'They're probably busy with...' She trailed off.
Rorneo nodded. 'Right. Busy wit what? You don't know and neither do I. But whatever they're busy wit, I'm not sure I like it. Or think it's wort bein busy wit. There's gonna be a town meeting Thursday night, and if this is still goin on, I think there should be some changes.' He paused. 'I could be gettin out of my place here, but I think maybe you ought to stand for Chief of Fire n Police.'
Bfenda considered it, considered the file she had found marked VADER, then shook her head slowly. 'It's too soon for anything like that.'
'What about just Fire Chief? How bout dat one?'The Lewiston on park coming on stronger in his voice now.
Brenda looked around at the smoldering brush and charred trashwood trees. Ugly, granted, like something out of a World War I battlefield photo, but no longer dangerous.The people who had shown up here had seen to that. The crew. Her crew.
She smiled. 'That I might consider.'
12
The first time Ginny Tomlinson came down the hospital hallway she was running, responding to a loud beeping that sounded like bad news, and Piper didn't have a chance to speak to her. Didn't even try. She had been in the waiting room long enough to get the picture: three people - two nurses and a teenage candy striper named Gina Buffalino - in charge of an entire hospital. They were coping, but barely. When Ginny came back, she was walking slowly. Her shoulders were slumped. A medical chart dangled from one hand.
'Ginny?' Piper asked. 'Okay?'
Piper thought Ginny might snap at her, but she offered a tired smile instead of a snarl. And sat down next to her. 'Fine. Just tired.' She paused. 'Also, Ed Canty just died.'
Piper took her hand. 'I'm very sorry to hear that.'
Ginny squeezed her fingers. 'Don't be. You know how women talk about having babies? This one had an easy delivery, this one had it hard?'
Piper nodded.
'Death is like that, too. Mr Carty was in labor a long time, but now he's delivered.'
To Piper the idea seemed beautiful. She thought she could use it in a sermon... except she guessed that people wouldn't want to hear a sermon on death this coming Sunday. Not if the Dome was still in place.
They sat for a while, Piper trying to think of the best way to ask what she had to ask. In the end, she didn't have to.
'She was raped,' Ginny said. 'Probably more than once. I was afraid Twitch was going to have to try his suturing, but I finally got it stopped with a vaginal pack.' She paused. 'I was crying. Luckily, the girl was too stoned to notice.'
'And the baby?'
'Your basic healthy eighteen-month-old, but he gave us a scare. He had a mini-seizure. It was probably exposure to the sun. Plus dehydration... hunger... and he has a wound of his own.' Ginny traced a line across her forehead.
Twitch came down the hall and joined them. He looked light-years from his usual jaunty self.
'Did the men who raped her also hurt the baby?' Piper's voice remained calm, but a thin red fissure was opening in her mind.
'Little Walter? I think he just fell,'Twitch said.'Sammy said something about the crib collapsing. It wasn't completely coherent, but I'm pretty sure it was an accident. That part, anyway'
Piper was looking at him, bemused. 'That was what she was saying. I thought it was "little water".'
'I'm sure she wanted water,' Ginny said,'but Sammy's baby really is Little, first name, Walter, second name. They named him after a blues harmonica player, I believe. She and Phil - ' Ginny mimed sucking a joint and holding in the smoke.
'Oh, Phil was a lot more than a smokehound,'Twitch said.'When it came to drugs, Phil Bushey was a multitasker.'
'Is he dead?' Piper asked.
Twitch shrugged. 'I haven't seen him around since spring. If he is, good riddance.'
Piper looked at him reproachfully.
Twitch ducked his head a little.'Sorry, Rev.' He turned to Ginny. 'Any sign of Rusty?'