Chasing a Blond Moon(111)
Eventually the trees ended and they were in brown grass. The cottony white entrails of cattails hung down like the exploded batting of ruined beds.
“I am so fucking wasted,” a voice said.
“Shut up,” a second voice said. “Voices carry.”
“Yeah sure, what I’m gonna do, spook fuckin’ beavers, eh?”
McCants was almost flat just ahead of him. She turned her head and nodded for him to come up to her. Service sank in sphagnum moss and black water up to his thighs as he crawled. The waders had a leak. Shit.
“Right there,” she said, mouthing the words soundlessly. She held up three fingers, then looped her forefinger and thumb, lifted her foot out of water and touched it. Thirty feet. McCants delicately cleared a space in some mud and drew a picture for him. They would crawl forward about five yards apart, circle, and come back by different routes. Even the dumbest violet would not keep a swan in the blind. She wanted to find it before confronting the men.
The cold water coming in through the waders was soaking his pants, and it made him cringe as it seeped through to coat his legs.
“Goddammit, now I gotta piss,” one of the voices said.
Service peeked through the grass, could not see McCants, but saw two men in camo clothing.
He could hear a stream of urine splashing in the marsh water at the base of the brown grass.
“You jerk!” McCants said with a yelp. “DNR!”
Service looked through the grass. Candi was standing up and angry.
“You pissed on me,” she said.
The man was trying to button up. “Serves youse right crawlin’ around out here!” the man shouted.
The second man looked over, said, “What the fuck? Jesus!”
“Put that little thing away,” McCants told the second man.
“DNR,” the first man grumbled, eyeing her. He looked over at his partner.
“A cunt,” the second one said.
They were weighing options, Service knew. He began to gather himself to intervene.
“Hey, what’s the problem, Dickless Tracy?” this from the first man.
“Little girl like you out here all alone.”
“God is my copilot,” McCants said calmly. “Let’s see your hunting licenses,” she said.
The second man grinned. “Mine’s in the blind. I’ll just—”
“Stay where you are,” McCants said, stepping toward the first man. “Licenses,” she repeated.
“Like Dray says, in the blind.”
“Sir, move over here,” she told the second man.
Service thought about standing up, but he was enjoying watching her work.
The two men were tall and rangy with triangular heads, ponytails, bushy black beards.
McCants stood at ease, but Service saw her hand resting near the grip of her SIG Sauer.
“Kneel,” she said.
The men looked at each other and dawdled but eventually did as they were told.
“Okay, who shot the swan?” she asked.
“What swan?”
“Don’t lie to me,” she said. “I hate liars.”
“Hey, you see a swan?” the first hunter said to his partner with a crooked grin.
She said to the first man, “Give me your hat.”
The man laughed and took it off. She dropped it on the ground.
Service crawled closer so he could see what she was doing.
She reached under her tie and pulled out a green pouch.
“This is a lie detector,” she said.
“Bullshit,” the first man said.
“Shut up,” his partner said.
“Now,” she said. “You’re hunting here, right?”
“If you say so,” the first man said.
“You’ve got dope in the blind.”
“No way.”
“I smelled it,” she said. “Don’t lie. This pouch always reveals the truth.”
“What’s in there?” the second man asked.
“Truth,” she said. “You shot the swan. Four came over, three came back. I was up there on that hill.” She pointed. “Who took the shots?”
“We din’t shoot no swan,” the first man said.
“Swear to God?” she said.
“Swear to God.”
She looked at the second man. “You swear?”
He nodded unconvincingly, said nothing. Service was fascinated, wondering what the hell she was doing.
“I’m warning both of you, if you lie over the bones you will have bad luck you cannot believe,” she said. “The curse will be on you.”
“You can’t hurt us,” the first man said.
“God will do it, not me.”
“Did you shoot the swan?” she asked the first man.
He shook his head.
She dumped the contents of the pouch into the hat and nodded solemnly.