Bone Deep by Bonnie Dee Page B

friendship was over.
    Then Tom emerged from the barn and walked toward her.
    Relief and joy surged through her. Funny how quickly his strange face had become familiar and dear to her. She met him halfway across the yard.
    “ Are you all right ? I talked to the deputy and he said he’d been by . I guess Reed left town. Maybe he didn’t want the police hunting for you, but everyone in Fairfield does. Are you sure I can’t take you to the sheriff’s office so we can explain everything and straighten this out? You haven’t done anything wrong. It’s not as if they can arrest you.”
    He frowned. “No! If you want me to leave, I’ll go, but not to the police.”
    “Why? You can explain your side of the story . ”
    “They’ll want me to go back.” The deep furrow in his brow twisted the swirling tattoos on his forehead into new shapes. His jaw set stubbornly. “Anyone can see I belong with the carnival and that’s where they’ll take me.”
    “They wouldn’t try to return you to Reed, not after I tell them how he’s abused you . They’ll see you’re not dangerous , that you’re normal.”
    “I’m not normal.” For the first time since she’d met him, h is voice raised. He glared at her and spread his hands, indicating his body. “Look at me.”
    She did as he bid , trying to see him as others would--strange, freakish, different. But all she could see was Tom , and h e looked beautiful to her.
    “All right. Whatever you want. I’m not asking you to leave.” She smiled reassuringly as she soothed him, then added lightly, “Besides, if you left, who would finish the fence for me?”
    Still frowning, he looked at the portion of wood he ’ d scraped. “I’m sorry I didn’t finish it . ”
    She laughed and nudged his arm. “I’m kidding! You have to learn when people are teasing. Here’s what we’ll do. If you’ll help me put away the groceries, we’ll have lunch then scrape the rest of the fence and put on the first coat of paint. After that we can go to the pond and swim because I think it’s going to be a scorcher this afternoon.”
    He looked up at the clear blue sky. “A storm will come through tonight and cool it off again.”
    Sarah raised an eyebrow. “Did you have a vision?”
    “No. T he air feels thick and heavy. It will break later.”
    “Good. We could use some rain.”
     
    Together they unloaded the car then Sarah made sandwiches and soup. Tom devoured his food with his usual gusto. She was pleased by his enjoyment of anything she set in front of him no matter how simple the fare. Then she remembered why he was so eager about food and her pleasure vanished.
    Sc raping peeling strips of paint from the fence took longer than expected. Sarah broiled under the hot sun. Her sleeveless blouse clung to her back and was soaked underneath her arms. She wiped sweat off her forehead and glanced over at Tom.
    He was just as sweaty as she, but it looked better on him. Once more he ’ d removed his shirt--he seemed to have no discomfort with being half-undressed m uch of the time--and his colors shone under the blazing sun. She wondered if the pigments protected him from sunburn.
    At last Sarah stood, stretched her aching lower back and grimacing at the gallon of paint sitting in the grass. “You know what? Let’s save the painting until tomorrow morning when it’s cooler . I think we’ve earned a swim.”
    She provided Tom with John’s old swim trunks then dressed in her own modest one-piece suit with a blouse and shorts over it. Her inner voice warned her it was a bad idea to go swimming with Tom, both of them nearly naked together, but s he ignored the voice. It was a hot day and they could surely paddle around in the water for an hour without attraction getting the better of them.
    They trekked across the fallow field toward the pond at the edge of Burkett’s woods. Weeds scratched Sarah’s bare legs. Blackbirds flew up from the tall grass at their approach and chirping crickets