The Influence(58)
“There weren’t no arguing or nothin’. We all felt the same way. We knew it was what we had to do. I don’t…I don’t think there was even any talk about who would do what. Some of us just stepped back, and some moved forward, and some of Cameron’s farmhands went over to the barn to get blankets and such, gloves or what have you, and Cameron told the other ranchers and everyone to put the body in his smokehouse.”
“Cameron ordered them? And they obeyed him? Cal Denholm? And Joe Portis?”
“He wasn’t exactly orderin’ them. He was just sayin’ what everyone already kind of knew, although, lookin’ back on it now, he was prob’ly schemin’ to keep that angel for himself, knowin’ how he is. For all I know, he’s tryin’ right now to use it to help himself get more land or money or whatever. But that night, everyone was just ashamed that they’d shot it out of the sky, ashamed and scared and…and horrified, I guess, and we all just wanted to hide that angel’s body and pretend it hadn’t happened. Even Father Ramos. Even Vern Hastings and his crazy little churchies. So the farmhands brought out stuff to cover it up and pick it up with, and about ten or twelve guys brought it over to that smokehouse and put it inside. It looked real heavy, and it was still kinda bleedin’ but they got it in, and then afterward, a whole buncha people chipped in and got shovels and buried all the blood in the dirt, and then they closed and locked the smokehouse door, and that was it.”
Lurlene exhaled heavily. “Boy, it feels good to talk about that.”
“Maybe everyone should be talking about it.”
“Everyone should,” Lurlene agreed. “But they won’t. That angel has…some kinda power, I think. And no one wants God to find out that we killed it. So everyone’s just pretendin’ it didn’t happen.” She looked at Lita. “I guess that’s what you picked up on, why you kinda felt outta the loop.”
One of the washers had long since turned off, and Shelley Martin came back into the laundromat from wherever she’d gone and started taking her laundry out of the machine, putting it into an adjacent dryer.
Lita leaned in closer so Lurlene could hear her above the noise. “Was she there?” Lita whispered, motioning toward Shelley.
Lurlene nodded. “Yep.”
Lita didn’t know Shelley well, but she’d seen her around and knew her by sight. She’d always thought Shelley was extremely pretty, but today the other woman looked tired, haggard and far older than her years. That angel has…some kinda power, Lurlene said, and Lita wondered if everyone who had been there that night had been affected by that power. It would certainly explain Darla’s and JoAnn’s recent odd behavior.
She was glad she and Dave had decided to leave early.
Although, Dave and Ross had been acting kind of strange themselves lately. And Ross hadn’t been there at all.
She started examining her own thoughts and actions to see if she’d been behaving differently than normal.
Lurlene tapped her on the arm, and Lita nearly jumped. “You all right?” her friend asked.
“Yeah. I’m fine.”
“You kinda spaced out there for a minute.”
Lita looked at her. “Do you really think that was an angel?”
Lurlene’s expression was deadly serious. “I know it.”
“Do you think…I mean, there’re some weird things happening around here lately. Do you think…?”
“Do I think it’s because we killed that angel?” Lurlene nodded. “Yes, I do. Is there anything we can do about it?” She shrugged. “According to Father Ramos, pray.”
“Do you believe that?”
“Not really.” Lurlene met her eyes. “But I’m doing it anyway.”
Lita felt uneasy on the drive home. She wasn’t sure how much of what Lurlene had told her she bought, but she believed most of it, believed that something had been shot down on New Year’s Eve, even if it wasn’t an angel, and believed that its body was in Cameron Holt’s smokehouse. She recalled the black creature that had flown low over their truck on the way back from the party that night and shivered at the memory.
She decided to tell Dave and Ross what she’d learned, and when she arrived home, she gathered them together in the kitchen. “Do you know about what happened at the New Year’s Eve party?” she asked.
They both looked blank. “No. What?” Dave said.
She told them, repeating the story Lurlene had related to her. “They think it’s an angel.”
“Who thinks it’s an angel?” Ross asked.