Part 41 (1/2)

He heard footsteps behind him. Frank and May had spied the fire and were coming down.

”That's it,” he told them. ”It's just a bag of fluid. If you think it's getting away, put more gas on it.” Then he turned and walked back toward the house.

He felt dead inside.

* 49 - THEY WATCHED THE fire as it followed the sinking substance. Geode was right: the monster was just a bag of fluid, in the end. The fire was cooking it like so much egg white. There was no doubt it was the firefly; they had felt the strength of its pheromones. It was oddly insubstantial now, spread out on the pavement, burning down.

”Not with a bang, but a whimper,” May murmured.

”Just a carnivorous jellyfish,” Frank said. ”I guess it hunted by night because it didn't have any fur or weapons. Just its smell.”

”Lake a succubus,” she said. ”Coming to make men dream of s.e.x, though it killed them. And women too. I'm almost sad for it.”

”Me too. I thought I was crazy, but-” He shrugged.

”Speaking of crazy,” she said, ”I hope I am not being unkind, but I suspect that both Geode and none were some of that. He seems to have had a deprived life, and compensated by developing his inner resources, perhaps too far. He believes he can talk to animals. He was hospitalized for a time, so now he isn't open about the matter, but he does still believe it.”

”But he did a good enough job here,” Frank said. ”He has been a good man, as far as my dealings with him are concerned. Let's face it, we're all a little crazy about something. My wife thought I was crazy to blow the whistle on my employer and get myself blacklisted, and maybe she was right.”

”Yes, I agree,” she said. ”I respect Geode for coping as he has. I like him personally, and I think he was very good for none-and she for him. But I have to say that she was farther gone than he. She had multiple personalities, which I think stemmed from the abuse she suffered as a child.”

”Abuse? She seemed like one winsome little lady to me, once I got to know her.”

”Too winsome! Some little girls are taught to be that way, cajoling men, proceeding on into s.e.xual precocity. Some grown women act childish in order to wheedle favors from men too. none had what appears to have been voluntary s.e.x with an adult man when she was only five years old.”

He stared at her. ”Five?”

”Five. Her father and her brother had been at her s.e.xually, so she thought that that was the only way to gain love. She seems to have closed off much of the bad memories by separating that personality from her adopted one, but she remained s.e.xually biased. Yet I think she really loved Geode, and I'm sure he loved her. Society might call her crazy, but I have suffered enough myself to understand the pressure she was under. I mean, what is a child warped by s.e.xual abuse that can not be escaped supposed to do? How does she adjust, once she is grown, with those terrible scars remaining internally? Our society has barely addressed the problem, and it is unfortunately widespread. So if none was crazy, I don't blame her, I blame our callous society.”

”If there was evidence of abuse, why didn't they take it to court?

”They did. They convicted, perhaps, the wrong man-and sent her back to her family. So much for justice, for her. No wonder she retreated to fantasy!”

”So much for justice,” he echoed glumly, remembering his own experience with it. ”The world is one h.e.l.l of a place.”

”We can't all choose our estate in life. Often we have to make compromises, sometimes serious ones, just to get through.”

He glanced at her. ”What are you getting at?”

”You know that they are only waiting for confirmation of the monster's death before they fire you,” she said.

”But they'll give me a decent reference, because in the end I pulled it out, and there won't be much bad publicity.”

”But your reputation will precede you, wherever you go. I fear you are finished in law enforcement, Frank.”

He sighed. He knew she was right, and that it meant he would have to start again in some other line. It would be years before he was sufficiently established to be able to think of marrying. He had done what he had to do, here, but there was no joy in it.

”Then I guess this is good-bye,” he said. ”I can't say I didn't wish for some other way out. It's been great knowing you, May.”

”If you had a good job, you could marry again,” she said. ”But are you too proud to take what offers?”

He laughed bitterly. ”I am a proud cuss, and I can't afford it! If I had a good, secure job right now, I'd-” But he cut it off; what was the point?

”In the process of saving the county's reputation, you have also saved Mid's ranch,” she said. ”Mid has a better set of values than politically conscious county administrators do. Two days ago I called him, and today he called me back. He is rea.s.signing Geode to another estate; only he knows where. This ranch needs a new caretaker. The work is simple and not demanding. I realize it would be no challenge for a man like you, far beneath your competence, but it has compensations.”

Frank was surprised. ”Me? Mid wants to hire me?”

”I mentioned sometime back that Mid takes care of his own, and you have become one of his own-if you want to be. He is impressed by your resume; you have always been competent and honest, and have gotten in trouble for it. He might soon have more challenging uses for your expertise. But at the moment what he needs is a caretaker. The pay is good, and you get free board, and occasional gifts, and-”

He turned to her, aware that she was holding back something. ”And what?”

”And me,” she finished. ”If you want me, Frank. Of course I'll be traveling a lot, on his a.s.signments, but when I'm not, I'll be glad to stay here at this lovely ranch with-”