New Birds

Smoke Junction's Finest Part 22

Louis couldn't sleep. He lay next to Tilly, in the dark, drumming his fingers against his chest. Occasionally, he released an involuntary sigh. Farling's wish to protect Samantha and Marshall was apparent. But when he insisted on trekking back to town, a mere twenty minutes after arriving here, to arrange a gathering for first thing in the morning, it rattled Tilly and Louis some. Tilly thought a gathering was the last thing this situation needed. The quieter things remained the better in her opinion. Louis didn't fully agree. He wanted a gathering, but one with a little more preparation. He was worried about Farling's interpretation of what they were actually dealing with. This whole soul business was bound to sound rather farcical to the town's people, and the preacher already walked a fine line in that department.

None of what Farling had told them last night made much sense, but as far as auras go, whatever the preacher saw around Samantha and Marshall had impressed the hell out of him. Farling rarely showed his cards, but try as he might, he could not hold his big frame tight enough to minimize his growing excitement. Once Farling stopped spilling scripture onto them, he had opened his red book and wrote furiously along the margins of the pages for several minutes, Gripping its top spine in order to hold its bottom steady against his chest. As they stood waiting for him to speak again, Louis noticed how his pressed fingertips against the red cover looked like a wing tip. Did it really only take a couple of extra digits to give that impression. It was one of the many things keeping him awake at the moment.

"Tilly, you awake?" He asked, giving her back a gentle push.

She didn't answer but her breathing changed.

"I think I should go down. We wouldn't want Farling's story getting too ahead of itself," he said.

"You promised me. You'd stay on this side of the gate." She pulled the blanket up over her shoulder. In seconds her breathing grew deeper. She had returned to sleep.

Louis sighed again. The gathering would also give Louis an opportunity to warn the good people of Smoke Junction to stay off S.A.F.E. food. He could then hope for a trickle effect, which might take his warning to other towns. It would at least remove one burden from his shoulders.

As the night ticked away, he left the bed to pace throughout the pre-dawn hours. Tilly finally having enough, pulled the blanket up over her head. "Okay, go down, but I am not opening that gate if you return with company. I don't care if they have you hog-tied and gagged," she said from beneath.

He dressed quickly, leaving the house before she had a change of heart.

Before driving through the gate, he asked a tired looking Marshall to feed the storks after his watch. Marshall nodded, before pushing the gate close behind Louis.

Halfway to town, it began to rain. Rain was an unpredictable and seldom occurrence. But there had been a slight increase in annual rainfall these last two years. When it fell, it either came as a sky opening downpour lasting at the most several minutes, or a light drizzle that lasted a day or more. This morning though, it fell somewhere between drizzle and downpour. A steady but easy falling, enough so the view through his Hummingbird's windshield was no longer obstructed with a layer of dust, and neither from the rain that just cleaned it. Finally, a shiny example of the proper amount of rain for his single, one-speed wiper to contend with.

The town was quiet as he entered. The market was not yet opened. It's tin roof a shine with rain. He parked on the main road in front of Allison's tiny stone house. A twisted metal wreath hung from her blue door, just above the knocker. Her childhood home sat just behind it. It was similar in its style, just larger. One of its shutters hung from an odd angle and the front steps were now missing. Cameron, Allison's brother, still resided there. He was Smoke Junction's unofficial sheriff of sorts and had converted the house into a jail house. Allison was more or less his deputy, depending how well they were getting along that day. Louis reached up to touch each of the four raven feathers before stepping from his vehicle and into the rain. He headed down the stone path that led past Allison's house and to the side door of Cameron's office. It was also painted blue. Allison's handy work. Louis gave the door a light rap and waited for it to open. He was hoping to get Cameron on his side before Farling rung the town's bell, which would announce this impromptu gathering.