Halcyon

C H A P T E R T H R E E: HUNGRY EYES

It was a postcard. If you tilted your head and ignored the dirty snow in the gutters. Bright lights were strung between the old buildings and gas lamps made the falling snow gleam yellow and blue in the cloudy day as the spirit of Halloween drew near with Thanksgiving just around the corner. People bustled along the sidewalk, bundled up against the frigid wind that blew from the north over the snow-capped mountains. Orange curls blew in my face and I brushed them away impatiently. The coffee shop lay just ahead and I broke into a jog, quaking hands grasping the handle to pull the door open. Toffee scented air washed over me as I slipped inside, face stinging with warmth. Unwinding the scarf from my neck, I made my way to the line that wound around the counter, surveying the drinks that were written in fancy chalk above the barista.

I nudged my glasses to the side and rubbed tiredly at my eyes. After last night I'd garnered little sleep, waking amid fevered dreams of callused hands and a slick tongue. I felt goosebumps spread across my flesh at the thought, heart skipping a beat in my chest. I'd been torn between wonder and extreme anger whenever I thought of that towering man. I still couldn't believe a complete stranger would dare to kiss me like that. On the other hand I recalled the way his mouth had been so wild yet his hands gentle as they clutched me to him. I shivered and reached up with cold fingers to brush against my mouth, which made me shiver again. I was pulled from my thoughts when I heard the conversation at the table next to me.

". . . I'm not accusing them necessarily, I'm just saying that some of my father's cattle are missing. I'm pretty sure I know what happened to them, same as last spring but I won't know for sure until the snow melts. Their bodies are probably frozen in a drift somewhere."

Bodies? I thought warily, a flicker of unease running down my spine. My eyes flicked to the right and took in the two boys and the girl who were seated there.

"Come on Tom, you can't be serious. You don't honestly believe the stupid rumors about the Moriggan family, it's preposterous. You've been hanging around Mr. Burns for too long," snorted the girl, flicking a curl of silky blonde hair over her shoulder, imperiously.

Tom's face darkened, set harshly underneath a wild mop of brown hair. "You've only lived here for a year now Sierra, you don't know what they're really like. Always holding creepy gatherings at that mansion in the dead of night. My dad and I can hear them from our house down the way and this isn't the first time we've had a problem with them. We found our prized steer on their property, it was dead and they claimed they had no knowledge of it even though the animal had been there for a while."

Sierra's eyebrows rose at that, but she shook her head and retorted, "That still doesn't prove anything Tommy. From what I've seen they seem like nice people, my brother works with their son Django as a state trooper and he says he always keeps to himself and respects his peers."

My heart jolted when I heard her say Django and I turned my head to look at them fully. He was a park ranger? Exactly how old was he? Django Moriggan. The name sent a thrill through me and the corners of my lips quirked up. The second boy, notably older than the first two, spoke up this time with dark eyes shining intelligently from behind horn-rimmed glasses. "The fact remains that neither of you have interacted with them enough to formulate a concrete opinion on whether or not they're behind it. Despite the exhibition of strange behavior, that doesn't mean that they go around killing animals. For example, Sierra picks her nose and nobody faults her for it."

"Shut up Harrison, no one cares about your opinion or your stupid degree!" snapped the girl, angrily.

I raised my brows at her tone, but the boy, Harrison, merely smiled serenely and replied, "You're just jealous because you didn't score high enough on placement tests to be allowed in Mr. Robertson's class." The girl's thundering scowl marred her pretty face as they started to pack up their things and leave.