The Travelling Man (36 page)

Cassie stared hard at the man; his arrogance was thickly palpable and he reeked of pride. She could only guess at how long he had walked the earth, unopposed and indestructible, but his end was unmistakably close now and she hoped that he was finally weak enough to stop; she just had no idea how. All she knew was that she had to save the town; even if she couldn’t kill Grange, she had to try and force a draw at least.

“It’s already too late, you pathetic creature,” Grange hissed. “You can flap and squawk all you like, but in the end I win. I always do.”

She looked up as the people that she was trying to save started to rally around. They limped and leaned on friends, staggering forward slowly, showing the battle wounds of the damned. She felt their love and their warmth and she knew that, perhaps for the first time in Grange’s existence, he was wrong. “You really don’t get it, do you?” she said incredulously. “Has it really been so long that you don’t understand the concept of defeat? You don’t get Granton and you don’t get us.”

“But I already have you!” he laughed. “All fair and square, bought and paid for.”

“Fair! You don’t know the meaning of the word,” Kravis suddenly said from behind as he joined them. “You lie and you cheat and you steal and nothing about you is fair.”

Cassie looked around gratefully but was dismayed by Kravis’ latest set of injuries; he was bruised and battered, but at least he was still standing.

“Mr. Kravis, another dissatisfied customer, or at least the representative of one. How is your sister, by the way? By my calculation she should be running around Africa by now, given her remarkable pace. That is, of course, if she’s still running at all.”

Cassie could see that Kravis was about to launch himself at Grange. “Matt, don’t,” she commanded sternly.

He stopped in his tracks and flashed her an angry stare but she ignored him. Keeping him alive - keeping all of them alive - was her priority.

What remained of the town had surrounded Grange now and their faces were full of retribution. A movement from the corner of her eye made her turn and she saw Kevin, Jeanne and Ellie emerge through the throng. She wanted to hate her deputy for putting her daughter in danger, but somehow it made sense for them all to be here now.

“Well, now, isn’t this pretty. A family reunion,” Grange smirked. “And such a pretty little girl, but she really doesn’t look well, Sheriff, not at all.”

Cassie held firmly onto her temper, instinctively knowing that if she lost it then she lost everything. “You’re done here, Grange. Leave while you still can,” she ordered.

“Oh, I’ll leave, Sheriff, but only when I get what I came for.”

“I told you, Mr. Grange, that bag stays here,” she responded.

“The bag comes with me, but that’s not why I came here. I’m sure that you can see by my somewhat disheveled appearance that I don’t have much time left. What I came here for was to select my replacement.

“I hate to tell you this, Mr. Grange,” Kevin said loudly, “but I’m afraid that Mr. Lesnar is dead, so you don’t have a replacement; at least not here.”

“Mr. Lesnar? Do you really believe that I would select a maggot such as him to succeed me?” Grange laughed and a death rattle wheeze sounded in his chest. “Not at all, my dear friends. My replacement is of a more delicate nature, the fairer sex if you will. I need a woman of substance and intelligence. This particular position is a very unique one and requires a very unique woman to fill it.”

“Me?” Cassie exclaimed, looking around at the slim pickings in the group. “You expect me to take your reins? Never.”

“Oh, my dear Sheriff,” Grange smiled tightly. “Whoever said it was you?”

Cassie looked on in horror as Grange turned towards Ellie. “No,” she gasped.

“Oh yes,” Grange replied.

Cassie stared into his eyes and was suddenly struck with the strangest sense of déjà vu. There was something in his gaze that seemed eerily familiar. She rolled back her mental filing system which seemed rather battered and worn. The internal cabinet had been abandoned and sat covered in dust and cobwebs, devoid of care and maintenance. In a flash she was rifling through the paperwork, going back through the years, mining the past. She knew that there was something within her system that bore direct significance to their situation now.

“I have chosen my successor very carefully,” Grange stated gleefully. “A great deal of time and planning went into my retirement and when push comes to shove I think that it’s best to keep it in the…”

Cassie stared in terror as she turned over the page of memories that she was looking for. All those years ago, back in Cedar Falls when she’d been attending a police function in a local hotel, a one night stand had resulted in Ellie. The man had been a passing salesman and she had never seen or heard from him again, until now. The man’s face was buried deep in her filing system and he wore Grange’s eyes; they were the window to the soul, after all, and Grange was soulless.

“…family,” Grange finished.

Cassie’s hand flew to her mouth as the revelation sunk in hard. Grange had been planning this day ever since that night. Ellie was his daughter and his successor and his blood ran through her veins.

“Can’t you see the family resemblance?” Grange grinned.

“No,” Cassie whispered.

“Oh yes, my dear,” Grange crowed, “Daddy’s home.”

----------

Ellie watched the exchange and suddenly began to realise just why she had felt compelled to come here. Her drawings had been an ominous portent of the future and she had been foolish not to see it before. She had always known that she was different, but up until now she had assumed that it was her illness that had set her apart.

Her childhood had been full of dreams about her absent father, but they had never been nightmares. Now the thing standing before them, a man responsible for so much pain and sorrow, was her father.

Her mom stepped between her and her dad, creating a barrier that Ellie knew could only prove ineffective. Mr. Grange was unlike anything that her mother had ever dealt with before. Growing up, her mom had been a superhero to her, a real life Wonder Woman, but now Mr. Grange was outside of all of their comprehension.

“But I thought…,” her mother started.

“What?” Grange smirked. “That I would somehow use your daughter’s illness to trap you? That I would get you to sign a deal to save her? You insects are so predictable; always scurrying around like the world revolves around you. You think what I want you to think and do what I want you to do.”

“You can’t have her,” her mom said fiercely.

“Oh, but I’m afraid that’s not up to you,” Grange responded.

Ellie knew that this was all going to fall on her slender shoulders. This thing was her father and he wanted her to come into the family business. “I don’t know how much good I’m going to be for you,” she coughed as the cancer ate her away from the inside.

“Oh yes, silly me,” Grange said and waved a hand in her direction.

In an instant Ellie felt a wave of relief wash over her as her insides knitted together and her breath ran freely through her lungs for the first time in as long as she could remember. Her strength returned in a dizzying flash and she felt a sense of unnatural power coarse through her body like a bolt of lightning.

“Better?” Grange smiled and she thought that she could see a small hint of warmth in his face.

She nodded slowly in agreement and was perplexed by the worried look on her mother’s face. Surely her mom should be happy for her and yet she looked forlorn. Ellie felt anger rise in her throat at her mother’s reaction and wondered just why the woman would begrudge her getting better. A small ball of anger began to percolate in her gut that had never existed before and she started to wonder just why her mother would have kept her father from her for all these years. Was her mother really that selfish? Did she keep her tied to a disease when all along her father could have saved her from suffering?

Ellie turned to look into her mother’s eyes and was rewarded by a flash of fear and uncertainty.

“Ellie?” her mother said quietly. “I didn’t know, baby. You have to believe me, but whatever he says you can’t trust him. He lies, sweetie, that’s all he does.”

“He’s my father and you kept him from me,” Ellie snarled in a voice that didn’t sound like her own.

“Whatever you’re feeling now, it’s him,” Kravis interjected. “Ellie, I know that you love your mom. Don’t let him poison you, not now. You’re mother’s right - he lies; that’s all he ever does.”

Ellie started to walk towards her father as he smiled warmly. He had been robbed of her, just like she of him. They had been kept from each other by a jealous and bitter woman determined to keep Ellie bound to her apron strings and shackled by illness.

“You know the truth, my child,” Grange purred. “We are one, you and I; we are cut from the same cloth, two peas in a pod. I can give you the world for a thousand lifetimes, I can make you near enough immortal with such sights and tastes for you to savor.”

Ellie listened to his hypnotic voice and found herself lost in its timbre. Deep down, a part of her knew that he was infecting her, causing her to feel alien anger for the first time in her young life. Even when she had been diagnosed, she had not raged against the injustice, but now his presence was overwhelming her senses and she couldn’t breathe. Despite the dim knowledge, she had to admit to herself that she found the whole thing wonderfully enticing. She had always known that she was special and meant for great things and now she had the proof.

She walked towards her father but suddenly she stopped in her tracks as a great rumble of thunder beneath their feet coursed through the earth. A flash of doubt rippled across Grange’s face for the first time and he looked around as nervously as the rest of them.

“Dammit, Grange, stop this madness!” Kravis cried out as everyone staggered sideways under the shockwave.

Ellie abruptly realised that this latest tremor was not the work of her father. His expression may have recovered quickly but she had seen the hesitation in his features. Whatever he claimed to be, he was not flawless. As his concentration wavered in that split second, she broke free of his control and saw him for the monster that he was.

Another huge tremor shook the world around them and the earth cracked open beneath their feet. The recovered townsfolk started to scream in panic as large holes tore open and several residents tumbled in. Gunshots rang out as her mother fired at Grange and the man buckled under the impact but only fell as far as his knees. People started to flee in all directions, the brief return of community spirit evaporating as quickly as it had returned.

“Father, please stop this!” Ellie cried out as the sky overhead started to fade away in extinction, but he could only look back in confusion. She could feel their very existence start to wane as the town around them disintegrated and started to blow away into nothingness. Buildings scattered like dust on the wind as reality began to fade. The wind became a whirling tornado that deafened and tore at the very fabric of reality. Bodies were cast up into the blackened sky, sucked into oblivion.

She heard her mother’s voice screaming for her long and loud but words carried no weight here, only meaning. In that moment Ellie knew what she had to do. She saw clearly just what her purpose in life had always been and how it had only ever led to this one place in time. Her father was dying and he was leaving her his power; whether she liked it or not, she was his successor and there was nothing that anyone could do to change that.

She heard roars of rage and terror as Deputy Kevin and Jeanne clung to each other as the world faded around them and they could do nothing.

She saw through the storm as Mr. Kravis tried desperately to reach Grange with outstretched hands of vengeance for his sister but he could do nothing against the onslaught. She could feel his fury at being denied the opportunity to save the day or at least make a difference, but he was just a man and Gilbert Grange was not. 

She saw her father sink to the ground with a look of desperation on his face as he faced his end, one that had arrived all too quickly for his liking.

Ellie knew that her friends and family were done. They would no longer exist, if indeed they ever had, in the eyes of the surrounding world. Instinctively she knew that Granton would simply cease to be, along with everyone in it and in that one shining moment she knew what she had to do.

Her eyes met with her father and she saw him smile as he felt her decision. His body was now more dust than bone and what remained contained only a smattering of life. With the blink of an eye she made her choice and accepted her fate. She looked down at the crumbling ground next to her and saw the ancient leather case that now belonged to her. She reached in and took out a piece of pristine white paper and a small silver antique pen.

A hand suddenly clamped down hard on her shoulder and she turned to face her fading mother. Her mother’s eyes were flooded with tears as she sensed what Ellie was doing but the daughter found her mother’s strength and courage and pressed forwards regardless. Ellie knew that her mother would sacrifice herself a thousand times over to save another and she was her mother’s daughter.

Words were ripped from open mouths as the tornado winds sucked them clean, but Ellie could make out the mouthing of love and demands. She ignored her mother’s orders, but she kept the love in her heart.