Marty Arsenault and Freddy Denton joined Mel as he hurried along the front of the stage, bent over like a man running in front of a movie screen. From the other side of the Town Hall, Todd Wendlestat and Lauren Conree were also in motion. Wendlestat's hand was on a sawed-off piece of hickory cane he was carrying as a nightstick; Conree's was on the butt of her gun.
Andi saw them coming, but didn't stop. 'The proof is in this envelope, and I believe it's proof - '... that Brenda Perkins died for, she intended to finish, but at that moment her shaking, sweat-slicked left hand lost her grip on the drawstring top of her bag. It fell into the aisle, and the barrel of her home protection.38 slid from the bag's puckered mouth like a periscope.
Clearly, heard by everyone in the now silent hall, Aidan Appleton said: 'Wow! That lady has a gun!'
Another instant of thunderstruck silence followed. Then Carter Thibodeau leaped from his seat and ran in front of his boss, screaming 'Gun! Gun! GUN!'
Aidan slipped into the aisle to investigate more closely. 'No, Ade!' Caro shouted, and bent over to grab him just as Mel fired the first shot.
It put a hole in the polished wood floor right in front of Carolyn Sturges's nose. Splinters flew up. One struck her just below the right eye and blood began to pour down her face. She was vaguely aware that everyone was screaming now. She knelt in the aisle, grabbed Aidan by the shoulders, and hiked him between her thighs like a football. He flew back into the row where they'd been sitting, surprised but unhurt.
'GUN! SHE'S GOT A GUN!' Freddy Denton shouted, and swept Mel out of his way. Later he would swear that the young woman was reaching for it, and that he had only meant to wound her, anyway.
23
Thanks to the speakers, the three people in the stolen van heard the change in the festivities at the town hall. Big Jim's speech and the accompanying applause were interrupted by some woman who was talking loudly but standing too far from the mike for them to make out the words. Her voice was drowned in a general uproar punctuated by screams. Then there was a gunshot.
'What the hell!' Rommie said.
More gunshots. Two, perhaps three. And screams.
'Doesn't matter,'Jackie said. 'Drive, Ernie, and fast. If we're going to do this, we have to do it now.'
24
'No!' Linda cried, leaping to her feet. 'No shooting! There are children! THERE ARE CHILDREN!'
The Town Hall erupted in pandemonium. Maybe for a moment or two they hadn't been cattle, but now they were. The stampede for the front doors was on. The first few got out, then the crowd jammed up. A few souls who had retained a scrap of common sense beat feet down the side and center aisles toward the exit doors which flanked the stage, but they were a minority.
Linda reached for Carolyn Sturges, meaning to pull her back to the relative safety of the benches, when Toby Manning, sprinting down the center aisle, ran into her. His knee connected with the back of Linda's head and she fell forward, dazed.
'Carol' Alice Appleton was screaming from somewhere far away. ' Caro, get up! Caro, get up! Caro, get up!'
Carolyn started getting to her feet and that was when Freddy Denton shot her squarely between the eyes, killing her instantly. The children began to shriek. Their faces were freckled with her blood.
Linda was vaguely aware of being kicked and stepped on. She got to her hands and knees (standing was currently out of the question) and crawled into the aisle opposite the one she'd been sitting in. Her hand squelched in more of Carolyn's blood.
Alice and Aidan were trying to get to Caro. Knowing they might be seriously hurt if they made it into the aisle (and not wanting them to see what had become of the woman she assumed was their mother), Andi reached over the bench just ahead of her to grab them. She had dropped the VADER envelope.
Carter Thibodeau had been waiting for this. He was still standing in front of Rennie, shielding him with his body, but he had drawn his gun and laid it over his forearm. Now he squeezed the trigger, and the troublesome woman in the red dress - the one who had caused this ruckus - went flying backward.
The Town Hall was in chaos, but Carter ignored it. He descended the stairs and walked steadily to where the woman in the red dress had fallen. When people came running down the center aisle, he threw them out of his way, first left and then right. The little girl, crying, tried to cling to his leg and Carter kicked her aside without looking at her.
He didn't see the envelope at first. Then he did. It was lying beside one of the Grinnell woman's outstretched hands. A large foot-track printed in blood had been stamped across the word VADER. Still calm in the chaos, Carter glanced around and saw that Rennie was staring at the shambles of his audience, his face shocked and unbelieving. Good.
Carter yanked out the tails of his shirt. A screaming woman - it was Carla Venziano - ran into him, and he hurled her aside. Then he jammed the VADER envelope into his belt at the small of his back and Moused the tails of his shirt out over it.