Page 3 (1/2)

One

Lara

I pushed open the heavy wooden door of Durango Falls’ library and stepped into the still, hushed space Other thanstudio, this ithout a doubt my favorite place I came here almost every day I think I loved the smell of old books mixed with pine floor cleaner and the lovely echo inside s

At this time of day there was usually no one around I heard the water cooler gurgle in the left-hand corner of the roo sound the machinery inside the old heaters loves off, and stuffed the my white cane in smooth arcs in front of me, I took the twelve steps to the front desk

Hannah Heinberger was usually on duty on Wednesday afternoons, but fro the desk today They must have swapped shifts

“Hey, Elaine,” I greeted as I reached her

“Ooo … just the person I wanted to see,” she said

I could tell iossip It was funny how Elaine could always find salacious rumors in a toith a population of less than a thousand Notorious gossip or not, she had a heart of gold and I could not remember a time ere not best friends

I laid e of the counter Whatever the neas it had Elaine all fired up She was al over with excitement

“What is it?” I asked curiously

She leaned forward, disturbing the air Her breath, she’s been eating peanut butter cookies, aruess who ca,” she cried triumphantly

I kept ht “Beyonce?”

“Fine I just won’t tell you, and you’ll just miss the juiciest piece of information this town has heard in twenty years,” she huffed, irritated that I had spoilt her surprise I mean, who could she come up with better than Beyonce?

I grinned evilly “Fine I’m sure I’ll hear from Emma Jean”

“I haven’t told her yet,” she said with great satisfaction

“Elaine Crockett, I ht miss the juiciest piece of information this town has heard in twenty years if you don’t tellto burst if you don’t spill the beans”

“Kit Carson,” she blurted out instantly

“Kit Carson,” I echoed, surprised Well, well, this time she did have a juicy bit between her teeth

Every sruff, elusive, anti-social person who refused to be part of the coe track of wooded land that he had converted into some kind of wolf sanctuary Occasionally, he would drive into town in his pickup truck, but he wouldn’t runt

I heard he was a hulk: six feet seven inches tall and as solid as a brick house, but that he walked with a slight liood look at

Funny thing about Kit Carson was he’d turned the tables on our tiny town We didn’t take kindly to outside folk You could live within our midst for fifty years and still be considered an outsider Kit Carson was not born and raised local, and co a soul in our town, he was just plain asking for trouble

He cao Falls when I was about seventeen years old, and I would be twenty-two in July So he’d been around for five years now, and even though our men folk have tried to extend the hand of friendship to hiht refused to have anythi

ng to do with us except for the commercial kind

Two years ago Casey Goodnight said she saw dog tags peep out of his shirt while he was paying for steel cables at the hardware store Yes sir, that sure gave the whole town sos weren’t the same for weeks after

With falsely sweet voices the good town folk picked apart the ed from the army, and it was pure shame that made him avoid contact with the rest of huht, Kit Carson had never seen the inside of our Church Naturally, he had no wife because what God fearing woman would want such a heathen?

Although, with tiossip morphed to – heon full e of his land The stories about hiht crazy Serial killer stuff I guess we had some very bored folk in our town and they made up their own entertainment

“Yup,” Elaine said in the same voice she employed to report scandals, “the er than a tree, stuck up a piece of paper on the Job’s Board, and left Not a word to anyone”

“Wow,” I whispered “What’s he looking for?” I thought she would say foreman, or housekeeper

She took a deep breath

“What?” I proued by the mystery of it all

“You ready for this?”

Two

Lara

“Maybe it’s better if I read it to you” I heard her rustling a bit with a piece of paper “Right Here we are” She paused dramatically “Blind Reader Wanted Twice a week Only feain “There is a phone number underneath”

I shut ht “Did you say blind reader?”

“That’s what it says here”

“What the hell is a blind reader?”

“A blind person who reads, I reckon”

I frowned “What on earth would he want a blind reader for?”

“Here’s what I think,” Elaine whispered “I think he’s asha theht a quick breath “I think you should apply”

“What? No Are you mad? That advert is just weird”

“Don’t be silly The erous He’s just anti-social”

“Not dangerous! Aren’t you the one who said he killed his wife and buried her in the woods and the wolves are there so no one goes looking for her bones?”

She giggled “Well, I was bored that afternoon Don’t you think it’ll be fun?”

“You just want ossip to spread around”

“What a thing to say As if I’d do that to you I’d apply if I were blind”

“No you wouldn’t”

“Yes, I would,” she insisted

“Since when?” I demanded

“If he’d only look at me, I’d do hi on him”

“Jesus, Elaine”

“Anyway, you should totally apply, Lara Iroom and hile you read for the man So you’ll be totally safe It’ll be fun At the very least it’ll be interesting Please, Lara Have a heart I’ of boredom here”

“I knew it You just want new gossip”

“Come on I’d ask someone else, but you’re the only blind person in town”