Alex Bledsoe - Burn Me Deadly

Pete stepped aside; I opened the door and went into the cell. Sure enough, Buddy sat on the straw piled in the corner, his ankle chained to the wall. He had his knees drawn to his chin, and looked up at me with blank, glassy eyes. The window, high on the wall, let the noise of the taunting crowd into the room. Occasionally some produce made it through the bars and splattered on the floor.

“Buddy, you don’t have a lot of time left,” I said. I crouched beside him. “Tell me what happened, and I’ll see if I can’t get you out of this.”

“I killed that lady healer,” he said simply, with no inflection.

I shook him, hard. “Buddy, do you remember me? You helped me find the dragon people?”

He nodded slowly, like his joints were gummed up, and idly pushed some straw with his hand. “Sure, I remember you.”

“If someone threatened Bella Lou and the kids to get you to go along with this-”

He shook his head. “Ain’t like that. After you left, Bella Lou threw me out ’cause I’d lied to her. I didn’t know what to do. I went to that moon goddess hospital outside of town to get a love potion to make her want me again, and instead that woman told me to clean up, get a job and apologize.”

For the first time he looked directly at me. His eyes held nothing but despair. “A husband can’t apologize to his wife, it’s a sign of weakness, you know? So I waited until the healer left work, followed her and begged her. I’m a man, and I begged her, a woman. And she still said no.” He looked down again and moved his manacled foot a little. The chain rattled against the stone floor. “So I got angry.”

A big pit opened up inside me, and I felt nauseous. “You’re telling me nobody from Gordon Marantz got you to take the blame for killing Mother Bennings? That you really did kill her?”

“Gordon who?” he said, and I knew he was telling the truth. Bennings’ injuries made sense as well now. They weren’t the gleeful work of a sadistic torturer, but the reflexes of a weak, terrified man used to gutting animals.

All my weariness caught up with me and I sat down on the straw beside him. I leaned against the stone wall and closed my eyes. “You’re an idiot, Buddy.”

He nodded. “I know.”

“Your wife and kids are outside just below that window. They’ve got nowhere else to go, so they’re just sitting there, waiting for you to come out and die. People are screaming and throwing things at them.”

Tears glinted on his cheeks. “Don’t you think I know that?” he said, his voice cracking. “Don’t you think I hurt enough?”

I slapped him across the back of his head as hard as I could. It felt good to strike someone that deserved it. “ No, Buddy, you don’t hurt enough. You’re a coward, a liar and a failure. The only thing left that you can do for anyone is go get hanged with a little bit of dignity.”

He wrapped his arms protectively around his head and whined like a child. “It’s because of you, you know! If you hadn’t showed up, none of this ever would’ve happened; Bella Lou would’ve never found out I was buying food in town and kicked me out.” He petulantly threw a handful of straw at me, then flinched as if expecting another slap. “It’s your fault! Your fault!”

I stood. I seemed to have grown heavier and older in the time I’d been in the cell. Another batch of straw hit my back as I opened the door. I locked it behind me, pushed past Pete and went back into Gary’s office. I put the key back on the hook and sat heavily in a chair across from him.

“What did you find out?” Argoset asked, still at the window.

Even speaking took effort. “Looks like you were right. Sorry about barging in and making a fuss.”

The crowd outside began another rude chant. “I’ll be glad when we get him hung,” Gary said.

“Hanged,” Argoset and I corrected in unison.

“Whatever. Then this crowd can go back to drinking.”

Argoset took his cloak from a peg on the wall. “Magistrate Bunson, if you no longer need me, I’m going to go back to the inn and get something to eat. If you see Marion, tell him to meet me there. I’ll return in time for the prisoner’s execution.” He nodded at me. “Mr. LaCrosse.” Then he left.

Gary produced a bottle from his desk and put a tankard in front of me. “You look awful.”

“Not a goddam word about the haircut, Gary. I mean it.”

“Okay, okay. Where have you been?”

“Hanging with Gordon Marantz.”

His eyes opened wide. “No shit? Where?”

I took a long drink of his ale. “The old Lizard’s Kiss. And I think I kind of pissed him off, so if you see any strange tough guys around over the next few weeks, I’d appreciate a tip-off.”

“Sure.”

I swallowed the rest of my drink in one gulp and pushed myself to my feet. “I’m going home,” I said, and before anyone could say or do something to change my mind, I went out the door.

Mrs. Talbot crouched on her porch, pouring some thick, vile concoction over a shivering dog. She held it firmly by the scruff, and it looked as miserable as I felt. She looked up as I approached, my boots scuffing in the dirt. “You look mangier than Filo here,” she said. “Maybe I should dip you, too.”

I couldn’t argue with that. “Not going to the hanging?”

She cackled. “I’ve seen more hangings than you have titties. Can’t imagine this one will be too different.”

“Happen to know if Liz is upstairs?”

“Ain’t seen her.” The dog whined, and she smacked it with her free hand. “Pipe down, ya mutt.”

I nodded my thanks and ascended the stairs. I seemed to grow heavier with each step, so that by the time I reached our rooms I was exhausted. I went inside, closed the door and leaned back against it.

I looked around our simple yet somehow comfortable space. Golden morning light made it seem even homier. I found no note, but a last-minute delivery could have called Liz out of town and she might’ve left word with Angelina, just as I’d done. I was too tired to worry or think about it, just as I was too weary to deal with that damn horse Pansy. If she starved outside Long Billy’s, then so be it.

There was no need to rush after Candora; Buddy had done his job for him. So once he got his new people searching for the late, lamented and nonexistent Lumina, he’d come back to town and be easy to find. And before I finally faced him, I needed to be a lot sharper than I felt just then. I hit the mattress, and none of the raucous festivities that followed the execution penetrated my weariness. I was too tired to even dream.

I opened my eyes into the setting sun, winced and cursed. I cleaned up and dressed with great, sluggish effort. Liz was still not home, and that nagged at me, but it also meant I could put off the confrontation about the old man with the gloves. I’d had enough confrontation to hold me for a while, and this one could not end well.

I went to Angelina’s tavern and my office. The streets were mostly empty; the party had moved from the gallows oak into the town proper, dispersing among the various establishments. Far ahead, Buddy’s silhouetted body dangled from a branch, and a dog barked at it while it swayed in the wind. Someone, I assumed Bella Lou, sat beneath it with her back against the tree. I wondered where the kids were.

I had my hand on the tavern door when I stopped and looked back at the execution tableau. Just keep going, my rational self said. It’s not your problem. Don’t you have enough things to worry about? My other hand, in my pocket, tapped my last remaining silver coin.

Bella Lou was asleep against the tree. No one else came near. She was covered with vegetable matter, and flies swirled around her almost as much as they did around her late husband. A crow stood on the ground looking at her, debating whether she, too, was a corpse. It sailed away with a caw as I approached, and Bella Lou opened her eyes.