It was Caroline who pointed out the multiplicity of accents. Some were distinctively Deep South you-all while others bore the sharp twang of lifelong New Englanders. An Oriental couple chattered together in a language he didn’t recognize. They looked tired, as if they’d come a very long way in an extremely short time. But while their energy might flag, their enthusiasm matched that of their colleagues.
“Our friends have come from many places.” Turning, Ross found himself once more confronted by the owner, who’d entered via another back door. “Not everyone could make it on such short notice, but we’ll have a representative gathering.”
“Gathering for what?” Ross asked curiously.
“You’ll find out tonight. Everything’s being taken care of.”
“No one’s come asking for us?”
“Nobody.”
Martha went up to her husband and put a comforting arm around his waist. She still carried the Mossburg, like a prized piece of jewelry. “He says army intelligence is after them.”
“Can’t say as I’m surprised. But they won’t find them. You have my word on that one, son.” He gave Ross Ed a friendly nudge. With his elbow instead of the big .45.
“Look, who are you people? What’s going on here? What do you want with us and with Jed?”
“Tonight,” the man replied firmly. “Although I suppose I could tell you.”
“Oh, don’t, Walter.” His wife nuzzled him affectionately. “You’ll spoil the surprise.” She beamed at Ross, Mrs. Cleaver with a gun.
“You must be famished,” the store owner decided.
Caroline spoke up immediately. “Didn’t I see a nice coffeehouse when we drove in?”
“Now, young lady, you know I can’t let you leave the store. You might do something stupid, and then I’d have to shoot you. But help yourselves to anything at the counter, and if you want to look in the phone book, we can send out. How about a nice steak and fries?”
Less than a hour after phoning, their lunch arrived, hot and country-sized. It was served to them in the back room, where they were allowed to enjoy the meal in private.
“If people didn’t keep sticking guns in my face, I could almost enjoy this.” Ross Ed shoved in a couple of french fries. “Who are these crazy people?”
“How should I know?” It wasn’t often Ross Ed encountered a woman with an appetite to match his own.
“Well, you’re from this area.”
“This area?” She shook her fork at him. “Do you know how far we are from Safford? This is another world up here. All I know is how the roads run.” She sawed at her steak. “They seem harmless enough.”
“Harmless people don’t threaten you with forty-fives and shotguns.”
“They do where I come from. You might as well try to relax, Ross Ed. There isn’t anything we can do. Mr. Walter has your alien and my van keys.”
“I could swear I heard one couple speaking Japanese. At least, I think it was Japanese. I didn’t know you could get here from Japan in half a day.”
She considered. “Maybe they’re from Topeka. Eat your steak.”
Nobody bothered them for the rest of the day. They were not allowed out, bul any requests they made were fulfilled promptly, politely, and to the best of their hosts’ ability. Throughout, they were treated with a combination of the utmost courtesy and firmness.
“You’ll see tonight,” was all they were told.
It was with a mixture of trepidation and anticipation that they counted off the hours. Brought back into the store, they watched as the visitors left in twos and threes. One by one, cars and vans and trucks pulled out of the once-crowded parking area in front of the building. Others departed from across the street. The organization these people belonged to might be secretive, but it wasn’t paranoid. Plenty of town-folk were witness to their comings and goings.
Then maybe they weren’t about to be sacrificed by a coven of clean-living devil-worshipers, Ross decided with more than a modicum of relief.
Much later and long after everyone else had left, Waiter looked up while Martha escorted the captives around back. It was reassuring to see the old van parked between rusting junkers and a retired Winnebago.
Ross Ed checked his watch. “It’s going on near midnight.”
“I knew it was late,” Caroline commented. “I didn’t realize it was that late.”
“More night driving,” he groused. “Just when I thought we were back on a normal schedule.”
As it turned out, neither of them had to do any driving. It was Martha who slipped behind the wheel and shoved the ignition key into its slot. Seating the captives on the foldout bed, her husband rotated the passenger chair until it faced rearward. The .45 dangled loosely from his right hand. Untouched, the alien body lay on the floor exactly as Ross had left it.
The van started up smoothly and Martha pulled out of the lot. Through the windows Ross saw scattered mountain homes quickly give way to solid forest.
“You be careful with my van.” Under the circumstances, Caroline’s warning carried little weight. “It’s not only my transportation, it’s my home.”
“And very nicely done up it is, dear.” Martha glanced rearward. “Although those back windows could really do with some new curtains.”
“I don’t concern myself with the decor,” Caroline shot back. “I’m not really the domestic type.”
“It doesn’t matter.” Walter was waving the pistol in small, lazy circles. “After tonight you won’t have to worry about such things anymore.”
Ross Ed tensed. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Not what you think, son. Nothing’s going to happen to you. Leastwise, nothing bad. I’m not going to do anything to you, not is Martha, not are any of our friends. But what they’re going to do, well, I imagine it’s going to be pretty wonderful. Whatever it is, they’ll do it to us as well, so we’re all in the same boat, you see.” He sucked pine scent. “This is a momentous evening. Not only for you, and for us, but for all mankind.”
“I still don’t have a clue what you’re talking about,” Ross responded irritably. “I miss my own car, I’m tired of being chased, and I’d like some real answers to my questions.”
