A Crying Shame (90 page)

But the ones that have us, now, they're the outcasts. They're crazy. Really nuts. I've seen some have fits; foam at the mouth and snarl and bite themselves. And they're real mutants in the sex department, if you know what I mean, and you do. I've seen 'em kill two women for no reason. They ate them. But don't worry. You're like me; you're not going to last long. You're going to age real quick.”

But I'm only twenty-eight!” Katie looked closely at the old woman. The woman was far too old to be bearing children.

The California woman smiled. When she told Katie her age, Katie sat in open-mouthed shock. She felt like weeping, like fainting, like jumping up and running headfirst into a tree, killing herself.

The woman looked like a very old fifty-five. On her good days.

She said she was twenty-three.

 

The morning had spun by, Jon busying himself around the old plantation house, staying out of the way of the women, staying outside most of the time. Occasionally he would glance at the house, wondering what they were talking about. The last time he had gone in for a drink of water, they had been sitting chatting in the den, over coffee, but they had ceased their conversation at his approach.

Jon thought about calling Governor Parker, telling him that seventy-two hours was too short a time. The job just could not be done that quickly. But he kept putting off the call.

He returned to his task of preparing the freezers to receive their grisly cargo.

He glanced at the house.
Women!” he muttered.

Linda poured them another cup of coffee from the service. Like Jon, she rather liked the outgoing blonde, even more so when she learned Tammy had not turned anything over to Coleman Jennings to use against Governor Parker.

Tammy smiled at her and said,
This is such a lovely home. So grand and elegant. Are you and Jon going to stay here and farm after you get married?”

Linda almost dropped the cup, managing, at the very last moment, to keep it from shattering on the floor. She did burn herself slightly from the splash of hot coffee.
Married!”

Yeah. Jon's in love with you. And don't tell me you didn't know.”

No . . . I didn't know. Good heavens, Tammy. I just met the man.”

Got pretty close last night, didn't you?” She grinned the question.

That was . . . pure animal release,” Linda lamely tried to explain, unconvincingly at best.
It had nothing to do with love.”

If you say so. But he's in love with you, nevertheless. I offered to give him . . . well, let's just say I'm not used to being rejected.”

Linda mopped up the spill and tossed the napkin in a wastebasket by a French desk. She walked to the window and looked out at Jon, working at his gruesome task. The man wasted no motion, no movement; everything seemed so calm and unhurried about him. But he managed to accomplish any task very swiftly. Except making love; she flushed hotly in remembrance. He had brought her to more shattering climaxes than she would have believed possible.
I wonder where he got his education?” She spoke aloud.