stupid flying lesson that she had decided to stay home from the Eastern Star Bingo.
Please, God, she prayed. Please get me through this and I'll never you-know again. Either you-know. Never in this life.
God heard her prayer. Nobody was home. The power was out here too, but in her altered state, Dodee hardly noticed. She crept upstairs to her room, shucked out of her pants and shirt, and laid down on her bed. Just for a few minutes, she told herself. Then she'd put her clothes, which smelled of ganja, in the washer, and put herself in the shower. She smelled of Sammy's perfume, which she must buy a gallon at a time down at Burpee's.
Only she couldn't set the alarm with the power out and when the knocking at the door woke her up it was dark. She grabbed her robe and went downstairs, suddenly sure that it would be the redheaded cop with the big boobs, ready to put her under arrest for driving under the influence. Maybe for crack-snacking, too. Dodee didn't think that particular you-know was against the law, but she wasn't entirely sure.
It wasn't Jackie Wettington. It was Julia Shumway, the editor-publisher of the Democrat. She had a flashlight in one hand. She shined it in Dodee's face--which was probably puffed with sleep, her eyes surely still red and her hair a haystack--and then lowered it again. Enough light kicked up to show Julia's own face, and Dodee saw a sympathy there that made her feel confused and afraid.
"Poor kid," Julia said. "You don't know, do you?"
"Don't know what?" Dodee had asked. It was around then that the parallel universe feeling had started. "Don't know what ?"
And Julia Shumway had told her.
6
"Angie? Angie, please !"
Fumbling her way up the hall. Hand throbbing. Head throbbing. She could have looked for her father--Mrs. Shumway had offered to take her, starting at Bowie Funeral Home--but her blood ran cold at the thought of that place. Besides, it was Angie that she wanted. Angie who would hug her tight with no interest in the you-know. Angie who was her best friend.
A shadow came out of the kitchen and moved swiftly toward her.
"There you are, thank God!" She began to sob harder, and hurried toward the figure with her arms outstretched. "Oh, it's awful! I'm being punished for being a bad girl, I know I am!"
The dark figure stretched out its own arms, but they did not enfold Dodee in a hug. Instead, the hands at the end of those arms closed around her throat.
THE GOOD OF THE TOWN, THE GOOD OF THE PEOPLE
1
Andy Sanders was indeed at the Bowie Funeral Home. He had walked there, toting a heavy load: bewilderment, grief, a broken heart.
He was sitting in Remembrance Parlor I, his only company in the coffin at the front of the room. Gertrude Evans, eighty-seven (or maybe eighty-eight), had died of congestive heart failure two days before. Andy had sent a condolence note, although God knew who'd eventually receive it; Gert's husband had died a decade ago. It didn't matter. He always sent condolences when one of his constituents died, handwritten on a sheet of cream stationery reading FROM THE DESK OF THE FIRST SELECTMAN. He felt it was part of his duty.
Big Jim couldn't be bothered with such things. Big Jim was too busy running what he called "our business," by which he meant Chester's Mill. Ran it like his own private railroad, in point of fact, but Andy had never resented this; he understood that Big Jim was smart. Andy understood something else, as well: without Andrew DeLois Sanders, Big Jim probably couldn't have been elected dog-catcher. Big Jim could sell used cars by promising eye-watering deals, low-low financing, and premiums like cheap Korean vacuum cleaners, but when he'd tried to get the Toyota dealership that time, the company had settled on Will Freeman instead. Given his sales figures and location out on 119, Big Jim hadn't been able to understand how Toyota could be so stupid.
Andy could. He maybe wasn't the brightest bear in the woods, but he knew Big Jim had no warmth. He was a hard man (some--those who'd come a cropper on all that low-low financing, for instance--would have said hardhearted), and he was persuasive, but he was also chilly. Andy, on the other hand, had warmth to spare. When he went around town at election time, Andy told folks that he and Big Jim were like the Doublemint Twins, or Click and Clack, or peanut butt
er and jelly, and Chester's Mill wouldn't be the same without both of them in harness (along with whichever third happened to be currently along for the ride--right now Rose Twitchell's sister, Andrea Grinnell). Andy had always enjoyed his partnership with Big Jim. Financially, yes, especially during the last two or three years, but also in his heart. Big Jim knew how to get things done, and why they should be done. We're in this for the long haul, he'd say. We're doing it for the town. For the people. For their own good. And that was good. Doing good was good.
But now ... tonight ...
"I hated those flying lessons from the first," he said, and began to cry again. Soon he was sobbing noisily, but that was all right, because Brenda Perkins had left in silent tears after viewing the remains of her husband and the Bowie brothers were downstairs. They had a lot of work to do (Andy understood, in a vague way, that something very bad had happened). Fern Bowie had gone out for a bite at Sweetbriar Rose, and when he came back, Andy was sure Fern would kick him out, but Fern passed down the hall without even looking in at where Andy sat with his hands between his knees and his tie loosened and his hair in disarray.
Fern had descended to what he and his brother Stewart called "the workroom." (Horrible; horrible!) Duke Perkins was down there. Also that damned old Chuck Thompson, who maybe hadn't talked his wife into those flying lessons but sure hadn't talked her out of them, either. Maybe others were down there, too.
Claudette for sure.
Andy voiced a watery groan and clasped his hands together more tightly. He couldn't live without her; no way could he live without her. And not just because he'd loved her more than his own life. It was Claudette (along with regular, unreported, and ever larger cash infusions from Jim Rennie) who kept the drugstore going; on his own, Andy would have run it into bankruptcy before the turn of the century. His specialty was people, not accounts and ledgers. His wife was the numbers specialist. Or had been.
As the past perfect clanged in his mind, Andy groaned again.
Claudette and Big Jim had even collaborated on fixing up the town's books that time when the state audited them. It was supposed to be a surprise audit, but Big Jim had gotten advance word. Not much; just enough for them to go to work with the computer program Claudette called MR. CLEAN. They called it that because it always produced clean numbers. They'd come out of that audit shiny side up instead of going to jail (which wouldn't have been fair, since most of what they were doing--almost all, in fact--was for the town's own good).
The truth about Claudette Sanders was this: she'd been a prettier Jim Rennie, a kinder Jim Rennie, one he could sleep with and tell his secrets to, and life without her was unthinkable.
Andy started to tear up again, and that was when Big Jim himself put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed. Andy hadn't heard him come in, but he didn't jump. He had almost expected the hand, because its owner always seemed to turn up when Andy needed him the most.
"I thought I'd find you here," Big Jim said. "Andy--pal--I'm just so, so sorry."
Andy lurched to his feet, groped his arms around Big Jim's bulk, and began to sob against Big Jim's jacket. "I told her those lessons were dangerous! I told her Chuck Thompson was a jackass, just like his father!"
Big Jim rubbed his back with a soothing palm. "I know. But she's in a better place now, Andy--she had dinner with Jesus Christ tonight--roast beef, fresh peas, mashed with gravy! How's that for an awesome thought? You hang onto that. Think we should pray?"
"Yes!" Andy sobbed. "Yes, Big Jim! Pray with me!"
They got on their knees and Big Jim prayed long and hard for the soul of Claudette Sanders. (Below them, in the workroom, Stewart Bowie heard, looked up at the ceiling, and observed: "That man shits from both ends.")
After four or five minutes of we see through a glass darkly and when I was a child I spake as a child (Andy didn't quite see the relevance of that one, but didn't care; it was comforting just to be kneebound with Big Jim), Rennie finished up--"ForJesussakeamen"--and helped Andy to his feet.
Face-to-face and bosom to bosom, Big Jim grasped Andy by the upper arms and looked into his eyes. "So, partner," he said. He always called Andy partner when the situation was serious. "Are you ready to go to work?"
Andy stared at him dumbly.
Big Jim nodded as if Andy had made a reasonable (under the circumstances) protest. "I know it's hard. Not fair. Inappropriate time to ask you. And you'd be within your rights--God knows you would--if you were to bust me one right in the cotton-picking chops. But sometimes we have to put the welfare of others first--isn't that true?"
"The good of the town," Andy said. For the first time since getting the news about Claudie, he saw a sliver of light.
Big Jim nodded. His face was solemn, but his eyes were shining. Andy had a strange thought: He looks ten years younger. "Right you are. We're custodians, partner. Custodians of the common good. Not always easy, but never unnecessary. I sent the Wettington woman to hunt up Andrea. Told her to bring Andrea to the conference room. In handcuffs, if that's what it takes." Big Jim laughed. "She'll be there. And Pete Randolph's making a list of all the available town cops. Aren't enough. We've got to address that, partner. If this situation goes on, authority's going to be key. So what do you say? Can you suit up for me?"
Andy nodded. He thought it might take his mind off this. Even if it didn't, he needed to make like a bee and buzz. Looking at Gert Evans's coffin was beginning to give him the willies. The silent tears of the Chief's widow had given him the willies, too. And it wouldn't be hard. All he really needed to do was sit there at the conference table and raise his hand when Big Jim raised his. Andrea Grinnell, who never seemed entirely awake, would do the same. If emergency measures of some sort needed to be implemented, Big Jim would see that they were. Big Jim would take care of everything.
"Let's go," Andy replied.
Big Jim clapped him on the back, slung an arm over Andy's thin shoulders, and led him out of the Remembrance Parlor. It was a heavy arm. Meaty. But it felt good.
He never even thought of his daughter. In his grief, Andy Sanders had forgotten her entirely.
2
Julia Shumway walked slowly down Commonwealth Street, home of the town's wealthiest residents, toward Main Street. Happily divorced for ten years, she lived over the offices of the Democrat with Horace, her elderly Welsh Corgi. She had named him after the great Mr. Greeley, who was remembered for a single bon mot--"Go West, young man, go West"--but whose real claim to fame, in Julia's mind, was his work as a newspaper editor. If Julia could do work half as good as Greeley's on the New York Trib, she would consider herself a success.
Of course, her Horace always considered her a success, which made him the nicest dog on earth, in Julia's book. She would walk him as soon as she got home, then enhance herself further in his eyes by scattering a few pieces of last night's steak on top of his kibble. That would make them both feel good, and she wanted to feel good--about something, anything--because she was troubled.
This was not a new state for her. She had lived in The Mill for all of her forty-three years, and in the last ten she liked what she saw in her hometown less and less. She worried about the inexplicable decay of the town's sewer system and waste treatment plant in spite of all the money that had been poured into them, she worried about the impending closure of Cloud Top, the town's ski resort, she worried that James Rennie was stealing even more from the town till than she suspected (and she suspected he had been stealing a great deal for decades). And of course she was worried about this new thing, which seemed to her almost too big to comprehend. Every time she tried to get a handle on it, her mind would fix on some part that was small but concrete: her increasing inability to place calls on her cell phone, for instance. And she hadn't received a single one, which was very troubling. Never mind concerned friends and relatives outside of town trying to get in touch; she should have been jammed up with calls from other papers: the Lewiston Sun, the Portland Press Herald, perhaps even the New York Times.
Was everyone else in The Mill having the same problems?
She should go out to the Motton town line and see for herself. If she couldn't use her phone to buzz Pete Freeman, her best photographer, she could take some pix herself with what she called her Emergency Nikon. She had heard there was now some sort of quarantine zone in place on the Motton and Tarker's Mills sides of the barrier--probably the other towns, as well--but surely she could get close on this side. They could warn her off, but if the barrier was as impermeable as she was hearing, warning would be the extent of it.
"Sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me," she said. Absolutely true. If words could hurt her, Jim Rennie would have had her in ICU after the story she'd written about that joke audit the state had pulled three years ago. Certainly he'd blabbed aplenty-o about suing the paper, but blabbing was all it had been; she had even briefly considered an editorial on the subject, mostly because she had a terrific headline: SUPPOSED SUIT SLIPS FROM SIGHT.
So, yes, she had worries. They came with the job. What she wasn't used to worrying about was her own behavior, and now, standing on the corner of Main and Comm, she was. Instead of turning left on Main, she looked back the way she had come. And spoke in the low murmur she usually reserved for Horace. "I shouldn't have left that girl alone."
Julia would not have done, if she'd come in her car. But she'd come on foot, and besides--Dodee had been so insistent. There had been a smell about her, too. Pot? Maybe. Not that Julia had any strong objections to that. She had smoked her own share over the years. And maybe it would calm the girl. Take the edge off her grief while it was sharpest and most likely to cut.
"Don't worry about me," Dodee had said, "I'll find my dad. But first I have to dress." And indicated the robe she was wearing.
"I'll wait," Julia had replied ... although she didn't want to wait. She had a long night ahead of her, beginning with her duty to her dog. Horace must be close to bursting by now, having missed his five o'clock walk, and he'd be hungry. When those things were taken care of, she really had to go out to what people were calling the barrier. See it for herself. Photograph whatever there was to be photographed.