Chapter 3
Gideon wandered up one row as his thoughts drifted to the little white church near the edge of town, and he wondered if anyone was still attending. They couldn’t have all given up on God, and Pastor Thomas wasn’t a man who would abandon anyone.
Gideon had been too upset at his last visit seven years ago to see him. He hadn’t planned on it this time, either. Guilt and shame were easier to ignore when no one cared about you too much. But with everything that was going on in the town, he was interested to hear Thomas’s perspective on all of this.
The shrill sound of a whistle behind him had him spinning around. A girl, around eight years old, was blowing into the tail of a bird-shaped whistle.
“Mine’s broken,” she said, holding it up to the stall owner, who smiled at her patiently.
“That’s because there’s a secret.” He lifted a small container of water and held the bird steady in the girl’s hand while he poured water into a small hole in the bird’s head. “Try again, but don’t blow too hard.”
The girl blew, first too softly, but then a lilting birdsong arose, and, in her excitement, she forced her breath and lost the sound, the water bubbling out of the bird’s head.
“Very good.” The stall owner clapped, and the girl—eyes wide—walked off, leaving a trail of chirping behind her.
Gideon picked up one of the whistles. “I’ve never seen that before,” he said, looking the whistle over. “If I hadn’t been watching, I would have thought that was a real bird.”
“They’re my top seller,” the man said.
“I can see why.” He pulled a ten-dollar bill from his wallet. “I’ll take one of these as a gift for someone.”
“Excellent. Did you want a bag to carry it?”
“No, thanks.”
“Then let me get your change.”
“It’s okay. Keep it.”
“Thank you very much.” He pointed toward the totem. “They’re good luck, you know.”
“What, the totems?”
“I’m not into worshiping them or anything, but I’ve noticed that every time I’m in the shade of those things, I always sell more.”
“Maybe I wanted to be generous. I know how much this town is struggling.”
“I understand that. It’s very kind of you, and it’s why the totems sent you my way. ”
“Right. Okay, have a good one.”
“You too.”
Gideon continued along the row, shaking his head.
When he neared the end of the row, he noticed a stall out the back under a large oak tree. It was out of sync with the others.
The woman standing behind a table full of vegetables and pottery items had a scowl on her face. She crossed her arms as she glared at the two men who were perusing her wares. It was an odd attitude to have toward potential customers.
One of the men picked up a tomato and tossed it in the air, but Gideon was too far away to hear what was being said. Then the woman leaned across the table and pointed a strong finger at the men. He heard the laugh they sent back at her. He moved closer in case she needed help.
“Hey,” the man with the tomato said. “The rules are the same for everyone. Why should you be treated any differently? It would be unfair.”
“It’s unfair for everyone,” she said. “Everything about the way this town is run is unfair.”
“Well, I’m sorry, but it’s the mayor’s job to keep the whole town in a strong position, not just save a couple of people a few bucks.”
“This has nothing to do with what’s best for the people. He’s a thief.”
“Is everything okay?” Gideon said, risking involvement.
The woman’s eyes widened for a moment as a strange looked crossed her face, but it was gone before he could discern it.
“N-no, actually,” she stuttered, momentarily flustered, but that quickly shifted to contempt when she looked back at the men. “It’s not.”
“This doesn’t concern you,” the tomato man said, giving Gideon a once over.
Now that Gideon could see his face, he recognized him as one of the men in the car at the bar that Charlie had been worried about. “I’m afraid it does now,” he said, moving into a stronger position so they knew he was committed.
Tomato man looked at his friend and laughed. “Can you believe this guy?”
“Nope,” his friend said. “Look buddy, I think it would be best if you kept walking.”
“I would, but,” Gideon smiled, “you boys appear quite capable of handling yourselves, so you can understand why I’m a little concerned when you start harassing a defenseless woman.”
“I’m not defenseless,” she said.
The friend snorted, and tomato said, “You should listen to the guy, Nikki. You're as stubborn as a mule, but you wouldn’t want to put yourself in a vulnerable position, would you?”
“Are you threatening me now?” she said, moving around the table. “You think threatening me is the right move here?”
Tomato shook his head. “I know you feel the need to show off now that you have an audience, but I don’t want any trouble. All you have to do is pay us what you owe, and we’ll go.” He rested his hand on his hip, moving his jacket out of the way to expose the gun at his hip.
“I take it you have a permit for that?” Gideon said.
The man tsked and pulled something from his back pocket, flipping it open to show he was a sheriff’s deputy.
Gideon looked at it while he worked out what to say next. “Deputy Cole, has this woman broken any laws?”
“It has nothing to do with you.”
“Is it normal for you to be out of uniform when you’re doing business concerning the law?”
“I’m off duty. Doing a favor for the sheriff, since he can’t be here.”
“The deputy,” Nikki said, “is trying to get me to pay a fee for an unconstitutional resolution created by the mayor.”
“Listen to you using the big words,” Cole said. “He’s the mayor. He was elected by the people who have given him the power to do what is best for this town.”
She scoffed. “Best for the town, huh?”
“Yes. But you think you should get special treatment around here, and I’m not sure why that is. I do know a lot of thought has gone into the resolution, and every effort has been made to keep the fee as low as possible.”
“Can I ask what the fee is for?” He didn’t like them bullying her, but the deputy would have to insist on payment if that was the law.
“It’s some new ‘clean act’ thingy,” she said. “It’s nothing more than a money grab. ”
“Everyone else is happy to do their part to look after the environment,” Cole said. “But if you’ve got an issue with it, then you can voice your opinion at the next town hall meeting. Like you always do.”
“And like always, I’ll be shouted down by that group you hired to harass anyone who has a different opinion from the mayor.”
“You’ll notice,” Cole said to Gideon, “that she’s delusional as well. But nobody likes a conspiracy theorist. It’s disruptive and disrespectful to those who abide by the law.”
“It’s not a conspiracy when the mayor doesn’t bother hiding it.”
“Here we go.” Cole looked at Gideon. “You sure you want to stick around for this?”
“I’m not here to cause any trouble,” Gideon said. “I just want to make sure she’s not being picked on. That’s all.”
“Well, I’m not paying,” Nikki said to Cole. “So, you may as well go.”
“That’s your final word?” Cole said.
“Yes.”
“Okay. Have it your way.” He grabbed the box of tomatoes and placed it on top of a crate of cucumbers before taking several of the mugs and laying them on top. “We’ll take your product in lieu of payment.”
“You can’t do that.” She scrambled to take the boxes off him, but Gideon grabbed her arm and pulled her back.
She yanked it out of his grasp. “What are you doing? I thought you came over there to help me. What is wrong with you?”
“If you don’t want them to take your stuff, you’re going to have to pay them. You might not like the extra fee, but you’ve got a stall in the town market. The fees are the fees.”
“This is your last chance,” Cole said, handing the box to his friend. “You pay us, and we’ll leave you alone. For now.”
Nikki glared at Gideon but moved around the table and opened up a container, pulling out a pile of bills and throwing them across the table. The wind scattered them and sent Cole’s friend hurrying to gather them up.
“Happy?” Nikki said to Gideon.
Cole winked at Nikki. “I appreciate your cooperation. It was nice doing business with you.” He picked up another tomato and sniffed it. “I’ll take this as a tip.” Then he walked off.
Nikki watched them leave, then looked at Gideon. “You can go too.”
“I was trying to help.”
“Yeah, well, you did a great job. Thanks.”
“He was a sheriff’s deputy. If the mayor has put some extra fee into place, you can’t just refuse to pay. That’s not the right way to handle this. What if they took you to jail?”
She gathered the mugs Cole had piled on top of the cucumbers and put them back into place. “You think going to jail is worse than giving the mayor what he wants when he’s doing the wrong thing by the people he’s supposed to be serving? You think I shouldn’t fight for what is right because there may be uncomfortable repercussions?”
“I’m just saying?—”
“What are you even doing here?”
“Having a look around.” He held up the bird whistle. “Buying some gifts. Your mugs are nice. Did you make them?”
“What I meant was, why come back to Asher? If all you’re going to do is help the mayor line his pockets, you may as well go. He already has plenty of assistance with that.”
Gideon noted her use of the word ‘back.’ “I’m sorry, I don’t recognize you. Do we know each other?”
“I guess not. I thought I knew you, but I was wrong.”
“Your name’s Nikki.”
“Yes.”
He searched his memory but couldn’t come up with anyone named Nikki from his past. She looked like she was probably five or so years younger than him. That would have made her around twelve when he left the first time, and he hadn’t been around long enough to have run into her that last time.
“I’m really sorry. I can’t think of where we met.” Her cheeks were tinged with pink. “I don’t mean to embarrass you.”
“I’m not embarrassed,” she said, moving back behind her table. “Don’t worry about it.”
“What’s your last name?”
“What difference does that make? ”
“I’m sorry for how things turned out. I only wanted to help.”
“Got it. Thanks. Bye.”
“If that’s what you want.”
“It is.”
Gideon nodded and left. It was time to face his dad anyway. But after that encounter, his confidence had depleted. Not how he wanted this next meeting to begin.