by Aimée Thurlo
“We really do need to elect a new mayor,” Gabriel said. “But nobody wants the job.”
“That’s no surprise,” Shadow answered, “and I can’t say I blame them. It’s a truckload of paperwork, and very little by way of rewards.”
“The problem goes deeper than that. Our town operates on the legend that holds us together—Flinthawk’s legacy. Most people believe there’s no need for something as structured as a mayor, because, one way or another, things will work out for us here in Four Winds.”
“Yes, but even so, there’s still day-to-day business that needs to be handled,” Marlee said.
“Sure, but convincing anyone that it’s worth their time is another matter. Our last mayor had money already, and needed the job to keep his own loneliness at bay. But there’s no one here now who has a need the job can fill. Until that happens, the post will remain empty, and the town council will keep trying their hardest to avoid any real responsibility.”
Marlee had always driven herself mercilessly, focusing on achieving whatever goals she set for herself. The way of thinking Gabriel had just described was as alien to her as the moons of Neptune. She had no equivalent, and no response.
Gabriel’s phone rang, and he grabbed it immediately.
“What’s going on? Slow down, Mrs. White.” He paused, then Marlee heard him add, “Yes, they’re both here.”
Giving his brother a questioning look, Lucas waited, his back erect, his shoulders tense.
“Shadow, you’re needed at the senior citizens’ center,” Gabriel said, hanging up. “Two of the people there became ill a short time after you left.”
Lucas glanced at Marlee. “Come on. You can help me document the onset of symptoms and gather information.”
“That may not be a good idea,” Gabriel said.
“Why not?” Marlee asked.
“Mrs. White also asked that you pick up the pies you’d dropped off. They think that somehow you’re responsible, and now everyone’s afraid to accept anything you’ve touched.”
The words cut Marlee to the quick. She’d visited these people once or twice a week for years, and looked on many of them as friends. “They think I put something in the pies?”
“No, nobody’s even touched them. Apparently after you left, Mrs. Gonzales got really sick and then Mr. Archuleta. What they’re thinking is that maybe the peddler put some sort of curse on you.”
Marlee exhaled softly. “Gabriel’s right,” she said to Lucas. “Maybe I shouldn’t go with you. It could make your job tougher, and these people are going to need treatment. The flu isn’t something the elderly can afford to ignore.”
Lucas’s eyes narrowed, and she saw the flash of something dark and dangerous there. “You’re going with me. I need an assistant, and nobody else has exactly jumped up and volunteered. It’s my job to treat them, and I’ll do just that, but I won’t let superstition dictate my actions. If they want a sacrificial goat, let them pick on someone besides you. I won’t stand for this nonsense.”
“It may be nonsense to you, Shadow, but it isn’t to them,” Gabriel warned. “I heard Mrs. White’s voice. That woman was really upset.”
“Then reason is the only thing that will change that,” Lucas countered.
“Reason only works when the mind is open to it. Fear denies reason as near as I’ve been able to tell, and is immune to it,” Marlee said.
“You can’t back away from this,” Lucas insisted, his eyes hard as they held Marlee’s. “In an attempt to be kind, you may be doing serious damage to your reputation—and to the people I’m trying to help. I need your help with the paperwork. There are times when a person should back off out of respect for another’s beliefs, but this isn’t one of them.”
Marlee knew that to Lucas, things were either right or wrong. There were no shades of gray. That was one of the qualities she admired most about him. He set a course for himself based on his highest sense of right, and followed it whatever the odds.
“Let’s see how it goes,” she said at last. “If their fear of the peddler and my connection to him prevents them from accepting the help you need to give them, then I’ll leave. It’s not worth the fight if it’ll endanger people.”
MARLEE AND LUCAS ARRIVED at the senior’s center a short while later. The atmosphere there had always been pleasant and friendly, but it was far from that today. From the mo-ment Marlee walked inside, she felt as if the temperature had suddenly dropped by fifty degrees. People refused to meet her gaze and moved back out of the way as she and Lucas strode down the hall, avoiding any chance of physical contact with Marlee.
As they reached the games room, Mrs. White took Lucas to Mr. Archuleta, the retired barber, who now lay on a cot against one wall. His breathing was shallow, and his eyes were almost closed.
As Lucas began questioning the patient while he took his vital signs, Marlee decided to collect information from those around him. She approached Sherry Stinson, a woman in her seventies who had knitted her a gorgeous set of slippers last Christmas.
The woman Marlee had always thought of as a friend backed away from her now.
“Wait. Don’t do this, -please,” Marlee said quietly. “What happened here was not my fault.”
“I’m not blaming you, but I am afraid of the peddler. I don’t trust anyone or anything associated with him.”
“He’s just an elderly Indian man.” She studied Mrs. Stinson’s face. The rational woman she’d known had vanished, hidden under deeply seated prejudices and fears.
“If you really want to help those who are sick, like Mr. Archuleta over there, you have to get involved. Talk to me, please?” Marlee pressed gently.
The expression in Mrs. Stinson’s dark gray eyes shifted slowly from wariness to acceptance. “I don’t know how much help I can be, but I’ll try. I was here when they both got sick. It started a few minutes after you left. Mr. Archuleta had just come in—he’d been with his grandson over at the high school watching him during basketball practice. We kept telling him to stay away, that too many kids were getting sick, but he wouldn’t listen.”
“What about Mrs. Gonzales? I didn’t think she got out much, except to come here and visit.”
“That’s true. I have no idea at all why she got sick. She’s the last person I figured would have a problem with this.”
Hearing someone moan, Marlee turned her head and saw Mrs. White clutching the back of a chair, swaying unsteadily on her feet. Marlee hurried to her side, and helped the woman sit down on a sofa.
“I’m sorry. I thought I could handle this. I’ve been feeling queasy, but it wasn’t bad, not until right now.”
As Lucas worked, Marlee recorded the events leading up to the onset of symptoms. There was only one common denominator that every one who’d become sick shared—the water. The center had just recently switched from their own well to using town water.
An hour later, Lucas and Marlee finished their work and left the center. “I’ve arranged to send blood samples over to the county hospital,” Lucas said. “I doubt I’ll get anything more specific than an elevated white count, but we’ll see. I just can’t shake the feeling we’re missing something extremely important, that the clue to what’s making people so sick is right in front of me.”
“You really don’t think this is the flu, do you?”
Lucas shook his head. “No. The symptoms aren’t quite right, and let’s face it, the flu proceeds through several stages that most people have experienced in the past and recognize. What we’re facing here comes on fast, then lingers on, without much change or development.”
As they pulled up in front of the boardinghouse, they saw Gabriel’s Jeep. He was standing on the front porch, waiting.
Lucas climbed out of the Blazer quickly. “Everything okay?”
Gabriel waited for them to join him on the porch. “Let’s go inside before talking. There’s been a new turn of events you should know about.”
Gabriel was silent until they were all seated i
n the living room. “We’ve got problems. The town council decided to call the governor, telling him that we didn’t have adequate medical help here. They threatened to call a press conference, contact federal officials and do whatever it took to make the state pay attention. They insisted the governor send help before whatever is making people sick here spreads to other communities.”
“What happened then?” Lucas asked.
“The governor ordered the state health department to send a doctor down, and they managed to get the same physician you’ve been consulting with, that doc from Santa Fe. He’ll assess the situation. If, in his opinion, it’s warranted, a doctor from the county hospital will be sent here until the crisis is over.”
“Fine. I can use the help.”
“So this doesn’t bother you?” Gabriel pressed.
“I didn’t say that. I think the town council should have consulted with me first, out of courtesy if nothing else. But my first concern is for those who are sick.”
“You can expect the doc either tonight or tomorrow morning. He’ll be staying here at the boardinghouse, of course.”
“I’ll get a room ready,” Marlee said, seeing Gabriel out.
Gabriel’s phone rang as he reached the door. Marlee watched his expression change from one of worry, to something much darker and infinitely more dangerous. “They’re doing what? I’ll be there shortly.”
Marlee felt a chill pass over her. Everything about Gabriel’s stance and expression told her a fight was brewing.
“We’ve got serious trouble, Shadow. I can use your help. There’s a group of families trying to leave town. Only right at the city-limit sign, near that big road cut in the hillside, there’s a bunch of men from the next town blocking the highway. They’re stopping anyone coming from Four Winds who tries to go through, and turning them back. The mountain roads are impassable, so there’s no getting in or out any other way. We’ve got two groups standing eye to eye, and half of them are women or children. Jake was coming back from his cabin and saw what was going on, so he called me. He’s still there trying to keep the lid on this situation, but from what he said, some of the out-of-towners are armed, and it’s getting nasty.”
“Let’s go, then,” Lucas said, following his brother out the door.
Marlee started to go with them, but Lucas stopped her. “No, you need to stay here in case the doctor shows up.”
“He won’t be able to get past their roadblock, and if people are hurt, you’re going to need an extra pair of hands—I’m it. Let’s not waste any more time.”
Lucas looked at Gabriel as Marlee strode to his vehicle. “If you don’t want her to go, then you better be willing to arrest her.”
“Women,” Gabriel muttered.
Marlee sneaked a quick glance back and saw the hint of a smile on Lucas’s face as he rushed to join her.
“IT COULD GET ROUGH, Shadow,” Gabriel warned, slowing down as they approached the row of cars parked on the road ahead.
People were gathered on both sides of a crude sawhorse barrier that ran across the narrow cut in the hillside. The roadblock effectively blocked the only way out of Four Winds during the winter.
“Jake’s a great ally,” Gabriel added, “but this isn’t a fight we can win by just smashing a few heads.”
“I know, and it’s too bad, because that’s just what I’m in the mood for.”
“Yeah, that’s why I figured I better say something now. I need you to stay cool, no matter what happens.”
Gabriel pulled over into the left lane and drove down the line of cars, stopping about fifty feet from the barrier. On the other side of the barrier, half a dozen armed men blocked the way, their vehicles parked a few dozen feet across the highway.
Gabriel, Marlee and Lucas stepped out of the Jeep, spoke to Jake and learned nobody had been hurt or threatened directly yet.
“This is not the answer, folks,” Gabriel said when he reached the barrier. “What’s going on here is illegal, unnecessary and dangerous. You all should go home before you catch colds.”
“Maybe unnecessary to you, Sheriff,” a young mother clutching a bundled-up toddler argued. “But we have a right to take our families out of Four Winds to someplace where they’ll be safe.”
“Then you’ll all have to fly or walk out through the mountains,” a muscular dark-haired man standing behind the makeshift barrier yelled out. “Your township ends here, and we’re establishing a county citizens’ quarantine at this roadblock. We’re not letting anyone from Four Winds come into the rest of the county. We’ve heard what’s going on over there. People are getting sick, and you have no idea why. You’re not spreading that over here.”
Lucas stood to one side of Gabriel, and Jake was on the other. His brother had one hand over the butt of his revolver, though Lucas knew he would never use it in a situation like this. “Listen to me, and listen carefully,” Lucas said loudly. “People are sick—a lot of them, I grant you that, but it’s flu season, so it’s to be expected. There’s no reason for anyone to panic, either, on either side of this hill. Nobody’s died—”
“Yes, they have,” the big man behind the barrier shouted. “We heard that a corpse was taken out of Four Winds and is slated for an autopsy. I saw the hearse myself, or at least my wife did.”
“What are you talking about?” Lucas demanded. “Nobody—oh, wait a minute. You’re talking about a man close to ninety years old, who passed away because of a bad heart. Why should anybody be surprised about that? And there was no autopsy ordered, either. His body was simply taken away to a funeral home. You can verify that in Santa Fe.”
“We don’t believe you,” the man answered. “And you’re not passing through.”
Lucas looked around him. Fear held all these people in a stranglehold. He captured the gazes of two women he’d known since high school. “Jenny, Lucinda, your kids are fine, and so are both of you. Why are you so frightened? Are you both willing to leave your homes and your husbands?”
“Our men have to stay and look after the livestock, but our kids need to be someplace where they’re safe from whatever is going around. I’m willing to believe that Mr. Simmons died of a heart attack, but you can’t deny that nobody’s getting better. This flu,” she said, almost spitting out the word, “if that’s what it is, just wears you down, taking away your will to fight it. I don’t want my kids exposed to this.”
“That’s real touching, but what about the rest of the citizens? You want your kid safe,” the man by the barrier shouted, “but you’re willing to risk spreading this illness to the rest of the county in the process.”
Lucas glanced over the man. He was over six foot six and looked as if he could have taken on Gabriel despite his brother’s police training. It might take two of them just to make an arrest, and that would leave only Jake to deal with the others. The odds weren’t good. He wished Tree were with them now. He could make any man back up.
“Our quarantine stands. None of you are coming any further down this road, so you might as well all go home,” the man said, a smug look on his face.
Gabriel muttered a curse. “I’m going to have to get county and state police to help clear the roadblock. We’re outnumbered. Jake, Lucas, could you two try and get our people back into their cars?”
Marlee, who had been noticing how people backed away from her, smiled wryly. “It looks like I can help you there. They don’t want to be anywhere near me. I can use that now to our advantage.”
As Lucas watched, Marlee did as she’d promised. When she approached the families, the mothers would quickly gather their children and hurry back to the cars. His gut wrenched knowing how their reaction hurt her, though she showed no sign of it. She had too much pride for that.
Suddenly they heard the reverberating blast of a truck’s air horn. The racket made everyone shift their attention to the road leading back to town.
“I’m coming through,” Bill Riley shouted through the driver’s-side window of his eighteen-wheeler.
“Get out of my way.”
The men behind the barrier stared at the truck, then most stepped closer to their own vehicles in the road. Marlee’s job suddenly became easier. People hurried back to their cars without much prodding. Nobody wanted to be in the way of a semi.
The burly man who’d been giving the orders from across the barrier stood his ground, and laughed. “I expected this.” He turned his head and waved to another man who stood halfway up the steep hillside.
Lucas’s instinct for danger kicked into overdrive. He saw a second man up on the hill move out of the shadows of a big rock overhang, unwinding a cord from what looked like a small reel. Lucas’s neck prickled, and an edgy feeling filled him as his senses became almost painfully alert.
“That looks familiar,” Jake said. “You don’t suppose they plan on doing something unbelievably stupid, do you?”
Lucas saw one man produce a small flame, probably from a lighter, and light the cord. “He’s got explosives!”
“Get everyone back!” Gabriel shouted to Lucas, then turned and ran for the hillside.
“Clear the road unless you have a death wish,” the man behind the barrier said.
The people who remained outside panicked, and scrambled for their cars. Lucas heard a little boy scream as he got separated from his mother. The next instant, Marlee grabbed him and, lifting him off the ground, ran toward the cars, locating his mother in seconds.
Lucas’s chest swelled with pride and another feeling he didn’t want to define as he watched Marlee risk herself to help the people who’d treated her so badly minutes before. He fought the desire to go to her side and pull her into his arms right there and then in front of everyone.
Hearing Jake call and realizing he was needed elsewhere immediately, Lucas ran back toward the barrier. Jake was trying to direct traffic as people started their cars at once.
“You’ll never make it in time, Sheriff. If you don’t want this place to become your grave, you’d better slide back down that hill and run for it. This whole area is going to be filled with rubble in thirty seconds,” the burly man called out, and began to back his truck away rapidly.