Then Came the Thunder

by Rachael Huszar

  They weren’t far away, but the combination of a darkening sky, smoke, and the distorting orange glow of a campfire made it hard to see. As Jessalyn’s eyes adjusted, she saw the shapes of three figures moving around the fire. From her position, she couldn’t make out much more. She held her breath and listened closely.

  “. . . for this great blessing, we call upon you now,” said Ebenezer. The fire flared up suddenly. “Joseph, go ahead.”

  Jessalyn glanced back at Roger. He hadn’t joined them in trying to witness whatever the Founders were doing, but was standing stock still, listening. Ebenezer was Jessalyn’s friend, but Reverend Finley was Roger’s mentor. It had to hit differently.

  The reverend’s raspy voice floated through the gap in the rock. “Thank you, Ebenezer. Spirits of the earth and sky, you are benevolent as you are powerful. We humbly ask that your servant, the mighty Thunderbird, shelter us once more beneath its wings of water.”

  Thunderbird? Jessalyn looked to Roger again. His face was a mixture of shock and confusion. With just her eyes, she tried to ask, “Do you know what they’re talking about?” hoping it got across to him.

  Roger opened his mouth, then closed it abruptly, shaking his head and half shrugging.

  “Now you, Mamie,” came Finley’s voice once more.

  “Ugh, why do I always have to do this bit with the cow’s blood?” It was unmistakably Mamie Piper.

  “Three families, three verses. Pipers take the third, Mamie. You know that.”

  “Fine. Descend upon our home and there you shall find the boundaries of your blessing. In exchange for the life of the land, we offer you this life.” She spoke with none of the solemnity the other two Founders had carried in their voices, sounding distinctly bored.

  Mamie had moved closer to their side of the fire, and Jessalyn leaned out further for a better look. Mamie lifted up a bucket and poured its contents onto the fire. It was thicker and darker than water, and sizzled sickeningly when it collided with the flames. Dark smoke erupted from the fire pit, filling the air with a metallic tang.

  Blood. That had been blood.

  Lilah gasped. Audibly.

  Jessalyn reached down and pulled Lilah away from the gap, but it was already too late.

  “Who’s there?” called Mamie.

  “What? How could anyone else—”

  “No, I heard it, too,” said Ebenezer. “Show yourself!”

  Jessalyn, Samuel, Lilah, and Roger were frozen. Lilah’s hand was clapped over her mouth, and she looked nervously up at Jessalyn.

  Suddenly, all Jessalyn felt was annoyed. This was ridiculous. Creeping through the mountains, spying on the town Founders. For a moment, Jessalyn thought maybe she could simply walk back down the mountain path, return to her house, lock the door, and forget about all of it. The world had made sense just a few days ago.

  But this is what she had wanted. It was going to keep burning her, but she’d made a commitment to finding the truth.

  “Fine,” she said.

  “Jessalyn, wait—” hissed Samuel, but she ignored him, and stepped through the gap in the rock, into the ring of firelight. She heard the others follow behind her.

  Ebenezer, Finley, and Mamie stood in a row.

  “Jessalyn Joy? What are you doing here?” Ebenezer said, looking surprised, and a little upset.

  “I could ask you the same thing,” she said.

  Reverend Finley’s gaze was fixed on his apprentice. His withered hands were clutched around the skull of a bird. The same one that Jessalyn and Roger had found in the safe. “Roger . . .”

  “Reverend Finley, I . . . I don’t know what to say,” Roger managed.

  Mamie perched a hand on her hip. “What a gang we’ve got here! Samuel Brooks, you’re a sight for sore eyes. And you,” she looked at Lilah, “you’re a Templeton girl, aren’t you?”

  “Ebenezer Carson,” Jessalyn said icily, “what is this?”

  Ebenezer sighed and clasped his hands behind his back.

  Reverend Finley turned to his partner. “Ebenezer, we can’t just tell them.”

  “And what are our other options, Joseph?” Ebenezer asked. He gestured at the fire and the mountain landscape beyond. “We’ve been found out.”

  The reverend’s old eyes were darting nervously from face to face. “They could turn back now. Forget what they’ve seen.”

  Mamie made a noise that was more snort than laugh. She kicked over the bucket she’d set at her feet, the one that had held the blood. It rolled in a lazy half-circle, leaving a thin, dark trail behind in the dirt. “I don’t think it’s that simple.”

  “It’s time,” said Ebenezer.

  Still looking wary, Finley nodded.

  The mayor turned back to her. “This, Jessalyn, is part of our duty as descendants of the original Founders. Our families devoted themselves to keeping this town safe and prosperous, and that is a torch we must carry on.”

  “I don’t understand,” said Jessalyn.

  All three Founders shared a glance, then the reverend stepped forward. “We three belong to the founding families of Three Willows, as I’m sure you know. But do you know the story of our town’s actual genesis?”

  “No,” Jessalyn said. Her friends likewise shook their heads.

  “Like most in those days,” Finley began, “our ancestors emigrated from the Old Country to this one, the New World, chasing dreams of freedom and prosperity. And, like so many others, they were met with dirty, crowded cities, illness, and poverty. There was no kindness to be had.”

  “But that was when opportunity knocked,” Ebenezer continued. “Rumors were spreading that the ideal life everyone dreamed of could be found out in the West, the unsettled land. The Carsons, Finleys, and Pipers were neighbors in the same cramped apartment building. They met and decided to band together to travel westward.”

  “Once they reached the end of the train line, they met a man who told them he could bring them further out, to a small settlement, newly begun, where they would be able to fit in and work right away. Happily, they agreed to go with him.”

  Mamie picked up the story. “But that man was a swindler and a crook. He led those poor souls out into the middle of the desert, robbed them of their belongings, and then took off in his godforsaken wagon.”

  “That’s horrible . . .” said Lilah.

  It was, but Jessalyn was waiting to hear how the tale connected to their current surroundings.

  “There was no chance for survival,” Ebenezer went on, “and no hope of rescue. No one else knew who they were or where they had gone. They tried to start walking, but were soon lost, thirsty, and dying.”

  A smile broke out across Reverend Finley’s face. “But then, a miracle happened. They came across this talisman.” He held out the skull, cradling it like a baby. “It was lying in the dirt next to a stone inscribed with the rune of the Thunderbird.” Finley traced the ink-stained carvings on the skull’s crest.

  “The what?” asked Roger.

  “The Thunderbird,” Finley repeated, “A great celestial being, the champion of storms. Roger, I know you’re familiar with the indigenous tales of the area. Surely you’ve come across the legends. You know it’s true.”

  Roger looked torn. “In passing, maybe, but, well—”

  Finley stared down at the skull, turning it over in his hands. “Somehow, through their own sheer will, or an act of mercy on the creature’s part, it descended upon the land, bringing with it a great storm. Almost before their eyes, the ground became lush and fertile with every kind of plant imaginable, and the water clean and plentiful. They knew it was a sign. They would set roots here, where the Thunderbird had saved their lives.”

  Jessalyn looked to Ebenezer, hoping to see something that would indicate he was indulging the reverend, playing along with his delusions, but the mayor looked absolutely serious.

  Samuel wasn’t as subtle. “This is ridiculous.”

  “Ridi
culous as it may seem, that spirit, and the rain it brings, are keeping us alive,” Ebenezer said. “Over time, as the town settled and it gathered the reputation of a safe haven for families, a way to communicate with the Thunderbird was developed. A ritual. What you’ve witnessed us doing tonight.”

  “Why?” asked Jessalyn. “What does the ritual do?”

  “The ritual calls the Thunderbird to us and reaffirms the boundaries set by our ancestors,” said Ebenezer. “We use that rune to mark out our land, I’m sure you’ve seen the symbol,” he nodded at Lilah. “If the sort of unnatural growth we have in town spreads too far, others would surely find it and get suspicious. We have to stay relatively contained. It’s a part of the mayor of Three Willows’ job to keep firm control over our residency to keep us all safe.”

  Reverend Finley looked up into the clouds. “We make this journey a few times a year. Between then, a simplified version is enough to call down the rains when they are needed. But this prosperity is not without cost. We must give back. And three or four cows a year is a price we can afford to pay.”

  “Are you saying this . . . Thunderbird has been responsible for the livestock attacks?” Jessalyn said.

  “Yes,” said Ebenezer. “But you have to understand. Before now, the offerings it took were always, well, spirited away. These mindless slashings, carcasses around town, that’s never happened before, and we’ve traveled here to find out why.”

  “What about Charlie?” Lilah’s shoulders were starting to shake. “Do you admit what happened to him wasn’t an accident?”

  Reverend Finley dropped his gaze. “That . . . was something none of us could have seen coming. And it has spurred us to solve this mystery once and for all. I’m actually quite glad you’re here, Roger. You possess the right imagination for this kind of thinking.”

  Roger looked pale. “When were you going to tell me, Reverend?” he said, shakily. “At what point in my training were you going to introduce me to your secret ritual of b-blood sacrifice?”

  “Calm down, Roger. That’s not what this is.”

  “Isn’t it!? Did you think you could pass this off as something Our Father would smile upon? This spirit, this power, it does not belong to us. You’ve taken this from someone, another people. Bound it to this town. Twisted it.”

  “Roger, you yourself explore outside your field of study,” said Finley.

  “Out of fondness and curiosity! Not with intentions to practice!’ Roger shouted. Jessalyn had never seen him this upset.

  “Who do you think led our ancestors to the talisman in the first place? Balance is the key, Roger. To take and to give.”

  “You must excuse me, for I still find this highly hypocritical.”

  Ebenezer took another step forward. “We promise. Now, you know everything. Perhaps, since you’re here, you can help us put the pieces of this situation together.”

  After unloading all that nonsense, he expected them to join in. Jessalyn stared at him, hard. “. . . I always thought you were a smarter man than this, Ebenezer.”

  “Beg pardon?”

  “You’ve always been kind to me, and honest. And now you want me to believe that this whole town is built on, what, smoke and mirrors?”

  “This is no show, Jessalyn.”

  “What else could it be?” she shot back. “Look at yourselves! Dancing around a fire with skulls and blood?”

  “And if this were a fraud, who are we fooling? Hm? Y’all followed us here. No one else is watching. If we weren’t telling the truth, why else would we be up here?”

  “I—I don’t know—” Jessalyn stammered. Ebenezer had a point. It couldn’t just be the reverend. All three of them believed in this. But it was all so impossible. She didn’t know what to make of it.

  “Kill it.” Lilah’s voice was small, but brimming with fury.

  “Miss Lilah?” said Roger.

  “This bird attacked Charlie, right? Finish the ritual. Bring it out here. I’ll kill it myself.”

  Reverend Finley raised his hands. “Like we said, that’s never happened—”

  “I don’t care!” Lilah shouted. “You’re doing all this hocus pocus to protect the town? Well, the town ain’t protected! Stock is dying! People are getting hurt! What makes you think you can decide what we can give up? Every cow you bleed out is food you’re taking out of someone’s mouth. How does that protect the town?”

  “Miss Templeton, it’s our duty as the Founders to think of the greater good—”

  “Bullshit! I don’t care about your traditions or your legends or your duties! Nothing. And no one. Touches my family.”

  Jessalyn could have applauded. Lilah was right. It didn’t matter what this was all rooted in, or what the Founders believed. It certainly wasn’t worth the spilling of innocent blood. That had to be stopped, and she would help Lilah do it.

  A pealing laugh echoed around the rocks.

  Ebenezer turned, confused. “Mamie?”

  Mamie wiped her finger beneath her eye, flicking away a tear. She was convulsing with laughter. “I’m sorry,” she wheezed. “Just watching you all scurry around like little rats! It’s hilarious! I never would have thought. One spark and there goes the powder keg!” She dissolved into more laughter.

  “What are you talking about?” asked Finley.

  Mamie walked towards Lilah, her hips swaying. “Such a passionate speech, little girl! I bet you’re feeling pretty proud of yourself, talking big, right? You’re so riled up, all of you.” She leaned down and patted Lilah’s head. “The big bad birdie isn’t your enemy, sweetheart. Believe me.”

  Lilah recoiled away from her touch.

  “Mamie, what are you saying?” Ebenezer said.

  She faced him. “Allow me to provide you some peace of mind, Ebenezer. The bird hasn’t gone rogue. The ritual isn’t failing. But I’m so glad you thought so, because that was exactly what I wanted.”

  Jessalyn felt her chest tighten. This wasn’t a part of the show.

  “I needed a reason to get the two of you up here,” Mamie continued, pointing at Ebenezer and Finley. “So, I tried to think of ways to make it look like the bird was out of control. Get your attention. But, I had no idea how that big chicken takes its kills, so I had to improvise.” She paused. “Knife wounds seem pretty similar to talons, don’t you think? Truth be told, I was never that great at skinning, but when you want to be found, it’s all right to be sloppy.”

  Ebenezer’s jaw dropped. “Don’t tell me you’ve—”

  “That’s right,” Mamie said. “I’ve been out at the ranches, in the dead of night, slitting cow stomachs, just hoping you would notice! But it wasn’t enough for you.” She pursed her lips in a mocking pout. “You’re so cruel, Ebenezer.”

  Reverend Finley looked just as shocked as the mayor. “Mamie, this is insane!”

  She rounded on him. “I’ll tell you what’s insane. It’s insane that you pretended nothing was wrong for so, so long. That’s what really drove me up the wall. What else could I do? I thought about making a scene closer to town, faking tracks, even hacked up a tree or two thinking that might turn your head. I thought, what was it going to get you to deviate from your precious datebook and lists? Was I going to have to murder somebody?” Slowly, Mamie turned to Lilah. “But then who should come toddling down the road late at night, with a storm in the distance, all by his little lonesome?”

  “No . . .” breathed Samuel.

  “Good God,” Jessalyn said, clutching her wrist.

  “You?” said Lilah, seething. “You attacked my brother with a knife? You broke his leg? How dare—! You’re a dead woman walking, Mamie Piper!”

  Lilah lunged forward, her arms outstretched.

  “Lilah, no!” Jessalyn grabbed the girl around the waist, holding her back. Lilah struggled, letting out growling screams, but Jessalyn didn’t relent. All the Founders might be crazy, but Mamie seemed . . . dangerous.

  “Jessalyn!” Samuel
yelled, moving to her side.

  A shot rang out.

  Jessalyn ducked instinctively, pulling Lilah with her. She felt Samuel throw an arm over her back, protecting her.

  Silence settled in once more.

  Mamie lowered the gun she had fired into the air. “There now. That’s better.”

  Ebenezer had his hands raised in surrender. “Why did you want us to come here, Mamie? What are you trying to do?”

  Mamie rubbed at a spot on the gun’s barrel. “Exactly what you should be doing, Ebenezer. Planning for the future. Y’all still don’t get it! You talk about the peace and quiet of Three Willows, but you don’t see! This is a ghost town in the making. A dead end. It can’t just be the same families forever, don’t you see that? You talk about the growth of the community, but all I see is people slowly dying. A town where nothing ever happens and nothing ever changes! I’m sick of it. I’m fixing to change things in a big way.” A curling smile spread across her face. “Now then. If I could have a moment of silence. I need to think.”

  “Th-think about what?” said Roger.

  “Y’all have thrown a big, fat wrench into my plan. I worked so hard to convince these two old idiots to haul their asses up here. Had to practice my sad face for when I returned to town to announce that they both fell in a tragic accident. I knew that six bullets would be more than enough for them. Now, however, I’m afraid I’m underprepared.”

  A chill ran down Jessalyn’s spine as she understood Mamie’s plan.

  Ebenezer’s face paled. “You . . . you were planning to kill us? Mamie, you can’t—”

  In three quick steps, Mamie was at Ebenezer’s side, pressing her gun to his temple. Her eyes flared with anger. “You’re not listening to me. You never have.” She pulled back the hammer. “I’m real tired of being told what I can and can’t do, Ebenezer. Let’s see that it never happens again, shall we?”

  “Mamie, wait—”

  BANG.

  Jessalyn squeezed her eyes shut. That hadn’t just happened. That hadn’t just happened.

  Roger and Samuel both yelled out. Lilah screamed.

  “On your knees! All of you, right here!” Mamie shouted.