Page 17 of Lion's Share
Then he focused back on Marjorie. “What would you need to get more definitive answers?”
“I’d need to get closer to the source,” she replied immediately. “Take readings in that section of forest. But….” The words faded away as she again seemed to grapple with the ramifications of what she’d found, and her expression was now more worried than ever. “If my calculations are right, being near the epicenter during one of these energy spikes could be extremely dangerous. We’re talking about electromagnetic fields strong enough to stop a human heart.”
Better and better…not. “But you said the energy seems to be contained,” Ben said.
“Contained, yes. But not necessarily safe when it comes to direct exposure.” Marjorie closed her laptop and sent him a very direct look. “I think we need to contact my professors at Davis. Maybe even the Department of Energy, or possibly Lawrence Livermore Labs down in San Francisco. This is way above my pay grade.”
Oh, hell no. The last thing they needed was more government attention. True, the previous time the feds had been here, they’d been involved in the search for Sidney’s mother and grandmother, but still, Ben knew it could get very dangerous if some real scientists started poking around Silver Hollow. “Maybe we should gather a little more data first,” he said, choosing his words with care. “Before we involve any federal agencies. I get the feeling they don’t like being called out on wild goose chases.”
Marjorie’s eyes narrowed slightly. “You know something you’re not telling me.”
It wasn’t a question.
“I don’t know anything,” he told her, and prayed he sounded convincing. “Or at least, I don’t know enough to start bringing in people who might go out there and tear up the forest without cause. We just got a logging company to back off from clear-cutting where they weren’t supposed to, and I don’t want a bunch of pencil-pushers from the DOE deciding it’s a really good idea to start poking around and causing even more damage.”
That certainly sounded like a good enough argument to him. The real question was, would Marjorie Tran buy it?
It seemed so, because after a long pause, she closed her laptop, then settled against the back of the chair where she sat, her arms crossed. “Okay,” she said, although it was clear she hadn’t bothered to keep the reluctance out of her tone. “I’ll take another set of readings this evening and a second one tomorrow morning, and then I’ll start collating them so I can see what they look like in relation to the readings I’ve already recorded. If I don’t find any sign of things accelerating, then I suppose we can afford to let it go for a couple more days.”
Would that be enough? Ben had absolutely no idea. He knew he was in way over his head here, and the only people who might be able to give him some advice were the very same ones he needed to stay far, far away from Silver Hollow.
Since he guessed Marjorie would balk if he asked for any more time, he’d have to go with the situation for now. Besides, “a couple more days” would take them into the weekend, and because she had to be back in Davis by Sunday night so she could teach her Monday morning class, it wasn’t as if she could hang around town indefinitely.
Thank God for small favors.
“That works,” he said, then added, figuring it couldn’t hurt to plant a seed of doubt, “You know, it could be that there’s just something weird about the geology around here, and it’s nothing that’s going to change or accelerate over time.”
Marjorie’s single lifted eyebrow told him she didn’t buy that notion for a single second. However, it also seemed as if she hadn’t talked to many of the locals, because she didn’t point out that all the glitches and hiccups hadn’t begun until recently.
At least, as far as he knew. However, he had to believe that Sidney would have mentioned something along those lines if this wasn’t a new occurrence, but instead something that had happened off and on in the past.
To his relief, Marjorie only said, “Maybe,” as she stuffed her laptop back into her satchel. Once she’d slipped the strap over her shoulder and had risen from the couch, she added, “I’ll be in touch tomorrow morning to let you know what else I’ve found.”
“Sounds good,” Ben replied. He saw her to the door and held back a sigh of relief once she was gone, striding with determination out of his line of sight. If it had been anyone else, he might have thought she was heading off to grab some lunch, but he had a feeling she was actually on a quest to find a few more locations to take her second batch of readings.
A glance at the clock told him it was a little past twelve. Even if Marjorie didn’t look as if she cared about feeding herself, he knew he was hungry.
Besides, putting lunch together would give him something to do until Sidney closed up shop for the day.
It was going to be a very long afternoon.
“Marjorie Tran seriously wants to get the feds involved?” Sidney asked, both her expression and her tone disbelieving…and more than a little worried.
“That’s what she said,” Ben replied. He’d met Sidney at her house a little after six, just as they’d planned the night before, and now they were sitting at her kitchen table with takeout from Hog Wild spread between them. Neither of them seemed to have much appetite, though. “She wants to contact her professors at Davis, maybe even the DoE.”
Sidney set down her fork and pushed away a container of pulled pork that had barely been touched. “How long do we have before she pulls the trigger?”
“A couple of days, sounds like,” Ben replied, and Sidney’s brows drew together, making a faint worry line appear there before it smoothed away again. Obviously, she didn’t think that would be nearly long enough. He wasn’t sure about that, either, but…. “Marjorie’s going to take more readings tonight and tomorrow morning, and if she doesn’t see any signs that things are getting worse, then she’ll probably hold off a little longer.”
Sidney reached for the glass of Hefeweizen sitting near her plate. They’d both decided on beer instead of wine tonight, although now he was starting to think they should have gone with something a little stronger than the light wheat beer.
Maybe a higher alcohol content would have helped with the perpetual knot of worry that seemed to have settled somewhere between his shoulder blades.
“And if she does see signs that things are getting worse?”
Ben met Sidney’s worried gray eyes, which always reminded him of the near-perpetual fog that seemed to hang around this section of the state. “Then I think all bets are off.” He thought of the readings Marjorie had taken, of the stranger carving his careful Ogham letters into the forest trees. Was there any kind of connection between the two, or was all this completely random? He shook his head. “I wish we understood more about how all this works.”
“You and me both.” Sidney finally picked up her fork again and took a small bite of cowboy beans. “I keep wondering what my mother and grandmother would have done in a situation like this. They managed to keep the secret for decades. There has to be a way to handle this that doesn’t involve federal agents crawling all over Silver Hollow.”
