Fate's Edge

knickknacks and merchandise. Being a local fence, he had enough inventory to put Costco to shame. He also functioned as an emergency general store. If Edgers needed deodorant or soap in a hurry and didn’t want to drive all the way across the boundary, they stopped at Gnome’s. And ended up paying ten bucks for a tube of toothpaste.
    A fit of wet, hoarse coughing came from deeper within the house. Audrey slipped between the shelves, like a silent shadow, and finally stepped out into the clear space in the middle of the room.
    Gnome, a huge bear of a man, sat slumped over in his stuffed chair, an open book on a desk in front of him and a shotgun by his chair. Flushed skin, tangled hair, feverish eyes, all hunkered down in a blanket. He looked like a mess.
    “There you are.”
    He peered at her with watering, bloodshot eyes. “What the hell are you—” Another fit of coughing shook his large frame.
    “That sounds awful.”
    “What are you—” Gnome sneezed.
    “I brought you goodies.” She pulled a box of decongestant pills out of the bag and put it on the desk. “Look, I’ve got canned chicken soup, Theraflu, and here are some cough drops, and here is a box of Puffs tissues with lotion, so you don’t scrub all of the skin off that big beak of yours.”
    He stared at her, speechless. Now that was something. If she’d had a camera, she would’ve taken a picture.
    “And this here, this is good stuff.” Audrey tapped the plastic cup of Magic Vaporizer. “I had to hunt it down—they don’t make it as much anymore, so I could only get a generic version. Look, you boil some water and put these drops in here and inhale—clears your nose right up. I’ll fix you one, then you can yell at me.”
    Five minutes later, she presented him with a steaming vaporizer and made him breathe it in. One, two, three . . .
    Gnome sucked in his first breath. “Christ.”
    “Told you.” Audrey set a hot bowl of chicken soup on his desk. “Works wonders.”
    “How did you know I was sick?”
    “Patricia came down the mountain yesterday, and we ran into each other at the main road. She said you had a cold and mentioned that you undercharged her for the lanterns by twenty bucks.”
    “What?”
    Audrey smiled. “That’s how I knew it was bad. Besides, I was tired of hearing you hack and cough all night. The sound rolls down the mountain, you know. You’re keeping Ling awake.”
    “You can’t hear me all the way down there.”
    “That’s what you think. Take this generic or Theraflu before bed. Either will knock you out. The red pills are daytime.”
    Gnome gave her a suspicious look. “How much is all this gonna cost me?”
    “Don’t worry about it.”
    Gnome shrugged his heavy shoulders and put a spoonful of soup into his mouth. “This doesn’t mean you’re getting a discount.”
    Audrey heaved a mock sigh. “Oh well. I guess I’ll have to ply you with sexual favors, then.”
    Gnome choked on the soup. “I’m old enough to be your grandfather!”
    Audrey winked at him, gathering the empty bags. “But you’re not.”
    “Get out of here, you and your craziness.”
    “Okay, okay, I’m going.” He was fun to tease, and she was in such a good mood.
    “What is with you anyway?” he asked. “Why are you grinning?”
    “I’ve got a job. With benefits.”
    “Legit?”
    “Yes.”
    “Well, congratulations,” Gnome said. “Now go on. I’m sick of looking at your face.”
    “I’ll see you later.”
    She left the house and slogged her way through the mud down to her car. Gnome was a gruff old bear, but he was kind in his own way. Besides, he was the only neighbor she had within two miles. Nobody was around to help them. Either they took care of each other, or they toughed it out on their own.
    Backing the Honda down the mountain in the gloom turned out to be harder than Audrey thought. She finally steered the vehicle to the fork where the narrow road leading to her place split off and took the turn. Thick roots burrowed under the road, and her Honda rolled over the bulges, careening and swaying, until it finally popped out into the clearing. On the right, the ground dropped off sharply, plunging down the side of the mountain. On the left, a squat, pale building sat in the shadow of an old spruce. It was a simple structure—a huge stone block of a roof resting on sturdy stone columns that guarded the wooden walls of the house within like the bars of a stone cage. Each three-foot-wide column bore a