Mine: The Arrival (3 page)

“About what?”

“I don’t know. It sounded like words but I didn’t understand it.” He paused. “He did eventually wake for a few minutes. He seemed confused as to why I was here. When I asked what was wrong, he said he felt like his head was in a vise. Then his head suddenly thrust back and he started moving his hands toward it. That’s when he froze. I was taken so off guard, I didn’t realize for probably half a minute that he wasn’t breathing anymore. But even if I had noticed right away, I’m positive I couldn’t have done anything to save him.”

Lamar let that soak in for a moment before he asked, “Did he tell you anything that might have explained what happened?”

“That’s why I called you.”

Dr. Fisher moved around the end of the bed to the dresser and picked up a baby-sized bundle.

Walking over to Lamar, he said, “Mary told me he came back from a hunting trip this morning all excited about this.”

The doctor opened the bundle to reveal a piece of oddly shaped metal, kind of like a curtain rod with branches sticking out all over the place.

“What is it?”

“I haven’t the slightest. Here.” He handed it to Lamar.

The sheriff expected it to be heavy, but it was so light he almost dropped it. “I would have sworn this was metal.”

Dr. Fisher raised an eyebrow and removed a coin from his pocket. “Hold it out.”

The sheriff did as asked. Dr. Fisher tapped the coin on one end. The
clink
it made was metallic.

The sheriff’s brow creased as he looked at the rod.

The doctor told him what Toby had said to Mary about an airplane riding a flame that had landed on Edgar Beasley’s land.

“Sounds to me like he was already sick and having delusions,” Lamar said.

“Maybe, but Mary said he was fine when he first got home. And how do you explain that?” The doctor nodded at the rod. “I’m pretty sure there’s something out there, but I knew well and good that if I told you over the party line, there’d already be a dozen people heading that way to check it out. In this storm, who knows how many could get lost or hurt.”

The doctor was right. The last thing Lamar needed was some ill-prepared treasure seekers heading into the woods right now. He wrapped the cloth back around the object and picked up the bundle. “I’ll give it some thought. In the meantime, let’s just keep this between ourselves.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone. And I’ll make sure Mary knows she shouldn’t, either.”

The sheriff raised the bundle a few inches. “You mind if I hold on to this?”

“I already assumed you would.”

 “How are you going to handle him?” Lamar asked, gesturing toward Toby.

“As far as I’m concerned, he died of complications from the flu he caught while hunting. Katherine and I will assist Mary with the funeral arrangements, and make sure there aren’t any unnecessary questions.”

“Thanks, Doc.” Lamar hesitated. “Do you want me to hang around while you break the news to her?”

Dr. Fisher shook his head. “Thanks for the offer, but we’ll be fine.”

__________

F
OUR FENDER BENDERS,
one vehicle flipped in a storm ditch, a bus bound for Missoula stuck on the highway, and Kenny Dogan’s mishap at Mills Market kept Lamar and his deputies busy over the next two days. When the storm finally passed and the plows were able to get out and clear the main roads, they located three additional stranded cars with their occupants huddled inside. Thankfully no one died, though Mrs. Boyer, who was probably pushing seventy, would likely lose a couple of toes to frostbite.

Lamar had forgotten all about Toby Gaines and the mysterious object until he read the man’s obituary in the
Billings Gazette
. When he finished, he glanced at the filing cabinet where he’d stuffed Toby’s object.

After a moment, he retrieved the thing and put it on his desk. Given that it had been several days since Toby’s death and both Mary Gaines and Dr. Fisher were still breathing, Lamar thought it unlikely the item had anything to do with Toby’s illness. So when he unwrapped it, he picked it up with his bare hands.

Despite how hard it was still to get his mind around the possibility, he now had little doubt that the object was made from some kind of metal.

He frowned. Though he really didn’t want to take a drive up north, someone would have to check out Toby’s story, and if he started involving others, rumors would spread and the whole thing would likely get blown out of proportion.

He wrapped the object back up, tucked it under his arm, and walked into the main room.

Only three other deputies were on duty, and two of them were out in the field. The third, Frank Costa, was in the back keeping an eye on the holding cells, where a couple of prisoners were awaiting a hearing with the judge the next day. Betty Simmons, the receptionist-dispatcher, was the only one out front.

“Betty,” Lamar called as he crossed the room, “we got anything going?”

“Nothing at the moment, Sheriff.”

After the chaos of the storm, it was nice that things had finally returned to normal. “I need to go out and follow up on something. I might be gone a few hours, maybe even out of radio range some of the time. If you need something but can’t reach me, Leo’s in charge.”

“Yes, sir.”

He went outside to his sheriff’s car, but stopped himself as he was opening the door. Though the main road had been cleared, some of the roads to the Beasley place would likely still be covered. He switched over to his truck and drove out of town.

He wasn’t sure which way Toby had taken, so he decided his best bet was to start at the Beasley house. As expected, once he was off the county road, he had to plow his way down the private road to the home.

The drive was nice and peaceful, though. The blanket of white, the trees, and the lack of anyone else around almost made him feel like he was on a hunting trip himself. When the Beasley home came into sight, he plowed a circle so he could go back out the way he’d come, and then climbed out. There were no other cars around, or any signs that any had been here since the storm. Hopefully that meant no one else had gotten wind of Toby’s story.

He took a moment to get his bearings and determined that Craven Pond should be at his two o’clock. He was about to start out when he remembered the rod. He ducked back into the truck and pulled it out. He still didn’t believe the story of an aircraft shooting fire, but something might be out there that the broken end of the item would match up to. If he could find it, it might help explain what had happened to Toby.

The Beasley property was a gently rolling mix of woods and clearings that had been in the family since the area was settled. Lamar cut a path through the trees straight toward where the pond should be. The air was crisp but not too cold, the sky blue from horizon to horizon. A beautiful day for a stroll through the country.

As he emerged from the trees, he found himself only a hundred yards shy of the embankment that surrounded the pond. He decided to climb to the top for a better view, and soon crested the hill and looked down on the frozen water.

According to Dr. Fisher, Toby had not told Mary exactly where he’d found the object, only that it had been near Craven Pond. The idea of a fire-breathing airplane landing anywhere in the area was ridiculous. There just wasn’t enough flat ground.

Lamar scanned the shoreline and spotted no unusual mounds beneath the snow indicating the presence of an aircraft. He turned his attention to the undulating fields that surrounded the embankment, but other than the half-buried, deteriorating fence that served as the property line, nothing jumped out at him.

He turned in a circle, giving himself a good, long look at the area.

From the corner of his eye, he caught the wink of sunlight, but when he turned toward it the glint was gone. He wondered if the bright day was playing tricks on him, but then he saw it again. A bright flash, quickly gone.

The wind was the culprit, he realized, moving the brush so that whatever was behind it was visible for only a moment.

He headed down the slope toward the reflective object. The nearer he got, the more the thing revealed itself. It consisted of items in a variety of shapes sitting on what looked like a large rectangular…box or something or other, which looked to be floating above the ground. It had to be an illusion, but it was still unnerving.

He was about a hundred and fifty feet away when he suddenly felt like someone tapped him on the shoulder. He whirled around, but the only things behind him were his tracks.

Just my mind playing tricks
, he thought.

He continued on.

The box was not actually floating, he finally saw. Each corner was propped up by a surprisingly thin leg.

There’d been a rumor when Lamar was a mere deputy, back during Prohibition, that Edgar Beasley had done more than his share of distilling. Was it possible that’s what Lamar was looking at right now? The leftovers of Beasley’s former enterprise?

The more Lamar thought about it, the more he liked that idea. It seemed like the perfect explanation. Granted, it wouldn’t account for Toby’s claim of seeing something land from the sky, but what if there had been some of Beasley’s leftover hooch lying around that Toby had tried? Wouldn’t be the first time moonshine had made someone see things. If the liquor was bad, it might very well also account for what had killed him.

Mystery solved
, he thought with a grin.

The smile did not stay long. Thirty yards out he felt something again. This time it was like hands—but not quite hands—brushing against his cheeks and then moving around to the back of his head. Jumping backward, he lost his balance and fell into the snow. He tossed the bundle to the side and rapidly wiped his hands over his head to get rid of the sensation, but it didn’t go away. It kept moving from his cheeks to the base of his neck over the top of his head and back again.

“Stop it!
Stop it
!”

The sensation ceased.

He scrambled to his feet, wondering what the hell that had been. By the time he got his breath back, his gaze had fallen on the thing by the trees. As he took a step toward it, something brushed his cheek again. He backpedaled and the feeling went away. A second attempt yielded the exact same results.

He had no idea what was happening, but he wasn’t going to stick around to find out. This was beyond the scope of his job. Hell, beyond the scope of the jobs of anyone he knew.

He cocked his head.
Except maybe for Scott
, he thought. His cousin was some big shot in the army. If anyone knew what to do about this, Scott would.

As Lamar turned to run, he nearly tripped over the bundle he’d been carrying. He picked it up, thinking it might be good to have something to show his cousin. But as he cradled it in his arms, it began to vibrate.

He dropped it and sprinted toward his car.

Scott would have to find it himself.

F
OUR

From the
Billings Gazette

November 15, 1938

FERGUS COUNTY REELS FROM RASH OF DEATHS

STATE OFFICIAL DECLARES NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT

Fergus County is mourning the deaths of five members of its community, with the announcement that the latest to take sick, Sheriff Jackson Lamar, passed away during the night. He joins Dr. Barry Fisher and his wife, Katherine, and Toby Gaines and his wife, Mary.

Officials from Helena have been in the area to conduct an investigation, after it was revealed that Dr. Fisher and his wife had visited the Gaines residence to treat Mr. Gaines, who had fallen sick. Dr. Fisher had reported Mr. Gaines’s death as flu related. Miles Dent of the governor’s office confirms that the subsequent deaths were also from the flu.

Mr. Dent spoke to the
Gazette,
saying, “Contrary to some of the rumors flying around, I’ve been told the type of flu is not in any way connected to the Spanish Influenza. The doctors have assured me that this flu has been contained to only those who have already been reported, and no further illnesses are expected.”

Initially, it was not clear how Sheriff Lamar contracted the illness, but then it came to light that he had also visited the Gaineses on the day Mr. Gaines died. (Story continues on page 7)

THE OPPORTUNIST

F
IVE

Fort Leavenworth, Kansas

November 22, 1938

A
SOLDIER STEPPED
out of the guardhouse and leaned down so that he was level with the sedan’s open window. “Good afternoon, sir. How may I help you?”

The driver reached under his jacket and pulled out his government-issued identification. “I’m Dr. Durant. I believe I’m expected.”

The soldier took the ID, said, “One moment,” and went back inside his hut.

A few seconds later, Durant could hear the man say, “Dr. Leonard Durant has arrived…yes, sir…yes…. Yes, sir. Right away, sir.”

The guard returned and handed back the identification. “Thank you for your patience, Doctor.” He pointed past the guardhouse. “Stay on this road and in a quarter mile you’ll come to an intersection. Turn left. Take the new road for another two hundred twenty-five yards. Then turn right. You’ll see several long gray buildings ahead of you. The one you want is the farthest to the left. Captain Reece will meet you there. Would you like me to repeat that? Or, if you prefer, I could arrange for someone to escort you.”

“No, I’ve got it.”

“Very good, sir.”