Virtual American Gothic - Third Season Episode Five Save the Last Dance for Me By Queribus and Gayle Dawson Special Guest Star: Carolyn McCormick as Ms Victoria Madison NOT TO BE ARCHIVED TO A WEB PAGE WITHOUT THE AUTHOR'S PRIOR CONSENT. ********************************************** Three dull strikes from the clock in Buck's dark study. The stuffed birds heard it and lost the glitter in their eyes. In the master bedroom, the filtered moonlight shone on crumpled bedsheets. The Sheriff twisted and turned in restless sleep. Clouds moved in and swallowed up the moon. Buck's breathing and his rest was deepening when he felt the light return. Half awake, half asleep, he growled, "Damn you, Merly, get outta my head!" The light persisted. "It's about Caleb, Lucas." Buck opened his eyes. It wasn't light that greeted him. It was the hint of light, the sound of light. He wanted to cover his eyes even in the darkness. "Merly!" He shouted into his dim room. " You gotta helluva nerve coming here!" "Merly isn't your problem. Merly can't hurt you." He knew that voice. That was a voice he'd spent ages trying to forget. The smallest glint of gold flickered and glared in his eyes. "We have to worry about our child. That's the only problem now." "What the Hell!!" Buck sat up in bed as the gold light flared out. "What the Hell do you mean OUR child!" Lucas wiped away the perspiration from his brow, the sheets had fallen to his waist as he stared at the dark empty room, " I gotta quit that all you can eat fishsticks buffet before bedtime." he shivered, " If I bring that back up, Frank's gonna get shut down." **** "Nope, that's not quite right Caleb, fix it again." Rose was standing hands on hips overseeing the streamer placement in the school gymnasium. Big stars were hanging everywhere, white ones, silver ones, blue ones. Shiny streamers were supposed to hang between them and catch the light. Caleb exhaled in disgust, he glanced down at Boone, who was holding the ladder. Boone shrugged. "Rose, I'm a tellin you, this is the last time I do this darn loop. You hear me?" Caleb was reaching for the tack that held the streamer, glancing over his shoulder he looked to see if she'd heard him or not. His eyes clouded with anger when he noticed she wasn't even looking his way anymore. "ROSE!! Wake up will ya? Ben Jr. ain't exactly a celebrity." Ben turned from his position at the refreshments set up when he heard his name hollered. He barely noticed the quick flush suffusing the little blond girl's face. Rose rapidly spun round towards the guys hanging the tinfoil streamers. "Caleb Temple! "she hissed through clenched teeth, "I'm gonna punch your lights out for that! " Boone and Caleb both started laughing. She stomped her foot and the two cohorts ceased. "And another thing, that streamer may be fixed, but the other 25 are all WRONG! It's supposed to be pretty! So get at it!" An evil grin pasted itself on her face, as she whirled off toward the refreshment table. "Girls.." Caleb muttered as he made his way down the ladder. Rose pushed her way to the front of the pack. Six or seven young ladies were hovering about the older boy. "Hey Benji, it looks real good, doesn't it?" she asked. "I'm on the decorating committee." "Sure, Rose." Benji answered. It looked just like a gym with streamers to him. He turned away from her and took several dollars from the school secretary. "Thanks, ma'am. " He gave her a crumpled up receipt. "Uhh, what ya doin' here Benji?" Rose stepped in front of him as he tried to leave the gym. "I'm working a few odd jobs at the grocery Rose, I delivered some stuff for your dance." He glanced around quickly to be polite. "It's. . . it's pretty, I guess. I gotta go, Rose. See you." "Pretty! First star I see tonight, let Benji see me in my new dress." Rose whispered to herself, and then danced back over to the decorating committee. ******* A blank grey sky stretched across the waterfront. Not a cloud in it. It was going to be a cold winter. For a change. Buck walked up to Oscar Shambleton, owner and proprietor of Frank's Sea Shanty. Matt Crower was having an early lunch of various fish sticks. Good, let him wake up with monsters tonight. Buck narrowed his eyes and thought about the wind just enough to push it Crower's way, enough to knock his plate off the counter. The plate didn't move. A couple of napkins fluttered. Nothing was working right today. "Gotta close you down, Frank." "What the hell for, Lucas?" He'd given up reminding Buck what his real name was. "Food poisoning. You got yourself some bad crabs or something." Lucas glanced at Matt as if hoping he would keel over as he sat. Doctor Crower waved a glass of milk in cheery greeting and chomped down another fish stick. "Buck, I ain't been serving crabs all month. Who come down sick?" "Me." Oh God, Oscar closed up his cash register and hoped he'd get away with his skin on this one. Then something occurred to him. "You didn't eat any shellfish yesterday. All you had was fish sticks." "So what. They still kept me up all night." "Well. . . tell you the truth, Lucas. I just use Mrs Paul's, you know, the frozen stuff. You ain't going to come down with nothing from that." Matt was laughing silently. "You need a doctor, Sheriff?" "Not so's you'd notice." Lucas took the key of the cash register from Oscar and pocketed it. "You can have it back, Frank, when you get a new recipe for fish sticks." He started to walk away. "And when I stop having these damned dreams." "Trouble sleeping, Sheriff?" Matt folded his paper napkin and strode behind him. Buck glared at him, he hadn't meant that last sentence to be heard-- for that matter he hadn't meant to speak it out loud. "I'm not in your HMO, Harvard, go chase another ambulance." "You know, nightmares often indicate a bad conscience." "I leave bad consciences to you, Crower, you've had more experience in that area than I have." "Yes, I have. I know how to make peace with my horrors too. Care for some tips, Buck?' "I already know how to mix a martini." *** "Well, that it'll do it, I reckon." Caleb and Boone had finished the repair job, and were admiring their handiwork, as they stowed the ladder in the maintenance closet. "Can I have your attention everyone?" the Yankee accent of the female voice definitely had everyone's attention. Caleb and Boone wandered over to the gathering crowd of students near the bandstand. "Thank you. first off, for some of you, I'm Ms. Madison. I'll be taking over the classrooms from Miss Coombs." Classmates glanced at one another, in particular Boone and Caleb. They continued to stare at their new teacher. "She's different than the other supply teachers we get here." Boone whispered. "Secondly, I'd like to remind you we are looking for parents to volunteer as chaperons for the upcoming dance. We have several mothers willing to help out that night, but what we need are some fathers in the crowd. Please have your fathers contact me if they are able to help out." the pretty blond lady surveyed the upturned faces. "Alright now, you can head home. You've all done a fantastic job here today. See you in class tomorrow." As the children filtered out of the room, and the janitor starting turning out the lights, Caleb lagged a bit behind. Boone caught up to Rose who had decided to talk to him again. Something about wearing pink so her skirt would swirl when she turned in the lights. Boone was nodding and uh huhing like he really cared. Caleb didn't bother to listen after that. Ms. Madison glanced up from her clipboard and dazzled him with a smile. "Hello there, who might you be?" As she leaned forward to offer him her hand, Caleb got a glimpse of her lacy bra and some of the skin it covered. He swallowed the discomfort. "I'm Caleb ma'am, I'm in yer class I guess." "Nice to meet you Caleb. Is there something I can do for you?" "Well, I have a question and it's sorta embarrassing. You're new in town, so I guess it's okay to tell you. I don't know how to Dance, ma'am! I aint never been to a dance, and I'm not sure what's expected." She touched his face, and smiled in a sad way. For a moment her face became Judith Temple's, then it was her again. Caleb was startled. "You remind me of my momma when you smile like that Ms. Madison." "Well, Caleb, maybe your parents can help you out with this problem?" "Hmmm, like I said yer new in town. But thanks anyway." Caleb left her standing in the Darkened Gym. A puzzled expression on her face. ***** Merly sat in Ben's living room listening to his old collections of vinyl records. The Echo of Your Last Goodbye, The Way you Look Tonight. Old songs, doomed songs. When he wasn't around she fell into this endless depression, sinking into the darkness that she wore. The songs seemed to help. The record started to skip, it was old, worn out. She got up to fix it and another song entirely began to play. >>>Fate is Kind. . .Fate is kind. . .Fate is kind. . .<< Merly grabbed the needle and pulled it across the record, digging deep irreparable gouges into the plastic. "Fate is sure as Hell not KIND!" ***** After one more night of misery in the bedroom, Buck burned up the road heading for that stretch of dirt road, fruit stands and Tastee Freeze that called itself Golgotha. The radio kept going in and out, playing Disney tunes. What was the matter with Patsy Kline or Aerosmith! Mamma Lucy's domain was a huge porch-swaddled frame house sunk beneath the Sycamores and Hickorys, their long limbs so loaded with spanish moss and mistletoe that they dragged against the roof. A trickle of grey smoke oozed out of the kitchen smokestack. Brewing up some more hell juice, Buck figured. "Hey, you around?" The front screen was unlocked as usual. People knew better than to come nosing around a Buck widow. "In here, Lucas." He followed a rancid mushroom smell and watched his grandmother stirring a black mess on the big wood-burning stove. "That crap any good for dreams?" "Oh, it'll give em to you, fast and furious till you're screaming. Who you looking to mess with now?" "Nobody you know. I need something to stop em dreaming all together. Just put a cork in it." "I got a few things for that. Get over and help me pull this off the fire. I'm not as young as I used to be." Lucas hauled up the massive cast iron pot and his grandmother took advantage of his momentary concentration to cram her way into his head. His eyes were hollower than usual and there was a tiny nervous twitch starting on his temples. "Nobody I know, my ass! You look like the cat chewed you good before she drug you in. What kind of nightmares you been having?" "Nothing to get worked up about. It's a food thing." "It's not a food thing! You're haunted." "All I need is some sleep. I'd pick me up some Nytol but I thought you could use the company. If you don't want to help. . ." "I tried to help you but you weren't having any, scoffed at your poor old granny. Well, I took care of my end of the deal. At least when I get rid of something it stays gone." "Uh huh. You didn't get rid of a black-haired black-hearted bitch who's waking me up in the middle of the night." "No. Because I didn't break Meryln Temple's neck. You kill em you own em, or did you forget what I taught you." She reached over to his vest and plucked off a long blonde hair. "This don't look black to me. But then you always had a weakness for yellow hair." "I don't have a weakness for women, women have a weakness for me." "Sure they do. Where's your ring?" Buck stuck his hands in his pockets. "It's safe enough." "Safe is on your finger." Their eyes locked. All the lies out on the table now. "I am still in control of everything that is mine." Buck said. "Uh huh." Interesting answer, Lucilla thought, gathering up bundles of teas and bottles of potions and sticking them in a basket. "Take the blue one at evening and the red one in the morning. One teaspoon each, coffee'll kill the taste. And when things get really bad, brew up the tea and drink it down." "What is this, Chemotherapy? I ain't terminal, just tired." "Take your black-haired bitch down and retrieve your property and you might not go terminal either. But if you weaken any more, that half and half puppy of yours will slice you down like coldcuts." "More like Baloney." "Go ahead and laugh, but take your medicine. I ain't going in the grave with you." Buck's eyes narrowed and his smile was more teeth than eyes, but he took the basket. ***** Boone and Caleb were walking home the long way. Maybe skip a few stones on the river. "What's you gone wear to the dance?" Boone asked, "I got a new blue suit from Sears." "Guess I'll wear this, I dunno." "You caint wear t-shirts and jeans." Boone laughed, "Didn't you learn anything out in the country?" "I got a suit. It's a funeral suit, good enough for the dead, it oughta be good enough for anybody." Boone winced and Caleb let up on him. "I don't care. I can't dance anyway. Caint dance, caint learn either." "I can!" Boone tossed a rock at some crows that were gathering in the trees overhead. They were getting awful close to the cemetery. "My daddy was a champeen clog dancer. He says it runs in the family." "You gonna wear clogs to the dance-- with spikes on em?" "No, I got regular shoes. But it's all the same rhythm." "I don't need rhythm. I ain't gonna play no drums, I just don't want to make a fool outa myself." Caleb looked down towards the headstones and ran down the slope. It was damp under the trees. "You ain't gonna be that much of a fool, you already got the teacher sweet on you." Boone perched on a marble headstone and looked around warily, he wasn't as comfortable with the dead as his best friend. "Why do you say that?" "Well, you won that spelling bee. She even gave you a dumb ol star for it." "She asked me words I knew. I didn't cheat!" "Don't have to cheat if you're the teacher's pet." "Take that back!" Caleb gave Boone a little shove almost a tap and Boone shoved back a little harder. "It's the truth." "Is not!" Boone was down in the damp grass kicking up some mud. And Caleb almost threw himself on top of him when a hand grabbed his sweater and pulled him back. "You boys are growin up." Selena said, giving a hand to Boone to get him on his feet. "I hope you're fighting over a girl." "No, ma'am, a spelling test." Caleb muttered catching Boone's eye to make sure he shut up. 'I before E except after C. There now, neither of you need to get a black eye." "I gots to go ma'am." Boon brushed himself off. "It was good to see you again, honey." "Sure." The boy looked a little embarrassed and ran off. "His folks are a little conservative." Caleb said. "I know. And I'll bet you have to get home, too." "If you'll be all right, Miss Coombs." "I'm fine honey, I came here to remember absent friends." She looked off among the gravestones. "That's all." "It's a good place for that. I'll see you some time, OK?" "Some time." ***** Matt put another tape into the stereo. Show tunes, perky, in-between a waltz and a foxtrot. He swept Rose up into his arms and counted off the steps. "One. . .Two. . .Three. . .One. . .Two. . .three." He stepped on her toe in between two and three and started laughing. "I don't think I remember this quite as well as I thought." Loris bit a thread on the dress she was hemming, a pretty white thing with blue flowers. "We don't want a trip to the emergency tonight, Dr Crower." "It ain't broke, Miss Holt." Rose said, grabbing Matt's hands again. "Here! I'll show you how to do it. Uh One and a Two. . ." Caleb sat in the darkest corner, trying to put the numbers together with what everybody was doing with their feet. All they had ever sung at home, the Temple home, his real home, was hymns, death and damnation hymns and nobody could dance to those. Merly floated through the cracks in the door, through the shadows of the room over to her brother. "I understand, Caleb. All you remember is Gage coming home drunk and singing about the blood of the Lamb." He couldn't hear her. She put her arms around him but he shivered and moved away. "I got an idea, Caleb." Loris said, putting down her sewing for a moment. "Forget about counting or where your feet go and just sing along with the music. That'll help you move right into it." "I caint sing anymore than I can dance. I sound. . .I sound like a crow." "A crow?" Rose laughed. "Yeah, that's right, a big black ugly nasty crow. You wanta dance with a crow? I don't think so!" He slammed the front door after him. "Let him go, Matt." Loris said watching the boy push through the wet fallen leaves on the dark street. "He'll come home when he's run the misery out." **** Lucas was driving through the streets of Trinity aimlessly. You could see glimpses of people's lives through the bright front windows. Just like he used to be able to see into their heads. "It won't work, Merly, you can't shut me out of Trinity. I own this town and I still own that ring, doesn't matter whose finger it's on." Darkness shadowed across the street and the smell of metal and power. Buck plowed the Crown Vic at the center line. He saw white skin and black hair in his headlights. Floored the accelerator. "Hey!!" Caleb cried. Lucas swerved the big blue car and hit the brakes so hard they fishtailed. Two inches. The side bumper was two inches from his son's waist. Buck braked in his heartbeat faster than the car. Leaned over and opened the passenger door. "Get in. I been looking for you." "I didn't figure they'd call you." "I don't always have to be called to show up." Caleb climbed in and sat down like a whupped dog. "I guess that's true enough." "Where to?" "Oh, home, I guess." Caleb looked out at the dark miserable night. He reached over and flipped on the radio. Stupid music. "Everything is nothing but love and sappy stuff tonight." "I noticed that, I like songs about prisons and dogs, myself. Turn the darn thing off." The same song on the radio was pouring out of the Boarding House as they pulled up. You could see the happiness shining out of the windows. Rose laughed as Matt and Loris danced in each other's arms. It was clear as day through the lace curtains. Caleb rubbed at his eyes. "I don't think you're in the mood for this right now." "I get along there just fine." The boy didn't make a move to get out of the car. "Yeah." "They all love me." "I'm sure they do." "It just sometimes. . " "I know, it's not exactly my kind of place either." "Could we drive on for a little bit?" The boy peered up at his father's face. "I'm your trusty taxi service tonight." The sleek blue car rolled silently through the dark streets. Past houses that were slowly turning their lights off for bed. "I got a new teacher." "Is that a fact? She any good?" "She's pretty." "Well, that's a start." "Name's Miss, no I think it's Miz Madison. She's a Yankee, but awful nice and kind." They had stopped to talk outside of Selena's house. There was still one lonely little light on there. "I can talk to her, you know, like I talked to Miss Coombs." "Uh huh." "They're having this dance." "I heard about it. You know how to dance?" "I CAINT dance." "I see." "Any way, Miz Madison wants me to bring my father to help chaperone at the dance. I think that's some kinda guard or something." "Or something. You gonna bring Matt?" "I asked him." "Uh huh." "Course he's not my father. You're my father." They looked at each other. For a long moment. Lucas started up the ignition on the Crown Vic. "They'll be worried about you, I'd better get you back . . .home." "I guess." "You know who could teach you to dance without a lot of fuss?" "Who?" "Miss Coombs. She's pretty lonely right now, all on her own. Lotsa people kinda passing her by. You know what I mean?" "I do." Caleb said, remembering Boone's haste to get on home that very afternoon. "She might welcome a visit from her favorite pupil." "I was her favorite?' "Course you were. You're my son." "I expect she really knows how to dance." "Well, she's had the benefit of my expertise so I expect she does." He pulled up the car under a magnolia tree a few steps from the boarding house. "Here' ya go, Home sweet whatever." "Till you make up your mind to throw us out." "I'm not looking to hurt you, Caleb. If you could just believe that, maybe you could give me a chance to prove it." "I don't believe in fairy tales no more." "You don't believe wishes can come true, why you wearing that star?" Caleb fingered the little prize Miss Madison had clipped on his sweater. "This ain't for wishing. I just lucked out on the spelling bee for a change. "Spelling's important," Lucas shrugged, "Floyd couldn't do his puzzles without it." "Yeah. I was going to give it to Doctor Matt but he was showing Rose how to foxtrot and. . . I forgot." Caleb fingered the star and pulled it off his collar. "You want it?" Buck turned to look at the tiny aluminum trinket. "Is it gold or something?" "Nope, just some kinda cheap metal. Bends easy." "I would be proud to have it." Buck's hand reached out, flat and open. Caleb looked for the sarcasm in his father's voice but he couldn't hear it. That didn't mean it wasn't there. He dropped the little silver star in Buck's hand. It was the first thing he'd ever given the man. "You'd better go on in before they call the law looking for you." "I guess." "This wasn't so bad was it?" Caleb hopped out of the car casually. " We always get along in cars." Lucas fingered the cheap star for a few minutes, watching the boy run up the stairs to the glowing light of the Boarding House. The door opened and arms scooped his son into an atmosphere of warmth and love that would have made Buck's stomach turn faster than bad fish sticks. "Maybe blood will tell, eventually." He fingered the radio dial idly. More family classics from tinkerbell land. Buck closed his eyes and tried to imagine living in treacle. >>Like a bolt out of the blue, Fate steps in and sees you through<< The sheriff's smile grew slowly as he slipped the car out of gear before he even opened his eyes. **** Merlyn Ann Temple climbed over the railings of the Johnson Bridge, her black garments dripping over the reinforced steel like a soupy fog. "Death was better than this." She looked into the murky turbulence of the roiling river beneath her. "Anything is better than this." Her long thin white fingers gripped the metal that was the only barrier keeping her from the waters below. The dark ring digging into her pale unearthly flesh. ***** It was dim in the Healy living room. Ben Jr was off at the library, smells of macaroni and cheese mingled with old furniture smells. Ben waited for a familiar face to emerge from the darkness. The darkness got deeper. The couch felt even lonelier than before. "Merly?" He called out tentatively. "Is there something wrong?" He got up to play some of her favorite music. Tunes to entice a ghost. The record skipped again. >>Fate. . . Fate. . . Fate. . << He lifted the vinyl platter off the turntable and fingered the gouge incised all the way across it. **** Buck eased easily outdid the speed limit as he approached the Johnson Bridge. Like his son said, there was always a place where people can get together despite their differences. There was a halo of water vapor and evening gloom through the sodium lights. And beyond that. . . Something sparkly, something like small stars. "Well, well, well. If it isn't a small world after all." Buck whispered to himself. "Deadly combinations, Twinkletoes. Your light and my shadows mix just like Nitro and Glycerin." He got out of the car silently like a large predatory cat and flexed his hand where the ring should be, stretched the finger as if readying them to regain their accustomed power. The full moon caught a hint of light in the gathering mist, a starry brightness beginning to materialize. Buck rushed it with every ounce of darkness he possessed. His fingers like claws digging into the soft hint of flesh. "You have made a fatal mistake, Merlyn Ann!" "Have I?" It was not Merly's voice. Not Merly's body in his arms. The light that looked like small stars turned towards him and exploded like a supernova. The full force of golden searing flame poured through him and knocked him to his knees. All he could see in the fire was Judith Temple's blue eyes. They were kind, that was the worst pain of all. He wasn't sure how he got back to the car. There were soft hands holding him, smoothing away the pain they had initiated. Buck couldn't get away from that softness fast enough. He threw himself into the driver's seat, slammed the door and floored the accelerator with his eyes closed. He wouldn't open them again until he was halfway home. **** "You bitch!" Judith Temple turned to look at the muddy shadow her daughter inhabited under the yellow lights. "You wouldn't come back for me and you wouldn't come back for Caleb. But you could come back to HELP that murdering bastard!" **** The moonlight streamed into the tower room as Loris tucked Caleb into bed. "Pretty soon you'll be too old for this." "I hope not, Ma'am." "Oh, it's coming, a whole life of your own and all we'll be able to do is cheer you on from the sidelines." "I know I ran away tonight, but I don't want to be alone yet." "We've all been so worried about where we're going to be from day to day that we grab every little bit of happiness we can find and I think you got rolled into the corner and lost in the cracks tonight." She smoothed the boy's short hair, still a child but so often now, the adult he would be looked through those piercing eyes. "You know we love you, don't you honey? You know you're always in our hearts?" Caleb hugged Miss Holt tight his eyes scrunched up so the tears wouldn't be too bad. Maybe not show at all. "I know." "Would you do Dr Matt and me a very big favor. The kind of favor only a very special young man could do?" "Anything, Miss Holt." Loris smiled brighter than the moon. ***** "I came back for my whole family, Merlyn." Judith walked slowly to her daughter, her feet barely touching the ground, more light than substance. Her voice calm and patient. "Not for me. You left me in hell and you never came back once." "You had Caleb." "A new-born baby who was that THING'S son. You care more about Buck than you do your own children, your own daughter!" "Only thing talking now is that ring, dear. You love Caleb, he was your salvation." "Take this curse off me, Mamma" She held her hand out to her mother like a dark cloud against Judith's brilliance. "I can't take the ring off, Merly." "No, you're too good and pure to touch me." The light around her mother centered glowed until Merly could see the locket hanging like the sun around Judith's neck. She grabbed for it. "At least you could give me back my own necklace." Her hand went right through it. "It's not your locket anymore. You can't have what you lost, Merlyn, The sooner you accept that the sooner you can move on." "Move on to what? This?" The girl held up the ring and let it catch the moonlight. It glowed with a sickly power that raced through her thin hand. "Maybe I'll use it. That'd be some move, wouldn't it?" "You don't know how, dear." "I'd better start learning then." ****** "Caleb Temple?" Ms Madison looked up as the final bell rang. "I'd like to speak to you after class." Boone raised his eyebrows as he gathered his books up. "It sounds serious." "Who's the teacher's pet now?" Caleb whispered. "Caleb, did you hear me." "Yes, Ma'am." He walked up to the teacher's desk and stood apprehensively. Ms. Madison busied herself with papers until the last child had left. "The other day, you told me I was new in town." "I'm sorry, Ma'am" "Don't be, Caleb, I am new and I owe you an apology. I told you to rely on your parents when I didn't realize what you'd been through. Will you forgive me?" She put her hand out and Caleb reached for it to shake it, she held on. It was a very soft hand. "There ain't nothin to forgive. Everybody dies." "I don't have a mother or father either." "No?" "Nobody at all. It's hard to be all alone in the world. Sometimes when God takes things away, he offers others in their place. you have a chance to create a new family with anybody or anything you want." "I have, I think." "That's good." Victoria Madison smiled. It was a beautiful smile, transformed her whole face. "By the way, Matthew Crower left word he wouldn't be able to act as a chaperone at the dance. He's too busy. Can you think of anyone else you'd like to have there?" "Well, there is one other person." ****** The Payrite Supermarket was chintzy on their automatic doors. Only one of them opened at a time. Selena wasn't quite used to carrying a wider load yet. She hooked one bag on the stuck door and it dumped out on the ground. "Oh damn, I am so sick of this." "I'll get it." Caleb Temple kneeled down and began picking up the packages. Hershey's dark chocolate, two bags of Ruffles potato chips, three cans of dip-- sour creme, guacamole and salsa. "You having a party, Miss Coombs?" "Just feeling a little down. Sometimes food is a real good friend." "You got other friends than chocolate." "You think so, honey?" She smiled that slow glowing smile he remembered, nothing at all like his momma. "Loris Holt does all the shopping at your house, what are you doing here?" "I was looking for you." He took her other bag from her and carried them to her little yellow car. "Were you now? I was going to fix a special dinner tonight. Would you like to join me?" "Is it real fancy food?" "Mashed potato sandwiches and hot fudge sundaes." "Miss Coombs, you gotta date." ***** Rita sat in the straight back chair in front of the sheriff's desk. She crossed her legs, first right over left, then left over right. Scratched behind both ears and jiggled her shoulders. Maybe she was nervous, maybe she had the hives. Goddamn, how do normal people ever get anything done, Buck thought. "So how are you and Ben getting on?" "I'm not sure what you mean, Sheriff?" "Oh cmon, Rita, you two been sniffing around each other for a coupla years now. Long before BJ had the good sense to get blown up." "I'm a single woman, he's a divorced man, it's not illegal." " It's a cause for celebration as far as I'm concerned. Ben's been on the back burner for too long-- worried about that family of his. Even after it wasn't his anymore, ain't that right?" "I guess. He's a very conscientious man." "Almost to a fault. Strong sense of right and wrong, our Ben." "Uh huh." The legs crisscrossed again. "I was there that night. You know, the night BJ exploded. Whoo, that was something. Body parts all over the place, blood spatters, and the smell. .. !" "I have the evening shift at the hospital, sheriff, and. . ." "Oh don't worry, Rita, I'll make sure you get where you're going. If I have to drive you there myself." Buck smiled with all his teeth. "You didn't take your car that night, did you?" "What?" "The night BJ died, the night you were at her house." He swallowed hard and jumped all the way off the cliff. "The night I saw you there." "You must have seen somebody else." She looked away and stretched her skirt over her knees until Buck could swear he heard the fabric rip. "Nobody else has your hair, Rita. Loving Care Autumn Haze, isn't it?" "I just wanted to talk to her." Bingo. ***** Victoria Madison walked into the sheriff's office, her white linen suit was the most elegant thing that had pranced in there since Selena was a size four. Floyd gave out a low whistle and Ben coughed loudly and hoped the lady hadn't heard him. "Can I help you, Ma'am?" "Is everyone in the South so polite?" Ms Madison glanced coolly at Floyd and smiled. "Well, we try." "My name is Victoria Madison and I would like to speak to Sheriff Lucas Buck." "He's, uh, busy right now. Could I ask what the problem is?" "The. . .problem.. . is Caleb Temple." "If you sit down ma'am, I'm sure he'll find time for you." ***** The light in the sheriff's office was even dimmer, it still hurt Rita's eyes-- they flicked here and there like a little bird trying to find a place to light. "She wouldn't even answer the door. I knocked until I damn near broke that back door down." "And, of course, you smelled the gas." Silence. "Cmon Rita don't lie to ME." Nothing. "You didn't call it in, you didn't go for help. . ." "I didn't have to, I turned the gas tap off. That little crank at the meter, I turned it off." "That would explain your fingerprints." *If the thing had survived the explosion.* "Unfortunately, that ups the charge from manslaughter to murder." "What are you talking about?" "The gas was full on, Rita, that's why the house blew like it did." Buck fooled with a little box on his desk. "New intercom! Just got it last week. It's really something. I haven't had a chance to use it yet." "I turned it off, Buck, I swear to God I turned it off." Buck flicked the switch on the intercom and leaned down playfully. "Earth to Ben, Earth to Ben, are you listening?" "What is it?" Ben's voice sounded tinny from the connection. "I love these toys." Lucas remarked to Rita who was about to jump out of her skin. "Ben, if you'd come into my office for a minute, and bring that paper I had sent over." WARRANT, he mouthed silently to Rita. "Yeah, just a minute, I got to find it." "Better hurry, Rita's got something she's just dying to tell you." Lucas beamed at the woman falling apart in front of him, as he flicked the switch of the intercom on and off. "Isn't this just the greatest thing since sliced bread?" "Please, Lucas. . .Please, Lucas. . ." Rita didn't seem capable of saying much more. Buck's eyes narrowed and pinned her like a butterfly to a pegboard. "I don't want to send you to jail, darlin. All I want is to know every single goddamn thing that is happening in Ben's life. What he thinks about, what he talks about and what he DREAMS about. Do you understand me?" Deputy Healy knocked briefly on the office door and walked in. "Is this the paper you wanted?" "Uh huh." Buck took the document and studied it carefully. "Ain't you going to say hi?" "Hi!" Rita said, promptly, her eyes way too bright. "Hi." Ben replied. "Are you all right?" "I want to be all right. I want to do anything I can to get myself all right." Ben looked at his friend as if she'd suddenly gone lunatic. "Rita's very innovative, Open to new ideas. That's what makes her one of the finest nurses at Fulton County." Buck waved the paper in his hands as if wondering whether to read it out loud. "I try to be helpful, Lucas, in any way I possibly can." "Course you do." He put the paper face down on his desk and smiled at Ben. "Now, why don't you drive the lovely Miss Rita over to the hospital. Don't worry about the office, I'll cover for you." Ben helped Rita get her things together. She was shaking a little but Buck did that to a lot of people, especially women. "Is this all you called me in for, Lucas?" "Take her the long way, Ben," Buck whispered. "Let what little you got of your hair down, for a change." ***** Selena leaned over and wiped some chocolate syrup off of Caleb's face. "That was the best dinner I ever had." "Me too." Candlelight flickered romantically. They had eaten everything at the sofa, their feet propped up on the coffee table. "I been running around like I don't know who I am or what I really want." The little boy sighed a world weary sigh. "That sounds familiar." Selena slipped her hand over his and stroked it a little. "I didn't know I missed you so bad." "You never know what you have till it's gone, that's the truth, Caleb." She arched her back against the soft pillows and relaxed. "My daddy sent me here, you know." Selena's bubble burst in a big way. She dropped Caleb's hand as if it was on fire. "Do you know why?" "Yes I do, Miss Coombs. It was real important. Something only you could do for me." "What?" "Teach me how to dance." "Oh my God! Caleb, don't you ever scare me like that again." "What did I do?" "Nothing, honey, nothing. I just. . . nothing at all. So you want to learn how to dance?" "I don't WANT to. I can't figure it out. You have to count. And put your feet just so. And maybe sing!" "No, you don't." "You don't?" "All you have to do is lean. I'll show you." Selena kicked off her shoes so she would be a bit shorter and held his arms in the right position. "Now just rock back and forth a bit, like this, just a little bit of sway." "Don't we need music?" "It doesn't matter what the music is, Caleb. Men only dance one way." They swayed a little bit in each other's arms. "Now just push me the way you want me to go." The boy picked up his foot in the middle of one sway and walked Selena back a step. "Like that?" "Exactly like that." She rubbed his shoulder. "You're a natural." "I don't think it's going to be that easy with Rose." "Then don't ask Rose to dance." Selena clicked on the radio to a jazz station. "Even easier with the music, isn't it?" "I wish you were going to be there." Caleb rested his head on her shoulder and swayed around the floor dreamily. "Me too." "I won't dance with anybody unless you are there." "Well, then, I guess I'll have to show up." "You mean it!" "I think I still have a dress I can fit into. Now, you already know how to dance too close. Want to learn how to dip?" **** Buck sat in his dark office, fingering the silver star Caleb had given him. He read over the quit claim he'd had the Bank send over. There never was a warrant to threaten Rita with. Just this. >>I, Lucas Buck relinquish all claim on the property at 842 Peach Avenue to the sole ownership of Caleb Temple, under the supervision of Robert Whitehouse, president, Trinity Loan and Trust.<< All it needed was a signature. Buck had been fingering the pen for about an hour. The light trickled out of the corner torchiere and lit up the deed of quit claim on the boarding house. Bright golden light. "Save our son." Just a whisper. Buck looked around the office. It was empty. "Now what the hell is that supposed to mean?" ***** "I feel pretty, oh so pretty. . ." "Good Grief!" Rose was twirling around in her pink taffeta gown until Caleb just wanted to smack her. His old Funeral suit fit him pretty good, especially with the new shirt and tie Miss Holt had bought him. it wasn't too bad. Loris was wearing that white dress with the blue flowers and she wasn't even going to the dance. Everybody looked so happy. "Caleb, could I talk to you for a minute." Matt pulled him into the kitchen and sat down at one of the pressed back chairs. "You know, I was sorry I couldn't be a chaperone at the dance tonight but there's a reason for that." "It's ok. I'll be ok on my own." "Well, I'm going to have to ask you another favor, a big one. But it'll mean leaving the dance early." "It's tonight, isn't it?" "Uh huh." "I can hardly wait." "Don't let Rose know." "Don't worry. I know how to keep a secret." ***** The banners across the school gym said Wish Upon A Star. The night was clear and cold and there were thousands of stars in the sky. Merly couldn't find even one to wish on. She peered into the glass doors trying to see her brother. Her hands pressed against the cold surface. "Why can't I reach you?" Buck leaned over her shoulder. "Cause you're not in his heart anymore, Merlyn Ann. He's this far from forgetting you. And he stopped believing in you a long time ago. After tonight he's going to believe in the man with the star. Bet on it." "I will kill you. Lucas Buck." "You oughta watch those murderous thoughts, darlin, they'll just drag you down." And he pushed the door open and walked right through her. **** Inside the sappy sentimental music rang out loud and clear. One or two couples were stumbling along on the dance floor but most of the girls were lined up in their rainbow of tulle and satin dresses on the right hand wall and most of the boys were stacked like blue and grey cordwood on the left hand wall. The chaperones huddled around the punch bowl with big smiling faces trying to pretend everybody was happy. Well, Lucas wasn't pretending. He strolled over to Ms Madison and complimented her on her sky blue silk outfit. "Wished upon a star, yet, Miss Vikki?" "Sheriff," She laughed. "I don't let anybody call me Miss Vikki." "Oh never say never, your wish won't come true." Buck glanced around the room. Rose had given up waiting to be asked and was dragging Boone out on the dance floor. Caleb kept looking at the door as if wishing one more person would show up. One more person did. Selena walked through the door in a midnight blue number that almost concealed her stomach, but not quite. "Uh oh." Buck grinned. "What does that mean." Ms Madison leaned close to ask. "That is your predecessor, Miss Selena Coombs." Several people were trying to make up their minds to intercept Selena, but they were too late. Caleb strode over to his favorite teacher just as the theme music for the dance began. >>When you wish upon an star<< "Would you like to dance, Miss Coombs?" "I would love to, Mr Temple." >>Makes no difference who you are<<< They swirled out into the dance floor like Astaire and Rogers. Just a little bit too close. >>>Anything your heart desires will come to you<<< "Damn, he can dip." "You should watch your language, Sheriff. There are children present." "I'll remember that, Miss Vikki. Wanta dance?" "Thank you, I do." Caleb danced twice more with Selena and once with Ms Madison and no matter how many times Rose tried to ask him, he was always busy. Buck pulled out the quit claim and was about to surprise the boy with it when Matt Crower walked in the door, whispered one word in Caleb's ear and they both left together. "What the hell!" "Sheriff!" Ms Madison was about to comment again. "Never mind, this is police business." Buck pushed out the doors and saw Matt and Caleb walking down towards Main Street. He followed carefully. All the way to the court house. "Now, I know that's locked up this time of night." Nope, a side door had been left open and he followed the man and boy in. There was a light coming from Judge Watkins' offices. If this was some kind of shenanigans about getting around that mortgage buy out. . . Loris stepped out of the door in a flowered dress trimmed with old lace carrying a small bouquet of camellias. "I'm not supposed to see you before the ceremony." "Don't be silly, Matt." She kissed him and they went in the office. Lucas peered through the pebbled glass door at the distorted figures. Mrs Russell stood next to Loris, Caleb stood next to Matt. The judge said a few words and Caleb handed Matt a ring to place on Loris's finger. Lucas ripped the quit claim in half. Dropped the papers on the floor unseeing. His hands pressed against the cold surface of the glass. The light through the door gathered to form a reflection. Judith Temple was staring back at him. "It's a beginning." She said and rested her hand on the finger that used to hold his ring. THE END DISCLAIMER: Any story/episode appearing that states it is part of Virtual AG-Season Three is based upon the Television show, "American Gothic", which is the property of Shaun Cassidy, Renaissance Productions, and CBS (apparently). The characters added to support this concept, and the storylines, are the property of the writers acknowledged as such. PLEASE, DON'T SUE US!!