A Fountain Filled With Blood

The leer vanished off the face of Mr. Sexual Positions, and his eyes darted around frantically, evidently looking for a rock to crawl under. The big guy whacked him again, grinning. “Ha! Ya mook!” He nodded to Clare. “Pleased to meet you, Reverend. I’m Ray Yardhaas. Like Charlie here said, we were called off duty ’bout an hour ago, after Ms. Landry had gone. We’re just waiting to hear if we’re going to work again today or if we can go home. I’m afraid if you came out to see the big dig, you’re out of luck.”

“Actually, I was interested in seeing the grounds,” she said. “Not that I don’t have enough of the kid in me to enjoy great big construction machines.” She glanced at the long trailer, which could only have been the field office. “Just this morning, Peggy told me work would be going on as usual. How come you all were pulled off the job?”

“They don’t tell us why, ma’am.” The big man sounded more amused than offended. “Something’s up, though. Ms. Landry no sooner gets here than she gets a call and takes off; then the geologist shows up to meet with Opperman, but he ain’t—isn’t—here; then we get a call from him, telling us to lay off until he gets back to us. Last time I saw so much telephoning back and forth on a job, the bank had pulled the financing. Sure hope that’s not what’s happening here.”

“I’m betting that one of the guys who didn’t show up today’s called in a fake bomb threat, so’s we can all take off,” said the Desiderata guy. “We should have gotten a vacation day anyway, since the Fourth was on Sunday.”

“Knock it off,” Ray said. “You’re getting paid to hang around and tell lies about fish, ain’tcha? If he closes down the site, we can all go home on full pay. Better than the mooks who never showed up today.”

Clare had a pretty good idea of what it was that had caused the flurry of telephoning and the work stoppage. “Is Bill Ingraham usually here while you’re working?”

Ray thumbed at the trailer. “Right in there. He’s a hands-on kind of boss, Bill is. Hasn’t been in today, though.”

The guy in the sexual positions T-shirt sniggered. “Maybe he’s found some cute young—”

“Cut it,” Ray said, spearing the other man with a look. When he spoke again to Clare, he raised his voice slightly so everyone could hear. “Bill’s a good guy. He knows the building trade from the ground up and he always treats us fair. His personal life’s his own business.” He glanced at Mr. Sexual Positions. “Me, I kinda wonder about guys who spend a lot of time thinking about it, you know?”

The other men hooted. Within seconds, Ray’s target was the eye of a hurricane of jokes about his own proclivities. They were moving past men and getting to sheep when Ray cupped a hand beneath Clare’s elbow and drew her a few feet away.

“Sorry you had to hear that, ma’am. These guys, they’re not used to having”—he looked as if he were struggling between the words lady and priest—“to watch their language.”

Clare compressed her lips to keep from grinning. “Thank you, Ray. I appreciate your concern. So, what about the tour I was promised? I’m guessing I’m not supposed to clamber about all on my own. Can you spare me a few minutes to show me around?”

Ray frowned, looked back at the trailer, then at Clare. “I don’t know, ma’am,” he said finally. “Without an okay from one of the bosses—they’ve been keeping a tight watch on this place since the tree-huggers started kicking about PCBs and all that. Not that I think you’re here to cause trouble,” he added quickly.

She wasn’t as sure as Ray was. “What do you think about the PCB talk? Do you have any worries, working here day in and day out?”

He shook his head. “I think it’s a load of bull puckies. Bunch of hysterical women who don’t know anything about construction and who’d like to make it a federal offense to cut down a tree. I’m here, moving dirt and sucking dust five days a week, and I’m as healthy as a horse.” He jerked his head in the direction of the other men. “And those guys were already brain-damaged.”

Clare grinned. “So there’s no danger to me if I look around, right?”

Ray looked unhappy. “Well, no, but I still think you need to wait until Ms. Landry is here herself. Why don’t you come back tomorrow? I’m sure everything will be back up to speed then. You’ll get a better idea of what we’re doing, anyway.”

“Ah, but today’s my day off,” she said, taking a few casual steps farther away from the trailer. “C’mon, Ray. Help me out.” She looked up at him, radiating sincerity and innocence. “It’s not my fault Peggy didn’t make our date. I’m here, just like she said, and this may be my only chance to see this place before the buildings go up. Show me around.” She waved her arm to indicate the whole site and followed her own gesture toward the nearest hole in the ground.

“Oh, for heaven’s sake—ma’am! Reverend!”