2
"What are those blue marks?" Geoff asked as he eyed the white fabric with suspicion.
"I think," Nadean told him, using kitchen tongs to manipulate the folds, "someone tried to write the word, 'help,' on it."
"After the animal was inside?" They were in the kitchen of the two-story farmhouse they had grown up in. The pillowcase was atop a light colored wooden table with the soft patina of old age and long use. The ambient lighting was bright enough for most kitchen work, but not for examination purposes. The pale gold hue added to the old-fashioned country aura, although Geoff preferred the cold, sharp delineation offered by slightly blue-tinted bulbs. "It was done in a hurry."
"It's made some noises," the young blonde woman informed him. "Not like a snake."
He took the tongs from her. "Let's go see what it is."
The bathtub was upstairs. It was an out of place chunk of molded plastic ill-fitted into the space where an iron claw-foot tub had been, a poor caulk job surrounding it like a chalk outline. The lighting was worse, weak and a color somewhere between sepia and dark urine. The contents of the sack moved only a little during the transition. Geoff gingerly set the package in the center of the tub amidst a field of clay-colored adhesive flower silhouettes, his nose wrinkling at the lingering aromas of dust-coated guest soaps, talc, fragrant bath beads, iodine, female musk, and stagnant water. Nadean arrived after a few moments with a set of thick rubber gloves for herself and shorter, leather work gloves for her brother. She closed the door over and seized a large, threadbare towel from a chromed rack in case the creature required recapture after it was released. Geoff located toenail scissors and knelt beside the tub so he could reach over the side and sever the rubber band that held it closed.
The deed done, he withdrew slowly, holding his breath, watching the pillowcase. It didn't move. Nadean handed the tongs to him and he used them to pluck up a corner and lift it slowly with a gentle shaking movement, spilling the contents into the soft, dirty gold light.
His eyes narrowed as his brain sought to identify the thing. Nadean bent toward it, waiting for it to react to its freedom, eyes wide and flicking between its strange form and her older brother's face.
Roughly two feet high and nearly three long, the small animal resembled a plucked chicken upon first glance, and then, no, some sort of reptile. The smaller, weaker looking forelimbs suggested it was bipedal, and the long, well-developed hind legs suggested power for sprinting and possibly even jumping. The tail was long and slender and stiff-looking, with the only flexible part appearing to be the last few inches—which didn't really appear very flexible at all. The head was mainly snout and eyes and not so much in the way of a braincase. The jaw was elegant, tapering in a manner that made Geoff think of a caiman or infant crocodile. The neck was graceful, just thick enough to imply the strength required for striking speed. The upper body was small like a foal's, blooming into a fragile-looking ribcage over a thicker, heavier lower body. The hind legs terminated in three well-developed claw-tipped toes with one much smaller digit positioned so that it might have been considered a dew claw. The scales upon them resembled those found on barnyard fowl. The smaller forelimbs ended in startling-looking little four-digit claw-tipped hands and were large enough to make one think it could hold onto objects or prey almost as well as a primate.
"Lizard?" Nadean exhaled.
Geoff's brow creased and he leaned back from the tub. "Some kind of…bird-like reptile."
"What is it?"
"Go get my Reptiles And Amphibians book," he instructed, moving from a squat back onto his knees so he could begin his examination.
The mouth was parted, revealing a vicious array of tiny, needle-like teeth. This was an animal designed for grabbing hold of and possibly ripping chunks free of flesh. Aside from Komodo dragons, Geoff did not immediately know of any other lizards that consumed meat in such a manner, and the only remotely bipedal lizard he was aware of was the South American one sometimes called the Jesus lizard because of its ability to zip across water.
It was difficult to see the tiny ribcage moving. He lowered a gloved finger toward the snout and upon contact the oversized eye eased open, then failed to close completely. He despaired for its life, for how could he help it without even knowing what it was?
He collided with his sister upon exiting the bathroom. "See if you can identify it," he instructed as he yanked open a hallway closet door. Inside were spare pillows, blankets, a vaporizer, lesser utilized hygiene and first-aid gear, surplus bottles of hair care products, bars of soap, and a large unopened bottle of Listerine. He quickly located the heating pad his mother used for back pain and a short extension cord. Many reptiles that appeared sluggish perked up with an application of heat.
"How do you use this book?" Nadean asked upon his return.
"By continent first. Try South America." He attached the extension cord to the heavy black plug, and then plugged it into a nearby wall-mounted light fixture that sported a socket in its base. Snatching the discarded towel his sister had dropped, he folded it around the pad, turned the unit on, and then gently lifted the creature to set it atop the cushion he had fashioned.
"Oh!" Nadean exclaimed worriedly, watching the animal's head loll loosely and its tail droop when it was lifted.
"I think it's too late," her brother admitted softly, positioning the creature just so. "Hand me a hand towel." He accepted the one she grabbed and set it over the creature like a bed sheet.
"Henceforth known as Leftovers," the girl announced.
Geoff cut his eyes her way. "Very funny."
She shrugged. "Trying to make light of a dire situation."
"That's nice. Give me the book." He flipped through stiff pages, pursuing any possible leads until the little beast uttered a hoarse sort of squeak, its eyes wide but unfocused, limbs straight and stiff, neck contorting backward as the tail went ramrod straight.
"Oh, God!" Nadean gasped, the wetness of oncoming tears in her voice.
Geoff winced. Animal deaths affected him at least as deeply as they did her, though he had learned to control his outward reaction to it. "Nadean…go get my bag."
She rose with a whimper and exited quickly, leaving him to watch helplessly as the strange animal convulsed and finally relaxed into death.