“Hey, don't look at me. I've done nothing but be nice to the men in this town since I got here. Ask Micky and Macky Sheltenfester.”
When they left the cafe, they crossed the main street and walked over to a broken-down gazebo in what looked like a makeshift version of a town square. Only it wasn't square; it was more rectangular. There was no set pattern like traditional town squares, with sidewalks and benches. The shrubs were overgrown with ivy and there were loose branches everywhere. At least the heavy rain had turned into a soft drizzle and they didn't need umbrellas anymore. Hood and Jase stood with their hands in their pockets. When Matthias pulled out a pack of cigarettes and lit one up, Jase said, “Can I have one, man?”
Luis turned fast. “Jase, you told me you quit smoking ten years ago.”
Jase looked down at the cigarette Matthias had just handed him. “I don't remember,” he said. “All I know is that I have a craving right now.”
Matthias said, “I don't see how one cigarette will hurt him. I smoke about a pack a month, if that. This is the first cigarette I've had since Saturday. It's not like we're going to chain smoke. And we are outdoors. Please don't tell me you're one of those people who thinks smoking outdoors in God's open air is socially offensive and politically incorrect, especially with all the cars and buses and taxis in the world. The last time Beth Anne farted it was a lot worse than this cigarette.”
Beth Anne glared at him. “Hey!”
Luis sent them both a scowl. He despised smoking more than he hated bad food. But at least it was a sign that Jase had remembered something else about himself, so Luis sighed and said, “As long as you don't make it a habit, Jase, I guess it can't hurt. But if you think you're going to take up smoking again, you'd better think twice.” This was something Luis would not stand for. He'd turn his head when Jase gave Hunter sugary drinks and cookies instead of fresh organic veggies and expensive bottled water. He'd overlook the occasional fast food meal, greasy corn dogs, and chicken fingers that contained God knows what. But smoking vile, sickening, obscene cigarettes would drive Luis to distraction. And heaven forbid their friends found out Jase smoked. They'd probably never get invited to a dinner party in Manhattan again.
Jase clicked the lighter and lit up. He inhaled, closed his eyes, and exhaled a long stream of smoke. “Just this one,” he said. “It's like this urge I can't seem to control.”
Matthias stroked Jase's back. “You're starting to remember slowly. It's a good sign, Jase.”
Then Beth Anne pointed to the small white church not far from the gazebo. “Look over there,” she said. In her excitement, she sounded even more nasal. The large woman in the yellow and white dress was climbing the front steps, heading into the church. “We should go ask her about this compound place you're all so worried about. I'll bet she would know. She looks like the type that knows everything in this town.”
Jase took a long drag from the cigarette and said, “Couldn't hurt.”
Matthias said to Luis, “She looks like a local. She'll probably know where it is.”
Blaze just sat there on the cracked, peeling gazebo bench, with her hands in her pockets and her head pointed down. Hood was sitting next to her. He looked as if he was trying to figure out a way to cheer her up.
“She's a little peculiar,” Luis said. “We've seen her twice and she never even looked at us. I'm not so sure. Maybe Jase is right and we should just drive around on our own. If we find the compound, fine. If we don't, then maybe it wasn't meant to be. I'm starting to feel as if I'm intruding on this town, and I hate that. I hate people thinking of me as the ugly tourist.”
But Matthias didn't agree with Luis. He took two more deep drags from his cigarette, dropped it in the wet grass, and stomped on it. He turned and started walking toward the white church. “I'm going to find out if she knows anything. Feel free to join me if you want.”
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* * *
Chapter Ten
Though Luis had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach, he stepped down from the gazebo and said, “Wait for me.”
Jase and Hood remained with Blaze and Beth Anne. Before Luis left, Jase said he thought it would be better if just two of them went to the church instead of all six. He said he didn't want the poor woman to feel as though she were being bombarded with tourists. Luis agreed with him, marveling at the way Jase managed to maintain his intrinsic common sense and his integrity even though he'd lost his memory.
Matthias opened the church door and set his hand on the small of Luis's back. He guided Luis inside and they walked up the center aisle between the pews. At a glance, it was an ordinary small town church, with white walls, wooden pews, stained glass windows, and a pulpit for the preacher. There was a large cross and two tall candelabra. But when Luis took a closer look at the images on the stained glass windows, he pressed his palm to his throat and stared. Almost every single window contained an image of something freakish and surreal. The images were intertwined with normal religious images and he had to look closely to see the weird images. In one, Luis saw a two-headed little girl carrying a basket of apples. In another, mixed in with a group of recognizable biblical figures, he saw a little boy with four eyes and half a nose. The window closest to the pulpit contained an image of a woman with no legs and no arms looking up at Jesus. The only window without something odd was over the altar. It was the image of a young blond boy looking up at the sky, with his palms pressed together and an angelic expression.
Luis reached for Matthias's arm and said, “I don't know anything about religion or the Bible. But do you see what's in these stained glass windows?”
Matthias glanced at the window with the two-headed little girl. “Maybe it's some kind of symbolic thing. I don't know much about religion either.”
“Maybe we should leave,” Luis said. “This feels so wrong.”
But as he turned, the large woman in the yellow and white dress came out of a back room and said, “Can I help you boys?”
Luis stopped and faced her.
Matthias said, “We're hoping you can. You have a wonderful town here, and your church is amazing. It's absolutely beautiful, especially all these stained glass windows.”
When Luis heard Matthias speak, he smiled and walked up to stand beside him. He'd been worried the woman would think they were rude and intruding on her church. But with Matthias's sweet, honest voice, he knew he didn't have anything to worry about anymore.
The woman clomped down three steps from the altar and walked up to greet them. She'd removed her shoes and her feet were bare. She extended her right hand to Matthias and said, “I'm Sister Sturmtrimmer. I don't know what I can do, but I'll try to help you as best I can. We don't have much of a congregation anymore, not for a very long time.” She spoke in a pleasant singsong voice that trailed up at the end of every sentence. She looked them right in the eye, and smiled the entire time. In fact she smiled almost too much, and despite her friendly words, Luis had a feeling she wasn't thrilled to see them and couldn't wait until they left.