Read Online Phantom Banjo by Elizabeth Ann Scarborough - Free Book Online Page B

road
the flames of the wreck, sparks catching on the dry branches of a
scrawny cottonwood, smoke obscuring the starlight.
    The awful smell of cooking hair and flesh
grew stronger as Willie pulled up to the wreckage of the van, and
Willie wondered if he'd even recognize Mark. The heat flowing from
the wreck hit him like a flamethrower and he skirted it, trying to
see inside. It wasn't the same van Mark had been driving the last
time he saw him, but a similar one, white like all the others,
windowless in the back. You could see the van's frame through the
fire now, smell the fumes of the burning carpet and plastic. Willie
covered his mouth and nose with one hand and stumbled on around,
almost falling over the charred, smoking corpse of the longhorn
lying near the wreck.
    The foul-smelling smoke hit him in the gut
and he bent over to puke out most of the evening's bottle, thinking
it would be a cold day in hell before he ever ordered a steak
again.
    Straightening, he spotted something gleaming
in a patch of yucca just beyond the wreck, and walked toward
it.
    Oh, God. Oh, Lord. Looked like one of Mark's
instruments had made it, even if he hadn't.
    But then, beyond the cactus-cradled banjo, he
saw the boot, and the leg encased in denim, and the rest of Mark
sprawled beyond.
    He knelt beside the younger man, staring at
his back to try to see if he was breathing. You weren't supposed to
move somebody who'd been hurt like this, he knew. Might break their
back or something. But hell, you had to tell if they were alive. He
touched Mark's face, still warm and wet with perspiration.
    Abruptly Mark sat straight up. His eyes flew
open and his hand poked at his mouth.
    "Shit, I broke a tooth," he said.
    Willie shook his head slowly. "You're damn
lucky that's all you broke, my friend. What happened?"
    "How the fuck should I know? A goddamn steer
charged the van—"
    Willie laughed, his sense of humor activated
by relief. "I'll have to have Lenny speak to his livestock. Can't
have them breaking people's teeth every time they decide to commit
suicide. Come on, pal, let's get you back up to the house."
    Mark seemed okay except for the tooth, a
little bleeding from one ear, and a giant red swelling circling
into his matted dark hair. Staggering together, he and Willie
headed back for the Jeep.
    They were almost there when Mark snapped his
fingers and lurched away from Willie to return to the yucca bush
and pluck the banjo free before climbing into Willie's Jeep.
    Back at the house, Willie unearthed an
almost-clean towel and wetted an end of it to wash the blood from
Mark's ear.
    "You got to watch it on these back roads,
son," he teased Mark. "Those attack cows will just leap out and get
you. I'm going to give a call up to the house and have them come
down with another van, take you in to the doctor. Okay? It'll be
faster than waiting for an ambulance to come here and that way you
won't have to bounce around no more in the Jeep."
    "No, no, no," Mark said. "I'm okay. Be fine.
Just—"
    "The hell you are," Willie said, and picked
up the phone to call, but the line was busy. He set it back down
and told Mark, "I'll try again in a couple minutes."
    "Gotta tell you about Sam," Mark said. His
speech was a little slurred.
    "No, buddy, you got to rest. Let me fix you a
little drink to relax you and you just take a nap while I get us
some help."
    "Willie, goddamn—lissen t'me."
    "Okay, okay. What's on your mind besides that
goose egg growing there. Let me put some ice on that." He looked in
the freezer. "It'll be a few minutes. I used the last one in my
drink. Just a sec." He grabbed the towel he'd used to sponge the
ear off with, fished what was left of an ice cube out of his drink,
and wrapped it in the towel, applying it to Mark's head.
    "I'll try them again. We'll get you to the
hospital in Brownsville."
    "Forget it. I'm fine. Little headache's all.
Had too much hospital already."
    "If you got insurance, boy, this is a good
time to use it," Willie