Garden of May

Vanessa glanced around nervously. She desperately hoped someone would help, but anyone whose eyes met hers was quick to look away. Vanessa helped the vagrant into a more comfortable position as she replied.

“Just try to calm down. People will be here to help you soon….”

“D-don’t lie to me! You’re… you’re trying to call them, aren’t you?”

The man, who had been trembling as if he might draw his last breath at any moment, glared at her and shouted. But his ferocious outburst was short-lived. He broke into a fit of shallow coughs, struggling to sit up.

“I’d… I’d rather die… than go back to them!”

“I understand. Please, just calm down.”

Vanessa patted the man’s small back, waiting for the coughing to subside. The handkerchief in her hand was woefully inadequate to staunch the flow of blood. She glanced anxiously in the direction Mary had run, then supported the vagrant, who seemed about to lose consciousness. She had to keep him talking. If he passed out in this condition, he would surely die.

Vanessa chose her words carefully, trying not to provoke him.

“It’s true that help is coming. I’m not lying. First, let’s have a doctor look at you….”

“N-no! Don’t call anyone. You hear me? D-don’t call anyone.”

He seemed to be in the grip of a profound terror. If he could have moved, he would have shoved her aside and fled. The vagrant looked around wildly, then seized her wrist in a tight grip.

“T-tell that bastard. Tell him I have proof, irrefutable proof… Proof that could drag him before a magistrate this very instant….”

“A magistrate?”

“Yes. The owner of that car… he p-paid me to kill someone….”

In that instant, without realizing it, Vanessa let go of the man’s rambling arm. Seeing the change in her expression, he continued, his eyes filled with anxiety.

“When I repaired the engine, I used… smuggled parts. I remember the… unusual sound it made. And the color was definitely the same.”

A chill ran down her spine. This man had committed a terrible crime, and he was mistaking her for an accomplice of the person who had ordered it….

All because of the car’s old, distinctive engine sound and its paint job.

“And the color is so tacky. I bet this is the only car of this color in the entire South….”

Vanessa’s lips, pale and bloodless, began to tremble. Why Mary’s words came to mind just then, she couldn’t say.

‘Could he be connected to Uncle?’

For a moment, a horrifying thought crossed her mind. A thought so vile she felt disgusted with herself for even having it.

That’s absurd.

Why had she even taken this man’s words seriously in the first place? It was nothing more than the ravings of a common vagrant.

Of the three cars her uncle Wyatt owned, this one was the oldest and most dilapidated. It was rarely used, only when she needed to go to Bath, and otherwise remained parked in the garage. And the color, as Mary had said, was indeed peculiar.

It had been a cheap military surplus vehicle, painted over with a coat of slate-blue paint in an attempt to be fashionable. A car like this would be the only one of its kind in all of Ingram. Perhaps it was true….

“What is this irrefutable proof you speak of?”

As she asked, a deep suspicion finally clouded the vagrant’s face. He narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing her face, and then, as if in a moment of realization, he made a guttural, metallic sound.

It was impossible to tell if it was a scream or a groan. He fumbled frantically at his own grimy chest. Something of pure gold glinted from between the tattered gray fatigues. The light was so out of place that it couldn’t be mistaken.

Just as she tried to get a better look, the vagrant gasped and clutched it in his right hand. A thin metal chain was pulled taut, as if about to snap.

“Who… who are you?”

“I am of the Somerset….”

“Found him! Ah, there’s that bastard at it again.”

Just as Vanessa was about to answer, three men pushed through the gathering crowd and approached. The vagrant, spotting them, began to pant in terror. He immediately shoved Vanessa aside and tried to flee, dragging his unresponsive legs behind him.

“Look at him, trying to pull another one of his useless tricks.”

The men strode forward and seized the vagrant by both arms, hauling him to his feet. He struggled violently, but was quickly forced to the ground, a dirty cloth stuffed into his mouth. Tears mixed with grime streamed from his eyes, wide with terror.

“Wait!”

Vanessa raised her voice, trying to stop them, but the man who appeared to be their leader blocked her way. She faltered for a moment under his intimidating presence, but quickly straightened her back and faced him.