Page 2 (1/2)

Perhaps they thought they could bring to this valley only those things they loved, leaving behind all ugliness

We are not, however, a species that can choose the baggage with

which it must travel In spite of our best intentions, ays find that we have brought along a suitcase or two of darkness, and misery

For half a h above, glimpsed between laurel branches

The hawk and I were hunters this

Penny Kallisto ht hand in her left

I was grateful for this kindness Her grip proved fire froear, rolling at just a fewuntil it turned the corner When I recognized the vehicle, I knew a sadness equal to my fear

This 1968 Pontiac Firebird 400 had been restored with loving care The two-door, lide toward us with all tires a fraction of an inch off the pave heat

Harlo Landerson and I had been in the sa his junior and senior years, Harlo rebuilt this car from the axles up, until it looked as cherry as it hadin the autumn of ‘67,when it had first stood on a showroo, somewhat shy, Harlo had not labored on the car with the hope either that it would be a babe ht of hih to freeze the mercury in a thermometer He’d had no social ambitions He hadsuffered no illusions about his chances of ever rising above the lower ranks of the high-school caste systeine, the Firebird could sprint froht seconds Yet Harlo wasn’t a street racer; he took no special pride in having wheels of fury

He devoted much time, labor, and n and function enchanted him This was a labor of the heart, a passion almost spiritual in its purity and intensity

I soe in Harlo’s life because he had no one to whoive the love that he lavished on the car His mom died when he was six His dad was a ive it But if you’re lonely enough, maybe the sparkle of the chroine can be mistaken for affection

Harlo and I hadn’t been buddies, just friendly I liked the guy He was quiet, but quiet was better than the boast and bluster hich h school

With Penny Kallisto still at h school, he’d worked hard Nine to five, he unloaded trucks at Super Food and inning at 4:00 AM, he dropped hundreds of news­papers at homes on the east side of Pico Mundo Once each week, he also delivered to everyhouse a plastic bag full of advertising flyers and discount-coupon books

Thisthes Each folded and bagged copy of the Tuesday edition of the Maravilla County Tih the air and landed with a soft thwop on a driveway or a front walk, precisely where the subscriber preferred to have it

Harlo orking the far side of the street When he reached the house oppositePontiac to a stop

Penny and I crossed to the car, and Harlo said, "Good mornin’, Odd How’re you this fine day?"

"Bleak," I replied "Sad Confused"

He froith concern "What’s wrong? Anything I can do?"

"Soo of Penny’s hand, I leaned into the Firebird froine, and plucked the key frorabbed for the keys but ht schedule"

I never heard Penny’s voice, but in the rich yet silent language of the soul, she must have spoken to me

What I said to Harlo Landerson was the essence of what the girl revealed: "You have her blood in your pocket"

An innocent man would have been baffled by my statement Harlo stared at me, his eyes suddenly owlish not isdoht," I said, "you took with you three small squares of white felt"

One hand still on the wheel, Harlo looked away fro the Pontiac to in blood with the squares of felt,"

Harlo shivered His face flushed red, perhaps with shauish thickened my voice "They dried stiff and dark, brittle like crackers"

His shivers swelled into violent tremors

"You carry one of them with you at all times" My voice shook with emotion "You like to smell it Oh, God, Harlo Sometimes you put it between your teeth And bite on it"

He threw open the driver’s door and fled

I’eance per­sonified I don’t really knohat I am, or why

In moments like these, however, I can’t restrain myself from action A kind of madness comes over me, and I can no more turn away from

what must be done than I can wish this fallen world back into a state of grace

As Harlo burst froature marks on her throat, which had not been visible when she had first appeared tocloth had scored her flesh revealed the singular fury hich he had strangled her to death

Pity tore at me, and I went after Harlo Landerson, for whom I had no pity whatsoever

TWO

BLACKTOP TO CONCRETE, CONCRETE TO GRASS, ALONG-side the house that lay across the street froht-iron fence and over, then across a narrow alleyway, up a slu hi He couldn’t outrun either me or justice, and he certainly couldn’t outrun who he was

Beyond the slu pool Dappled with liht a trove of jew­els left by long-dead pirates who had sailed a sea since vanished