Free Laws of Nature -2 by Christopher Golden Page B

down from his third-floor room to complain about the small leak in his roof. It had been raining like hell all day long, and the old three-story inn was likely to have a leak or two in at least one of its twelve rooms. It was just a tragedy that it had to be Mick's. Like four of the other guests, he used the Inn as his primary residence. Ever since Marianne had thrown him out on his behind three years earlier, Mick had been living at the inn and making a general nuisance of himself.
    Before Tina had bought the place - or, more accurately, had her father buy it for her in order to lure her back to Buckton after college - the Buckton Inn had been a moldy, run-down shambles of a place, with broken windows, stained carpets, and sagging ceilings. But the Lemoines had never been short of cash.
    Tina had infused enough money into the inn to make it look wonderful. It would never be a five-star hotel, but there was a simple elegance to the decorating, plenty of brass and glass and timelessly impressive carpets, and Tina always kept fresh-cut flowers around.
    During the spring and fall, when hunters and hikers would often take up the other rooms in the place, Tina offered a continental breakfast, and even had entertainment in the lobby on Friday nights. Just Joe Kenneally with his fat-bellied guitar, but Joe was a heck of a singer.
    The inn was the nicest place in Buckton, even if most of the people in town had never been through the front door.
    "Mick," Tina snapped into the phone. She turned to look at Alan and rolled her eyes. "No, Mick, listen! I've called over to Byron to come and repair the roof, but there's nothing he can do until it stops raining, and that's going to be tomorrow morning. Just keep dumping the bucket into the toilet . . . or out the window, if you want. It's only supposed to rain for another few hours. Then tomorrow morning, I'll take care of it."
    Jaw set in a firm, angry line, Tina closed her eyes and sighed. The phone was clutched tightly in her fist.
    "Then find another place to live!" she shouted into the phone before slamming it back down into its cradle.
    "Wow," Alan said, unable to hide the amusement he felt. "You sound just like my mother. Is that a good idea, chasing your customers off ?"
    "Where would he go?" Tina replied, shaking her head slowly.
    Alan heard someone clear his throat and turned quickly to see a young couple standing in the lobby with a dripping umbrella. The guy was average height and muscular, with dark hair and intense eyes. His girlfriend, if that's what she was, had an alluring mess of rich, red hair and a way of standing - hip jutted out to one side - that told him she wasn't the type to put up with foolishness from anyone.
    "Oh," Tina squeaked. "That's not exactly good public relations, is it?"
    With a frown, Alan glanced at her. There was a lightness in her voice that was unusual for her. She even seemed to have flushed a bit. He understood that she was embarrassed that the guy and girl, neither of whom looked like they could possibly be over twenty - probably college kids, he reasoned - had overheard her tirade against Mick. But Alan did not think she should be concerned.
    "Don't worry. Tina only snaps at the regulars. She's real nice to out-of-towners," Alan said.
    "So," Tina asked, "you two want a room?"
    The two young people glanced shyly and a bit awkwardly at each other. Alan thought it was fairly precious. He had been to college out in the real world, but even in a little town like Buckton you didn't often find kids who were nineteen or twenty years old who still had it in them to display that sort of hesitation. They weren't that much younger than Alan himself, but he knew that most kids their age were all bluster and swagger. That was how they dealt with each other.
    He liked these two.
    "So you two are hikers, I take it?" Alan ventured.

    The guy glanced at him, and suddenly everything changed. His eyes, so innocent a moment before, became veiled and