Page 10 of Missing Moon

Tammy and Paxton jump out and run for the gas station building while I open the gas cap. The girls find a door on the side of the building, open it… and stare inside. Both of them lean back as if recoiling from an elder demon. Tammy one-hand swings the door shut hard. They stand there staring at the closed door for another few seconds before darting around behind the place. Oh wow. Just how gnarlywasthat bathroom?

While I’m pumping gas, a man emerges from the office. True to my expectations, he’s wearing overalls and a pale Army-green T-shirt. His outfit doesnothave a nametag. This man may or may not fit my Cletus-Bubba theory. He looks late thirties, sorta shaggy brown hair and a matching beard. His hands have a coating of dark grime, as if he’d been working on an engine a day or two ago and never bothered to wash up.

“Evening,” says the guy with a nod of greeting.

His energy is friendly and nonthreatening. His mind is at peace. Not that I’d be particularly afraid of a single mortal human, no matter his intentions. Still, I get the feeling the guyjust came out to talk due to boredom or a sense of being hospitable.

“Howdy,” I say.

We make small talk for a few minutes, mostly about the van. He hasn’t seen one of them in a while. Apparently, minivans were all the rage in the Eighties or something, but they’re on the rare side now. These days, everyone wants an SUV. The guy—whose name is Bill—thinks I’m the oldest among a group of siblings. He’s assumed my kids are my brother and sister, and Paxton is probably Tammy’s friend. I don’t bother correcting him. He’s obviously thinking I’m a lot younger than I am, but my ‘young’ is still quite obviously an adult… so he’s not giving me any sort of hard time about ‘where are your parents.’ The guy’s powers of observation are pretty good, though. He’s apparently aware that Paxton is not biologically related to any of us.

Paxton and Tammy emerge from behind the gas station building and hurry back over to the van.

Bill waves at the girls, then looks back to me. “Mind if I ask where you folks are headed?”

With a loudclick, the pump stops.

“Klamath.” I squeeze the gas pump handle a few times, trying to round it off to an even number. Of course it overshoots to $28.02. “More or less.”

“You might want to be careful,” says Bill while eyeing the meter on the pump. “Kinda dangerous up that way.”

I remove the gas nozzle from the van and hang it back on the pump. My brain is refusing to accept the word ‘dangerous’ in reference to the little town I basically grew up in. Yeah, we lived way out in the weeds but… Klamath was the nearest ‘downtown’ to us and the place we’d always do our shopping, or occasionally go to the movies. Occasionally, as in maybe twice a year… at least until I got old enough to bike myself there and sneak in via the back without paying. Can’t imagine there’s enough in this area to attract the interest of gangs, or any serious criminality.

“What does ‘dangerous’ mean?” I finally ask.

“Well… there’ve been a few people found dead. County sheriff came in, didn’t do much about it.”

Huh. Odd. “Why wouldn’t a sheriff do anything about it? Multiple people? How many are we talking about here?”

“Reckon about five, maybe?”

“Five dead people and the sheriff didn’t do anything?” I blink. “That sounds kinda sketchy.”

He shrugs. “It’s just what I hear people talking about. Don’t rightly know myself since I ain’t about to go up that way if the stories are even half true.”

What gets me is the apparent sincerity in his eyes. Now, I almost have the feeling he came over to talk because he wanted to warn us away from the area. I dip into his mind. Yup, that’s exactly why he came over. He’s genuinely worried for our safety. Whatever rumors someone shared with him, he’s taken them to heart.

“What do the rumors say is happening?” I ask.

“All sorts of crazy things.” Bill chuckles. “Some thinking it’s aliens. Some say Bigfoot. Even a few folks out there claiming it’s a bear… or mountain lion.”

“What doyouthink is going on?” Tammy leans her head out the side door of the van.

Bill winces slightly, and gives her a shy look like he doesn’t want to scare her. “Well, I reckon it’s just a man with some screws loose.” He looks back to me. “If I can’t get you to change your minds about going there, you ought’a get done whatever you need to get done fast and get going again.”

“Thanks. Wasn’t really planning to stick around too long.” I shakehis hand.

“Be careful now.” Bill waves before meandering back to his office. He gets about halfway there before pausing to look back at us.

Poor guy seems to be debating whether or not he should try harder to talk me out of going to Klamath. I don’t give him the chance to make things awkward and drive off before he can turn the rest of the way around.

He doesn’t try to chase us or shout or anything. I do spot him in the rearview mirror shaking his head as if to say ‘damn tourists… I tried to warn you.’

Five dead? Oh boy. This is going to be fun.

I don’t think the average Bigfoot is going to randomly kill people in town—especially having met two Bigfoot brothers years ago. They couldn’t have been more spiritual or advanced. If humans—or vampires, in that case—don’t go out into the woods to mess with them, they generally leave people alone. As far as aliens go? I suppose it’s a remote possibility. Aliens—from my limited experience—wouldn’t make a habit of leaving bodies around, though. They tend to abduct and keep. Gotta remember that we’re dealing with rural people out here. Lots of hippies, preppers, conspiracy types, and so forth. At least, it seemed that way when I was a kid.

Then again, I’m the one claiming to having come across Bigfoot and having been abducted.

---