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.“Danny, Danny!”“Mmm.What?” he said distractedly as his eyes scanned the deck for that brief flash of red, and a man wearing a black ball cap weaving between motor vehicles.“Are you all right?”“Mm.? Oh sorry.I thought I saw the young couple who were in the restaurant last night,” he said as he tried to peer round a particularly large RV parked halfway down the row.*****My life is not filled with prescient moments but occasionally I do have them and when I do they are not preceded by flashing red lights or the sound of bells ringing, or the loud crash of cymbals banging together.They sneak up when you least expect it and kick you right in the balls.But…, this was not one of those moments.I knew what my sister was going to say before she’d even opened her mouth.“I don’t suppose you’re going to tell me who the lady in red is?”I shrugged.“Is that an ‘I don’t know who she is’ shrug, or an, ‘I’m not going to tell you’ shrug?”“Make of it what you will–it’s just a shrug.”“If you keep reading, am I going to find out who she is?”“Oh sure… Eventually.”*****Danny drove off the ferry and headed for Highway-89.“Do you want something to eat?” he asked.“We’ve still got a couple of hours on the road and I need to stop for gas.”“Something light will do.”They pulled into a roadhouse where eighteen-wheelers were parked by the pumps with engines hammering and airbrakes hissing as tires rolled over the concrete.Danny filled the tank with diesel and headed for the parking lot where big rigs lined the asphalt spewing diesel fumes into the air through stainless steel exhausts that sat atop well equipped cabins, where most long-haul drivers lived.They found a booth at the back of the diner and placed their order with a waitress with hard eyes that said she had seen it all.“How far is it to your friend’s place?” Nicola asked.“Not far, just a couple of hours.We should be in St.Johnsbury, before dark,” Danny said as he looked around the restaurant.“The restrooms are down there,” Nicola indicated with a nod.“Thanks,” he said distractedly.“Danny, is something the matter? You seem to have been preoccupied since we boarded the ferry.”“Have you noticed any suspicious cars lately?”“No.Why do you ask?”“No reason.You haven’t mentioned anything for a while so I was wondering if you still thought there may have been a car following us.”“To be honest I’d forgotten all about it.”A waitress came by and splashed water in their glasses, topped up their coffee and moved on to the next table.* * *The landscape was a patchwork of pine trees and maples, and oak, and spruce as they passed through small towns and villages that criss-crossed the Winooski River, where houses with ceiling-high windows were built on the wooded banks of the river, and boats moored under the overhang of trees.When he saw a sign by the side of the road, Danny slowed to the thirty mph speed limit, but the only evidence of habitation on the long stretch of road was a poplar-lined drive covered in a smattering of yellow leaves where an old stone bridge spanned a narrow stream.Set well back from the road were a group of faded red barns and outhouses; and a large stone farmhouse surrounded by newly plowed fields.The blackness of the freshly turned earth created long straight furrows on the stark gray landscape where an elderly man crouched inspecting the soil, oblivious to the large black dog that barked at something in the row of tall pines that served as a windbreak along the fence line.Shafts of fading sunlight filtered through the clouds rimming the edges with pastel shades of purple and pink; and dripped through the trees like warm maple syrup, creating shadows as it settled on the rim of the horizon.They crossed over a bridge, then crossed back further down the river, the road switching back and forth until finally Danny drove into the Comfort Inn parking lot, and cut the engine.* * *“Simmo, old buddy, how are you doing?” he listened to the disembodied voice on the other end of the phone, and laughed.“Yeah, man.It’s me.” Danny grinned as he listened while his friend complained about how long it has been since he had last seen him.“Yeah, yeah, I know.Time has a way of getting away from us all.What about you, you old goat what have you been up to? How’s that pretty little wife of yours? Has she decided to trade you in on a younger model yet?” Danny laughed as he listened to the reply.“My God, Simmo, another kid! You randy old devil how many is that now, five?” Danny roared with laughter.“Sweet Jesus in heaven–seven!! Good God, man, don’t you think it’s time you gave it a rest [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]