Free Shadows by Peter Cawdron Page A

he'd put them to
good use. Their conversation around the dinner table had been
trivial, full of pleasantries but no depth. No one dared broach the
conversation from a couple of days ago, with both sides hoping
enough had been said already.
    As dinner came to a close
it was clear nothing had changed. Susan excused herself after
cleaning up the dishes. She slipped out the door
quietly.
    “ Be
careful, ” her mother called after her, not daring to ask
where she was going.
    Susan whispered in
reply.
    “ I
will. ”
    She hurried up to the
cafeteria, her feet seemingly carrying her on autonomously, barely
touching the stairs as she climbed in the half-light. Somewhere
around level three, she passed the Mayor and Hammond on the stairs.
They were polite, bidding her a pleasant evening, and she felt rude
overtaking them. She was polite in reply, but felt an irrational
sense of deference to them, as though she should slow her ascent
and follow along patiently behind them. She knew it was silly, but
she still found herself slowing as she passed them.
    Less than five minutes
later, she reached the cafeteria and was surprised to find the
lights on. It was just after 9 PM. Normally, the entire floor was
deserted by then, but a small crowd had gathered by some
scaffolding set up to one side of the sheriff's office, just in
front of the mayoral office. Charlie was there, talking to Sheriff
Cann. Susan jogged over.
    “ Hey, ” she said somewhat wearily to
Charlie. “ What's up? ”
    Charlie excused himself
from talking with the sheriff and walked way from the crowd as he
spoke with Susan.
    “ Surprised? ” he asked.
    “ What's going
on? ” she asked, in no mood for games. She had a fair idea
what was going on but she wanted to hear it from his
lips.
    “ I've set up
a little demonstration, ” he replied, trying
to suppress a grin.
    Susan pointed
to one side, gesturing to somewhere deep below them within the
silo, saying, “ Of something we saw
the other night? ”
    Charlie just
smiled.
    “ You can't do
this, ” she pleaded with him. “ It's too risky.
Please, talk to me before you go doing anything like
this. ”
    “ Relax, ” Charlie replied, reaching out and
taking her hand. “ It's OK. They're
going to love this. ”
    Susan spoke
under her breath, saying, “ If Hammond finds out
where your inventions are coming from, he'll skin you
alive. ”
    “ He won't
find out, ” Charlie said. “ He won't even know
until it's too late. ”
    “ Ah, ” Susan replied, raising her
eyebrows. “ You know he's on his way up here,
right? ”
    Charlie went
silent.
    “ I passed him
on the staircase, ” Susan continued. “ He's with
Mayor Johns. ”
    “ Shit. ”
    “ Shit
indeed, ” Susan replied, shaking her head
softly.
    “ I'd hoped to
get everyone on board before he saw this, ” Charlie
confessed.
    Mayor Johns and Hammond
walked from the staircase and greeted Sheriff Cann.
    “ So what's
this I hear about some new invention? ” Hammond asked,
stroking his beard, his bullish voice carrying in the open
area.
    “ Young
Charlie's got something he wants to show us, ” the sheriff
replied, gesturing to Charlie. “ Take it away,
Charlie. ”
    The small crowd milled
around the scaffolding, looking at the ropes reaching from a steel
plate up to a cross-member sitting just below the
ceiling.
    “ Ah, ” Charlie began, trying not to look at
his feet. “ As you know, I like tinkering with things. I
know, not really something dirt farmers normally do, but turning
soil gives you plenty of time to think, and, ah ... so ... I've
been thinking about how we could help each other, how we could help
the silo to function better. ”
    Hammond
wasn't going to be a passive spectator, that much was obvious. He
growled under his breath, saying, “ Silo works pretty
darn well if you ask me. ” A few others within
the crowd mumbled their agreement.
    “ Well, Susan
is here. And she's a porter, ” Charlie
continued.
    Susan was horrified. He