American Crow (18 page)

I got up and joined her in the kitchen.

‘And what did she say about
him
?’

‘That he was fun to be around, you know,
all the usual girly talk.’

I eyed Nancy from head to toe and took
the fresh coffee she’d poured for me, wishing for once that I wasn’t on a case.

‘Okay, and was there anything else?’

‘No. Well, she did ask me if I’d seen some
other girl who was missing. A girl called, Mellissa Robertson. I said no, and
that was that.’

‘Right...’ I said finding the coincidence
interesting.

‘What
is
your first name, Blake?’
she asked suddenly, eyebrow raised.

‘Blake.’

‘And your second?’ she pushed.

‘Blake,’ I replied with a smile.

Chapter Seventeen

‘lights’

I
woke up thinking I was dreaming; believing some alien craft
had landed outside and was beaming its lights into the building so as to convey
a message for all humanity.

I edged up onto my elbows and watched
bleary-eyed as a multitude of bulbs flashed on and off, moved closer, then
became more intense as they probed through the slats of the wooden blinds above
me, scanning the attic in broken bands of light.

‘Blake...’ Nancy whispered from the other
side of the room. ‘Are you awake?’

‘Sure.’

‘Can you see them?’

‘Yeah, there’s two trucks out there - a
couple of guys in each cab and a few on the back, working the lights from the
rails.’

‘Maybe they know I’m back? Or that you’re
here?’

I listened to the heavy growl of the
pick-ups revving menacingly. 

‘Is there a gun in the house?’ I said.

‘Martha’s got one, but she doesn’t like
to stoop to their level. They’re just scare tactics anyhow. We’ve had it before
from the mining people over various protests.’

The trucks pulled back and faded into the
darkness, their headlights switched off as they reversed. It reminded me of my
ordeal in the forest, made me think it was Corrigan’s men who had returned.

‘They’re going,’ I said groggily,
desperate for a full night’s sleep.

‘They’ll be back.’

As if on cue, an object smashed through
the window. Instinctively I threw myself to the floor between the single beds. I
shouted at Nancy to do the same. Another rock rapidly followed the last,
clattering against the rear wall, sending a framed picture careering to the
floor, showering us in pointed shards of glass. I pulled Nancy tightly into my
chest, trying to protect her face, hoping the madness would quickly end.

Then there was gunfire, the sound of a
shotgun to be exact; both barrels booming in quick succession. I crawled up
onto the bed and peered tentatively through the busted slats, worried about
Martha’s safety, worried about more projectiles heading our way, then looked
down to see her standing defiantly outside, gun in hand, silhouetted in the
moonlight like a cowgirl about to make her last stand.

Then everything went quiet. Stalemate.

‘Shit...’ I muttered under my breath,
thinking I was going to have to intervene again, like I’d done with the bikers
back in Minnesota.

The pick-ups’ headlights came back on
again as if reading my mind, forcing Martha to raise a hand to her eyes to
shield them from their halogen glare. She took a step back and slid a couple
more shells into their chambers, then raised the barrel in the air as if to
fire straight at them. The headlights went off in response. Martha lowered the
gun slowly.

Gradually the trucks edged back into the
shadows then disappeared completely from view, as if they’d never been there. I
got dressed and rushed down to the kitchen as Martha stomped through the door
angrily. She looked ruffled, but reasonably calm considering.

‘You alright?’ I said.

‘Sure. Usually I won’t let those damned
rednecks get to me, but throwing rocks was one step too far this time. You two
okay?’

‘We’re fine, though the room’s a bit of a
mess.’

‘Thank the Lord for that...’

‘What did they want?’ I pushed.

‘Not sure. They know Nancy stays here a
lot, so maybe they’re trying to intimidate us again, make life uncomfortable
for her while she’s building the Black Mountain case against them.’

She placed the gun carefully down on a
side table then produced a bottle of homemade spirits from a drawer.

‘Want some?’

‘Sure,’ I said, wondering if the
intimidation was just for my own benefit.

I took a few mouthfuls of the moonshine
and felt the burn.

‘I like it,’ I said as soon I could
speak.

‘Damn right. I made it meeself.’

‘There’s not much you can’t do eh,
Martha?’ Nancy said, joining us.

I eyed her figure through the flimsy
night-shirt and felt a pang of attraction, then pulled my eyes away
diplomatically.

‘You folks better take one of the rooms
downstairs.’

‘What about the guests? I can’t believe
that they didn’t wake up too,’ Nancy said, yawning.

‘One lot cancelled and Ted’s in the
other, and he sleeps like a rock when he’s drunk. You two love-birds were well
asleep by the time I knew about the cancellation so I let you be, though I
wished I’d woken you up now. You’re sure you’re both alright?’

‘I gotta few tiny cuts on my feet, but it
doesn’t feel like there’s anything lodged in them,’ Nancy said lifting the sole
of one foot to her knee, revealing a flash of her lemon knickers.

‘How bowt youz?’ Martha said, looking me
up and down.

‘Yeah, the same…but nothing that can’t
wait until morning.’

‘You two are gunna have to share a
bed…you okay with that?’ she said with a wry smile.

‘Sure,’ Nancy said, heading straight for
the door.

Martha tapped me on the buttock as I
followed, chuckling to herself. As soon as I’d shut the door I heard the bed
springs depress in the dark.

‘You gunna just stand there by the door
all night, or are you coming over to help me warm this damned bed?’ Nancy’s
said playfully.

I edged my way over to where the voice
had emanated and slipped in beside her, half-expecting to feel her back pressed
coyly against mine. Instead, I felt her arms reach out for me, beckoning me to
turn.

‘It’s been a long time since I’ve shared
a bed with anyone,’ she whispered, her lips brushing against my shoulder.

‘Me too,’ I replied, enjoying the
softness of her skin against mine. ‘Do you think those guys came up here
because of the case your building against them, or because of the girl?’

‘I’m not sure, Blake. Who knows what’s
going on in the minds of those degenerates.’ 

‘Well, whatever it is, they’re seriously
worried,’ I said, my eyelids becoming heavier.

‘And I have a feeling that it won’t be
too long before we find out...’

Chapter Eighteen

‘ghost town’

I
stared out of the open window into the shape-shifting mist
then caught a glimpse of a white-tailed deer as it broke cover and sprinted
across the road ahead.

I sighed and breathed some of the crisp
Appalachian air deep into my lungs, enjoying its pine-infused scent. It was
great to be high up in the mountains and alone with Nancy again. Just being
around her made me feel more relaxed, made the horrors of France seem that
little bit more distant.

The place was every bit as abundant as
she’d described before we’d fallen asleep too. It was the perfect tonic after
the previous night’s troubles. I just wish I’d had more time to enjoy it with
her, and that I didn’t have to find someone’s missing daughter and take her
back home. Nancy’s enthusiasm for nature was infectious, just like Laura’s had
been before I lost her. I wanted to know more about it just by being around
her. The only wildlife I usually came across, were the morons that got thrown
out of the pub on a Saturday night…

As if reading my thoughts, Nancy looked
over at me, her face filled with child-like wonder.

‘Mixed mesophytic, Blake. Real old. After
the Rainforest, one of most diverse places for tree species on the planet. You
can find everything from Black Bears to rare Salamanders up here too.
Impressive huh?’

I nodded and peered harder into the
thickening mist, as we wound our way higher in the pick-up Martha had leant us.
After working our way through a hearty breakfast at her place, Nancy had
suggested that we go and see some old timer called Benjamin who lived up in
Crow Creek not far from Black Mountain, just a short drive away from where we
were based at Devil’s Fork.

She said that he’d probably know where
the English girl was if she was still around, as he knew most things that were
going on in the Appalachians. Afterwards, and if she was still feeling okay, we
then planned to head back to Lexington to check on the house together, which
her friends had already secured after a late night ring around.

While she took care of business, I would
then head over to the Street Level Cafe and hopefully pick up some fresh leads
there…

‘That’s where the Graysons used to live,’
Nancy said, pointing to a single-story house that was boarded up, located on
the edge of the town we’d just arrived at. The wife and two kids died of
Lymphoma there, Larry next door, of Black Lung.’

I stared at the jumble of dilapidated
trailers and ship-lap houses lining the main drag. Most of them looked empty
and abandoned, their overgrown gardens filled with rusting bikes and fridges,
and old cars that had been stripped off anything valuable.

I stared at an old swing chair hanging
precariously from a single chain, and wondered who’d sat there, who had laughed
and supped a beer, and enjoyed the sunshine before it had all gone terribly
wrong.

‘Most people moved out a few years back
when the air and water quality got worse. There’s only a handful of folk who live
up here now. The place is dead...’

‘Because of the mining companies?’

Nancy nodded and sighed.

‘Yep, most people took the money when it
was offered, allowing Corrigan and his freak show to expand their operation. He
wanted to build some new haulage road up here to access the coal seams higher
up on this side of the range. Corrigan decided the town was in the way and that
it had to go.’

I stared at a rusting sign for Crow Creek
hanging down precariously from its last fixing and thought it apt. The place
was utterly broken. A shell. Then there was the mud and the debris, sandwiched
between the buildings as if some giant had poured a bucket of liquid clay down
the mountain...

‘Six people died that night.’

‘Is that a common occurrence up here?’

‘It is in places where some dimwit has
cut down all the trees on the slopes above, so there’s nothing to bind the soil
anymore.’ Nancy sighed. ‘Heavy rains came one day and the whole lot just gave
way, came tumbling down the damned mountain, swallowing everything in its
path.’

‘No wonder most people left when they got
offered the money. Makes you wonder if they’d cleared the trees on purpose, to
try and
persuade
them?’

‘Wouldn’t have surprised me…There’s
nothing that the mining companies wouldn’t stoop to anymore, and in particular
Corrigan.’

‘So this Benjamin character, he’s one of
the hold-outs?’

‘Sure is. He knew it was only a matter of
time before it happened too, so he chained his trailer to a rock when he knew
the rains were coming.’

We passed a derelict gas station covered
in aggressive vegetation, pulled up a dirt track nearby, then drove up to an
algae-covered trailer with a tatty blue awning protruding from its front.

‘He lives here?’ I said incredulously.

‘He’s made a few modifications over the
years...’ Nancy said chuckling.

I stared at the corrugated lean-to
slumped against one end, then the array of wooden chairs and tables clustered
around the pole-lathe outside. As we neared the steps, the glass-panelled door
fanned open wide and a huge bearded figure loomed before us wearing a thick fur
coat and a wide-brimmed hat.

‘Nancy,’ he boomed, enveloping her like a
bear.  

‘This is my good friend, Blake. He helped
me out yesterday when I crashed the car.’

‘You okay?’ he asked, holding her at
arms’ length, so that he could look her up and down like some concerned parent.

‘Sure, just a few bumps and scratches.’

He nodded at me in gratitude then turned
to head in, beckoning us to follow with a wave of his massive paw of a hand.

‘Well, you better come in and tell me all
about it, Nancy-pants.’

‘Nancy pants?’ I whispered, noticing her
cheeks flush with embarrassment.

‘He knew me since I was a kid, okay…’ she
replied, poking a finger into my sore ribs.

‘Hey, Blake,’ Benjamin said turning
suddenly. ‘Fancy chopping up a few logs outside? Running a bit low. The axe is
by the woodpile on the left.’

‘Sure thing,’ I said, knowing it a ruse
to quiz Nancy in private.

When I finally entered the trailer it was
like stepping into an Aladdin’s Cave. Apart from a small area around a glowing
log burner, elsewhere was piled high with books and bottles, old banjos, antler
horns and a myriad of intriguing wooden toys.

‘Did you make these?’ I said, handing him
some logs.

‘Not much else to do on those long winter
nights. D’ya like em?’

I picked up a cowboy, waving his Stetson
triumphantly in the air as his horse reared up on its hind legs.

‘You’re like that toymaker in that film
with the flying car,’ I said picking up another skilfully carved piece.

Benjamin looked at me blankly.

‘You’ve never been to the movies?’ I said
surprised.

‘Once,’ he said, scratching his gnarly
grey beard, ‘back in the seventies; some comedy with that blonde woman who JFK
liked.’

‘Marilyn Monroe?’

‘Could be...Last thing I ever did see.
Don’t have much need to watch something on a big screen when there is so much
to see and do in life? Why people wanna be stuck to a television half their
lives beats me...’

Benjamin disappeared for a moment then
returned with three mugs filled with black coffee and a splash of something
else in them judging by the smell. I put the toy back and took one, thinking
how best to approach the old timer for information.

‘Benjamin, we need your help,’ Nancy
said, taking up the reins of conversation.

‘Sure,’ he said, easing himself into a large
rocking chair.

‘Blake’s looking for some English girl.
She was down here protesting a few weeks back. She helped me take some of those
water samples I did at Ludlow Creek. Her name’s Olivia Deacon. She’s just
eighteen years old.’

His large brown eyes fixed on me for a
moment, then returned to Nancy.

‘Uh-huh’

‘Olivia is the daughter of Blake’s
friend’s back in London. He wants to make sure that she’s okay while he’s over
here on business. Her father hasn’t heard from her in over six weeks and is
seriously worried. Have you heard anything? Did she come this way at all?’

He glanced at me warily, then pulled back
to Nancy before returning again and lingering, making me feel uncomfortable.

‘So what you getting out of this,
brother?’

‘I want to be straight with you,
Benjamin. I’ve never actually met this girl. Finding people is my job.’

I felt Nancy’s eyes burn into me at the
revelation.

‘But you’ve seen death, boy, haven’t
you?’

The question jarred. It was out of place.

‘Yes...’ I said eventually.

‘I can tell, that’s all. Death stays in
people’s eyes like a photo,’ he continued, ‘I just like to know who I’m talking
to, that’s all…’

‘Is that so?’ I replied, unsure of what
to say.

‘And you’ve tasted death only recently,
right?’

For a second, the image of Laura
suspended in the water flashed through my mind.

‘Yes,’ I replied feeling unnerved.

The old timer leaned to one side, picked
up a poker and slowly stoked the fire. Nancy looked over at me and shifted
awkwardly in her seat. After a minute or so Benjamin turned and eyed me again.

‘That guy you fought a few years
back...he had to go down, didn’t he?’

I looked deep into his steely eyes trying
to work out if he were crazy, then decided that he wasn’t. I’d met plenty of people
over the years who claimed to see into the future, to be able to read the past,
and some were hard to disprove.

‘You’ll see a lot more trouble before
your time ends, brother, of that I’m sure,’ Benjamin continued. ‘It’s part of
your journey. Some people are just meant to live with chaos. They’re like the
crows that eat the carrion off our highways. They clean up after us all. It’s
the way they heal...’

He stared into my eyes for a moment,
murmured something to himself, then returned his gaze to the crackling fire,
leaving an awkwardness hovering in the smoke-filled air.

‘I like crows, Blake,’ he said
eventually, picking up a long tapering pipe from a side-table. ‘So why did you
take this job on, brother? Can’t believe it was just for the money...’

I watched in silence as he pressed a
fresh knuckle of tobacco into the end of his pipe.

‘It means more to you than that, doesn’t
it?’

Nancy shunted forwards to the edge of her
stool and placed a hand on her friend’s knee.

‘Come on Benjamin, he’s answered enough
of your questions.’

‘It’s okay Nancy, I’m happy to,’ I
interrupted, staring back into the woodsman’s eyes, imagining what they had
also seen.

I cleared my throat.

‘My daughter died a few months back.’

Benjamin sat there stony-faced then
offered a deft nod inviting me to continue.

‘I thought it would do me some good to
get away, to help someone else find their own child,’ I said, shifting my
attention to the embers, wishing I could cauterize the emotion that was now
burning in my guts like acid. ‘Before I’d agreed to take this job on, I’d quit
for good. I’d made a promise...’

Benjamin offered a brief, but genuine
smile.

‘Thank you for sharing that, friend…I
just like to know what sort of people I’m dealing with before I offer up
information, that’s all. Knowing that I’m dealing with an honest sort, helps me
to bring out my own honesty…You get me?’

‘Sure,’ I replied, still feeling uneasy.

He took a long hard drag and blew the
scented smoke out from one corner of his mouth, then looked me up and down slowly,
as if he was trying to connect with something deeper inside, as if he could see
the septic emotion festering away and wanted to draw it out just with his gaze.

‘You’re a good man, Blake, I can see
that...’

He stood up slowly and ran the back of
his hand over Nancy’s cheek.

‘The girl, I heard, had come back around
a week ago with her boyfriend, Ethan. They were hanging out at the lake near
Hangman’s Ridge.’

‘You serious?’ Nancy said, becoming more
animated.

‘Damn right. I heard that they were keen to
get involved with the sharper end of the Black Mountain protest this time. I
also heard that they were besotted with each other.’

‘Are you sure?’ Nancy pressed.

‘Charlie, who lives near there, came over
last night wanting his banjo fixed. If I was you, I’d go there tonight. There’s
a benefit dance for the Black Mountain activists, so they’ll probably be going
along.’

He cracked a tight smile, his mahogany
eyes narrowing with a clandestine knowing. Nancy stood up, kissed him on the
cheek, then offered me a hand, keen it seemed to push the investigation forward
herself now.