37

The next morning, Leo was toweling himself off after a shower when the knocking began. He quickly slid into a pair of pants and a collared shirt before reaching the door. This time he recognized that it was Miss Isabelle before he even opened the door, but the look on her face shocked him. “What’s wrong, Miss Isabelle?” he asked, reaching out to touch the shoulders of the older woman. 

Miss Isabelle was shaking, slipping against the doorframe as Leo reached out to support her. “Benji found a body on his way into the dock this morning,” she moaned. 

“A body. Like an animal or something?” Leo asked, still confused. 

“No,” Miss Isabelle trembled. “It’s someone from one of the cruise ships.” 

Leo asked Isabelle to wait momentarily, and he turned back to his apartment to slide on his socks and shoes. He tucked the sheets of his bed in and pulled up the comforter. With one last check of his living quarters, he slid his suit coat on and went out into the chapel where Miss Isabelle was sitting quietly, her face in her hands. 

After escorting Isabelle down to the dock, Leo found a group of people gathered around Captain Benjamin and Noah. They were explaining how they had discovered a body on the far side of the island. The body was stuck in overgrowth that made it impossible to get to by boat, and they were discussing what might be done to recover the body. 

“It’s totally one of the crew of one of those ships,” Noah proclaimed. “The guy is wearing one of their uniforms.”

Several of the islanders turned to each other and shrugged. Noah’s logic made sense. Everyone knew that the different ships had different colored uniforms so it was just a question of which part of the ship this particular crewman had come from. 

Leo noticed that Gillian had arrived, pushing her way to stand close to the sailors as they explained what they had seen. “Shouldn’t someone call the police?” a tourist asked. 

“There are no police on the island,” said Captain Benjamin. “The worst we have had happen here is someone gets a bit drunk and wanders around town causing problems. Pat Garrett usually handles those but no one can find him. They normally just drunks sleep it off in Stein’s infirmary. But we’ll have to get word to the mainland, and they’ll send someone. I doubt that they’ll make that happen until after the storm blows through though. It’s going to get rough.”

The crowd gathered on the dock was determined to go and retrieve the body. A few of the volunteer firemen were rallied from their homes, and Miss Isabelle asked Leo to go with them, “in case that poor man needs last rites.” Gillian announced that she would tag along to see if she could get more details on a headline story for the paper, sidling up to different members of the search party to get their thoughts on what was happening. 

Leo walked alongside a few of the firemen who had loaded tools into a wagon and were taking turns pushing them along. This certainly seemed like a situation where some more technology might have come in useful, but the group seemed unfazed by the additional steps they were taking. The firemen all said they were happy not to be pushing or pulling a full tank of water as they sometimes needed it to put a fire out in one of the more inland buildings. Most of them wanted to know how a crew member could’ve ended overboard, and whether anyone from his particular cruise ship had noticed yet or not. 

After a forty-five minute hike with Captain Benjamin leading the way, Leo was grateful when he realized that he could see the water again through the trees, but he understood why they had brought all of the tools they had. They had left the path twenty minutes prior, the last sign of organized activity a dirt road up to what Bobby had told him was The Farm. Apparently, much of the fresh vegetables available for consumption came from a collection of retired farmers who worked together. Leo thought he would have to check that out further. 

Removed from the residential section of the island, the brush around the perimeter of the island grew fierce and dense. The volunteer firemen put their effort into clearing a path to the location that Captain Benjamin indicated, hard work that left them taking rotational shifts carving. Little by little, they pulled back the underbrush that coated the perimeter of the island. Leo realized that at least half of the island was currently inhabitable or at least underdeveloped. He figured that was part of what kept the island the way it was. Change was slow.

Several of the bushes had to be chainsawed away for them to fit more than one person through the gap at a time. It took most of the morning just to cut a path through until they could see the body floating in a cluster of reeds and overgrown branches. The firemen collapsed against tree trunks, soaking up drinks they had carried with them, exhausted. Bobby and Noah were the two left to wade several feet off the shore to extract the body and drag it back to the rest of the group.

Noah pulled up from his approach, and Leo watched as an animal splashed away from the body. No one could tell exactly what it was but it was big enough that the men in the water were reluctant to get close enough to find out. Noah resumed his movement, and step by step, he and Bobby made their way through the shallows to the body. 

As they drew closer, it became clear that the dead body had belonged to a man who clearly cared about staying in shape and keeping up appearances. Noah thought that the man looked like a bodybuilder, a massive brick of a man, but it hadn’t really helped him out in the long run. His body was beginning to bloat from its time in the water, and while he might give them all nightmares, it wasn’t because he was intimidating in death. The two men cut reeds and ferns clear to make a path to the land, and then each of them took a hand under the body’s armpits and dragged it toward the rest of the group.

The body was relayed, hand over hand from the marshy outskirt of the island back onto dry land. When they had finally brought the dead man out of the brush, a noticeable gasp ran like a wave as people noticed that the man had not died from natural causes. While the bloating had definitely caused some disfiguration, the root cause of the man’s death was visible in his back

Leo didn’t know much about guns but he could see that a small caliber bullet hole was present centered between the dead man’s shoulder blades. Another burn was present on his left calf, and another hole showed in his right forearm. It looked like the guy had died painfully, and his face was stuck in an expression of abject terror. Even with the water damage and apparently a few bites from fish, the gunshot wounds were too obvious to be anything but the results being shot at. A wave of anxiety flowed over Leo, and he wondered just what kind of situation he had been made part of by arriving on the island. 

“We’ve got to get him to the funeral home,” said Bobby, from the circle of firemen. He’d finally waded ashore himself, and was drinking from an offered water bottle. Wiping sweat from his forehead, he added, “Until the police can send someone out here, at least. We can put him in the freezer.”

“Where did someone get a gun on the island?” asked one of the volunteer firefighters. “I mean, did the guy accidentally shoot himself or did someone do this to him?”

“I dunno,” replied another. “But if that’s a murder victim then that means someone on the island right now is a killer.”

“Has anyone seen Stein? He’s the one that will have to check out the body,” interjected another fireman, looking around.

Leo wasn’t sure it took a rocket scientist to figure out what the cause of death was, but he knew that there was still a protocol to be followed, even on the island. 

Someone piped up. “He wasn’t going to volunteer to walk out here with us, and the island isn’t paying him to be here, so…”

A few good natured guffaws followed. The group determined that they best head back to town, to get the body situated before they missed lunch. It would take another hour to get back to town, and no one wanted to be with the dead body any longer than they had to be regardless of the circumstances. They loaded the body onto the wagon, and different people including Leo took turns dragging the wagon forward. 

Halfway back to the town, Leo looked inquiringly at Gillian but she was lost in thought. He decided to keep one foot in front of the other, and went back to watching the path in front of them. Two teenagers almost knocked him over racing past him on the return trip, and a few minutes later, one of the volunteer firefighters came crashing past him muttering about the Mamo brothers and what he was going to do to them when he caught them.

Leo craned his neck to see if he could catch sight of the boys or if the fireman ever caught them, but he was too tired to put in much effort. Around the bend, the group passed the sign to The Farm, and Leo decided to split off from the group. 

“Where you headed there, padre?” asked Gillian, shaking out of her reverie. 

“I want to introduce myself to the farmers here,” Leo replied. “More of my people, you know?” 

Gillian looked at the procession escorting the body back to town, and up the road past the sign to the fields and buildings beyond. “Not much these folks can tell me about that guy yet, I guess,” she mused. “Let’s do it. Maybe one of these guys will give me the background for the story I need.”

38

Through the break in the trees and up the hill went Leo and Gillian. The buildings came into focus as they drew closer. A large farm building opened into a corral where a few horses and several cows were taking turns eating and sleeping. A few pigs lifted an eyelid or two as the pair drew closer, but stayed hunkered down in the shade of the building. Off to the right, a low hanging roof stood over several large pieces of farm equipment, and farther up the hill stood a two-story house that doglegged away from them back toward the fields beyond. 

A man working on the underside of one of the large tractors rolled himself out from underneath it as they walked up. “What can I do you for?” the wizened old man asked, running a greasy hand through his long beard. “If you’re looking for town, you’re a bit lost.”

“I’m Gillian, a reporter,” she said, extending her hand and gamely shaking the grease-covered digits extended back to her. “This is Leo, he’s the new preacher.”

Leo nodded, sizing up the man in the flannel shirt and dirty coveralls. His sharp eyes examined the two newcomers and he finally smiled. “Well, I’ll be! It’s about time we got a new preacher in the chapel. I’m tired of hearing the same old stories from the ones who are filling in. Guess that makes me a bad person but I’m ready to hear from someone who knows what they’re doing.”

Leo put his hands up as if fending off the comment. “I don’t know if that’s me, sir,” he started. “But I just wanted to come out here and meet you myself.”

“Well, I’m Gus Hammersmith,” said the old timer, shaking Leo’s hand emphatically. “The other guys are out in the fields right now, but they’ll want to meet you sometime, too. I guess we should get ourselves cleaned up and head in there Sunday, right?”

Leo smiled. “You just come as you are,” he said. “There’s no requirement that you get cleaned up first.”

Gus looked at Leo, and squinted, as if trying to decide if Leo really meant it. “Well, you’re certainly different than the last guy. But he was older than me, so that must’ve made him about a hundred! We’ll see what we can do. Right now we have too much work and not enough hands.”

Leo looked around at the buildings, the animals, and the crops themselves. “How many of you are there?” he asked. 

“There were twelve of us, including wives and kids,” Gus explained. “But a couple of us old goats died, and some of the kids didn’t want to live the sun up to sun down we have to here. So they left for the mainland and didn’t come back.”

“Honestly, if we don’t get some new blood out here soon, The Farm is probably done.”

Leo and Gillian spent a half hour petting the horses and meeting the assortment of other farm animals that Gus scared up for them to examine. They said their goodbyes and headed back to town, each wondering what if anything could save The Farm. 

39

Looking out of the chapel window, Leo caught a glimpse of Bobby entering through the cemetery gate. He saw that the man had brought a sizable bouquet of bright flowers, and was making a beeline for one of the newest graves in the back of the cemetery. 

Stepping out of the side door into the cemetery, Leo listened as Bobby carried on a one-sided conversation with his dead wife, Elaine. 

“Sweetheart, I miss you something terrible,” Bobby was whispering. “The pain in my legs is driving me crazy, and Dr. Steinman says there’s nothing more he can do for me.”

“You used to tell me to find a purpose, a reason, to get out of bed and stay positive. But I’m not sure what to do without you. Everywhere I go in our house, or on the island, I think of the times we spent together. I think of all the places we visited and all the things we did.”

“I just wish I was with you. I want that more than anything else.” 

Leo watched as the man wiped away tears from his cheeks. His mustache was soaked with the sadness he felt as he looked down at his wife’s simple gravestone. “Do you think it’s okay to just let go, Pastor?” Bobby asked without looking up. 

Surprised, given that he’d thought he was reasonably quiet, Leo was speechless. “It’s okay, Pastor Leo, people think they’re sneaky and such, but during my time with the SEALs, we got really good at sneaking up on people and figuring out when they were fit to sneak up on us.”

Leo chuckled. “You got me, Bobby. I didn’t want to stop you from talking to Elaine or praying.”

“It’s alright,” said Bobby, rising to his feet and brushing off his knees. “I just come to talk to her every day sometime, because that’s what we did for nearly sixty years. We talked every day. We told our secrets and shared our hopes. Now she’s gone and I don’t know what to do. I don’t see the point of living without her. At least when I’m dead we’ll be back together.”

“I think there’s always a point,” said Leo, slowly. “Sometimes we go through spells where it doesn’t feel like it, or where we question what the point is. But I believe you have a purpose. It can be frustrating but occasionally it takes us a while to find it.” 

The older man nodded, eyes still on the flowers at his wife’s headstone. “Okay, I’ll take your word for it today. And see if it doesn’t get clearer for me. You say a prayer for me, okay? See if I can’t get some answers.”

Leo agreed to pray for Bobby, and the one-time Navy Seal let himself out through the cemetery gate. Leo stared after him until he disappeared, wondering what he could do to help this man find his purpose. Shaking his head, he went back into his rooms to prepare for the day, and see who else he might meet on the island. 

By midafternoon, Leo was frustrated. 

Everywhere he went, people wanted to talk to Leo about the dead man. Someone had found an identification badge in the man’s back pocket identifying him as John Perrier of Indiana, a member of the Gateway Cruise Line’s Physical Fitness Team. The townsfolk were buzzing with questions. Had the man been killed on the ship and thrown overboard? Had he made his way to the island and been killed there? Was there a killer loose on the island? 

Leo was more interested in what the living were doing and would do about the strange chain of events happening in Tranquility. He laughed at the irony there, of these people fleeing from all of the things they saw as distracting and problematic, only to find the same problems bubbling up on the island. Leo was no armchair Dr. Freud, but he figured that was just human nature!

The tittering of gossip in the town was drawing out more and more ridiculous lines of thinking, like moths to a flame, and the pressure drove Leo up the hill, like a magnet being repulsed by the same charge. He figured it was about time that the pastor of the chapel visit one of his parishioners recovering from a major health incident anyway. And it gave him an excuse to get away from the noise of the drama that others seemed focused on. Instead of doing something, they were consumed with being in the know. He didn’t understand the attraction, because in his mind, knowledge wasn’t actually power. 

In his experience, relationships were where energy and power came from, as a person found their connections and outlets into other people. The past needed to be considered and examined sometimes, but dwelling on it only meant you were stuck in the past and unable to move forward with whatever you were called to do or supposed to be. Leo had found plenty of time to think about purpose, truth, and eternity, so even if he didn’t have all of the answers, he certainly had opinions. 

Above, Leo could see through gaps in the trees that the sky had turned darker, and big heavy clouds were pushing in from the sea. Thunder could occasionally be heard, in distant echoes, and there were lightning flashes farther out on the skyline. Rain still hadn’t started to fall on the island, and he figured he had probably picked the right time to come and visit O’Rourke. 

As he approached, there was no movement at all outside of the O’Rourke mansion, and looking down over the side of the cliff, Leo could see that the tide was splashing up well past the third stone step. Whatever beach there was normally present was now hidden by the dark rolling waves. Those waves were anything but welcoming, with the angry froth that happened as they boiled over and smacked against the side of the cliff wall, higher and higher. 

Leo felt a chill up his spine, and realized it was because of the way they’d discovered O’Rourke at the base of the steps. If they hadn’t come along when they did… He pushed the thought back into the recesses of his mind.

Turning back to the mansion, Leo took a deep breath and prepared himself for what he might find inside. Knocking on the door, Leo heard the expected growls of the two dogs just beyond the door. Carol answered the knock with a big smile, and shushed the two dogs. They sniffed around Leo, and discovering he had nothing to offer them, they slunk off to some far corner of the house. Without natural sunlight streaming in, the house was even darker, Gothic even, on the quiet afternoon. Leo could see why someone could get depressed living in a place like that. 

“I was hoping to check on Mr. O’Rourke,” Leo explained, as Carol let him into the house. She smiled warmly up at him, and squeezed his arm.

“He’s resting, but I think it would be fine for you to spend a few minutes with him. Just be that presence to calm his nerves,” Carol said, in a conspiratorial whisper. “I know that he says he doesn’t believe in anything but I listen to him, and sometimes, I think he’s paying more attention to God than he lets on.”

Leo smiled, nodding back at the cook, unsure about what to add. But he moved quickly to follow her, as she soundlessly and swiftly moved up the stairs, leading Leo to O’Rourke’s master bedroom.

Carol knocked lightly on the door and pushed it open without waiting for a response. The room was mostly darkened, except for the meager light cast from the hallway through the door. The immensity of the room, which took up a whole side of the mansion, was momentarily stunning. Leo could barely see Red’s big frame under the cover of a blanket, and his face was turned away from the door toward the ocean outside. When Leo approached, he could see that the bruising had already significantly reduced, leaving abrasions spiderwebbed across O’Rourke’s face and arms. And as he approached, Leo could see a nasty welt had raised up on the back of Red’s head. 

Carol smiled at him, and motioned him closer to the bed. When Leo could reach out to touch the bed itself, Carol turned and left the door ajar, returning to walk down the stairs. Walking around to the other side of the bed, Leo could see that Red’s eyes were open, but unfocused. “Mr. O’Rourke, can you hear me?” Leo asked. He reached out his hand to take O’Rourke’s hand in his own hand, but O’Rourke yanked his hand back into the sheets, retreating out of sight and out of reach.

Leo pulled a giant wingback chair closer to the bed and sat down, eye level with O’Rourke. He tried to make eye contact, but O’Rourke couldn’t, or wouldn’t, look at him. Leo again thought he saw deep sadness reflected in the old man’s eyes, even if he was still playing at being nothing of consequence. He wished he knew the words to say to take away the pain of the other man, if only he had that kind of power. 

“You’re a lucky guy, Mr. O’Rourke,” Leo said. “If we hadn’t found you when we did, you might not have made it. If it wasn’t for David and Johnny, we couldn’t have brought you back up the steps.”

Leo was going to say more but he saw something shift in the man lying in the bed. At the mention of his nephew, O’Rourke’s face clenched up, his crystal blue eyes filling with tears. He turned away from Leo, dabbing at his face with a corner of the sheet. “I thought maybe that you would want to talk,” offered Leo.

Sitting there silently for a minute, the silence and darkness weighing down on him, Leo wondered if coming to the mansion was a mistake. He didn’t actually need to be there, or feel like he was doing any kind of greater good. Why not just move along to a place where someone appreciated him and wanted him to be around? He heard a grandfather clock ticking from somewhere in the far darkness of the room. When he couldn’t stand it any longer, Leo asked, “Do you have anything you want to talk about? I can certainly pray for you if you’d like.”

The silence stretched, the darkness around them palpable to Leo. He felt his own heartbeat, and tried to wait until O’Rourke might address him. But no words came. 

Finally, Leo stood up, certain that O’Rourke was finished with him. He prayed a short prayer for healing and for peace, and patted O’Rourke lightly on the shoulder. “I’ll be back tomorrow to see how you’re doing, Mr. O’Rourke. Take care of yourself, okay?”

Crossing to the door, Leo saw that the two dogs had followed him upstairs and now lay just outside. As he went to pull the door shut behind him, he heard O’Rourke muttering to himself, too unintelligible for Leo to pick out the words. If only the man had been willing to speak to him before Leo walked back down the hill again. 

On the walk back to town, Leo mulled over the strange events of the last twenty-four hours. A giant of a man in reasonably good health almost drowned. And a cruise ship workout coach shot in the head. This island certainly had more than its fair share of mysteries. As he crossed over from the treeless area into the forest of pines, Leo heard a roll of thunder and saw lightning out over the water. He picked up his pace, as big sloppy drops of rain began to pelt the foliage around him, and a few even made it through to land on him. By the time he arrived at the chapel, he was soaked to the skin. 

The storm had arrived. 

Chapters 40-43 coming May 24!