All the Devil's Creatures
Page 33
Geoff snapped his head to Willie and almost asked the little old man where he had learned mythology until saw the wisdom in his client’s eyes. When Willie spoke, he spoke not in the twanged staccato of the swamp rat but with an ancient power: “When Prometheus stole fire, Zeus said now you need two things: justice and reverence. We’ve done some amazing things with our fire. Problem is, we’re still lagging behind on the other two.”
Geoff did not respond but thought he understood Willie’s meaning. The Doctor’s crimes, like all the greatest crimes in the recent history of humanity, had resulted from awesome technology utilized unjustly, irreverently—detached from the old ethical constructs. He realized now that all the irrational, unscientific beliefs and practices he had long derided as mere superstitions served a purpose: vessels for those constructs, imparting justice and reverence.
And then he thought about New Orleans and the people there who seemed to sense the growing and spreading malfeasance, the near culmination of the Doctor’s nefarious work. T-Jacques Rubell. The women who had rescued Marisol. They did not know the truth of this place—of Texronco and Duchamp and Operation Moth Wing. But they had felt that gathering villainy like a change in pressure, as if the rending of their city had sensitized them.
Willie spat and rubbed his face. “Anyway, Joey’s changing. He’s still special. He heals awful fast, but he does bleed. And I get the feeling—I can’t explain it—but I know he can’t do those things with his mind like he used to. At least not as much. It’s like he’s growing out of it.”
Like he’s molting, Geoff thought. He could think of no scientific reason why the boy’s genetically engineered mind, and the nanorobotics infusing his body, would fade as he approached puberty. But then again, he had begun to question whether all they had seen at this place the previous spring had been mere science. He remained silent.
After a moment, Willie said, “Anyway, we haven’t been seeing our beasties like before, either. A crazy dragonfly from time to time, but the regular ones outnumber them. No orange lizards or rat-monkey things.”
“The excavation must be degrading their habitat. I wouldn’t be surprised if Texronco and the EPA don’t make sure those creatures get wiped out, come to think of it.”
Geoff heard a car door slam back by the house, and Willie said, “That’ll be more guests.”
They walked up to the yard and saw that Joey had gotten the fire going and the torches lit. As Willie worked the grease, and the fire kept the evening’s chill at bay, more cars arrived carrying guests to partake this great tradition, the Saturday night fish fry. Mr. and Mrs. Hargrave, the district attorney and his wife, arrived in their Cadillac and contributed a homemade pie to the feast, made from the peaches of their family orchard. At some point Bubba McGee the roadhouse owner showed up—a friendly man Geoff knew by reputation but whom he had not met in person before that night. Then the fish sizzled and popped in the oil and they ate them whole, cleaning the meat off the bones with their teeth. They ate them with homemade tomato relish, pickled okra, sliced raw onion, white bread, and black-eyed peas. And the gentle nocturnal animal sounds of the woods and the lake serenaded them.
After the group had dined and laughed and told many tales of growing up in that verdant place, the sheriff retrieved his guitar, and Bubba revealed his gift to the evening: a bottle of fine Kentucky bourbon.
“This here’s special reserve. Just got a case in this week.”
They all sipped whiskey, Geoff’s first sip of hard liquor since the horrible night he learned of Eileen’s murder, and it tasted good; it tasted right, as if his mind and his spirit had healed enough to not only withstand but to draw strength from the tonic. They sat by the fire and sang along to Seastrunk’s guitar picking. Joey tacitly stoked the flames with a hickory branch, and Geoff read in the boy’s wry expression bemusement at the uproarious grown-up party he had the privilege of observing. Then he looked into the gloom that surrounded them, and he did not feel at home in that secluded place. But with stars as bright as he had ever seen piercing the sky through the trees, with the guitar playing tunes born of the many cultures that had occupied that land, with the scent of the pines cutting through the lingering homey smell of fried catfish, and with good liquor imbibed in the spirit of community, Geoff did feel at ease.
The End
Acknowledgements
I received invaluable guidance in crafting this, my first novel, through Southern Methodist University’s Creative Writing Program. I am particularly grateful to Suzanne Frank and Daniel J. Hale; they have gone beyond their teaching duties to offer good counsel and support over the past three years. I also owe a debt of gratitude to the many wonderful writers I met through the program who offered critiques of portions of this book, including Jenny Timberlake Bellamy, Larry Gustafson, Rebecca Elkins, Kevin Thomason, Anne Miano, Angie Nichols, Eric Maloy, and Dinu Popa.
Others also were kind enough to read various early drafts. They didn’t have to do it; it wasn’t necessarily fun to do it. But it was extremely helpful to me. So thank you: Irene Lee, Ellen Miller, Edith Koke Thomas, Joan Thomas, and Aaron Taylor.
Finally, this book never would have come together without Koke, my muse and cheerleader. And of course Aubrey, my greatest inspiration.
It’s been a fascinating journey, and it’s only just begun.
Copyright © 2012 J.D. Barnett
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission of the authors.
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writers’ imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or actual events, locals or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Acknowledgements
Copyright