A Small Town

Chapter Six\ The Barn Owl

He stood dumbfounded, his mouth hanging open with the greeting he had prepared still coiled in his throat like a cobra about to strike. He stared at the petite girl trying to find some hint of recognition. She was an owl, a little barn owl that's what kept running through his mind. Her glasses made her eyes look huge. Her face was pleasant but plain with a small upturned nose and thin lips. Her hair hung lankly around her face, pin straight all the way to her waist like a sixties flower child. She wore a brown fuzzy sweater with an unflattering horizontal design that undulated across her chest camouflaging her already small breasts.

She laughed at his confusion, it was a small sweet laugh in no way mean-spirited, and let him off the hook.

"It's a small town, Mr. Baxter, word travels fast. Welcome to Primacy, the weirdest place on earth." She laughed again and he let out a breath and chuckled amiably.

"Thanks, nice to meet you..." Bax raised his eyebrows and she obliged.

"I'm Lisa, come on in." She said beckoning him out of the doorway.

Bax ambled in and let the door shut behind him. The little bell tinkled again and he looked around the small store. It was old like everything else in Primacy but homey. It was warm inside, so warm he figured if he stayed for more than a few minutes he would have to take his coat off to keep from sweating dark crescents into the underarms of his shirt. He wondered in passing how the young girl could stand wearing a sweater in here.

The place was narrow and deep. Shelves of books lined the walls creating a slim passageway towards the back of the store. Most of the volumes were old and dog-eared. He hadn't realized it was a used bookstore and found himself slightly disappointed.

"Looking for anything in particular," Lisa asked, noting his somewhat puzzled expression.

"Well – uh – do you have the new Stephen King," He asked.

She shrugged, "Sorry... it takes a few months for the new releases to make it up here."

Bax sighed inwardly, he had really been hoping to replace the lousy paperback he had brought before he left.

"No worries, what do you recommend?"

She thought for a moment, placing her index finger against her lips almost cartoonishly. Then she gave him a serious look and marched out from behind the counter. She walked halfway down the narrow aisle and pulled a thin paperback off of the shelf. Returning, she smiled brightly and handed him the book.

Bax took it and looked at the cover dubiously - 'Magnetawan Ontario – a History' – he made a face.

"Sorry, I'm not much of a history fan..." he said and made to hand it back to her.

She raised her hands still smiling. "Trust me, you like it. Lots of creepy things have happened around here. Better than any Stephen King novel because they're true."

He pushed it towards her again. "No really, it's not my thing..."

"I insist," she said shaking her head. Lisa put her hand on top of the book, their fingers touched and Bax felt the warmth of her skin. "Take it... read it... my treat. There's even a chapter about us."

Bax was perplexed for a moment. "Us? Oh, you mean Primacy."

"Sure," she said as she turned away from him and went back behind the counter. "You read it and if you like it, come back and buy me a coffee... deal?"

Bax was shocked. Was this girl asking him for a date? What the heck was going on? First Sara at the hotel and now this little mousy girl at the bookstore. Perhaps it was because he wasn't wearing his wedding ring anymore. At first not having the little gold band on his finger had made him feel oddly naked, but like anything else, he had quickly adjusted. Maybe he had finally become attractive to the opposite sex. Well better late than never he thought ruefully.

Her question still hung in the air and after a long pause – too long – he answered with an awkward lopsided grin. "... yeah... okay, sure!"

Bax almost ran out of the store, wondering suddenly if she had been serious. Could she have been joking... teasing him? If that was the case then he had just stolen the little book – the little book he didn't want but would read anyway just to please the barn owl with the big glasses and the fuzzy sweater.

He walked down the sidewalk half in a daze with no direction in mind. He passed the bakery and the hardware store with barely a glance lost in thought. Finally, he looked up and was surprised to find himself in front of the town hall again. Across the street was what he had initially thought was a small cemetery but now he realized it was actually a park. It was no more the fifty feet square, on one side was a tiny house that looked abandoned and on the other was an old church. The Church was what had made him assume the park was a cemetery.

At the centre of the park was an old wishing well. Its base was rounded and made up of irregular stones with grey mortar in between. Two white uprights rose up on either side of the well and held a small shingled roof. Between the posts, there was a small bar attached to crank around which was a sturdy rope tethered to a wooden bucket.

Bax had only ever seen pictures of this type of well. The bucket he knew could be lowered into the well to scoop up water and then cranked back to the surface. A lot of work for not much water, but such was the level of technology when the thing was built. He had to admire the people of those days, tough people who did what had to be done with grim resignation. There were times when he was too lazy to get up and get a drink from the tap, much less crank his arm off for a bucket of water.

The was a flash at the top of the well. Bax had been staring at the thing when it happened. A flash of something - a hand – was someone in the well?

He yelled, "Hey! Hey... I think someones in the well!" After a moment's hesitation, he took off across the empty street his heart racing. Jeff was no hero, but he couldn't let someone drown. He got to the well and leaned over the side feeling the soft tickle of a spiderweb across his face. He ignored it peering down into the darkness.

Nothing... at least nothing he could see.

"Hello!" He called down and his voice echoed back at him loudly. There was no answer, and he really hadn't expected there to be. It had been an illusion of course. The product of his overactive imagination. The same overactive imagination that made him think women were coming on to him all over town. That imagination had fed last nights dream and now he felt a terrible deja vu. He had been down a well in his dream. Had tried to climb out and there had been a woman down at the bottom. 

He screamed down into the well again in panic, "Help! Hello! Is someone down there?" The words echoed back again mocking him, then silence.

He felt suddenly foolish and looked around quickly expecting that a small crowd might have gathered to share in his embarrassment, but the street was still empty and with the boarded up buildings and closed stores it looked a ghost town. Then he heard the tinkle of a small bell and the sound of a door quietly closing.

He felt the heat rise to his cheeks as he realized she had seen. The barn owl had seen and certainly wouldn't want to have coffee with him now.

He closed his eyes and sighed loudly. 'Damn! I can't wait to get out of this shit hole!' he thought vehemently. 

Bax shoved the little book into his back pocket angrily and began the long walk to Bob Kout's Garage.