Headlights flashed against the wall and the three researchers heard the approach of Bill’s car.
“I’ll do the talking,” said Mike.
Bill lifted the garage door and pulled it shut behind himself before addressing the group.
“So? Did you make up your mind? Is it just me?” Bill asked.
“We definitely heard the laughter again, and we’re convinced that it doesn’t need you around to perform,” said Mike.
“Good,” said Bill. “So you’ll let me study your methodology?”
“Yes,” said Mike. “But I will ask you to sign a non-disclosure agreement before I explain how it works. And we’ll have to bring it here to dial it in for your entity.”
“Wait, wait,” said Bill. “I don’t think that’s such a good idea. That thing is strong enough as it is.”
“I think we have to,” said Mike. “Each time we’ve had success, it has only been after carefully testing everything and find just the right combination of inputs.” He looked to Gary to back him up.
“It’s true,” confirmed Gary. “We have to adjust the frequency, amplitude, pulse-width.”
Mike held up his hand, to stop Gary from revealing too much.
Bill rubbed his temple and bowed his head for a second. “I’m just trying to get rid of this thing. Boosting it up seems like a really shitty idea.”
“I hear you,” said Mike. “It’s the only way though.”
“Okay, shit. Okay,” said Bill. “Can you set up in the daylight though? It doesn’t seem to be very observant in the daylight.”
“No problem,” said Mike.
“And I want to do this as soon as possible,” added Bill. “I want this done.”
“Saturday?”
“Good enough,” said Bill. He extended his hand to Mike. “Thanks, man.”
“Thank you,” said Mike. “Here’s my phone number. You call if you have any problems between now and then.”
“WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU in there?” Katie asked when they were back on the road.
“It’s kind of hard to explain,” said Mike. “It was like I was in the room where I grew up.”
“Like remote viewing?” asked Gary.
“No,” Mike shook his head as he merged onto the highway. “It was more like reliving an old memory from the third person.”
“Was it a dream?” asked Katie.
“Sure, I guess,” said Mike. “Yeah, that makes sense because it never really happened exactly like that, but it was close. I had a really active imagination when I was a kid, and I had a really hard time after my little brother died.”
Katie sat back and adjusted her seatbelt.
Gary studied the trees as they passed out of the angle of the headlights.
“Charlie?” Gary eventually asked.
“Yeah,” said Mike. “How did you know?”
“I think you mentioned his name just before you woke up.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
Crooked Tree
SNOW FAWN HUGGED HER BABY CLOSE against the cold evening and rubbed his gums, checking for a tooth. She had executed this single-fingered move about a thousand times that day and in the previous few weeks. It was her waking obsession—the first thing she did when he woke her up with his insistent mewing, and the last thing she did before he drifted off to sleep.
Her sister hadn’t come in over a week, which meant that Snow Fawn had survived only on what she could gather near her cold cave. She moved a hand from her baby’s chest and checked her own, feeling her sharp ribs poking through her thin skin. If only his first tooth would appear, she would be able to return to her home with no fear for his life.
When her boy had descended in preparation for birth, that’s when she had known for sure. Her sister had warned her weeks before, but she had discounted her sister’s opinion as jealousy. Her sister, Rose Blossom, had warned her that her smell had become sour. Snow Fawn didn’t notice a change in her own odor, and tried to ignore the hard truth. She had sensed the same sour smell that Rose Blossom described, but she smelled it whenever Sharp Claw, her boy’s father, was around.
But this was her first child and, given her age, would likely be her last. She was unable to admit to any possibility of a health issue until she saw him with her own eyes. When she did finally see him, she could deny it no longer.
She froze when she heard the approaching footsteps. With her hand cocked just above her sleeping boy’s mouth, she prepared to clamp down her hand, to silence him if he should make a noise.
“Fawn?” a timid voice called. “Fawn?”
“Rose Blossom,” she whispered. “Are you alone?”
“Yes,” her sister answered. “I brought you some meat and squash.”
“Thank you, thank you,” Snow Fawn scrambled from her rocky den, careful not to wake her baby.
“How is he?” asked Rose Blossom. “Does he have a tooth yet?”
“No,” said Snow Fawn, “but I think he will any day now.”
“I think you should come back,” said Rose Blossom. “You look so thin, I can tell even in the moonlight. He’s old enough. They won’t make you give him up.”
“You remember Pidgeon’s baby girl? She was older than this boy, and they still dashed her head on the rocks.”
“That was years ago,” argued Rose Blossom. “Sharp Claw has softened since then. He’s much more gentle. And besides, she had a closed hand. She would never have been able to work.”
“I’m not taking chances with this boy. He’s my only child, and I won’t be able to have another,” said Snow Fawn.
“Don’t say that,” said Rose Blossom. She sat down on a rock and laid out the food she had brought for her sister.
Snow Fawn sat on the other side of the offering and rocked her baby.
“How is everyone?” asked Snow Fawn.
“Your nephew brought home a rabbit yesterday,” Rose Blossom smiled.
“You must be so proud,” said Snow Fawn, tilting her head and putting her finger in her son’s mouth again.
“Fawn? Did you ever think about why the men would smash your boy’s head on the rocks?” asked Rose Blossom, quietly.
“Don’t say that,” said Snow Fawn. “I know why these things are done, but I’m not going to let that happen to my boy. He’s my only child,” she pleaded.
“Okay, okay,” her sister consoled. “I just wonder what life will be like for him. I’ve heard of such boys. Sometimes they can’t talk, and can’t understand either. He may never have a name, and never bring home meat to his family.”
“He’ll do all of those things,” said Snow Fawn. “You don’t know. He’s the son of a great provider, a great leader, he’ll do all those things and more.”
“Then why do you have to wait for his first tooth before showing him to the family?” asked her sister.
“They won’t understand,” said Snow Fawn. “They’ll see his mouth and his nose and just assume. A baby’s look can change you know. You remember how small your boy’s chin was when he was born?”
“All babies have small chins,” said Rose Blossom.
“I know that. I was just saying,” said Snow Fawn.
They sat in silence and watched a puddle reflect the moonlight. Snow Fawn took a piece of meat from the rock and gnawed at it with her molars.
“I should get back,” said Rose Blossom.
“I’ll come back soon,” said Snow Fawn. “Don’t risk coming here again. I don’t want someone to follow you.”
“Okay,” said Rose Blossom. She laid a hand on her sister’s arm and then touched her nephew on his soft cheek. “He’s sweet,” she remarked.