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father randall she was single and six months pregnant at the time but she never spoke of the baby s father three months later jordan took sick from unforeseeable complications resulting from the birth of her son eric she lived until eric was 10 and she died in her sleep during a thunderstorm randall raised eric after that he taught eric how to play football he taught eric how to tune deconstruct and rebuild the engine of his fully restored 67 pontiac gto when eric turned 16 randall bought him a stripped-down gto of his own the old man promised eric they would rebuild and restore that car just as randall and his late wife had restored the other decades ago yet one year and nine months later fate broke that promise randall donner died in his bed of a massive stroke as black clouds crawled overhead on legs of crooked lightning when eric finally found the body after football practice two oily black ravens that had gotten in through randall s bathroom window were standing on opposite sides of randall s pillow one of them had plucked out the old man s left eye and they both regarded eric without shame or guilt for a long time eric didn t trust his memory of that day he knows he came home to find his grandfather s alarm clock still blaring in the back bedroom he knows he hesitated at the threshold for 10 full minutes before finally opening the bedroom door he ll never forget the exact state of randall s body when he first saw it and he ll remember the two ravens for as long as he lives what he couldn t admit at first though was that when he opened that door and saw those ravens they looked him in the eyes and spoke this is your grandfather the first one said its voice bright and clear as we know him the second one added as you must remember him all eric chose to remember initially was that he screamed and passed out the ravens were gone when he woke up but his grandfather was still dead and still missing one eye seventeen years ago jordan donner moved back home to live with her t the old man s left eye one of them had plucked ou by carl bowen

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grandpa everything s a mess here come on inside i need to show you something before you open this i want you t she with you for weeks after the funeral eric tried to live as if nothing had happened made easier by the fact that he somehow slipped through the cracks of his state dfacs office he went to school and football practice telling no one of his loss his guidance counselor mister talfee tried to excite him about the upcoming sats coach wooten hollered at him to get his head out of his rear end on the field if he wanted to start friday nights scouts would be watching wooten assured him scouts didn t offer scholarships to lollygaggers who couldn t protect the quarterback eric didn t care he d buried his entire family before he could even vote every night he sat alone drinking randall s dwindling supply of beer trying not to think when things got bad he dug out his mother s photo albums and remembered better times when things got worse he sat out in randall s red gto in the carport feeling the soothing rumble of the powerful engine and listening to the radio it was there that fate found him and gave him his first direct push toward his destiny eric was dozing behind the wheel when the carport light clicked on and the kitchen door opened blinking a sleepy haze out of his eyes he sat up to look out the windshield randall donner stood just inside the kitchen holding the door open the man was dressed in the blue jumpsuit he d worn to work at the garage every day he beckoned eric toward him grandpa eric murmured he killed the engine and got out come on inside randall said i need to show you something eric s mind sputtered in first gear unable to name what seemed so strange about this he followed his grandfather inside in the hallway randall opened the trap to the attic and climbed up into the dusty darkness eric followed cracking his jaws around a deep yawn in the attic randall knelt behind boxes of christmas decorations bags of old clothes and piles of disused toys shoving everything aside to pull up a piece of plywood that wasn t nailed down from below he retrieved a small box no bigger than his old family bible and came back into the light to sit down he set the box on the gritty plywood floor and pushed it toward eric before you open this randall said i want you to know i m proud you re taking this so well taking what my being here kiddo you remember what happened right the words brought eric fully awake at last and a freezing shiver plunged through him you re dead he gasped does that mean i am too did i choke on carbon monoxide what under the carport randall shook his head you re fine eric pay attention now there s something i need to show you i was going to wait until you were 18 but fate had its way with me first eric touched the lid of the box randall had brought him but didn t pull it closer this belonged to your mother randall told him she had it when she moved back home she said the things inside reminded her of your father and she used to come up here to look at them when you were at school eric s head spun why she always made it sound like there was something wrong with my my father the notion that he actually had a father was so odd to eric he could hardly say the word i thought that s why he wasn t in the picture when mom came back randall shrugged i never met him a surge of desperate hope suddenly crackled inside eric as an exhilarating thought occurred to him can you ask mom eric asked where is she is she with you randall shook his head and grief pinched his face into a sour grimace why not eric demanded i can t find her randall thundered slamming his hand down hard the wooden box between them jumped i can t find anybody not jordan not elizabeth none of my brothers or friends everything s a mess here i can t find her i can t find anybody not jordan not elizabeth d the things inside reminded her of your father why can you ask mom where is she is

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to know i m proud you re taking this so well taking what my being here kiddo you remember what happened right you re dead does that mean i am too you re fine eric pay attention now there s something i something s happened i might not see you again you can keep my ring fare you well eric thought he understood now what his mother had gone through after college a i m sorry grandpa eric said wide-eyed at the outburst i didn t randall hung his head waving the apology away he d grown dimmer it s my fault kiddo everything s so confused here nobody knows where they re supposed to be or what they re supposed to do there s a path leading away from where i found myself when i died but it doesn t go anywhere it ends in rubble and torn-up earth like something huge broke out of the ground i don t know what it was but the path is completely blocked we recover strange ancient people from the rubble sometimes but they re just as clueless as we are i didn t know what else to do but i remembered this box so i came back can you stay randall sighed and shook his head one more time eric could see through him now in the 40-watt light he wanted to reach out and pull his grandfather to him but he was afraid he d break whatever tenuous connection was making this possible it s taking everything i ve got just to touch things and make you see me randall said i can feel that broken path pulling me back there will you be able to come back i don t know it wasn t easy the first time if i can t i at least wanted to show you this randall pointed at the box and this time eric did pull it toward himself he ran a hand over the smooth lacquered wood wondering what secrets his mother had kept within and i wanted to tell you randall s voice trailed off and the attic fell silent eric was alone once more randall s footprints were still there in the dust but the old man was gone eric only ever saw him again once eric spread the items from the box on his kitchen table the first thing that caught his eye was a ring that gleamed like polished metal but was brittle like stone etched on it was a shape like the letter y with an extra arm sticking up between top fork eric slipped the ring on his right middle finger and idly turned it with his thumb next he found a faded polaroid of his mother as a young woman standing next to a man who could only have been his father the man shared eric s tall broad frame and he wore a wool-lined denim jacket over a barrel chest his hair was bright red matching the beard around his square jaw eric wore his hair shorter and he shaved but his hair was the same flaming red as the man in the picture except for his eyes which glowed with reflected light from the camera s flash the man could have been eric himself a few shaggy years hence eric stared in wonder at how happy his mother seemed she d never looked like this in his recollection seeing this smile on jordan s face made eric all the more curious about why his father hadn t been part of his life had the man died he flipped the picture over and found written there in his mother s hand me and don at the diner he looked at the picture again and saw a window in the background with the words skirnir s diner stenciled in block letters around a picture of a hamburger a receipt from skirnir s diner with a note on the back came out of his mother s keepsake box next the note written only in small capital letters read if you need a job bill s hiring it s a good place eric vaguely remembered randall once mentioning that jordan had worked as a waitress after college also in the box was a lock of bright red hair that had curled into a figure-eight and a couple of ticket stubs for the old movie days of thunder one stub was a spider web of creases where it had once been wadded up the most telling item in the box however was a note written on a square of blue paper in handwriting that matched that on the receipt it said jord father needs me back home need to show you this belonged to your mother she had it when she moved back home she sa

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it was the sort of thing that happened all the time two ravens on a b kind person had helped her get a job and she d gone out with him the guy had then used her and vanished leaving only a lame note and a parting gift shortly thereafter jordan had realized she was pregnant and come home to live with her father it was the sort of thing that happened all the time nobody made too big a deal out of it anymore eric didn t necessarily want to make a big deal himself but just the same he was tired of ignoring that missing piece of his life using what his mother had kept and what his grandfather had defied death itself to show him eric could finally fill in that missing piece he made up his mind that very night to do whatever it took to find his absent father a bolt of lightning signed eric s resolve across the heavens and two ravens on a branch outside witnessed the decision through the kitchen window eric quit the football team and arranged time off from school he spent two weeks replacing his engine s worst parts with the best ones from randall s car blending the two engines into a finely tuned whole when he finished he sold what was left of randall s goat to a generous enthusiast he then began his search for his father online at the library he could dig up no information on skirnir s diner but the movie theater where his parents saw days of thunder was part of a national chain now the chain s website provided everything from show times to driving directions so he used it to get a general idea of where his mother had lived the theater was in a town called nastrond so he d start there he found the town s one motel with an online presence booked himself a room remotely and wondered how anybody ever found anything before the internet came along eric arrived in nastrond well after nightfall on a wednesday in early winter the desk clerk at the motel was a tall lanky young man named sylvester who seemed thrilled to have a customer to talk to he praised eric s car and chattered about some of the beat-down jalopies the college-kids drove out here for illicit weekend rendezvous he asked eric where he was from how long he intended to stay and where he might be headed afterward eric deflected these questions with generalities looking for a polite way to disengage and escape to bed hey this is cool the clerk said capturing his hand as he gave eric a room key he tapped eric s shining ring with a fingernail did you get it here i m not sure where it came from eric said do they sell them around here used to college kids came out here for hematite jewelry all the time nouveau hippies mostly hematite that s what this is sylvester nodded yep or bloodstone if you like it s like red powdery iron ore but it polishes up nice they used to strip mine it out of dry lake before i was born it was the town s number-one export until we ran out i m sorry to hear that lying nobody could tell him about skirner s

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branch outside witnessed the decision where his mother had lived a town called nastrond a tall lanky young man named sylvester he tapped eric s shining ring bloodstone do you know what this means the clerk blew air through his lips like a horse hell it was the best thing that ever happened to this place when they played the bloodstone out of dry lake they chased it up dry bed road into the mountains know what they found there eric shrugged trying to look interested this guy was nice enough but the longer this chat continued the more he thought about how tired he was from driving all day more hematite he guessed better real iron ore the good stuff there s a paradise of it up under the mountain they ve been pulling it out of there ever since not as much lately maybe but a new outfit s taken over at the mines and say let me ask you something eric broke in if they used to sell these around here do you know what this means if it means anything he twisted the ring around so sylvester could see the symbol etched on it the guy blinked and hesitated before finally shaking his head i don t know peace symbol maybe doesn t look familiar oh well eric said backing away thanks anyway he left the motel lobby and headed for his room glad to make his escape at last yet something nagged at him he was almost positive the clerk was lying about not recognizing the symbol on his ring the question now was why and what had made fear flicker across the young man s face if only for an instant sylvester wasn t working the next morning when eric awoke so eric s lingering questions would have to wait his plan was to drive out to the movie theater and start asking about skirnir s diner at nearby gas stations or businesses that looked like they d been around a while if that didn t work he d resort to plan b just driving around aimlessly looking for the place nastrond didn t seem all that big so he figured he could scour the entire town before dark if that didn t pan out plan c was to wait around town until sunday when he could hopefully talk up some of the old-timers after church he could try to talk to sylvester again between now and then by nightfall though plan a had given way to b and c was looking pretty good he d visited every local gas station twice and talked to everyone on two different shifts but nobody could tell him about skirnir s diner he asked a few old-timers around town if he reminded them of anyone but that desperate gamble paid off like most desperate gambles do the only emotional reactions he got beyond blank stares or friendly shrugs came when he showed his ring around people were pleased to see the polished hematite at first several said they didn t see such jewelry around town anymore when he showed them the weird forked symbol though they clammed up some fidgeted others pretended not to recognize it then made hasty excuses to leave still others got angry with him and told him to get lost by the end of the afternoon people were looking at him askance on the street and making a point not to speak to him if they could avoid it as a result of mounting frustration he missed a crucial turn toward town on his way back from the last far-flung gas station and ended up on an unfamiliar road as the sun set he didn t catch his mistake until the dashed lines down the road s center gave out and the pavement turned especially rough and cracked high evergreens crowded close to the road on either side cutting off the light of the falling sun and the only landmark he could make out was the high snowy mountain in the distance it loomed over the foreshortened horizon as he rounded a wide curve informing him at last that he was going the wrong way cursing he slowed down pulled the car around in a tight loop no mean feat since his goat didn t have power steering and headed back the way he came he d gone no more than 100 yards when an oily black shape streaked into his peripheral vision from the left it swooped in front of him to disappear below the edge of the hood eric stomped on the brake and clutch squeezing the steering wheel so hard it hurt the tires squealed and the car skidded to a halt its front end pointing perpendicular to the right if it means anything sylvester could see the symbol etched on it doesn t look familiar was

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are you skirnir the bird pulled up short to land on the hood it stretched its wings and bellowed an unearthly growling caw the first thing eric saw when the tire-smoke and road dust in front of his high beams parted was a raven the size of a football flying toward him he flinched and the bird pulled up short to land on the hood it stretched its wings and bellowed an unearthly growling caw startled eric tapped the horn and the bird lurched into the air loosing a pejorative avian cackle doing so however it drew eric s attention to something he hadn t noticed yet namely that his car was now pointing down an unpaved access road through the trees he wouldn t have noticed it in the evening s dim light but now it was as a double-barrel shotgun who are you i m looking for somebody decidedly strange obvious as a highway exit ramp the raven he d nearly made into a hood ornament flew straight down the dirt road until it was out of sight in the distance some would call it happenstance or whim that inspired eric s next action but fate has a way of manipulating people such as he it gifts them with curiosity desire and free will all of which ultimately serve its unknowable design eric s decision to travel down that dirt road instead of turning back was his own decision then but fate was surely guiding him when and where he was needed most eric didn t even understand the decision himself at the time but when he reached the end of the road it didn t matter anymore he d arrived at skirnir s diner the diner was squat and long with big plate-glass windows running along the front façade no decoration or signage indicated that he d come to the right place but he could tell the windows were grimy with age translucent at best but eric could still make out the faded shadows of a stenciled-on hamburger and part of the word skirnir s on the pane nearest the door from where eric parked his car he looked straight ahead at the exact spot where his mother and father had had their picture taken a shiver of static electricity pulsed through his body and he could almost see them standing there a dry sound lectricity pulsed through his body the raven cawed it was cold inside there was something

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the bird lurched into the air loosing a pejorative avian cackle flew straight down the dirt road together then the raven he d followed cawed from atop the building and the feeling vanished eric looked up to see that an identical second raven had joined the first he got out of his car he couldn t see in through the dirty windows but lights gleamed inside and a ribbon of smoke rose from a metal chimney in back there was no open sign but the door wasn t locked and the outside lights on the corners of the building were just flickering to life apparently they were hooked up to sensors and the sun had gone down far enough to activate them a brass jingle bell rang as eric let himself in it was cold inside outside it was early winter in the foothills of snow-capped mountains inside the air conditioner was running full blast in addition the room was only dimly lit which made it harder to see in from outside it was like the belly of a cave in here and eric wondered how anyone could stand to eat in a place like this there was something decidedly strange about the way the dining area was furnished too the open floor was dotted with tables and chairs like a normal restaurant but most of those were much shorter than normal restaurant furniture only a handful of tables were full size and they were all on one side of the room the rest looked like furniture from an elementary school eric took all this in with a confused frown and scratched the underside of his scruffy chin he hadn t shaved since he d left home a dry sound like someone breaking a stick caught eric s ear and he looked across the room toward where it came from a middle-aged man stood there behind a row of steam tables wearing a greasestained apron and pointing a sawed-off double-barrel shotgun in eric s direction the fellow s face scrunched mostly into a scowl but his wide eyes danced with suppressed fear is that he began before suddenly dismissing the thought with a shake of his head who are you despite the fact that no one had ever so much as pointed a knife at him before eric remained calm he could see real fear in the older man s eyes yet he d heard something else in the man s voice it was hopeful expectation with a hint of desperation hearing it from the old man shotgun or no filled eric with the calm assurance that the fellow wouldn t actually harm him well probably wouldn t i m eric he said taking a couple of careful steps toward the center of the room i m looking for somebody who used to come here nobody comes here the man said for effect he cocked the hammer on the gun s second barrel with another dry click are you mister skirnir eric continued his slow approach thumbs hooked in his belt loops like nobody was pointing a shotgun at anybody that s where i am right skirnir s diner the man s eyes narrowed used to be he said ain t in the family anymore eric somehow found the nerve to chuckle at that he now stood across the buffet line from the older man completely ignoring the weapon between them which was that answer for you or the diner the fellow eased the hammers down and laid the shotgun across an empty steamer tray cutout the scowl was completely gone from his face replaced by bitter weary resignation both he sighed first the diner then for me the bank sold this place to the town s new mining concern when i missed a loan payment now it s just a glorified cafeteria for the workers sorry to hear that eric told him he looked the man in the eye and said it with honest sincerity and the guy visibly seemed to take comfort in the gesture he stood up a little straighter took a deep breath and nodded his thanks when the moment passed eric spoke again so what do people call you around here tell the truth the man replied it s been so long since anybody talked nice to me i hardly care anymore he paused to think it over my friends called me bill it s a pleasure bill eric said my name s fate has a way of manipulating people gifts them curiosity desire free will eric s decision fate was surely guiding him it didn t matter he d arrived at skirnir s a shiver of static

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eric yeah bill said i caught it when i was stitch-guy took that as his cue he went up menacing you before eric what telegraphed a sloppy rabbit punch eric reacted before eric could answer the bell over the lightning-quick to snare stitch-guy s hairy wrist t door jangled bill flinched but eric held him fast craig reacted second-fastes hey someone coming inside shouted who a gut punch or an uppercut eric shoved stitch-g are you turning on craig s beak like a red faucet the s bill s eyes widened in returning fear and his hand crept back toward the shotgun all but only punched eric in the ribs the punch h eric locked eyes with him and shook his head was up now his left hand swung out in a flat without even looking eric could tell from the tone across the left temple the fellow spun around of speaker s voice that the guy was big trouble in a way floor knocking little chairs out from under a li few people truly can be bill put his hands by his sides balance and slung him in that direction too stit and stood rooted to the spot eric turned around and got too tangled up with him to get immedia the opposite side of the room was a strange tableau three men in dirty coveralls each carrying plastic miner s helmets under their arms were crossing the center of the room behind them stood a crowd of stocky sturdy little people who were equally dirty and similarly attired they had entered in an orderly line behind the three tall guys but as they noticed that something odd was happening their line snarled up around the front door all the little guys looked strong and hardy for their size and not one of them looked a day younger than 60 they all had thick beards cut short and close-cropped hair that ranged in color from white to iron gray to a salt-and-pepper mix their expressions were grim and dour and tired the three tall men put down their helmets and crossed the room to form a semicircle around eric they all were of a size with him in girth if not in height and they were all sweaty from a long day of work they crowded him against the steam tables trying to intimidate him as they peered and leered and flashed terrible gap-toothed grins each of them stank to high heaven and they all emanated that same sense of big trouble the one in the middle twitched with barely controlled excitement and he was the first to talk i asked you a question he snapped he s nobody craig bill said his voice quavering he s just lost he s on his way back to town now that left only craig who d staggered b you hush craig barked keeping his bloodshot eyes over a different table he looked down a on eric eric returned his stare trying not to start the big smiled a mad smile and rushed forward trouble himself you re already boned lunch-lady man trays ain t out food ain t ready spoons ain t on the table eric dropped his shoulder planted his fee spittle flew from craig s lower lip and disappeared into the the cleanest sweetest block he d ever pale denim of eric s jacket any college or nfl scout could have pray we were talking eric said i back he literally flew backward across

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don t make excuses for him the guy on craig s left said he on his tiptoes with a big smile and had stitches in a diagonal line across his forehead and he leaned without looking his hand coming up up on his tiptoes whenever he spoke lunch-lady man knows the man s muscles writhed like snakes when shift change is he screwed up st pulling back a meaty fist for either i wasn t making excuses eric said still holding eyes with guy s fist forward into craig s nose craig i was going to say that we were talking when you jerks slowest guy picked his moment best of interrupted us you owe us both an apology the little folks in the back looked at each other and a few of had no power behind it but eric s blood them dared murmur among themselves the tall fellow on the arc to catch the opportunist squarely other side of craig opposite the guy with stitches looked back fell and slid several feet across the at them and snarled ittle table eric yanked stitch-guy off craig s eyes lit up with the fire burning inside him and he tch-guy landed on his unconscious buddy said what you plan to do if we don t carrot top ately back to his feet stitch-guy took that as his cue he went up on his tiptoes with a big smile and telegraphed a sloppy rabbit punch eric reacted without looking his hand coming up lightning-quick to snare stitch-guy s hairy wrist the man s muscles writhed like snakes but eric held him fast craig reacted secondfastest pulling back a meaty fist for either a gut punch or an uppercut eric shoved stitch-guy s fist forward into craig s nose turning on craig s beak like a red faucet the slowest guy picked his moment best of all but only punched eric in the ribs the punch had no power behind it but eric s blood was up now his left hand swung out in a flat arc to catch the opportunist squarely across the left temple the fellow spun around fell and slid several feet across the floor knocking little chairs out from under a little table eric yanked stitch-guy off balance and slung him in that direction too stitch-guy landed on his unconscious buddy and got too tangled up with him to get immediately back to his feet that left only craig who d staggered backward clutching his nose and almost tripped over a different table he looked down at eric s torso as if sizing up his foe then smiled a mad smile and rushed forward with blood streaming over his mouth and chin eric dropped his shoulder planted his feet and hit craig dead center in the chest with the cleanest sweetest block he d ever put on anybody the result was more than any college backward clutching his nose and almost tripped or nfl scout could have prayed for craig at eric s torso as if sizing up his foe then didn t just stop short or bounce back he literally flew backward across the room sailing over the little with blood streaming over his mouth and chin people s heads toward the front window the glass et and hit craig dead center in the chest with exploded and craig rolled to a stop on the gravel put on anybody the result was more than somewhere in the dark yed for craig didn t just stop short or bounce no one spoke eric could feel his jaw hanging the room sailing over the little people s heads open and he saw similar surprise on several of the

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p. 11

nobody wants to talk about it oh my lord we need to get to county general right now left side of his shirt was painted in a sylvester cringed eric lowered his fist lifted sylvester completely off the ground sylvester laughed out loud what do you want little guys faces an adrenaline surge could account for a lot but not what he d just done he d just fought three guys his own size and tossed them all around like rag dolls adrenaline didn t do that a clatter to his left drew eric s attention and he saw stitch-guy helping his groggy friend up they overturned another table trying to get to their feet and when they saw eric looking at them they ran for it stumbling over low chairs in their haste they snatched up their helmets and herded the dumbstruck little people back out the broken door and hustled on out into the darkness within minutes they were gone god-knows-where and eric was still standing there unable to move his stupefied paralysis didn t break until bill came up on his left breathing hard man are you all right bill gasped he was trembling and eric realized the man was staring at a bloody switchblade knife on the ground at eric s feet oh my lord we need to get to county general right now are you hurt eric asked his voice sounded strange in his ears he found it hard to look away from the broken window it had to be 20 feet away which one got you me bill yelped he didn t stick me eric had no idea what bill was talking about until the older man pointed at his midsection eric looked down to see that the left side of his shirt from just below his last rib to the top of his pants pocket was painted in a sloppy crimson arrowhead eric blinked uncomprehending until he remembered the guy on his left punching him the punch hadn t hurt but it had felt cold you re stabbed man bill said he looked like he was going to pass out wondering if he was in shock eric pulled up his shirttail sure enough a hole big enough for his finger had been punched through the flannel and the t-shirt under that and his palm came away bloody bill moaned weird eric said the pain hadn t kicked in yet blood clotted in his curly red body hair so he took the white towel from bill s shoulder and gingerly scrubbed a layer of blood off he fully expected more to flow immediately but no more did instead what he saw astounded and disturbed him bill look at this he said most of the blood was wiped off now and they could see only a thin red nick on his skin no deeper than a paper cut eric raised an eyebrow and bill s eyes goggled like somebody had hit him in the stomach while they watched the nick thinned even more and finally vanished altogether unable to think of an encore eric stood up straight once again and pulled his shirt back down damn he whispered impressed bill was useless for conversation after that eric tried to ask about craig and the other two guys but all bill could say was they were crew bosses at the iron mine the little people worked at the mine too but they all worked for the big guys and the big guys boss mister jared they only came around after sundown or before sunup to eat and rest before heading back to work no bill had never seen the mine himself no bill had never met mister jared who ran the operation he only ever met the crew bosses and the little guys bill couldn t answer much more than that he looked as upset and rattled as eric was starting to feel and it seemed he wanted nothing more than to clean the place up and for eric to go as far away as possible still reeling from what he d done eric could only quietly oblige an hour later he lay on his hotel bed dreaming of oak trees with ravens in the branches the next morning eric awoke hearing a conversation about wars in the holy land the television was on and broadcasting the news he sat up to blearily paw around for the remote and was shocked to find sylvester the desk clerk sitting in the vinyl chair beside his bed the lanky fellow clicked the tv off and smiled at eric as if his being there weren t at all strange morning sylvester said i let myself in to talk about why you re here something bad s going on

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sloppy crimson arrowhead the punch hadn t hurt but it had felt cold stabbed a hole big enough for his finger blood clotted was wiped off thin red nick finally vanished damn crew bosses at the iron mine what are you doing in here eric snapped he jumped out of bed in his boxers to loom over the intruder sylvester cringed and tried to put on a charming smile housekeeping eric snatched him up by the shirt in one hand and drew back a fist i said okay okay sylvester said pleading for peace with splayed hands i just wanted to talk this seemed like the best way to get your attention eric s eyes narrowed but he lowered his fist he realized he d lifted sylvester completely off the ground like the man weighed nothing he set the clerk down out of curiosity he said what seemed like the worst way sylvester laughed out loud and straightened his rumpled shirt casually putting a few yards distance between himself and eric as he did so it wouldn t have been pretty so what do you want eric asked he pulled on some jeans and searched around for a clean shirt make it quick i want to talk about why you re here sylvester said leaning back against the wall by the door his eyes were bright blue showing none of the deceptive vacuity he d evidenced before why we re both here really something bad s going on around town and nobody wants to talk about it not even you night before last sylvester flashed a self-deprecating smile yeah i was just being careful i didn t know what sort of guy you are but now you do a little better i heard about what happened last night at the diner that s the first time anybody s stood up for anybody else in this town in a long time word travels fast sylvester shrugged small towns fine so why do you think i m here better yet why are you here your accent says you re not from here that s right i came here a few years ago and sort of accidentally settled down i was looking for somebody like you are who my dad you eric nodded my dad sylvester touched his lower lip and narrowed his bright blue eyes in thought let me guess he s a big burly joker like yourself with the same red hair and beard likes blondes calls himself tony or don or something like that eric nodded slowly hope kindling in his heart yeah don do you know him is he he waved toward sylvester unable to form the words you know what my dad sylvester laughed out loud no way my dad s an ugly old weasel like me but i have heard of somebody who looks just like you he used to come around here before jared and his crew took over the iron mine he was real popular in fact he s the reason we got so many midgets all down in the mountain hey watch that talk eric said anytime randall had heard someone use a word for a type of person that that type of person wouldn t use for himself he wasn t shy about giving out a piece of his mind fine sylvester said dwarves whatever he rolled his eyes anyway from what i gather it was this don guy your dad who brought them here and opened up the tunnels in the mountains for them to live in they used to come around some nights to shop in town or trade little handicrafts they made that was before my time though now they all work the mines god knows why eric said the people they work for are jerks never seen the mine never met mister jared nothing more wars in the holy land

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p. 13

sylvester s face turned grave and he gave eric a hard look full of bitter sadness the parts of that you re wrong about are exactly the problem huh for one the dwarves don t exactly work for the mining company they re more like slaves those tunnels used to be their homes but the bigger stronger folks just came down there and made them start hollowing it all out nobody pays them they barely feed them and they just take that what else can they do sylvester said it s not like they can leave the tunnels and they can t complain to anybody because the local cops don t want to get involved plus hardly anybody knows they re still down there that s just wrong eric said anger built inside him like black clouds massing into a thunderhead how do the miners get away with this they can because of the other wrong part of what you said before when you said the people forcing the dwarves to work were jerks you re right eric nodded they re much worse than jerks they re evil true but that isn t what i meant i meant the other part jared and his crew aren t people they re monsters eric assumed sylvester was being poetic but the deadpan neutral way he said it made him wonder he sounded like he meant exactly what he said monsters what like vampires no giants eric didn t know how to respond to that which curled sylvester s lips into a wickedly smug smile i bet that was about the last thing you expected me to say wasn t it giants eric finally managed you honestly expect me to believe that you do already sylvester said in an irritating singsong voice you don t know why but what i m saying makes sense to you deep down in your heart of hearts it can t be the weirdest thing you ve ever heard of an image of two ravens standing over his grandfather s shoulders flashed unbidden through eric s mind followed by a reprise of that night in the attic with randall s ghost and the sight of a deep puncture wound in his own side sealing up unaided the sound of craig smashing through a plate-glass window echoed in his ears maybe not he conceded still a giant it s a subjective term believe me i doubt jared s actually over 10 feet sylvester stopped and shook his head anyway what he is isn t as important as what he s doing he s got those poor dwarves enslaved down there with nobody to stand up for them they got me somehow i knew you d feel that way sylvester said leaving his perch with a big grin and coming to stand directly in front of eric you re strong and tough probably more than you even realize you re special man and these little guys need help from somebody like you special how sylvester laughed and playfully punched eric in the shoulder i could explain it but if you don t believe jared s a giant i doubt you d believe me about that for now just take my word for it how about this eric said i ll give you the benefit of the doubt that the little folks in the mines are being exploited and need help as for the rest i m not going to believe it unless i see it giants you honestly expect me to believe that jared and his crew they re monsters like vampires no

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p. 14

dwarves more like slaves tunnels used to be their homes people forcing the dwarves to work they re evil now you re talking sylvester said i thought you d never ask ask what ask me to take you to the mine and show you in person now wait i okay go ahead and get your shoes and stuff on i ll meet you at your car he opened the door and went outside giving eric a thumbs-up before the door shut behind him baffled and off balance but undeniably curious eric pulled on his socks and boots to follow sylvester outside it s not a peace sign by the way sylvester said a couple of hours later as they neared the distant mountain that overlooked nastrond sorry i lied to you before eric glanced away from the road to ask sylvester what he meant and sylvester pointed to eric s hematite ring ah so what is it really it s a rune algiz it means `protection that guy don your dad had a ring just like this one of the dwarves gave it to him when he relocated them here according to them he never took it off eric rolled the strange-sounding word around in his head saying nothing where d you get yours sylvester asked my mother it was in a box of keepsakes i found after she died my dad gave it to her oh sylvester said he was quiet for a long thoughtful moment before he spoke again he must have really cared about her not enough to stick around eric mumbled or call or write or visit hey it s a big world with a lot going on i m sure he had his reasons are you eric huffed what do you know about it plenty sylvester growled you should be glad your dad s at least a decent guy who helps people mine s probably back in prison by now for all i know and he didn t even have the decency to pass on any strong or tough or good-looking genes first you re blessed man and you don t even know it eric s anger melted away and he cut sylvester a sidelong look the guy had a point you know he said if you didn t sound so pissed i d almost think you were hitting on me sylvester did a double-take and let out a surprised laugh well quit pissing me off then he said and we ll see where this thing goes that got both of them laughing and the tension between them evaporated you re a pretty weird guy sylvester eric said my friends call me sly he replied and as for weird you don t know the half of it they hid the gto a few miles from the base of the mountain at an abandoned gas station eric worried about just leaving it in the middle of nowhere but sly s worries about the distinctive rumble of the engine outweighed that concern they covered the rest of the trip on foot striking out through the woods sly led straight to the tree line at first stopping at the edge check it out he said gesturing for eric to take a look any idea what s missing eric wasn t intimately familiar with the daily ins and outs of industrial iron mining but he gave it a shot a dirt road led out of the forest to a high rusty chain-link fence once through the fence s gate the road led to a square building faced in corrugated

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p. 15

something was obviously missing do they live out here don t they ever want to leave they ve aluminum which was probably the office where all the business was done and the records were kept the office building had only a few small windows and lights shone inside behind venetian blinds from the office the road led down to an empty black rectangle cut into the mountain s foot eric could just barely see a man sitting in a security booth in front of the mine s entrance yet for even the few people in evidence something was obviously missing no cars eric said not even a shuttle bus what do they live out here sly nodded yep everybody does crew bosses shift foremen medics even the secretary they don t go home anymore the only time they ever leave is when they go down to bill skirnir s to eat then it s right back here and back to work it s been this way so long nobody from town even wonders about them anymore don t they ever want to leave they ve got no choice sly said backing away into the forest again eric followed jared won t let them leave until the work s all done what when the iron s tapped out no jared doesn t care about the iron he just has the crews pull out token bits of it to keep up appearances mostly they re just digging for what sly shook his head and a note of deep abiding fear resonated in his voice we ll see offering nothing more and answering none of eric s questions sly moved off into the forest and took a long curving path around the perimeter of the mining complex they trekked without speaking for more than an hour until the sun dropped behind the mountains and the woods grew dark the only sound was leaves crunching underfoot as well as sly occasionally whistling the theme music from the great escape one of randall s favorite movies when at last they reemerged from the forest they had traveled almost halfway around the mountain sly looked back and forth for several long minutes in the deepening gloom before finally deciding it was safe and walking out into the open he led eric toward a particular tumbled-down set of boulders that looked no different than any other set of boulders in sight as sly hopped up onto a large rock and shimmied upward between two more eric wondered if maybe he intended for them to climb the whole mountain and sneak in through the top this worry eased when sly stopped climbing motioned toward the ground ahead of him and dropped out of sight eric climbed up to where sly had disappeared and found a well-hidden cave entrance there invisible from the ground or the tree line and impossible to find in the dark unless you knew what you were looking for okay sly whispered when eric had descended into the cave i don t suppose you have a flashlight back in the car eric whispered annoyed you didn t think to mention this until now you knew where you were taking me didn t even occur to me man sorry sly bounced on his toes in agitation and finally shook his head all right nothing for it i know my way around this part well enough to find the mine tunnels jared keeps those lit up so we should be fine when we get there listen though if you do see lights ahead of us stop walking and don t say anything it might be the tunnels but it could just as easily be some of jared s trusties searching the place trusties like the jerks at skirnir s exactly jared s got a lot more down here than just those three and they re all meaner than junkyard dogs it takes a lot to keep a whole colony of dwarves under your thumb and these guys have it and these are people from the town most of them some are outsiders who showed up looking for work in the mines and they live here too and can t leave either sly shook his head why not is this jared guy really that scary doesn t work on dwarves sounded like nonsense strangeness he d seen nonsense needed a little updating folks here by fear he feeds them his blood makes them just plain crazy

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