The Messenger (2011 reformat) Read Free

felt on the verge of shutting down. Part of him
heard a quick scream from the house across the street at the corner. Then a
moment later saw the new mailman walk out the front door and head casually to
the next address. Before he knocked on the next door, the mailman turned
slowly, smiled at Jimmy, and waved.

Chapter
One
     
    I
     
    Twenty years later.
    The scissors
snipped! as the brand-new stainless steel blades sliced through the yellow
ribbon. When the ribbon parted and fell, the small crowd that had gathered
began to cheer.
    That was
simple, Jane thought. She handed the scissors back to the mayor. Flashbulbs
popped and the applause grew loud. There were even some writers and
photographers from the local papers in the crowd. It wasn't that big a deal but
it looked like it. All this hoopla, Jane thought, and all for what? We're
opening a new post office, for God's sake. In a small town, however, even
something like this was an event. Jane didn't go for cameras and publicity-she
was all business. She was almost ill at ease.
    Yeah, she
thought again. This was simple. Now the hard part starts.
    "Thank
you, Jane," the mayor said into a microphone. It was possible that he'd
had a vodka tonic or two before the opening ceremony. "And now that the
ribbon is cut... let's go inside for cookies and punch!"
    "Jesus,"
Carlton Spence said under his breath. "Cookies and punch. Is this corny or
what?"
    Jane whispered
back, "Don't be too sure. You haven't tried the punch."
    Jane smiled
and nodded, shaking hands with the people in the crowd as they filed into the
post office. I am so bad at this game, she told herself. When most of the crowd
had filed in, Carlton sighed. Carlton was Jane's assistant now, amiable, early
forties, often quick with some good-natured sarcasm. He was as good at his job
as Jane was at hers, and that's why she knew they'd make a great team. He was
also very perceptive sometimes.
    "Either
your dog shit in your shoes this morning," he said, "or this whole
grand opening thing is making you very uncomfortable."
    "I don't
have a dog."
    "I
know."
    She made a
weary smile. "I just want to get on with it. Get all this foolishness over
with and get on with the job."
    Carlton
scratched the beer belly he'd been working hard on for the last twenty years.
"Small-town politics and all that. Opening a new post office in a little
burg like Danelleton is like opening a skyscraper in a big city." A
photographer snapped a quick picture of the two of them, then hustled inside.
Carlton frowned. "Besides, we gotta give the local papers something to write
about, don't we?"
    Jane was
grateful for the implication. Danelleton had one of the lowest per-capita crime
rates in the state. I guess I should be happy this is the big story of the week
instead of a drive-by shooting or crack cocaine bust.
    "Oh, and
one other thing," Carlton said, "congratulations on the promotion,
Jane. You'll do a kick-butt job running this place."
    "We'll do
a kick-butt job, Mr. Deputy Assistant Postmaster."
    "Isn't
that kind of like the assistant to the assistant to the assistant of the
assistant secretary of state?"
    "Sure.
You're the one who makes the coffee, and I'm the one who delivers it."
    They both
laughed but they knew it wasn't that bad.
    Carlton looked
up at the sun. "Things will be great, just you watch."
    "I hope
so," she said. "But I still don't quite understand why Danelleton
needs a second post office."
    "Are you
kidding? In the last twenty years, the town's population has quadrupled. The
main post office at the town square just isn't enough anymore. It's progress,
Jane. That's a good thing. More people moving here means more money for the
local economy? Carlton shrugged. "More mail to be delivered. And lemme
tell ya-" He looked up at the sun again, the perfect cloudless sky. At the
same moment, a group of lorikeets flew by. "There are worse places to work
for the post office."
    "I know,
we get Florida paradise, and the other chumps get to deliver