2
Officer Andy Davidson stands facing Ianto fifty feet away. They are on opposite ends of the crop circle. The crops all around them sway as the wind blows.
Andy yells over the wind. "It's the strangest thing Father."
"Don't call me Father."
"What's that?" Andy yells.
"Don't call me Father. It's just Ianto now."
"Sorry."Andy sighs as he forgot again. They stand in awkward silence fifty feet away from each other.
"You said something was strange" Ianto says, turning to Andy "What's strange?"
Andy points "The footprints."
"What about them?" Ianto asks with surprise.
"There are none." Andy points out, his knee touches the ground. He points to a single stalk of corn laying flat on its side. "Look at where it's bent over."
Ianto stands next to him and leans in. The joint where the stalk bends from the ground is a perfect "L".
"It's not broken." Ianto reaches out to stroke the corner of the bend.
"What kind of machine can bend a stalk of corn over without cracking it?" Ianto looks around at the hundreds of thousands of corn stalks bent over each other in a perfect wave. "Can't be by hand... It's too perfect."
"Doesn't sound much like Eugene and the Huntington brothers" Andy snorts with mirth "They can't take a piss without wetting the front of their pants."
Ianto, nods in agreement.
Andy stands up. "Second thing this week I can't explain."
"What was the first thing?" Ianto wonders with interest.
"Some animals around the county exhibiting uncharacteristic behaviour" Andy rises and slaps his trousers "Sometimes violent behaviour. Theo Hendrix had two of his fingers bit off by his cow."
"Sounds like a virus." Ianto surmises.
"No Father, they're edgy. On alert" Andy explains looking around again "Like they act when they smell a predator around... Peeing on themselves and everything."
A thought catches in Ianto's eyes. He turns back and stares in the direction of the house. You can barely see the roof over the crops. "Andy, please don't call me Father."
The two men stand as the wind blows lightly around them. Andy notices the still expression on Ianto's face. "What's wrong?"
Beat.
"I don't hear my children." Ianto whispers as he starts to move towards the homestead.
Owen watches the thin line of smoke rising from the charred patties on the grill next to the overturned picnic table.
Owen's attention moves as the crops part and his father and Andy enter the backyard. They stop cold when they look in his direction. They begin a slow walk towards him.
Owen Harkness-Jones is seated under the jungle gym with Myfanwy on his lap. Owen is petting Myfanwy's fur gently. Toshiko is on top of the jungle gym curled up in a ball.
As Ianto and Andy get closer, they see Owen is crying.
Then they see the dog is lying on its side and has a BBQ fork lodged deep in its throat.
Beat.
They stare at Owen as he slowly pulls an inhaler from his pocket and brings it to his mouth. He inhales the asthma spray.
Beat.
He lowers the inhaler so he can speak. "She wanted to kill Toshi."
Ianto stares at his ten-year old nephew. "Did she hurt you?"
Owen nods, "No."
His tough exterior breaks as his face starts to tremble. He starts crying. Ianto picks him up in his arms. "I'm so sorry Owen."
Ianto reaches up for Tosh. She has dirt and tears on her face. Beat. She slowly climbs down. Ianto carries both his children as they cry in his arms.
He starts towards the house. Jack walks out from the back holding a bowl of food. "I used a little Tabasco in the potato salad."
Jack sees Myfanwy lying under the jungle gym and his face drops.
"Myfanwy's sick." Toshiko says on her small voice.
"Please tie up Janet to the back of the shed. Make sure the knot's tight." Ianto asks his dead sister's brother-in-law as Jack stands still with potato salad in his hands.
He nods.
The children watch over their uncle's shoulder as Jack runs to their other German shepherd sitting quietly near the house and leads her by her collar across the yard to the shed.
Ianto reaches the porch of his house and opens the screen door.
The last thing the children see as they enter the house is the image of Andy pulling the BBQ fork out of their dead dog's neck.
.
.
.
.
.
Ianto lies in bed. He rests his cheek against the pillow as he lies by himself.
"They're tough cookies, those two. They think Myfanwy's playing with you two up there." He whispers to the ceiling. "At least it got them to sleep."
Ianto stares off.
He smiles a little.
"Okay Miss Puzzle Master. I got one for you... What can make geometric shapes the size of a football field... and what would scare every animal in this county?" he demands of the ceiling crack "Have you figured it out yet? You probably have... Give me a hint Rhiannon... Is it bigger than a bread box?"
The large Harkness-Jones farm house sits in the moonlight.
The sound of crickets fills the night air as annoyingly as traffic in te city and suddenly…it stops.
Silence.
Ianto opens his eyes slowly as he stirs from his sleep. His niece Toshiko stares at him from the edge of the bed. She is five inches away from his face.
Ianto gets startled. "What's the matter?"
"I saw a monster." She replies calmly "Can I have a glass of water?"
Ianto stares at her with confusion, then frowns, "What's wrong with the water next to your bed?"
"It tastes old." She sighs theatrically.
Ianto slowly gets up from the bed. He takes his niece's hand and starts out of the room. "What's the rule about getting up in the middle of the night?"
"Only for pee or poop."
"Right." Ianto sighs as he leads his four-year old niece down the darkened
hall.
Owen's body is half off his bed. Ianto gently lifts him back onto the pillow and covers him up.
There are two glasses of water on Tosh's bedside table. Ianto moves to her bed. He sits on the edge of it. She stares back at him as she holds her panda.
"What are you thinking about?" he finally asks her.
"Why do you talk to mom when you're by yourself?"
"It makes me feel better." He whispers softly.
"Does she ever answer back?"
"No." he tries to be calm and show no sorrow as he thinks of the poor little one's Mama, his best friend. His big sister.
"She doesn't answer me either." Tosh confides finally. They both sit quietly for a moment.
Ianto's eyes drift to the bedroom window. A large silhouetted figure is standing on the roof in the darkness, staring in at him.