Get Out of Town by Terrence McCauley

Author:Terrence McCauley [McCauley, Terrence]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pinnacle Books
Published: 2020-06-12T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 19

The next day, the headline of the Dover Station Record blared:

FIRESTORM ON RIVER STREET!

Four Dead – Three Homes Destroyed

HEROIC FIRE BRIGADE SAVES TOWN

Brendan Mackey—Fearless!

From his table on the front porch of The Campbell Arms, Mackey snapped the paper open as he read the account of the fire written by Charles Everett Harrington himself.

It had been quite some time since the editor of the newspaper had written a story for the paper, especially after Mr. Rice’s investment in the paper allowed him to hire a team of reporters to print stories that made the Dover Station Company look good. He was glad Harrington had taken up the pen again, as he had always enjoyed the newsman’s articles. He had a gift for writing fancy prose and never allowed the truth to get in the way of a good story.

Anyone else who read the article wouldn’t have seen James Grant’s hand in it.

But Mackey wasn’t just anyone and could practically see the town’s mayor setting the type himself. It’s probably why Harrington wrote it in the first place. One of his staff writers might accidentally tell the truth.

Harrington’s account was as brief as it was fictional. It said a mysterious fire had swept through three new buildings on River Street the previous night. The culprit was a candle that had been lit too close to drapes. The burnt remains of three unidentified women huddled in a corner beside their beds had been discovered once the fire had been put out. A man was found dead in the parlor. He was undoubtedly a Good Samaritan who had been overcome by the smoke before he could rescue the doomed women. There was no mention of whores or Dana King anywhere in the piece.

But the article did manage to end on a positive note, praising Pappy for leading the fire brigade that combated the inferno. And that Mr. James Grant, in his offices as mayor and general manager of the Dover Station Company, had promised to purchase the blighted lots and make them part of the new sawmill that was to be built next to the site within the month.

Mackey set the newspaper aside in disgust. Grant had a hand in getting four people killed and came out looking like a hero in the papers.

Katherine touched his hand before his temper spiked. He had been so wrapped up in the article that he had forgotten she was there. “Please don’t get upset,” she said. “There’s nothing you can do about it now, Aaron.” She tried to put a good shine on it. “At least they said good things about Pappy.”

That was part of Mackey’s annoyance. “There’ll be no living with him after this.”

“At least the rest of the town didn’t burn, though the loss of the four people was a tragedy.”

He didn’t have the heart to tell her the truth. He wasn’t sure what good it would do, anyway. Maybe he’d tell her in time, but for now, he was glad the whole mess was finally over.

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