Chapter Twenty-Four

Mayor Barton entered through his front with no regard for being silent. He was angry and his body thundered through the house,unleashing disapproval openly through every twist of his joints and every expression of movement. He leaned his rifle up behind the door. That reporter was ruining everything and he needed to sort through what to do next before he could even think about sleeping.

As Paul removed his coat, Kathy emerged from the hallway in a set of flannel pajamas. She yawned.

“What's going on dad?”

“Our ‘guest’ broke in the school this evening to work on his story. There was a big commotion, Tommy's gun discharged and old man Philpot went bananas.”

“Jeez, is everyone ok?” Kathy secretly wondered about Ransom. She knew exactly what her father was capable of and had spent the last hour laying flat on her back worried sick.

“Doc thinks we might lose the BLT because Caleb had some kind of cardiac arrest. And I had to throw Ransom in the jail with Bo. It’s all his fault.”

Darlene bustled into the room at the sound of her husband’s voice, eager to determine why her house was in a state of seeming panic.

“Do you two know what time it is?”

“No, honey. I lost track when I was out gallivanting with the town whores.” Paul landed his retort with a sting.

“Take it easy, dad.”

“I'm going to kill that damn reporter.”

Darlene recognized the look on her husband’s face. He wasn’t necessarily a good man, but she loved him. More than that, she knew he wasn’t a killer and hated to see him so worked up.

“Now honey, you don't mean that. Tell us what happened.”

“He snuck out of here tonight, broke in the school. He's been in town 12 hours and he already found out enough to know right where to go. I just don’t...”

Barton’s voice trailed off, and he paused as if thinking to himself. As he did, a slight look of anxiety crossed Kathy's face. Paul noted it, and his rage spilled over.

“You! What did you tell him?”

“Nothing daddy, I swear it!” Kathy’s fear echoed through the house and was nearly as thick as Barton’s anger.

Paul repositioned himself and took a threatening posture over Kathy, who retreated from him as if she were about to take a beating.

“I saw you looking at him over dinner, parading that meatloaf around your mouth. What did you tell him??”

In a flash, Darlene inserted herself between them. She could still move with the grace and quickness of lioness when it came to defending one her cubs. “That's enough Paul!” She screamed. “You're losing your grip. Come to bed, we can sort all this out in the morning.”

“Dad, I swear I haven't said a word about it.” Kathy lied.

Paul stormed down the hall away from the two women, slamming his bedroom door in disapproval a moment later. He was wasting time with them anyway. It didn’t matter who or how Ransom knew about Caleb. It only mattered that for the first time in his career, he believed he was Bethlehem’s failure. He’d let loose of something he was entrusted to guard.

Kathy followed her father a few moments later, as her mother moved around the house locking doors and turning off lights. Nearing her room, the youngest of the Barton trio paused then backed away from her door quietly. She entered the guest room where Ransom’s things were neatly stacked around the room and started to rummage through his bags, finally landing on a magazine. The cover article had a picture what looked like a pile of tongues. Above the photograph, the headline read "Tongue Collector Baffles Police." The article was written by J.C. Ransom.

Kathy opened the magazine and began to read, growing increasingly disgusted with each paragraph. She didn’t hear her mother enter the room as she read.

“You know it's rude to mess with other people's stuff.”

“I was just curious about him.” Kathy said with a sigh.

“You like him don't you?”

“He's alright, a bit quirky if you ask me.” Kathy tried not to sound overly interested, but she knew she was lying again. She did like Ransom, and even the quirky bits left her wanting more of him.

“Did you help him get into the school tonight?” Darlene went straight to the point.

“Honest mom, I had no part of it.” Kathy was stacking lie upon lie.

“I know life with your dad hasn't been easy these past few years. He’s just got a lot on him, with the town, the tumor, all that.”

“Why does he hate me so much?”

“He's doesn't hate you. You're just a bit too independent for him. He likes to know where everything, and everyone, is. He likes things ordered and easy to manage. You don’t fit that bill.”

“Well, I didn't help Ransom tonight no matter what he thinks. Ransom wouldn't need my help anyway. He's a smart man and I think he already knows a lot.”

Darlene grabbed the magazine from Kathy and started thumbing through the pages.

“From the looks of his stories, he is liable to find the worst parts of our secret. I’m betting that’s what has your father so worried.”

“Do you believe any of those things in his magazine?”

“This stuff? Not a bit.”

“What about the BLT? Do you believe in it?”

“I don’t know much about that honey. That's a man's world, I suppose. All that competition never made any sense to me.”

“Night momma.” Kathy got up and kissed her mom on the cheek, leaving Darlene alone amongst the belongings of man whose stories included the collection of tongues.