Spreading the news

[nica_hepcat]

WHO: Nicam tag Katie and whoever else might be around
WHEN: Thursday afternoon
WHERE: Katie and Chester's house

Nica spent her school day talking to Lynn about what had happened at the camping spot, and about the dead man who wasn't dead, and then wouldn't die. She didn't talk about it with anyone else; she hadn't seen Rex or she might have flirted with him again, poor guy. He was nice ... And there was Juice, but she would go see him later and give him all the gory details. Literally, gory details, complete with blood and ichor. She didn't know exactly what ichor was, but if anything she'd ever seen was ichorous, it was poor Stu.

Anyway, it crossed her mind that maybe not everyone she knew and liked in Pleasantdale had heard about what happened. So, on the way home, she stopped off at Katie and Chester's house, hoping that Katie was around. Books clutched firmly in her left hand, she knocked at the front door.

Comments

[katherine_the_great]

Chester glanced up from the paper he was reading, and called to Katie, who was working in the kitchen, "Katherine, there's someone at the door, can you go answer it?"

"Certainly, dear," Katie said, and trotted to the door, brushing flour from the lovely red dress she was wearing, and absently taking a moment to adjust the bow in her hair in the mirror in case it was Chester's friends coming over for a social call. After being satisfied that she was sufficiently presentable, she opened the door.

"Oh, hello, Nica," she said with a smile, then paused as she noticed that Nica didn't quite look as happy as usual to see her. "Is everything alright?"

[nica_hepcat]

"Hello, Miss Katie. Um ... I just wanted to let you know about something that happened yesterday. It didn't make a lot of sense, so I'll just tell you what I saw. Could I have something to drink?"

[katherine_the_great]

"Oh, alright -- come on in," Katie said, and moved aside.

"Darling, who is it?" Chester called.

"It's Nica Marchese," she called back, and received a vaguely disinterested 'hm' in reply.

[nica_hepcat]

"Thank you." Nica was clearly nervous and a little agitated. She was speaking quietly, too ... not whispering, but conspiratorial. "Okay ... so, supposedly, there's rabies goin' around. Vito took our dog to the vet and we heard about someone who killed a possum and it tried to attack him after it was already dead. Well ... we got the possum and took it to the college and this doctor lady wasn't able to test it and said we should try to catch a live one, and we tried and this guy, Stu somebody, came out of the woods and he'd been bitten and he kind of tried to attack us." She paused long enough to take a breath. "And then, it got kind of crazy. And not in a good way."

[katherine_the_great]

"Nica. Nica... Nica," Katie attempted to reassure her - she obviously seemed freaked out. "Calm down. Deep breaths. Come on into the kitchen, let's get you a drink, and then slow down and tell me."

She carefully led Nica towards the kitchen, where the smell of a roast was emanating from the oven, and apparently she had been busy working on preparing a homemade cherry pie before answering the door. "I'll get you a glass of lemonade, and you can sit down and breathe."

[nica_hepcat]

"Thank you," Nica said, and settled into a chair, giving Katie a grateful look as the pretty blonde woman handed her a glass. "I'm sorry, I wanted to tell the story better. But this guy -- He'd been bitten, we could see that right away. And his tongue was black and he didn't look like he was completely awake, just kind of glassy-eyed, like maybe he was drunk. So he's lurching around and the guys got him pinned."

She took a sip and seemed to relax a little. "He never said a word, he was carrying a gun but it's like it never crossed his mind to use it even though we were all tryin' to restrain him. Mr. Chow and the doctor from the college both said he was dead, and then he ... he grabbed Mr. Chow, and they had to ... restrain him some more."

[katherine_the_great]

"Are you alright? Was anyone hurt?" Katie frowned and looked Nica over, as the remainder of her statement began to process. "And did they bring that man to the hospital?"

[nica_hepcat]

"No," Nica said, "not the hospital. After another struggle, he was really, really dead. They told the cops what happened, but they had to get the guy to the college so the doctor would figure out what happened. She said sometimes this happened with ants, but never with people, that she'd heard about. I just wanted to make sure you knew that ... things aren't really safe in that part of town."

[max_ine]

Much to Chester's probable dismay, another guest arrived at the Wilson house. Maxine pulled up into the driveway, got out of the car, and headed down the neat walkway to their front door.

She felt like she needed to warn her friend Katie about what they'd seen. Though how to get her to believe the danger? She frowned, and knocked at the door while collecting her thoughts.

[katherine_the_great]

Chester got to his feet with a start. This wasn't Saturday. Who was it now? Katherine was still chattering away in the kitchen, wasting time, and he cleared his throat loudly. After a few moments in which the door continued to go unanswered, he irately went to open it himself, and noted another woman who looked like she could have fallen off the back of a church wagon - probably one of Katherine's bridge partners.

"What? It's not bridge night tonight," he snapped, a little annoyed.

[max_ine]

Maxine folded her arms, used to obstinant men from her work. "It's not, no."

She let Chester stew a moment, before continuing. "But I need to see Katie. We've got to talk about some woman-type things."

Let him think it was period talk time or something equally ridiculous, she didn't care - as long as it got him to let her in so she could warn his wife about the weirdness in the woods.

[katherine_the_great]

Oh, for heaven's sakes.

"Katherine," Chester called, the annoyed tone ringing clear. "You have another visitor."

Katie called back, "I'm in the kitchen, dear, just have them come back here."

Chester's nostrils flared slightly, and he gestured over his shoulder. "Do make it quick, Katherine's busy with dinner at the moment."

[max_ine]

"Sure thing, Chess. Wouldn't want to interrupt your eating," Maxine said, only rolling her eyes when she was past his sight line.

She headed into the kitchen, and was surprised to see Nica already there. "Ah-- I'm guessing you beat me to filling Katie in."

She gave a somewhat sheepish look to both gals, trying to gauge how much Nica had spilled and how much Katie was buying. This was, after all, a kind of delicate subject. It wasn't every day you had to tell one of your friends about a possibly rabid hunter who was dead-not-dead and now dead again.

[nica_hepcat]

Nica gave Maxine a similarly sheepish look, and a little wave. "Hello, Miss Maxine. I haven't heard anything new, have you?"

[time_goes_by]

Janie hadn't been able to concentrate on work- okay, she rarely concentrated on work, but today had been so bad, Phillip handed her some money and told her to go shopping. So after a failed trip to the shopping mall, Janie knocked on Chester and Katie's door. She needed to let Katie know what was happening, and wanted someone to talk to. She'd tried to ring Maxine, but she wasn't home.

[katherine_the_great]

Chester was just starting to walk back to his chair, when... someone knocked on the door. He stormed over to answer it, practically yanking it open. "What? What do you want?"

[nica_hepcat]

Nica heard the knock at the door and raised her eyebrows at Katie. "That's probably my cue," she said, and stood up. "Like I said, if I find out anything else, I'll let you know ... "

[katherine_the_great]

Katherine apparently kept pre-boiled eggs in the fridge, as she busied herself dicing them up to add to the bowl she was preparing. "I'm looking forward to Founder's Day - it should be a lot of fun. And of course, Chester likes hobnobbing with the Chamber of Commerce, so he'll have a reason to enjoy going, too."

[nica_hepcat]

"So, it's a pretty big deal? I haven't been around for one of these before."

[katherine_the_great]

"Well, it's the closest thing we have to a town festival, unless you count the Sunshine Dairy Milkmaid Competition in the spring," Katie commented. "It's one of the few times of the year where the whole town gathers together."

[time_goes_by]

"Someone got me and Lynn new dresses from Paris for it." Janie said "It'll be a lot of fun."

[max_ine]

"Paris-- wow. I don't have anything fancy to wear. But-- I don't know. I just thought it'd be nice to have a date. There's dancing and all that, and well--"

Maxine gave a sheepish little smile. "Eric's handsome, don't you think? I bet he'd be a good dancer."

[time_goes_by]

"It's not that fancy, it's just from somewhere that isn't here. I want to go there one day... to see the- oh, Eric is quite the looker and he's got that accent. Maxine, you are a lucky lady. I think he might be a good dancer too. Are you? How're you going to fix your hair? You've got the prettiest curls."

[nica_hepcat]

"Maybe I should just ask someone, too ... or ... no. Lynn and I will just go together," Nica said. "If someone asks me to dance, I will, but I don't want to sweat it. Friends, you can count on."

[max_ine]

"What about that boy that came with us to the woods " Maxine asked Nica. "Rex. He seemed friendly, and was pretty nice to you--- does he have a girlfriend?"

She hadn't met her own husband until college, but she knew some folks met in high school- Katie and Chester, for example. Not that her friend's marriage seemed the happiest...