The Blue Line Down by Maris Lawyer

Author:Maris Lawyer
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781938235856
Publisher: Hub City Press
Published: 2021-06-25T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

Whitmill, South Carolina, 1922

Jude drifted in and out of consciousness, like a piece of wood bobbing on a surface of water before being pulled back down by a current. Harvey was at the back of the automobile, somewhere. Jude was wedged in between the one in the suit and the Scotsman called Monty. Bishop smelled like Listerine, and Monty smelled musty, like brown bread and old wool. Jude didn’t mind the wool, but the yeasty smell turned his stomach and he retched into the other man’s shoulder.

“If you can’t hold your juice, you’ll be strapped to the back like baggage,” Monty said, while the other one—Bishop—shoved Jude away.

Jude’s head rolled uncomfortably onto his own shoulder, but he found he couldn’t move it. He sunk again into blackness.

When Jude rose back to the surface, the car was at a stop and everything was bright. Jude pinched his eyes till only a sliver of whiteness filtered through his lashes. He did not feel Bishop or Monty on either side of him. Jude slowly raised his eyelids and saw a skinny house in front of the car. There was a shallow porch at the front with a shabby railing, and strings of chimes hanging from the rafters.

The car wobbled and Jude grunted, twisting around to see Monty reaching into the back, lifting Harvey halfway up. Jude said dimly, “He can’t move.”

Monty’s face was indistinct. He might have said something back, but Jude couldn’t tell. Jude spoke up again: “Don’t move him, he ain’t well.”

Jude saw Harvey glide off the leather seats and out of sight, like an oyster disappearing down a throat. Jude turned back to the front of the car. Bishop stood on the porch, and a girl was with him. Monty shuffled up, awkward with Harvey’s big body in his arms.

“Hey,” Jude mumbled. Then, louder: “Hey!”

Bishop glanced at the car, said something to the girl, and walked over. Flicking open the door, he leaned in. “You, too,” he said.

“Not on your life,” Jude slurred. His lips and chin felt wet.

“Out,” Bishop commanded. He gripped Jude’s arm and yanked him out. The world titled and Jude felt sick. Concentrating on keeping his mouth clamped shut, Jude allowed Bishop to steer him roughly toward the house.

“Lay him there,” said the woman’s voice. “Here—use this pillow behind his head.”

Jude felt a rush of relief. He wanted nothing more than to lie down and sleep, but in the next moment he was shoved into a wooden chair. Jude grunted and his eyes flew open, only to find that it was Harvey, not him, being lowered gingerly onto a frayed chaise lounge. The girl he had seen on the porch leaned over him. Jude heard her gasp softly.

“Who is he? What’s happened?” she asked. Kneeling beside the lounge, she turned to look at Bishop and Monty with eyes round as saucers. “Are either of you hurt?”

“No,” said Bishop.

“What about him?” she asked, and Jude felt a pair of eyes fall on him.

“Pickled,” Monty scoffed.

The girl turned back to Harvey and peeled back his shirt.

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