Return to Appleton by Sylvia Bambola

Author:Sylvia Bambola [Bambola, Sylvia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-57567-697-5
Publisher: Moody Publishers
Published: 2005-11-08T05:00:00+00:00

By the time Charlie Axlerod came into the print shop and made some last-minute changes to his board game, and by the time Gloria incorporated those changes and then drove the final proof down to the Chamber of Commerce at the other end of Main Street, it was pushing three o’clock. Paul was supposed to have started printing the game almost two hours ago.

Wanda was a bundle of nerves. Even chewing three packs of spearmint hadn’t helped. But her misplaced anxiety had found an easy target, and she’d yelled at Paul a good ten minutes over his failure to order a new plate cylinder for the Ryobi. “Now you tell me?” she had screamed. “This is the busiest time of year! What if that old thing doesn’t hold until the Apple Festival is over! What will happen to our business?”

Wanda had yelled so loud, Gloria had worried she would blow an artery. These days Wanda was strung tighter than Grandma Quinn’s clothesline. Another week and the Apple Festival would be over. Both she and Paul were counting the days.

Gloria stepped out of the Chamber of Commerce building carrying the proof with Charlie Axlerod’s signature, wondering if she should just call the okay in to Wanda or drive back. The streets were clogged with tourists, and by the time she got out of her parking spot, which was around the corner, and made her way down Main, a good twenty minutes could pass. The picture of Wanda’s red-apple face, wormed by bulging veins, made Gloria decide to call it in.

She was about to go back into the Chamber building and ask Charlie if she could use his phone when someone grabbed the proof from her hand. She looked around in surprise. The sidewalk was thick with people. A group of senior citizens were crowding past her. Behind them were a man and woman pushing twins. In front of her was a cluster of young Asians, speaking what sounded like Japanese and licking ice-cream cones from Tad’s.

She saw a man dash across the street, then stop on the sidewalk and face her. He was dressed in black leather, and one gloved hand waved a paper in the air. There was a smile on his face. It took only a second for Gloria to recognize him. Some foolish impulse made her walk over. As she did, he tossed the paper into the garbage can by the curb and waited.

“Who are you?” she said when she reached him. “What do you want?” She had never been this close to him before. He looked younger than she’d originally thought, with freckles and the beginnings of a sandy beard. His shoulder-length light-brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail. He wore a small silver nose ring through the skin that separated his right and left nostrils. It reminded her of a picture of a bull she had seen in a magazine.

“What do you want?” she repeated.

“Ever see the movie Chinatown?”

Gloria remained mute, not moving a muscle.

The young man leaned closer.

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