Molly and Steed focused farther into the near future.  They saw Mary and Luke at the store across from the pool. Inside the store, Mary paid for a couple of candy bars and soft drinks.  Luke did his usual stare at the young woman ringing up how much they owed.  Mary gave him a nudge.  Luke looked at her and remembered that she wanted him to act more friendly.

Luke thought a second and asked, “What is your name good looking?  I bet you’ve got a fellow who is a real winner.”

Mary closed her eyes wishing he had just kept his mouth shut.  She gave him a harder nudge.

“What the hell was that for? You wanted me to be friendly.”

Mary didn’t really want to explain it in front of the cashier so she said nothing.  But she thought, “Why couldn’t he have just said thank you before we left the store.”

Though Mary had not spoken the words, Luke said, “I would say thank you, but the candy and drinks aren’t being given away.”

The woman laughed, “No, they would fire me if I did that.”  Then the woman stepped back as she recognized Luke.  She had seen him and Mary in the store a few times but it had not registered with her.  “You are the two children whose house burned down back whenever.”  Then she looked down and noticed Mary’s ankle bracelet.  “Did you lose much in the fire?”

Mary said, “Pretty much everything.  What the fire didn’t ruin, the water damage did.”

“What about jewelry like that ankle bracelet you are wearing?  It would kill me if I lost any of my jewelry.  Not that any of it is expensive, but most were gifts and have sentimental value.”

“Mom’s jewelry box was only scorched. I didn’t have any jewelry to speak of.  My granny found this at the sidewalk the night of the fire.  She picked it up and handed it to me, thinking I had dropped it.  I didn’t realize what it was until I saw you wearing one just like it.”

“Were there any charms on it?”

“No.”

Luke asked, “How did you know about the fire?”

“It was in the paper.”

Mary handed her a few dollars for the drinks and candy, and she quickly returned the change.  The woman hollered to another employee doing inventory.  “I need to go on and head out of here.  My boyfriend is probably waiting for me outside.”

The girl called back to her. “What?  He usually comes in to let you know he is here.”

“Well, he may be in something of a hurry today.  If he is not here, best if I wait at the corner for him.”

“Okay.”

As the woman rushed out of the store, Mary looked at Luke.  “That was kind of strange.”

Luke said, “What do you want to bet that her boyfriend has a gold chain he wears around his neck?”

The girl walked up from the back to take over at the cash register. “Little girl, you better not take that bet.  You would lose.  Little boy, where do you know Midge’s boyfriend from?”

“I met him at the pool once.”

“That must have been a long time ago.  Since he got threw down that well, he has been terrified of water.  It is a miracle he didn’t drown.”

Luke said, “Well, I’ve heard old timers say that only the good die young.  And my sister here can’t understand why I don’t want to become all sweet and nice.”

The girl stared a Luke with a rather flabbergasted grin.  “What?”  She didn’t know whether to be more startled by what Luke was saying about Midge’s boyfriend or what he was saying about himself.

Mary looked at Luke.  “I wasn’t dreaming in the Theater.  I knew I wasn’t dreaming.”

“Nope, but it was a nightmare just the same.”

“Monk and that Tatt Hartley are responsible for that woman being arrested and her sons being taken away from her.”

“In a way, but in a way I and the two angels who saved me from drowning are responsible.  And I guess we may be responsible for George being executed two weeks ago.  Aunt Ellen told them,” Giving grace to the damned will only bring sorrow.”

Mary said, “I don’t understand.  Why do you think you were damned to drown?”

“Because I made a barber cry.”

“That is silly.  Why would God damn you to drown just because of something you said to a barber?”

“It wasn’t God who damned me.”

Molly and Steed projected to follow Midge as she crawled into the car with her boyfriend.  Midge stated, “Drive, drive quick.  I don’t want that little boy and his sister seeing you.”

“Okay, but why?” he asked as he took off.  “What little boy and girl?”

“They walked up to pay as usual.  I had never realized who they were, though I should have.  He says to me, ‘what is your name good looking?  I bet you’ve got a fellow who is a real winner.’  And get this! She is wearing an ankle bracelet just like mine.  Hell, it was my ankle bracelet until you lost it going to set fire to their house.”

“I didn’t set fire to their house.  They shouldn’t have used aluminum wiring.  And I don’t know who slipped a penny into the circuit breaker box to replace the fuse before that circuit strangely got overloaded.”

“So they probably can’t charge you for arson, but that kid Luke knows.  I tell you, he knows.”

“Isn’t that what I’ve tried to tell you all along.  And I think he knows more than just about the fire or when I sneaked into their house.”

“But maybe he doesn’t.  If you can avoid him seeing you, maybe his memory will fade.”

“That is what I’ve been trying to do, but I think it would be easier if I just killed him.”

“No. Tatt Hartley has believed your story of what happened at the well.  If anything happens to that little boy he will then believe the story George told of what you did at the pool and he will no longer believe your story of what happened at the well.”

“And maybe I should kill Tatt Hartley.”

“Maybe we should leave this state so you will stop talking about killing people.”

“You don’t understand.”

“No, I don’t.  You never have told me what else it is that you did that you think that he may know about.”

“I can’t tell you.”

“But I know about you sneaking into the house for Tatt.  I know about you trying to kill Luke at the pool. I know about the fire.  I know the truth about what happened at the well. I don’t understand what it is that you are afraid that he will remember that is so awful that you will not even tell me.  I love you.  I’ll forgive you for anything.”

Monk stared at Midge.  He wondered if he could tell her. Monk said, “You may have heard how Luke made Steve Stewart, the barber cry.”

“Yeah.”

“Well, what he knew about Steve had to do with me. Steve was with me when we sneaked onto the place and to the secret mine to take some of the equipment apart to sneak off the place.  We had been drinking kind of heavy.  Luke told Steve that he had seen him at the pond behind their place with a man.  He didn’t mention me to Steve, but he must known that I was the man with Steve.”

“What are you saying?”  Midge screamed, “You are saying you cheated on me with Steve!  You freak!” Midge reached over and squeezed Monk’s nose.  She told him she would break it if he didn’t stop the car.  He stopped the car and she jumped out.

Monk banged his head on the steering wheel as he watched her run down the road.  “Why did I tell her?  All this time, I was afraid Luke might make some comment that would start people wondering and talking and then of all people, I tell my girlfriend. What the hell was I thinking?”

Monk left town.  None of his friends or associates ever heard from him again.

Steed asked, “Do you think we should have allowed Luke to drown so that Monk might not have hurt other people?”

“Monk might still have hurt the people.”

“I guess.  Let’s just get out of here.”

Molly and Steed projected themselves back to the staircase.