If Catfish Had Nine Lives(85)

            “One of the convention attendees had a firearm in the glove box of their truck. They claim that they remembered it when they saw one of the police officers tonight. We’d asked everyone to turn in their firearms, of course. The gentleman gathered the gun and was bringing it to the officer. He dropped it accidentally and it fired.”

            “That’s terrible. Disgracefully reckless. Someone else could have easily been hurt or killed.”

            “We know. But we’re grateful that didn’t happen.”

            The chances of another tragedy had been high, too high. I shivered and then shook off some goose bumps.

            “Everyone’s okay, Betts. Let’s go back over,” Cliff said.

            I nodded, and together we followed along the path Esther, Joe, and the horse had just taken.

            All activities had resumed after the interruption, but the first thing I noticed was that Teddy and Opie were still on their lawn chairs and looking toward the stage. If the gunshot had disturbed them, they’d recovered quickly.

            “Those two mend whatever their disagreements were?” Cliff said as he looked their direction too.

            “I don’t know,” I said.

            “He can make these sorts of decisions without his big sister’s help.” Cliff smiled.

            “Well, his judgment is still up for debate, but you’re probably right.”

            “She’s not so bad. She just doesn’t like you.”

            “That’s your fault, if you remember correctly. If you’d only stayed with her she might not dislike me with so much vehemence.”

            Cliff laughed. “Let’s go see how he’s doing.”

            As we wove our way toward Teddy and Opie, the lighting changed. Someone switched on a stronger spotlight and aimed it at the stage. I looked toward the middle of the crowd and saw Orly on a platform, crouched down on one knee and directing the big light. With his hat pushed back, he again reminded me of Jerome, and I scanned the crowd for the now-missing cowboy, but couldn’t find him.

            “Let’s just sit next to them and watch the show,” Cliff said. “This must be a big one. I told Orly to do something spectacular to take everyone’s minds off the wayward gunshot.”

            Teddy and Opie smiled briefly in our direction as we walked toward them. As we sat on the ground next to them, I noticed that we had a perfect view of the Express station across the way, and I wondered how I hadn’t noticed that the light on the corner of the building had also been illuminated. I remembered the front light, but not that one. I mentally shrugged it off as the show on the stage began. I hadn’t seen this skit, but I’d heard about it. It was politically incorrect, in that it was a battle between cowboys and Indians. Jake had been hesitant to allow the skit to play, but he’d told me that Orly had convinced him that all would be fine. I hoped so.

            But I didn’t get to see enough of the show to judge the crowd’s reaction.

            A snap sounded from toward the station, and my attention swung quickly away from the skit.

            The corner light hadn’t been on, I hadn’t misremembered. There was now illumination, though, but not from a modern light. Lit torches hung high on each corner of the building. I glanced over at Cliff and up at Teddy sitting in the lawn chair to confirm that they couldn’t see the torches. They would have both noticed the fire if it was something real happening in present time. They were both still focused on the show.

            “Cliff, I’ll be right back. Gotta find the lady’s room,” I said quietly.

            “Want me to come with you?” Cliff asked.