Four Summoners Tales Part 8

"Rene has pa.s.sed," he announced.

"What?" Dobbs nearly dropped his end of the coffin.

"It was swift and merciful. Doctor, could you please confirm it is done? He's resting in the back."

Doc Adams did as he was asked, while Browning and Dobbs carried the coffin outside.

Most people had gone home now, content to wait and hear what the mysterious men wanted. Some had lingered, though, and when they brought out the coffin, a gasp went up.

"All is fine," Doc Adams a.s.sured them as he came out. "All is fine. The men have asked us to bring one of our dearly departed into the sunlight, so they might better see his condition."

Whispers snaked through the smattering of people.The men were doctors then, or scientists. A few left in disappointment.

As Browning stepped away from his son's closed casket, he caught sight of a man striding along the road, a slender woman beside him, her blond hair pushed up under a bonnet.

Preacher. Bringing his schoolteacher wife to chastise them.

He's going to stop this.Take away your chance.Take away your Charlie.

The warnings seemed to slide around him, whispers like . . .

The voice of G.o.d. That's what it was. Resurrection was G.o.d's work, and now this "preacher" thought he'd stop it.The preacher who hadn't stopped Charlie from dying.The preacher whose own daughter lived.A girl who'd wanted to see his son before he pa.s.sed.

The voice whispered, You know there's a reason she lived. And a reason your son died. A strong, healthy boy, older than the rest, contracts the disease after the rest? It's unnatural.

Browning shoved past the villagers, ignoring their grunts of surprise. He bore down on Preacher. The schoolteacher started forward, chin raised, eyes flas.h.i.+ng, but her husband pulled her back with a whispered word. He strode forward to meet Browning.

"If you dare-" Browning began.

"Dare what? Dare stop you from something we both know will fail?" Preacher said, lowering his voice. "If I thought it would do any good, I'd try, but your course is clearly decided. Nothing will help now but for you to see failure, however hard that will be for all of us."

Browning clenched and unclenched his fists. The rage still wound around his gut like a cyclone.

Hit him. Show him who's the mayor.

But he's given me no cause.

Hit him anyway. Drive him off.Tell him begone. He's a doubting Thomas. He'll spoil everything.

"If you'll excuse us," the schoolteacher said, elbowing between the men. "Addie is here somewhere, and we'd like to find her."

Browning looked down at the woman. It took a moment for his gaze to focus, the rage still nearly blinding him. He felt his fists clench again. Felt them start to rise. Then he realized what he was doing, whom he was about to hit, and they dropped quickly, and he stepped back.

"Thank you," the schoolteacher said.

"Your Wors.h.i.+p?" It was Eleazar, calling to him. "We're ready to begin."

Addie Addie could see Charlie's closed coffin, out in front of the community hall. She could also see Preacher and Sophia, searching for her in the small gathering. She started scooting around the building, but her foster parents were splitting up now, one heading for each side, knowing if she wasn't in the crowd, she was still in the forest.

She raced to the back porch and swung onto the railing, then up to the roof.

Like Charlie taught me to do.

While Addie was an expert tree climber, she would never have considered using those skills to sneak around town. Spying on folks wasn't right. As Charlie said, though, "when you're a child, no one tells you anything, so you need to eavesdrop sometimes, to know what's going on."They'd tried listening in on the town meetings through the chimney, but it didn't really work. So they mostly just climbed up here to get a better view of anything taking place in the village square.

Like bringing a boy back to life.

Bringing Charlie back to life.

She crawled across the roof carefully, slipping a little as she went but always catching herself in time. Below, she could hear Preacher asking someone if they'd seen Addie. They hadn't. No one had.

If Addie went down there, she wasn't sure that Preacher would stop her from watching. He probably wouldn't. He and Sophia really were teachers, right down to their bones. They'd explain why she ought not to watch, but if she insisted, they'd let her, believing it was always best to see a thing for yourself. To learn a lesson for yourself.

She didn't care. She wasn't going to watch this with them standing beside her, suffocating under the weight of their disapproval. Even recalling their expressions when she told them made her want to scream. Made her want to charge back home, grab her belongings, leave, and never come back.

They'd betrayed her. That's what she felt, and it hurt worse than any of her dead father's beatings. Eleazar had promised to bring Charlie back, and they wouldn't even consider that he might be able to work miracles. Sophia and Preacher-the very people who'd taught her about G.o.d.

She took a deep breath and calmed herself as she crept to the front. She stretched out there, then inched forward until she could peer down.