Chapter 43
‘So, you don’t remember anything about the alligator attack?’
Miller shakes his head. ‘No. Although, I bear the scars, of course.’
He pulls up his left trouser leg. The leg is only half a leg. A huge chunk has been gouged out. What’s left of the limb is now a thick, gnarled mass of scar tissue.
Miller lets his trouser drop. ‘A permanent reminder of how God saved me.’ He smiles and gestures to coffee and biscuits on the table in front of us. ‘Please, help yourself.’
We’re seated in his living room, a small yet comfortable room in a modest house, tucked just behind the chapel. Everything is a little battered and worn: the floor is scuffed, the sofa saggy. More like our old home, except for the giant cross above the fireplace.
I reach for a biscuit. ‘What were you doing out on the lake that night?’
He hesitates and then says, ‘Well, I believe I had some foolish idea to steal a boat. I was sixteen, reckless, a little lost, really. Until the accident. It may sound trite, but out on the lake, in the dark water … that was where I found God.’ He pauses.
‘Afterwards, I decided to make a fresh start. To devote myself to the Church. I began to go by my middle name, James, and I put Milo Miller in the past.’ He looks at me.
‘So, I’m curious as to why you’re asking about him? ’
I brush some crumbs from my T-shirt. ‘Well, I’m sort of helping out a young woman called Hailey – you know her?’
‘Yes, she’s May’s niece. How do you know her?’
‘I ran into her when her little boy was lost in the park. Hailey invited me over and we got talking about her aunt and Davey Junior.’
‘Well, if you’ve met May, I’m sure you know that she suffers from dementia.’
‘Yes, I got that.’
‘It’s very sad. She doesn’t remember what happened to Davey. She believes he’s still alive. Sometimes she goes out around town, handing out leaflets saying that he’s missing.’
I sit forward. ‘I took Hailey to visit May in hospital this morning. They want to put her into a care home.’
‘I imagine Hailey isn’t too happy about that.’
‘No. While we were there May started talking about the day Davey died. She said he didn’t drown and that Milo saved him.’
‘I see.’ Miller sighs deeply. ‘Well, it’s not something I talk about, but I was there that day.
I was calling on the family when I heard May screaming.
I ran in the back gate and saw Davey in the water.
I waded in and pulled him out, performed CPR.
He threw up some water, and it seemed like he was okay.
’ He picks up his cup and takes a sip of coffee.
‘Later, I found out that he’d had a seizure and passed away.
I believe they call it “secondary drowning”. ’
‘Christ,’ I mutter. Then, realizing where I am: ‘Sorry.’
Miller waves a hand. ‘It’s why I wanted my name kept out of it. I wasn’t a hero. Poor little Davey died anyway.’
‘That must have been devastating,’ I say.
Miller nods. ‘I can see how May has confused events. I wish I had saved him.’
‘It sounds like you did everything you could.’
He offers a wan smile. ‘He was a good kid.’
‘I guess even a town like Serenity has its fair share of tragedies.’
‘Well, of course. God’s love does not make us immune from the vagaries of misfortune.’
So, what the fuck do we pray to him for then?, I feel like saying, but don’t.
‘I heard a kid died on the Ghost Train ride at the fair. And the waitress at the hotel was telling me about Weeping Wendy.’
Miller gives me an odd look. ‘Well, I guess people are always keener to tell you the bad stuff. But those things happened a long time ago.’
‘So, no connection to Davey, then?’
‘How could there be?’
‘I don’t know.’
Miller smiles. ‘You know, some people have trouble settling in Serenity. It’s too perfect for them. They try to find faults, cracks. But that says more about them than the town.’
‘Nothing bad happens in Serenity Falls, right?’
‘No town is perfect. Nor are the people – and God wouldn’t have it any other way.’
I shift in my seat. The leather squeaks. ‘Well, I shouldn’t take up too much more of your time. Thanks for answering my questions. I’m sorry if I’ve been intrusive.’
‘Not at all. I’m glad I could help. Anyway, please tell Hailey you found “Milo” and I’ll try to visit May at the hospital.’
‘I will.’ We both stand. Something occurs to me. ‘If you knew May back then, you must have known her daughter, Serena?’
‘Yes. We were friends, actually. Best friends for a while. Two misfits together.’
‘You must have been upset when she left town?’
‘Well, we drifted apart after school, but … I miss her. I wish things could have been different.’
‘Do you think something happened to her?’
His face shifts, tensing. ‘I hope not. But hope is a blessing and a curse, don’t you think?’
‘I suppose it is.’
‘Goodbye, Mr Barker. I shall put you in my prayers tonight.’
I smile tightly. ‘Don’t worry. I’m good.’