The Signal: The Signal Series Book 1 by Toby Neighbors

Author:Toby Neighbors [Neighbors, Toby]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781952260346
Publisher: Mythic Adventure Publishing, LLC
Published: 2021-12-22T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER

TWENTY-ONE

It was gloomy and sad in the little grotto. A small bed of spruce boughs filled the back. Their tarp covered the entranceway. The only items left out were the cooking element and an empty pot. The blankets were folded and stacked on top of Tillie’s patchwork bag. Tears filled Graham’s eyes as he looked at that bag. It had been sewn together from scraps of fabric saved for many seasons and turned into something useful. To Graham, it was beautiful.

On top of it all was the sheepskin. It was large enough that it would have made a long coat on Tillie. Graham fell to his knees and buried his face in the soft sheering as he cried. But his grieving was cut short by some commotion outside.

“I have to,” said a booming voice that Graham recognized as belonging to Eric Lars. “He’s got a right to know.”

“It won’t bring him any comfort, Eric,” Ava Lars, the big man’s wife said. “Please, I’m begging you.”

“It’s my burden, and I’ll bear it, but I won’t pretend it didn’t happen,” the big man hissed.

Graham got to his feet and wiped his face on his shirt sleeve, then pulled back the tarp. Eric was right outside, and Ava, his wife—who was half the big man’s size – huddled close behind him. She looked frightened, and Graham felt a stab of dread. Was Ava afraid of Graham, or of what her husband was about to do? Maybe the big man was indebted to Ivan Busk and he meant to take care of Graham before the younger man could follow through on his vow.

“Graham,” Eric said, his voice less forceful than before.

“Eric,” Graham replied.

The big man’s face pulled down into a frown, and his voice was unusually high. “I killed her,” he said. “I wasn’t myself, but it was still my fault.”

“What?” Graham asked, his body shaking all over.

Eric fell on his knees in front of Graham, and Ava wrapped her arms around the big man’s shoulders.

“The stranger told me to do it,” Eric said. “I didn’t want to. She had the pistol and I… I…”

He broke down in sobs. Ava was crying too, and people were coming out of the shelters to see what was happening.

“You hit Tillie?” Graham asked.

Eric couldn’t talk. His grief seemed to be strangling him. Ava nodded, tears rolling down her cheeks.

“It’s eating him alive, Graham. The guilt,” Ava said. “He didn’t mean to do it. You know Eric. He wouldn’t hurt a soul. He’s a good man. It was the alien that made him do it.”

What happened next was a mystery to Graham. He didn’t plan it or even think about it while he was doing it. But he knew Eric. The big man had been a fixture in Graham’s life from when he was just a boy. Eric was the biggest and strongest man in their clan. Graham and Lon used to pretend they were Eric, and Graham had never seen the big man abuse his strength or be cruel in any way.

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