Chapter 11

Tammy was not sure what this meeting could accomplish. She had mentioned it to George, who had shrugged if off, saying that it was a waste of her time. And she suspected the same. But it grated her to be helpless, and as long as she was doing something, even something ineffectual, she felt that she had not abandoned those who were missing.

Of course, there was the chance that Megan was secretly working to rescue them, and she was helping by not voicing it aloud. But she wanted to do more.

The people assembled were not very sure why they had been called, nor what they were expected to do.

"This meeting will own come to order." Tammy said.

"Does she want to play at being presiding officer? Big Bill grumbled.

"I don't need to tell you that there is a big problem with Sheriff Brant. We all have met him lately at one time or another, and his behavior must have made doubtful as to whether he can continue to provide effective law enforcement. He is slipping."

"He's slipped already." someone grumbled at the back. "You can't count on faggots."

"He has been an effective sheriff up to now. But something happened to him. To this town. People are disappearing under our noses. He wants to do something about it, but is stymied at every turn."

"Let's kick the bum out." someone else said.

"There has to be a way to stop the abductions. There has to be a way to bring back the missing."

"There is no way. Anyway, Barnabas was the last. Maybe now they will stop."

"We don't know that."

"Why would they come after us? They came after those who could threaten them like Sebastian Shaw, Amy Jennings, and Barnabas Collins, folk that we know are involved in spooky stuff. Why should they bother the rest of us? Regular folks that never bothered anyone none?" Simon Hays gestured about him "You give them trouble, they take you away. You behave yourself, keep out of the way, and they leave you alone.

"Even if we wanted to." Buffy said. "and we do want to, what can we do? We have no powers of our own. If Barnabas who is much stronger than any of us was caught, what chances do we have?"

Buffy had a small child, same as Julia. Maybe it was unfair to expect her to volunteer. But it still grated Tammy.

"Can you forget all that Barnabas has done for you, so many of you, over the years?"

"We don't forget it." Sandy said, a bit guiltily. "It is just that there is nothing that we can do."

"And anyway, that will not solve our problem." Simon Hays said. "The problem is that George Brant can no longer carry out his job."

"It is not his fault!" Tammy protested.

"Still, he can't do it. Maybe he needs a rest."

A murmur of assent came from the people. Tammy felt anger at them. They were doing to do something about George, meaning give him the boot, and look the other way about any more disappearances, because, after all, what could they be expected to do?"

"You can't do it" she protested.

"Have you called on Megan Graham?" Buffy offered.

"We did. She does not want to be involved."

"Then, if she can't do it, what can be expected of us?"

And when the vote came, Tammy knew the way it would go. They had made their decision, and they would have to live with it.

"Is it true that Megan said no?" Phillip asked Joe.

"Yes. She is not interested."

"Maybe if I talked to her..."

"We don't even know where she is."

"But if you contacted her."

"Brant contacted her through a ritual. Angelique made sure that the ritual would not work again. No one knows how to get in touch with her."

"But you must have had some idea... I mean, you worked with her all the time. You saw her papers."

Joe laughed. "You do not know how this worked, do you? This operation was a front. There were plenty of other jobs she took, jobs that we were not supposed to ask about, not allow ourselves to know. As we did not know about her other bank accounts under assumed names... You see, she was sure that she might have to get off the grid at any moment, and that means that she kept a lot secret."

"But she might have given an inkling... when she sent you the ownership papers...

"They came in an envelope, which had a return address from a P.O. box in a town ten miles from here, and stamped there, too. She was passing through on her way when she dropped the envelope.

"But there must be something."

Joe sighed. "You might as well ask your wife. Megan bankrolled her school secretly. She might have slipped something in her correspondence... Yes, you might as well start there.

"Some friend you turned out to be." George said to Tammy. "You get me a leave of absence, or sick leave, or whatever, meaning that they don't want me around anymore. And come the next election I get kicked out.

"I never meant to do that. I only wanted to find a way to help you."

"Help me how? Get me in AA or some such? Poor, poor George, what he's doing to himself. Let's be nice to him."

"It got out of control. I thought that maybe someone there would have any idea of how to get Barnabas and the others back."

"What makes you think that they had any? Or that they would want to? All they want is to look the other way, forget that the missing people ever existed, and hope that they will be spared."

"I had to do something."

"Like scheme to get my job. Maybe that's what you really want, to be the first black female sheriff of Maine."

"Damn it, George, don't you see what you are doing to yourself? You are getting drunk on a regular basis, picking up fights, letting the office run itself."

"My deputies can handle most stuff. Except for the disappearances, and that no one can handle. No one will even try. They have voted on it. They don't care about it. They are going to live their lives and look the other way. It is a closed subject. And they want me to agree and be like them? They say that if I am willing to forget that Barnabas ever existed and be happy passing out traffic tickets, then I can keep my job. It stinks."

"Maybe it does. But there is little else that can be done."

"Maybe there is something that I can do. But you can bet that I will get no help at all. Not even you. All I get from you is a pep talk, and please put it all behind you and go on living. I don't want that. I want Barnabas back and I am going to get him. With help, or without it. And your sympathy does not help me any, so spare me the lecture. And thanks for nothing."