The Fairies of Sadieville

by Alex Bledsoe

  C.C. thought it over and shook his head. “No, I don’t recall anyone ever mentioning that. Coffee?”

  “Iced tea,” Veronica said politely. “For us both.”

  “Sweet or unsweet?”

  “I’m from Mississippi, where we don’t even know the meaning of ‘unsweet,’” she said.

  He smiled and nodded. “Coming right up.”

  After he was gone, Veronica leaned over the table and said in an urgent whisper, “That’s where I’d heard of the Tufa before. Remember in Dr. Tully’s office, I said I had some vague memory of them? It was from that musical. Chapel of Ease.”

  “What was it about?”

  “A ruined church haunted by ghosts from the Civil War, and a modern couple who kind of mirrored them. It would take too long to explain, but the important part is, all the characters were Tufa. I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before.” She shook her head. “So you think it’s really all been forgotten? Sadieville, I mean.”

  “I’d think something like that kind of sticks with you. Some places have whole museums for lesser disasters, or at least a roadside plaque.”

  “That’s a good point,” she agreed.

  “So there’s got to be someone around here who remembers.”

  As they looked over the menus, the group of old people began to talk again, their voices rising as they settled back into their normal rhythm. Then the bell over the door jingled, and a man entered with a little girl in his arms. He was clearly not a Tufa, as his sandy hair and pale skin testified, but the girl definitely looked like one.

  “Hey, Reverend Chess!” one of the old men said. “Morning to you.”

  “Morning, Garnett,” the newcomer said cheerily.

  “How’s little Miss Kell this morning?” Chester asked.

  The girl, who looked about three, had big eyes and a serious set to her tiny face. When she saw that everyone watched her, she buried her face in her father’s neck.

  “She’s fine,” Craig Chess answered. “She’s just got the shys. She’s going with me up to Miss Mary Delia’s place to deliver some groceries.”

  “You wanting some biscuits for her, then?” C.C. said as he emerged from the kitchen.

  “If you’ve got any fresh,” Craig said.

  “All ready to go,” C.C. said, and handed the paper bag over to the minister. As Craig reached for his wallet, C.C. said, “Your money’s no good here, Reverend. At least not when you’re doing such a nice thing.”

  “I appreciate it, C.C.”

  Kell looked up at the bigger man and raised her arms. C.C. obligingly took her, gave her a kiss on the cheek, and said, “Hi, there, Kell.”

  “Hi,” Kell said.

  “Are you helping your daddy out today?”

  The girl nodded vigorously.

  “Do you like visiting folks?”

  Another nod.

  “That is a sweet little girl,” one of the old men said sincerely. “Y’all are mighty lucky.”

  “We’re surely blessed,” Craig agreed.

  C.C. handed Kell back to her father. As he settled her in his free arm, she looked down at Justin. “Bye-bye,” she said without smiling.

  “Uh … bye-bye,” Justin said.

  Craig carried Kell and the biscuits out the door. The girl continued to look at Justin until she was out of sight.

  “Now what,” Justin said, “was that all about?”

  “Oh, I wouldn’t put any stock in it,” C.C. said with what sounded like forced casualness. “She’s just a baby. I’ll be right back with y’all’s drinks.”

  He was as good as his word. They each ordered scrambled eggs and hash browns. When the food arrived, it included two sausage patties.

  “We didn’t order the sausage,” Justin said.

  “Courtesy of Diamond Ike,” C.C. said. “It’s his extra touch for first-time diners. He claims the sausage is so good, you can’t help coming back for more.”

  “‘Diamond Ike’?” Justin said.

  “My cook. Well … that’s not—”

  “Yes it is,” a voice called from the kitchen. “I’m a cook.”

  C.C. leaned down and said conspiratorially, “He went to the Culinary Institute in Hyde Park, up in New York. But he doesn’t like to brag about it, so we can’t call him a ‘chef.’”

  “How did he end up here?” Veronica asked.

  “My boyfriend met him, and when he said he wanted to get as far from New York City as possible, Matt said he knew just the place.”

  “Tell me, C.C.,” Justin asked, “any idea where I might find out about Sadieville? Any kind of local historical society or anything?”

  “I’m afraid not. Closest library is in Unicorn, and there’s the special library in Cricket.”

  “What makes it special?”

  “It’s exactly like it was when the first settlers came to Cricket, back before the Civil War. You can’t actually check anything out; it’s kind of a museum.”

  “And the one in Unicorn?”

  “Oh, that’s a regular one. But if you’re looking for information about that town you mentioned, the person to see is Miss Azure.”

  Justin caught movement in the corner of his eye. The other patrons, who had returned to their own conversations, turned and openly watched. If C.C. had broken some code of silence by mentioning that name, though, he seemed unbothered.

  “Who is that?” Justin asked.

  “She’s a professor, specializing in folklore and local history. She lives by herself way out in the woods, but she knows everything about this area, all its history and mysteries.” He said the last with a small smile.

  “Do you have her number or e-mail?”

  C.C. was about to answer, then realized the others were watching. “You know, now that I think about it, I might’ve spoken out of turn. Miss Azure lives all by herself out there for a reason. When she’s not a guest professor at some college or other, she pretty much keeps to herself.”

  “Well … can you ask her if she’d talk to us?”

  Before C.C. could answer, a new voice said, “I can take you out there.”

  One of the men across the room stood up. Justin could’ve sworn that they had all been older men and women, but this one looked about their age, and was dressed in jeans and a baseball cap.

  He held up his phone. “I overheard you guys talking so I went ahead and texted her. Hope you don’t mind. She asked me to show you the way out to her place.” He smiled a wide, open grin. “Hi, I’m Tucker Carding.”

  “I’m Justin, and this is Veronica.”

  “Pleasure to meet you both.”

  “We appreciate the offer,” Veronica said, “but if you could just give us directions—”

  “You’d never find it,” Tucker said. “Would they, C.C.?”

  “No,” C.C. agreed, although there was an odd tone in his voice. “She does live way out there.”

  “I know what you’re thinking,” Tucker said lightly, “but I won’t take you out in the woods and skin you or anything.”

  They all laughed, but Veronica kicked Justin under the table.

  “So what do you say?” Tucker continued. “Take about twenty minutes to get out there.”

  Justin and Veronica exchanged a look. “I guess…” he said.

  “It’s nothing personal,” Veronica said. “It’s just…”

  “Here, take a picture with me.” He squatted down beside her, and Justin, not seeing any way out of it, took the picture. “Send that to someone you trust. That way if anything does happen to you, they’ll know who you were last seen with.”

  Justin saw no graceful way to refuse, so he sent it to Adrian with a quick explanation.

  “Ready to go, then?” Tucker asked.

  “Can we finish our breakfast?” Veronica said.

  “Sure. Just holler when you’re ready.”

  Tucker and C.C. walked back toward the kitchen doors. Veronica watched them talk softly, with an occasional glance their way. She said quietly,
“I do not like this, Sam I Am. I do not.”

  “We don’t have to go,” Justin said between mouthfuls of food.

  “How can you eat now?”

  “I’m hungry,” he said, pausing to put the woman’s name into his phone’s search engine. “Look, if you really don’t think it’s safe—”

  “No, I’m probably just being paranoid.” She cut her eyes at C.C. and Tucker. “What are they talking about, I wonder?”

  Justin looked up from his phone. “This must be her. Azure Kirby. Ph.D. in History, M.A. in English Literature. Currently on sabbatical after teaching at Appalachian State University. She’s real.”

  “That doesn’t mean they know her. Or that they don’t intend to rape and murder us.”

  “No, but it does seem less likely.”

  “Why would he offer to help, though? What’s in it for him?”

  “Maybe he’s just nice. Some people are.”

  “I guess you’re right. Besides, we’re here to find stuff out, aren’t we?”

  “We are. Now eat up.”

  “I’m not hungry,” she said honestly, still watching C.C. and Tucker. Whatever they discussed, it certainly seemed intense. “So are you going to ask them about the dinosaur?”

  “They’d think I was crazy, wouldn’t they?”

  “They would. First a disappearing town no one’s heard of, and then a dinosaur in the woods.”

  “They’re both real,” he said seriously. The words immediately recalled Doc’s words on the film can.

  “I believe you,” she agreed, still watching the two men talk.

  7

  At least the scenery was beautiful. But only Justin got to really enjoy it.

  Veronica had to focus on driving. It was fine while they stayed on the highway, but once they left it, it was all she could do to keep Tucker’s beat-up truck in sight through the dust it kicked up. The roads grew rougher and bouncier, and their guide showed no sign of slowing to make the passage easier for the newcomers.

  “I get no signal,” Justin said as he checked his phone.

  “Can’t help that,” Veronica said through gritted teeth.

  “Damn, honey. Shouldn’t you slow down?”

  “Tell him.”

  “Is he trying to lose us?”

  She flexed her fingers on the steering wheel and said, “He’ll have to try a lot harder if he is.” She was the unofficial tailgating champion of Lauderdale County, perfectly willing to ride the ass of rednecks who drove forty-five on Interstate 20. She squinted through the dust and trusted her instincts to keep her from driving off the road into a ravine, where they might never be found.

  “I’m getting worried,” Justin said. “And I need to pee again.”

  “The time for both of those was back at the cafe,” Veronica said.

  “I didn’t need to pee back at the cafe.”

  “Is your bladder the size of a thimble? Maybe you should see a doctor.”

  “I did. I told him I was having bladder-control issues.”

  “What’d he say?”

  “‘In that case, get off my new carpet.’”

  Tucker’s truck descended into a small hollow. Up ahead, over the treetops, rose a thin column of smoke.

  “Luke, I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” Veronica said.

  “Stay on target, Red Leader,” Justin replied.

  Tucker stopped so abruptly that Veronica almost skidded into his tailgate. Justin again checked his phone, but there was no signal, so his location app couldn’t tell him where they were.

  “Can you find your way back out of here?” he asked Veronica.

  “I sure hope so,” she said as she turned off the engine. “Do you see any sign of a house?”

  He shook his head.

  Tucker got out of his truck, stretched, and waved for them to join him. “C’mon, y’all. This is as far as the road goes.”

  As the dust from their passage settled, Justin and Veronica saw that the road dead-ended at a fence without a gate. A sign said PRIVATE, NO TRESPASSING. Beyond it was a clear grassy path between stands of thick woods. It disappeared over a low hill.

  “Y’all just keep walking,” Tucker said. “Stay on that path, and it’ll take you right to her. She’s waiting for you.”

  “You’re not coming?” Justin said.

  “No, I got to get back to town. People to do, things to see, you know? Today I’ve got to pull a four-wheeler out of the mud where somebody got it stuck. People think them things’ll drive on water, you know? But they don’t. They sink just like anything else.”

  “It says ‘no trespassing,’” Veronica pointed out.

  “Y’all ain’t trespassing. You’ve been invited.”

  Veronica tried to catch Justin’s eye, but he gazed off down the trail. He asked, “How far is it?”

  “Not too far.”

  “Let’s get our backpacks,” Veronica said.

  “What do we need—” Justin began.

  “Let’s get our backpacks,” Veronica said in her no-nonsense voice.

  “We’ll get our backpacks,” Justin told Tucker.

  Justin followed her to the back of their car. She opened the trunk and, when she was sure it hid them from Tucker, said softly, “I’m really not sure about this, Justin. What kind of college professor doesn’t have a driveway?”

  “One who values her privacy?” Justin said as he lifted her pack and passed it over.

  “We only have this Tucker’s word that this leads to her place. Hell, we only have his word that he actually texted her.”

  “It’s a pretty elaborate setup for a trap, don’t you think?”

  “Is it? Have you watched no horror movies in your life?”

  Justin shouldered his backpack. “You’re not in a negligee, so I’m not worried.”

  She put a hand on his arm and said seriously, “I am.”

  He paused to meet her steady, grim gaze. “All right, if you really don’t want to do this, we won’t.”

  She scowled. “No, I don’t want to be the reason you don’t get what you need.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes. But I reserve the right to say ‘I told you so.’”

  “You wouldn’t be you if you didn’t.”

  They joined Tucker at the fence. He said, “Just climb on over. Won’t take you ten minutes.”

  “Can we have your number in case we get lost?” Justin asked.

  “And Professor Kirby’s number,” Veronica added.

  He was already walking to his truck. “If you get lost, it’s because you’re walking backward with your eyes shut. Seriously, it’s right over the hill. And don’t call her ‘Professor Kirby.’ Here she’s just ‘Miss Azure.’” He got back in his car and started the engine. It was too loud for further conversation. He nimbly swung the vehicle around and drove off the way they’d come.

  When the sound of his departure faded, Justin turned to Veronica. “Let’s go.”

  They disturbed a flock of small butterflies feeding off a patch of wild yarrow just off the trail. Since the butterflies were as white as the blossoms, it seemed as if the flowers themselves launched into the sky and swirled around them before heading off into the woods. They reminded Veronica of the fluttering soul in The Devil and Daniel Webster, and so for a moment the bucolic scene took on faintly sinister overtones. After all, once she’d accepted the idea that the old movie might show a real fairy, then anything was possible. But her common sense reasserted itself, and forced her mind back to the moment; these were just insects drawn to the tiny flowers.

  “There’s a dinosaur,” Veronica said suddenly.

  Justin jumped. “Now that’s just mean.”

  As they walked, Veronica felt her apprehension drain away. The rolling mountains could be seen in every direction above the trees, their distinctive blue slopes making the horizon a series of waves. She felt the antiquity of the place, the weight of time and patience that the land itself must have had for the passing of eras. Once
these mountains had been tall and jagged; now they were not only smoothed down, they were covered with forests, like some great giant snuggled under a blanket. Only in rare places did bare rock present itself.

  “Man, this place is gorgeous,” Justin said.

  “It is,” she agreed. “I was just thinking that.”

  “Wonder what it’s like to grow up here?”

  “Different.” She really couldn’t imagine it.

  “Not too many blacks or Latinos around, I bet.”

  “Not with no jobs to be had,” she agreed. Then she pointed. “Hey. Look.”

  The wisp of gray smoke they’d glimpsed earlier rose straight up in the still air above the trees, only a short distance away.

  “Where there’s fire, there’s civilization,” Justin said.

  “Joan of Arc would disagree,” Veronica replied.

  Before long they smelled the odor of something delicious cooking. At last they emerged into a clearing, with a small cottage at the center. The house’s sides were made of round logs with some kind of white chinking between them, and the smoke rose from a tall stone chimney. The roof sported wooden slats and three solar panels. A small satellite dish was mounted in the corner. To one side was a garden filled with vegetables, and a Jeep parked in the shade of the trees.

  As they approached they also heard music: fast bluegrass with mandolins and steel guitars. A cat walked up to greet them and pressed itself against Justin’s legs.

  “Hello, there,” Veronica said, and knelt to pet it. “How are you? Aren’t you pretty?”

  They both looked up when the music stopped, and the front door opened. A woman stood there and watched them over the tops of her glasses. She wore a scarf tied tight around her forehead, with black hair falling down her back. She had crow’s feet and smile lines, but they couldn’t quite peg down her age. She was tall and slender, and when she saw them she said, “Hello. You must be the ones Tucker texted me about.”

  “Yes, ma’am. I’m Justin Johnson, and this is my girlfriend Veronica Lopez. I apologize for dropping by so unannounced.”

  “You were announced, you just didn’t do the announcing,” she said. “Come on in and have some tea.”

  They followed her inside. No lights were on; illumination came through the windows, casting the corners into shadows. Odors of flowers, cooking, and other, less identifiable smells filled it with a not-unpleasant homey atmosphere. An open laptop rested on the dining table.