| 2:48a |
@@@@@Shooting one of
these'd probably cost me
@@@@@Shooting one of
these'd probably cost me fifty grand and five
years in jail
"How did you know?" I asked"What does it matter? You told me to
shoot it if I saw itYou Lone Ranger, me Tonto
"But you had the gun out
"I had what Nan Melda might have called 'an
intuition' when she was putting on her Mama's
silver bracelets," Wireman said, unsmiling
"Something's keeping an eye on us, all right,
leave it at thatAnd after what happened to your
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daughter, I'd say we're owed a little helpBut we
have to do our part
"Just keep your shootin iron handy while we do
it," I said
"Oh, you can count on that
"And Jack? Can you figure out how to load the
speargun?"
No problem thereWe were a go for speargun
iii
The interior of the barn was dark, and not just
because the ridge of land between us and the Gulf
cut off the direct light of the setting sunThere
was still plenty of light in the sky, and there
were plenty of cracks and chinks in the slate roof,
but the vines had overgrown themWhat light did
enter from above was green and deep and
untrustworthy
The outbuilding's central area was empty save for
an ancient tractor sitting wheelless on the
massive stumps of its axles, but in one of the
equipment stalls, the light of our powerful
flashlight picked out a few rusty, left-over tools
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and a wooden ladder leaning against the back wall
It was filthy and depressingly shortJack tried
climbing it while Wireman trained the light on him
He bounced up and down on the second rung, and we
heard a warning creak
"Stop bouncing on it and set it out by the door,"
I said"It's a ladder, not a trampoline"Florida's not the ideal
climate for preserving wooden ladders
"Beggars can't be choosers," Wireman said
Jack picked it up, grimacing at the dust and dead
insects that showered down from the six filthy
st |