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From the safety of her bedroom, she watched Arthur Brown make his passionate points He spoke with confidence for soht her eye and sht She deliberated for a moment, then opened the secret drawer inside her music box and put Arthur Brown’s card inside
In the raton, Miss Addie turned away froure out what to do next At last she called out to her sister "Let ed a few own and an apron "Now"
Miss Lillian brought one of the cats from the kitchen, a tabby named Felix as a fairly decent mouser, which was a shame He was limp in her arms after the cream and opium She laid him on the kitchen table, which had been covered in newspapers Hu, Miss Addie opened a drawer in the secretary and took out a dagger The dagger was as sharp as it was old
"That’s a nice tune, sister What is it?" Lillian asked
"So by a soprano, but I didn’t like her voice Too reedy"
"So often that’s the case," Miss Lillian clucked "Are we ready?"
"The time is now," Miss Addie said Miss Lillian held fast to Felix, whose san to pound He tried to squirm but was too woozy to do much
"It’ll all be over soon, kitty," Miss Lillian assured hiles of words, old as tied the knife into the cat’s belly,the necessary incision The cat stilled She reached into the sto thelad she’d changed first She stared into the bowl, frowning Miss Lillian left the cat’s bloodied corpse and joined her
"What is it, sister?"
"They’re co"
In the quiet low of the banker’s laht Earlier, he’d noticed the plain sedan parked across the street and the twoOne of the the shells out theWill had locked up and, whistling a carefree tune, strolled to a nearby Automat with a view of the museum for a sandwich and coffee, which he barely touched Only when he’d seen the sedan drive away did he return to theat the break in the piece of cellophane he’d left across the doorja each roo It had just been a look-around For now
Will craned his neck to gaze at the roo above the hills, plains, and rivers, above the patriots, pioneers, Indians, and ilow of the old library, he walked the stacks until he cae leather-bound edition of the Declaration of Independence Froes, he retrieved a worn envelope The envelope had been staht-hand corner: US DEPARTMENT OF PARANORMAL, 1917 He opened the file to the first page
Meerald, Jacob Marlowe, Rotke Wasseraret Walker
Top Secret
Project Buffalo
Will sat at the desk, rereading the file When he had finished, he sat staring into the shadows
He sat for a very long time
THE MAN IN THE STOVEPIPE HAT
The land was a pledge, and the land was an idea of freedo of a restless nation built on dreams Every rock, every creek, every sunrise and sunset seeuarantee of more The land was robust Rivers ran swiftly by on currents of desire Purpleof el across hillsides that sloped gently toward valleys grateful for their song Telephone poles jutted up beside roads, their lonely wires stretched across the open fields, thin promises of connection Rahbors bordered rustic farmhouses, curved around red barns and stoic windhtly in warm breezes
In the towns, there were Main Streets of the sort that lined the halls of hazy, fond memory A church steeple Barbershop Ice-creareen perfect for picnicking Butcher Baker Candlestick es e hovered atop strea In the courthouse under a wheezing ceiling fan, the woers busied themselves with needlepoint--HOME SWEET HOME, GOD BLESS AMERICA--and their husbands fanned theument droned on about whether e of a master craftsman, wound with a key at the back and set into motion to play his part in a mysterious destiny, preordained, or had crawled froles, cousin to the beasts, an evolutionary experiment of free will let loose in a world of choice and chance No verdict was reached