Messiahs by Matt Rogers (bookstand for reading txt) 📕

in the sky she closed her eyes so she could tilt her face toward it.

The warmth calmed her, soothed her.

Almost made her forget the reason they were here.

Right now, life was beautiful.

When she lowered her head and opened her eyes to take another sip of coffee, there was a woman beside her on the park bench.

Alexis quashed her reaction before she could jump out of her skin. Whoever the woman was, she’d approached without so much as her heel scuffing on the sunbaked pavement. She looked like she was in her early thirties but could have been older. Her face was smooth and contoured and her eyes were crystalline. They were somewhere between blue and green, with flecks of both colours like an opal. She had frizzy brown hair falling in two big tufts on either side of her head, which served to frame her perfect face.

Alexis found her odd right away.

She was conventionally attractive, but the very nature of her being seemed artificial. She was intensely happy with nothing behind the eyes.

Alexis said, ‘Hey. Nice to meet you,’ like the easygoing wanderer she was supposed to be.

Good thing she remembered to keep up the act.

The woman beamed a smile and said, ‘Hello. My name is Maeve. What’s yours?’

26

Alexis’ heart thudded for a single beat.

She felt it in her chest, more powerful than usual, but she didn’t allow her heart rate to increase. She didn’t allow any change of expression in her face. So all it turned out to be was a single thunk, then straight back to normal.

There wasn’t a chance Maeve Riordan noticed.

Alexis smiled without a care in the world. ‘Hi. I’m Alexis. You live here?’

‘Not Gillette, I’m afraid,’ Maeve said. ‘I’m a ways out. But I like to visit every so often, make sure I’m keeping up to speed. What brings you here, girl?’

Alexis batted her eyelids and flooded her eyes with warmth, pretending it had made her day for this stranger to start a dialogue. ‘Oh, I don’t have a real good spiel for this part, I’m afraid. Some people I meet, they’ve got such nice stories … so poignant and beautiful, you know? I’m just a bit of a nomad, and that’s the truth. Grew up in Jersey but over there it’s all so … busy. Finished college and decided not to go straight into full-time work. Started backpacking across the country, and that would have been, what, eight years ago now? Ended up finding my best friend last year when I was passing through Ohio. She and I have been travelling together ever since.’

‘What’s her name?’

‘Violetta.’

‘And are you two … together?’

Alexis scoffed and shook her head, lowering her eyes out of perceived shame. ‘No, ma’am. It’s not like that. Not like that at all.’

‘You can tell me if it is,’ Maeve said. ‘Most people out here aren’t what you think they are. There’s no shame in it, girl. We’re not going to persecute you for that.’

Alexis sighed. ‘We’re just friends. Honest. I’d tell you if it wasn’t true. You seem like a very trustworthy person.’ She laughed and looked around, like the ditzy girl next door. ‘I mean, gosh, I’ve known you all of two minutes, haven’t I? Thank you for listening to me talk. Not many people do. You’re a good person, Maeve.’

Maeve said, ‘Are you lost, dear?’

Behind the curtain, Alexis marvelled at Maeve’s forwardness. The woman was getting right to the point.

But Alexis still had a role to play. ‘I’m sorry?’

Maeve smiled, recognising she was moving too quickly. She looked out at the view and took in the ambience for a beat, then reached out and put a hand on Alexis’ knee. ‘I think we were supposed to meet.’

‘Why’s that?’

‘This is a small town. Word gets around. I hear you didn’t have much of a pleasant experience at the bar last night. Word reached my ears, like Chinese whispers. That man named Brent had some … let’s just say “impolite” things to say about you. About both your beauty and your wrath. But I heard about what you said last night. About how you weren’t sure where to go next, or what to do, or even what the point of your life is. Now of course I’m awfully sorry that this personal information reached my ears, but it did, and we can’t change the past, can we? All we can do is look to the future. And I think I’m in a unique position to offer you a bright future, Alexis. If you’re interested…’

‘I don’t want to be rude, ma’am, but I hardly know you.’

‘Which is a given when two parties have just met,’ Maeve said. ‘But I think over time, if we do get to know each other, we’ll end up having more in common than you could ever imagine.’

Now she was staring right into Alexis’ eyes, her hand still on her knee. Alexis didn’t look away. She was struck by how transfixing Maeve’s gaze was. It was seductive in its appeal. There was love and warmth in Maeve’s eyes now, and Alexis couldn’t tell if it was artificial anymore. She knew it was, but if she was truly a backpacker who’d met this woman, she would have bought it hook, line and sinker.

Alexis said, ‘What’s this opportunity?’

‘Myself and my husband run ... well, I guess you would call it a commune. We aren’t fans of the regular way of living. As you can see, it’s not very private. You had a few drinks at the local watering hole and opened your mouth and suddenly the whole town is talking about you. It’s sad, to be frank. Very surface-level, very superficial. What we have is something pure. Out in the grassland, we’ve put together a little community of like-minded souls. We have an easygoing existence, and we champion love. Real, unrequited love. There isn’t enough of it in this world. If you and your friend are interested, I’d be honoured to host you free-of-charge for a few days.’

Alexis didn’t respond.

If