There was a loud popping noise and then the bus careened off onto the side of the road. Cabinets were thrown open from the force and plastic dishes clattered to the floor. Four of the passengers and the driver were lucky enough to be able to brace themselves for the suddenness of what happened, one unfortunate passenger was sleeping in a bunk and tossed out, hard, onto the floor.

“What the hell?” He questioned as he stood rubbing his arms and head. “Has the driver been drinking?” he questioned the other four who were sitting white faced at the back of the bus.

One finally managed to shake his head. “Tire exploded,” the tall dark-haired one managed to say.

“Well let’s hope he can fix it with the spare quickly so we can get back on the road.” The man who fell off the bunk said. His eyes rested on the faces of all the others, their eyes open wide, their faces white with terror. “Ease up; it’s just a flat tire.” He laughed at his friends and then turned as one of the guys pointed towards the driver. He turned and looked; gasping in shock when he saw the driver slumped over the steering wheel, a pool of blood gathering at his feet.

“This is why we need separate buses!” He shouted in dismay. “Then another bus could stop and pick up the person on the unfortunate bus.” His anger flared, he did not want to be where he was. He looked around, where exactly was he? There were no familiar landmarks out his window nor were there any city lights. “Where the hell was this guy driving us?”

Finally, one of the others got over the shock and stood from his seat and moved over towards the other. “He said that the highway was closed, something to do with a pile-up, this was the detour.” He shrugged, his dark hair falling off his shoulder. He took a moment and pulled the loose hairs back into his ponytail. “The important thing now, A.J. is to calm down; we need to think of the next rational step.”

The one called A.J. ran his hands through his now blond hair. He was frustrated; he had plans in the next city they were traveling to. Well his plans weren’t definitive, but he knew once he got there he could find some young, eager fan from the crowd and invite her back to his room. Now he was stuck with four living and one dead guy. Not easy to find a place to release frustration, the bus seemed smaller and smaller as the seconds ticked by. “What are we going to do now?”

“Hello,” an unknown voice called out to the five. “We saw what happened and came to see if we could be of some assistance” The guys turned to face the person climbing slowly onto the bus.

“It seems we’ve had an unfortunate accident,” the older dark-haired one responded. “My name is Kevin, this is Howie,” he pointed to the man who fixed his ponytail earlier. “Brian,” he pointed to the man who moved closer to the front whispering over the body of the dead driver. “Nick,” He said as he pointed to the young blond still sitting hands clenched to the seat behind him. “And A.J.” he pointed towards the man pacing back and forth on the bus.

The stranger moved closer to Kevin and held out his hand after wiping it on his jeans to clean off some of the dirt that was apparent. “Name’s John.” He shook firmly with Kevin and then held his hand out towards A.J. as he paced back towards their direction. A.J. paid no attention to the hand outreached towards him and turned back around and went the opposite way on the bus. A good distance away he turned again and addressed John.

“You said you could help? We’ve only got to change the tire and get back on the road,” he paused before adding in a lower tone. “And we need to do something about Russ’s body.” He hung his head somewhat ashamed of himself thinking about his own needs when their driver, their friend, lay dead in the driver’s seat.

“Well I don’t know about fixing the tire, you have three that are blown and there’s a smell of leaking radiator fluid coming from under the hood?”

“What!?” The blond jumped from his seat in the back and ran off the bus. The others watched as he went around the bus and looked at all the tires then went watched as he stood in front of the bus taking in deep breaths. Slowly the others went outside to join him and confirm with themselves what the stranger, John was saying. The guys kicked dirt, threw their hands in the air and yelled expletives as realization sunk in that they were not going anywhere fast.

“You all are welcome to come back to the town with me where we can get you rested and the mechanic can come out and take a look, see what can be done.”

“I think we should call our manager.” A.J. said flipping open his phone. He looked down at the bars in disbelief. There was absolutely no signal where he was standing. He moved further away from the bus, but still nothing. “We are in a dead spot, fucking ridiculous!”

“So where is this town?” Brian spoke finally, where there were people there was likely to be another phone. Some way they could contact their crew and let them know why they had not arrived yet. John turned away from the bus and started walking, the guys followed, their heads hanging down unable to believe their luck.

The sun beat down on the travelers as they made their way into the town. Their tongues felt heavy with thirst, their lips were dry and beginning to crack. The walk had not been that long, but the heat bearing down on them made it seem longer and harder then anything they’d endured before.

The town lay out before them; they felt as though they’d been transported back into the dustbowl era. They shielded their eyes as a dust weevil blew across their path. Nick brushed his hair with his hand, sand falling from his hair all around him. They gaped in wonder at how this town was going to be able to help them get their bus up and running again.

John smiled at them then told them about the different buildings they were looking at. A.J. sighed as he was shown one restaurant that was also the bar and the hotel, the one general store, and the garage that would be fixing their vehicle. Lastly they were shown a run down building that looked as if it used to be a movie theater that was explained to them as the meeting hall for the town. A.J. ran his hands through his hair; he did not know how he was ever going to pass the time in a small town like this. His friends all had a book they were reading back on the bus, A.J. preferred to write lyrics to possible songs. He did not see how a town like this could inspire any lyrics.

John turned to them expecting ‘oohs’ and ‘ahhs’ as if he just showed them a newborn child. “You all are in luck too, we are preparing for our biggest event in this town between the 4th and Christmas.”

“Will all five farmers and their cows be able to make it?” Nick asked sarcastically under his breath but A.J. heard and chuckled slightly.

John ignored the laughter and continued talking about the event with pride. “It’s time for the Widow’s Walk.”

“What?” Brian asked confused. None of the guys had heard of an event with that name before.

“All week we have events and parties to celebrate each of the widow’s of the town, and then on Saturday we,” he paused looking at his guests; A.J. thought it was ridiculous that the man was trying to add dramatic effect to their small town celebration. “Well on Saturday the women parade through the town.”

“And you celebrate this every year? There are that many widows in the town?” Howie asked unbelieving.

“You would be surprised at how many people give up city life to live simply here in our town. Each person has brought with them a skill they share with the others, we grow our own food and what we can’t grow we order at the general store. There are many houses outside of the town limits; each person has a good size plot of land.”

“You manage to grow things in this desert?” Kevin asked in awe.

“Well there is a lake not to far from here that we have been able to utilize.” John spit on the ground after catching a mouthful of dust. He noticed faces of shock, “we have more land then people realize.” He motioned for the boys to follow him as he led them towards the building that doubled as a hotel. “I hope you don’t mind, but you will have to share rooms.”

The guys shrugged and continued to follow him inside. They were shown upstairs, two rooms, one with two beds and the other with three. They did not have to choose who stayed with whom as their luggage was already lying on their beds.

“But how?” A.J. started to question John but he did not hear him as he was already speaking to them again.

“Dinner is on the house tonight and will be served at seven, please don’t be late as that is rude.” And with that John left A.J. and Kevin in their room off to show the other three their room. A.J. looked over at Kevin and fell onto his bed. “Could we get any closer to hell then this place?”

“There was a phone downstairs, I’m going to try and call Johnny and let him know what’s going on. Maybe he’ll be able to send another bus for us in the meantime.” Kevin said talking of their manager, his cell phone still appeared to have absolutely no signal.

A.J. turned his head and looked out the window; all he could see for miles was dry desert with no chance of getting out. He could only hope that Kevin was able to get a hold of their manager and he could find a way to get them out of this hell. Tired from the walk, it was only a short amount of time until A.J. fell asleep unaware that it was only ten minutes until seven p.m. and he was to report for dinner.

A.J. woke to his grumbling stomach. He glanced at his watch and jumped with a start, it was thirty minutes past seven, and he was late. He wondered why Kevin did not wake him but he realized that Kevin probably went straight to dinner after making the phone call. He made his way down the stairs going slowly so he did not fall, he did not trust the hand rail to catch him if he were to grab it while falling. The other guys were sitting around the table laughing and joking with a couple faces A.J. was not familiar with.

“Hey someone couldn’t have woken me?” He jokingly called out.

The laughter stopped and the guys looked awkwardly at each other. They shrugged and continued eating.

“You’re late.” One of the strangers blurted out. “We don’t take kindly to that around these parts.” The man glared at A.J. as the woman spoke to him. “You can go right back up to your room, perhaps one of your friends will bring you a bite to eat later.”

A.J. stared in disbelief at the woman and man and the other four. He couldn’t believe what he just heard; he was being denied food because he was thirty measly minutes late. He trudged back upstairs and threw himself down on the bed. He flipped open his phone, still no signal. There had to be signal somewhere around, he had to get out of this town.

About an hour later Kevin came back into the room carrying a plate of food. “Here.” He said to A.J. holding the plate towards him. A.J. took the plate and smelled the delicious food. He picked up his fork and took a bite, hardly tasting the food before swallowing it down.

“Were you able to get a hold of Johnny?” He asked taking another large forkful and swallowing it down quickly.

Kevin shook his head. “The phone is down, broken.”

“What? And they only have the one phone?”

“That’s what John said, people in town only call their relatives every so often and they all use that phone, nobody has one of their own. Expense they don’t want or need I guess.” Kevin shrugged and began to unpack his suitcase in the chest of drawers closest to his bed.

A.J. watched his friend as he shoveled more food into his mouth. He seemed to accept his fate, something A.J. was determined not to do. He would not unpack his suitcase and give in to staying in this town. He finished his plate and shoved it on the nightstand beside his bed and fell onto his pillow attempting to fall back asleep.

Kevin stopped unpacking and turned to A.J. “You need to unpack; Shelby and Walter said that they want us to unpack, makes us feel more at home and less apprehensive about being stuck here.”

A.J. rolled his eyes hoping that Kevin did not see him; he sat up and kicked his suitcase under his bed. “There now they won’t know I didn’t unpack.” He slammed his fist in his pillow to make it more comfortable and lay down facing the window. Eventually sleep came over him once again and he settled in dreaming of being anywhere but where he was.

*****
His bed shaking up and down the next morning woke him and for one blissful moment A.J. thought he was back on the bus and the town had been an awful nightmare. “A.J. get your ass out of bed or you are going to be late for breakfast too and I’m not going to bring you a plate later if you do.” Kevin’s voice broke him out of his hope. He opened his eyes to face the window that the town lay behind. Groaning he got out of bed and pulled on a clean tank top and pants from his suitcase before pushing it back under the bed.

He followed Kevin down the stairs and took his seat with his friends around the table. “So we are paying for this?” He asked curiously.

Nick shook his head, “Nah, Shelby said she’d feed us this morning too but if we stay longer we’ll have to earn our food, no money accepted, we’ll have to work.” He made a face at the thought of doing manual labor.

“Hope you boys are hungry.” A voice called from the kitchen, seconds later Shelby emerged carrying a tray of food. She placed the plates in front and watched like a proud mother as they devoured their food. Taking her time her eyes drifted over each of the boys, letting out a small gasp when her eyes arrived at A.J. and his bare arms now showing his many tattoos. She let out a small “tsk” sound before leaving them to their breakfast.

“What do you think that was about?” Howie asked.

“Small town, probably don’t see many people with this many tattoos.” A.J. answered wiping his mouth with his napkin before picking up his fork and spearing more eggs.

Shelby walked back through the kitchen door and straight out to the back porch where Walter was sitting reading the one local paper they got in the town. “One of those boys just won’t work Walter, you should see his arms all covered with pictures.”

Walter looked towards his wife. “We can’t be that choosy, we need those boys.”

Shelby nodded and looked back towards the kitchen. “I hope John was right in bringing them here.”

The boys finished eating and sat around the table looking at each other, each one wondering what they should do next. A.J., more out of habit, pulled out his cell phone and flipped it open noting that there was still no signal. “I have got to go and find an area that picks up cell phone reception.” With that he stood, leaving the other guys to decide for themselves what they wanted to do with their first full day in this hell hole.

He emerged from the building and was instantly glad he opted for a tank top, the heat was already unbearable and it was only eight o’clock in the morning. He shaded his eyes with his left hand, scanning the horizon, as his right hand pulled a pair of shades out of his pants pocket. Placing the sunglasses on his face, his eyes were instantly relieved from the sunshine. He looked towards the meeting hall, there was a bustle going on. He ignored the looks and stares from the townsfolk and made his way out towards some open area.

He flipped open his phone and watched his signal bar as he walked. “Damn” He cursed under his breath. He did not understand how it was possible that an area this big he could not even get one bar of signal. Frustrated he slammed his phone shut and shoved it in his pocket. He turned around and began to head back into town; he took a chair in front of the hotel and sat watching the crowd of people across the way. He gasped slightly when he saw three of his friends carrying items and helping.

“Shelby asked for help and they jumped right up from the table,” a voice from behind spoke startling A.J. slightly. Nick moved into his line of sight and took another chair close by. “I told them we should be trying to find out about the bus, but they said that they were going to help since they were feeding us.” He shrugged and turned to look at his friends.

“So begins to torture. Why are you over there?” A.J. asked turning towards Nick.

He turned his face and said something barely above a mumble. “What was that?” A.J. asked.

“I’ve been mopping.” Nick said louder and inclined his head towards the mop and bucket that sat next to the door. A.J. could not help but laugh at the thought of Nick with a mop in hand, wringing it out and pushing it along the floor. “She was looking for you, has some dishes that need to be cleaned she said.”

“Damn.” A.J. muttered. He did not want to be recruited for manual labor, but he knew that it was the polite thing to do since the couple was making sure they were fed, as long as you were on their time frame. A.J. rolled his eyes remembering last night and how they would not feed him when he was only thirty minutes late.

He stood and made his way around back so he would not step through Nick’s mopped floors. He saw Shelby and Walter sitting out back talking quietly and sipping lemonade. “Nick said you wanted me to do something.”

“There you are,” Shelby looked up smiling instantly. “Why yes, if you don’t mind helping us we have a few dishes that you could wash.” She walked past him and motioned for him to follow. She waved her hand towards the sink where their breakfast dishes along with about twenty others sat as well as the pans that the food was cooked in.

“Where did these all come from, we didn’t use all those plates.” A.J. asked, shock conveyed in his voice.

“Well those people working across the way needed food too.” She smiled sweetly and went back outside leaving him alone with the dishes. He moved closer and swore under his breath when he noticed there was no dishwasher; he would have to do everything by hand. He grumbled all throughout his task and when he finished he went back outside, noting that Walter and Shelby were no longer sitting out back. He moved to the front and sat back down, Nick was nowhere to be seen either.

He sat watching the people move in and out of the building across the way, curious as to what exactly would happen during this Widow’s Walk celebration, the first event, he was told, would take place that night and of course he and the others would be invited. Nothing else to do, he thought. Might as well see what the locals do for fun.

Sweat began to drop down his forehead as he watched a young woman come out from the building and bend down to pick up another box. She stopped when she noticed him and smiled broadly with a little wave before continuing with what she was doing. She struggled with the box but managed to pick it up unsteadily. A.J. jumped from his chair and jogged over to the woman catching the box a second before she dropped it completely.

“Thank you.” The woman smiled at him again. “Do you mind carrying that in; I’ve been moving boxes all day?”

“Sure,” A.J. responded following her inside. He was stunned when he walked inside the room. It looked as though they were preparing for a very formal event. Satin tablecloths covered the tables adorned with floating candles. China plates and crystal glasses for six surrounded each of the fifteen or so tables. There were columns wrapped in vines in the corners, a dance floor set up towards the back and even a place for a band to perform. He looked to the front of the room and saw a long table sitting on a stage, just as fancy as the others but with five huge silk flowers, each a different color, hanging in front of each of the place settings.

“Not what you were imagining when you were sitting out there” She asked taking the box from his hands and putting it on a chair nearby.

“Is there a wedding going on?” It’s all A.J. could do to keep his mouth from hanging open.

“Didn’t John tell you?” The lady said nonchalantly as she started to pull items from the box, unloading decorations onto the table in front of her. “The Widow’s Walk is this week and it's a big event for this town.”

“What is this Widow’s Walk I keep hearing about?” He questioned the woman, tired of being led to believe that they were there to witness a glorious event but without any knowledge of what the event actually consisted of.

She looked up at A.J., a smile in her eyes but before she could answer a voice from behind answered for her.

“We honor all of the widow’s of the town.” John’s voice boomed over their conversation.

“All this to celebrate women with dead husbands?” A.J. was confused. He didn’t understand why the town would have a huge celebration, celebrating the fact that these women have lost a loved one and were now alone for the rest of their lives.

John must have caught his look. “Allison, will you make sure the other gentlemen are doing the place settings correctly?” She nodded and rushed off to the other side of the room where Howie and Kevin were setting a table.

“It’s more then just celebrating that they have a dead husband. It’s a passing of their knowledge. All of the young girls gather with each of the widow’s and learn their trade so that they themselves will become better wives and mothers.” John continued. “Today Widow Crenshaw is teaching knitting over at the general store; tomorrow Widow Smith is teaching the young girls how to bake homemade bread. Each night we honor the women with a feast in their honor. It is really a fantastic celebration of learning and remembering.”

A.J. nodded and turned to move towards Kevin and Howie wanting desperately to get away from John, something about him unnerved A.J. and he had the desire to be among friends. John watched him walk away with narrowed eyes; he could tell that this one was going to give the town problems. It was up to him to make the decision if he would find a way to get rid of him without losing his friends, or find some way to make the town grow on him.

A.J. stole a glance back at John, his face hidden in the shadows made A.J. shiver. “What’s up?” Kevin asked as soon as he arrived at the table they were standing around.

“Just coming to see if I can help?” He smiled broadly at Allison picking up the extra silverware in the middle of the table. He held out his free hand and took hold of Allison’s. “My name is A.J.,” he introduced himself.

“Allison.” She replied looking at him awkwardly and removing her hand from his quickly.

She showed A.J. how to set the silverware and then handed him a box to place around the room after Kevin placed the napkins that Howie was working at folding how Allison had shown him.

“Boys,” Shelby’s voice from the entrance called to them. “I’ve laid out a light snack for you to tide you over until the dinner starts tonight. Your other two friends are already over there snacking away.”

He hadn’t noticed until then, but Brian and Nick weren’t in the auditorium, he wondered exactly where they had been all this time. They were probably doing chores like the others so A.J. let their absence slide from his mind and quickened his pace to catch the others.

“There is something strange going on here,” A.J. started to tell the others after taking a bit of his cheese sandwich.

Brian shrugged and finished swallowing his food. “I don’t think so; they seem excited to see new people. Nick and I went to the general store to watch the knitting lesson; the women here are very friendly.”

“I don’t deny they are friendly,” A.J. replied thinking of Allison and her smile. “There is just something about….” He stopped talking as he noticed John walk through the doors and stand looking towards them all.

“We have just a bit more to do boys and then it’s time for the festivities tonight.” John grinned and motioned for them to follow. Nick grabbed another sandwich off the table and shoved it in his mouth quickly before walking out the door.

****

They dragged their feet back into their rooms where they were instructed to dress nicely to show up for the dinner that was starting in only an hour. Five guys trying to all make it through the one shower for guests in that time frame with time for them to get dressed, not something A.J. wanted to remember how they accomplished when they gathered downstairs to walk across the road together.

“Shoveling manure, something I never thought I’d do nothing I’d ever do again.” Nick cringed.

“It wasn’t that bad.” Brian playfully punched Nick’s arm. The doors opened and the boys took the numbers they were given at the door. They each looked at their numbers then up at the numbered tables. Not a single one of them was sitting together and the faces at each of their tables eyed them all with curiosity as they made their way into their seats.

A.J. glanced across the room looking for Allison, he hoped she would have been at the table with him, but he did not, could not see her. He turned his attention back to those at his table. A young girl sat next to him she held his conversation the entire evening, soon he forgot to look for Allison after dinner was over and the entertainment started.

“Folks!” John’s voice called out to the audience. “We are here tonight to celebrate Widow Crenshaw, let’s give a round of applause.”

A.J. started clapping and turned his attention to the woman that John was pointing out. The older lady stood and bowed, unsmiling, towards the others. At that time, A.J. was able to get a look across the table at the rest of the widow’s, his eyes fell on the last woman sitting there. He finally found Allison in the crowd sitting in the fifth widow’s seat.

“Now we have a very special treat tonight. We are going to have live entertainment.” John beamed at the crowd as the crowd murmured.

“Here it comes,” A.J. mumbled to himself. He figured they would ask him and the other boys to perform. He just couldn’t understand why they couldn’t straight out ask them but kept it secret until it was time to go on.

“Now, they are bit shy since this is their big premiere.” A.J. contorted his face in confusion when he heard these words. Was John saying these to make the town feel more special? John pointed his arm towards the stage in the back where 3 guys and one woman stood looking anxious. As soon as the crowd turned to look the music started up and the few couples A.J. spotted around the room began to dance. A few of the younger girls went around to the older gentlemen and began to ask them to dance. Before A.J. knew what was happening three girls were asking him if he would like to join them on the dance floor.

He smiled to each of them and led them one at a time onto the dance floor. He was not shocked, this sort of thing happened to him all the time. He looked around and noticed that his friends had just as many or more girls hanging around them waiting their turn to dance. When A.J. finished dancing with the third girl that originally asked him he wound his way around the crowd, moving towards Allison.

He watched her in hushed conversation with the other Widow’s, a look of concentration on each of their faces. Allison paused from her conversation, turned to look in A.J.’s direction and immediately her concerned faced beamed a smile towards him.

“Hello,” she started, walking towards him, leaving the other women to discuss whatever it was that they had been discussing.

“Would you care to dance?” He asked her. Her smiled dropped for a second but then warmed back up as she took his hand.

“Sure, why not.” She said as they walked towards the dance floor at the very moment the group started playing a slower tune. A.J. pulled Allison close to himself and breathed the scent of her hair in before asking “So was this group playing here that much of a surprise?”

He could hear Allison chuckle softly. “To most, yes. Nobody knew there was anyone in town that could teach anyone those instruments let alone help Martha get the courage to sing. I only knew because, well because of planning this evening.”

They were silent for a minute as they twirled together around the dance floor. “I didn’t know you were a widow.” A.J. finally whispered into Allison’s ear.

“It’s not something I thought was important, everyone in the town knew, I wanted someone to talk to me because they wanted to, not out of pity.” Her response let A.J. know that she did not want to continue on this topic so he closed his mouth and held her tighter.

“What about you?” She quietly asked.

“Not seeing anyone exclusively.” How could he tell her that his last girlfriend called it quits because of his nasty habit of screwing his fans, it was not something you told a woman you just met, or really, not something you told a woman at all.

The song ended and the couple broke apart clapping. As another song started A.J. pulled Allison over to an empty table and sat down. “I certainly am glad you are here, Allison, so far you have made the wait for our bus to be repaired more bearable.”

Allison’s cheeks turned a rosy pink at these words but she did not reply. The two of them sat together silently for a few more minutes before A.J. had the nerve to move his hand towards hers and place it gently on top, using his thumb to rub the back of her hand. Allison looked up and quickly yanked her hand out from under A.J.’s.

“There you are Allison.” John’s voice startled A.J. and he turned to look in the direction the man was standing. “I have a few questions about tomorrow night, would you be so kind as to talk with me, outside. I feel it’s too loud in here to hold a proper conversation.” He smiled warmly at Allison and she reluctantly nodded and followed him outside, glancing back at A.J. for a brief second before leaving the building.

*****

John rounded on Allison as soon as they stepped outside. “Stay away from him. You had your chance and it was spent. You know what he’s for! I don’t want to see you around him again.” John turned and went back inside leaving Allison along in her anger.

“Nothing you can do to me now John.” Allison whispered under her breath before heading back inside for a drink herself.

The night waned and Nick sat in the coolness of the dark. His shirt still stuck to his skin with sweat, but every so often a breeze trickled through giving him temporary relief. The noise and constant stream of girls asking him to dance got tiring and he moved outside hoping for some relief. Howie and Brian were already sleeping upstairs, Kevin, not wanting to be mean to anyone was still dancing, he had lost track of A.J. but what did that matter he was probably trying to get cell phone reception again hoping the moon would provide some kind of extra boost.

Closing his eyes as a breeze drifted over him again, he sighed in contentment. A few feet away he could hear hushed voices talking. He strained his ears to pick up the conversation.

“I know that it’s not getting done child, this is not the first time it has happened.” A female voice spoke.

“But if we could find someway, we could stowaway as they leave.” A younger voice answered back.

“You know John…” A loud noise next to Nick cut the rest of the sentence off. His eyes flew open falling on Shelby.

“There are clean towels if you’d care do take a shower tonight or in the morning.” She said going back inside almost immediately. Nick strained to hear the conversation again, hoping to catch what he might have missed. There were no voices anymore; in fact he was starting to think that Shelby purposely came outside when she did. She could have told him about towels when he went inside to go upstairs and sleep.

Sighing to himself he stood and turned to go inside. A movement in the corner of his eye caught his attention and he quickly turned to look. Two lone figures, a man and a woman walked away from the side of the building towards the meeting house where dancing was still going on. He watched until they disappeared inside and then went inside and up to his room to lie on his bed.

*****

A.J. walked with only the moon giving off any light. He was staring to wonder what he was doing with Allison. Yes, he thought she was pretty, yes, he was lonely and could use the company in his bed at night, but did he really want to get involved with a widow? She’d been married before, it’s not like he had not slept with married women before, they would throw themselves at him just as much as the young girl fans, but it just was weird to think of her as a widow. There was also something strange going on in the town. Everyone seemed to cower to John, A.J. knew that he was in charge from the beginning but he did not think that people would actually be afraid of this man.

He turned to go back towards the hotel when a lone female figure started walking towards him.

“A.J.” Allison’s voice called out. “I was hoping to find you; would you care to join me for a walk?”

They walked in silence for awhile until Allison broke the silence. “So tell me about yourself.”

“What do you want to know?” He asked, unsure if she wanted to hear about the famous A.J. or Alex, the boy from Florida.

“Where are you from? What is your family like? Where do you see yourself in a few years? Do you really enjoy traveling and performing?”

A.J. was taken slightly aback, he wasn’t sure anyone in the town knew that the five guys with the broken bus were anyone famous.

Allison chuckled. “We aren’t all in the dark here. My husband and I managed to rig an antenna to reach radio stations from the closest city. I’ve heard of you.”

“I wasn’t sure what to expect. I thought that John wanted us to perform tonight when he started talking.”

Allison growled slightly. “Let’s not talk about John. I want to know about you.”

“Well, I’m from Florida, my mom and grandparents raised me.” He sighed, thinking about his grandparents made him long for home. His mother would be waiting for them at the next concert venue; she was probably fuming at management and their inability to find her son and his friends. “I love my family, I don’t know where I’d be if I did not have them in my life.”

Allison nodded. “What about your career?”

“I love performing, but I see myself having a solo album in the future. Don’t get me wrong. I love the other guys, they truly are brothers, as cheesy as that sounds, but I can’t seem myself in my thirties and beyond still going by the group name that ends with “Boys”. The biggest bummer about being on the road is not having my grandma and grandpa with me.”

She looked at him expecting him to continue. When he did not she turned to look up at the moon.

“What about you?” He asked. “How did you come to be here and what about your…” He couldn’t find the words to continue to ask about the death of her husband.

She shrugged. “Perhaps another time.” She said and then quickly jogged off in the distance.

“There you are,” Kevin called out. “We were all wondering where you were. We all need to get some sleep, there is more to do tomorrow.”

A.J. kicked the dirt in front of him and slumped his shoulders, following Kevin back to the hotel. “Feels like they wrecked us just to do their chores.” He sighed and took one last look at the moon before going inside to sleep.

The early morning light seeped into the window waking A.J. He jumped out of bed and rushed into the shower, he wanted to be first to breakfast today, and somehow he knew it would keep him from having to do the dishes yet again. Once showered and dressed he made his way downstairs to find Shelby setting the table.

“This is a surprise.” She spoke startled. “From last to first.” She smiled and beckoned for him to follow. “Please help me bring the food to the table.” She smiled warmly at him which did not put A.J. to ease like he was sure she intended it to. By the time he brought all the food to the table the other guys had made their way downstairs.

“What’s with you A.J.? Up and down here before everyone else? Did you even sleep?” The questions were fired at him from the others. He did not bring himself to answer but put a good size helping of eggs, bacon and potatoes on his plate and commenced eating. He finished before the others who took their time eating and chatting about the events last night. There was only one thing that made last night that pleasant for A.J. and he was not about to share her with the other guys. He took his plate into the kitchen, washed and dried his stuff before putting them away. He hurried outside and across the street hoping that he would be able to have some alone time with Allison before others arrived to help set up.

He was disappointed when he arrived at the building and did not see Allison anywhere. There were a couple other girls there working on changing the decorations slightly for the evening.

“Will you be helping us?” One of the girls, the girl that sat at his table the night before, came over and asked him.

“Do you need my help?” A.J. asked hoping beyond all hopes that the answer would be ‘no’ and he could go on his way searching for Allison.

“Now that you mention it, yes.” She smiled warmly reminding A.J. of someone that he could not place. “We need to move all the tables to the outside of the room. We are doing line dancing tonight and it would be easier if the floor was not at the back of the room.” She continued to talk to A.J. about what would be taking place that evening though he blocked most of the conversation. He wanted to finish helping so he could find Allison. He thought for sure she would be here today, wasn’t it supposed to be her job to help set-up for all of these things?

A thought struck him, “Tonight, it’s not Allison we are honoring is it?”

The girl laughed. “Widow Thompson? She’s the youngest, so she’s last. She was feeling ill this morning, John told us, so we don’t expect her to show up until tonight.”

A.J. nodded in response and kept working until Shelby came by to call him to lunch. He turned to leave and thought he saw Shelby giving the young girl that was talking to him the thumbs up sign. He sighed and figured his exhaustion was getting to him. He joined the others for simple sandwiches again.

“What have you guys been doing all day?” A.J. asked curious for the first time in awhile. Anything had to be better then having your ear talked off all morning.

“Well I got stuck with dish duty this morning, and for added pleasure I got to clean the bathroom.” Howie made a gagging noise. “You guys really are all disgusting and need to clean up after yourselves.”

Nick laughed at Howie. “The rest of us were working in some field trying to get it ready for new ownership.” Nick shrugged and took another bite of his sandwich.

“Whose farm will it be?” A.J. asked the others. They all shrugged but Brian chimed in one answer. “I think I heard John refer to it as the Thompson farm at one point but that’s all I was able to catch before duties were handed out.”

*****

Allison watched from her window as the boys returned to her fields. Her heart skipped a beat as she noticed A.J. had replaced the young blond boy. She sighed to herself and moved towards the bedroom to lie back down. She was not ill, but John had made sure she could not leave her house today. He had warned her, now she would have to show some restrain or risk being locked up all the rest of the week unable to help her plans come to fruition.

Evening rolled around and A.J. cleaned himself off and made his way, with the rest of the guys, to the meeting hall for dinner. When they arrived it looked drastically different then the night before. Instead a look of elegance, the hall was made to look like a barnyard. Hay was scattered around on the floor with several bales of hay stacked in corners, dried cornstalks were propped up in corners. A.J. had not helped with these decorations so it took him off guard to see them now. He was again handed a number and separated from his friends for the evening’s meal.

The smell of barbeque reached his nose and forced his mouth to water in anticipation. When his table was called he lined-up and helped himself to heaping servings of chicken, potato salad and baked beans. He sat down and started to eat not even noticing the girl from this morning talking animatedly next to him. Her laugh caught his attention and he finally turned towards her.

“So I’ve told you all about myself, tell me about yourself.” He smiled at him.

He grinned a bit embarrassed that he had not heard a word she said earlier. He did not know what to tell her, what does anyone want to know? “There’s nothing to tell.”

She made a disbelieving noise with her mouth. “Tell me about your travels.”

A.J. sighed and started turned towards the young girl to start talking but before he could a loud clattering noise rang out across the meeting hall. Everyone’s eyes turned towards the guests of honor table where the third widow, whom A.J. had not heard the name of yet, sat bawling; apparently she knocked her plate over earlier.

It was at this time that A.J. glimpsed Allison for the first time today. She gave him no impression that she was ill, but earlier he was told she was and when he tried to get her to answer the door while he was working in her fields, she refused to come and get him sick. She helped the woman by fanning her with a napkin while the others consoled the crying woman. Allison’s eyes darted up as she looked around the room anxiously. She spotted A.J. and gave him a quick smile before continuing to search.

It was only seconds until John was at the crying woman’s side whispering in her ear. The tears and wails stopped and the woman sat straight looking out at the crowd. “I’m sorry.” She voiced. “Please let us not ruin this evening.”

Everyone returned to their conversations keeping their eyes averted from the woman who disturbed the evening. A.J. kept his eyes on her a bit longer before moving them to where Allison sat with her eyes on her own plate he knew that she was avoiding his eyes. He turned his attention back to the girl at the table who was talking to him again; he smiled faintly at her before excusing himself.

“I think I’ve just eaten too much food.” He said trying to keep the girl from following him out the door. He did not go back to his room; instead he turned and made his way to Allison’s farm. He did not know what spurred him to go in that direction, but he knew he wanted to be there.

He sat on her front porch and looked towards the sky. The air was calming; he could get used to evenings like these, but definitely could not stand the days of doing nothing but hard labor. He was an entertainer and he would never be able to live in a place like this, especially since he could not get his latte fix.

“Lost?” He heard her voice and he jumped slightly. He had not heard her approach he had been so wrapped up in his own thoughts.

“Your house is out of the way, I wanted to be alone.”

“Oh, if that’s the case I will go back to the dancing.” A small smile played on her lips as she turned to leave A.J. sitting on her porch.

“Alright, you caught me. I wanted to see and speak with you. I knew you would come home eventually so I decided to wait for you.”

She turned back around, a full smile now on her lips. “Well, glad you are learning to be honest. Walk with me?” She started to move in a direction away from the house and away from town. A.J. got off the porch and followed her. The stopped at a small lake A.J. had not seen before.

“Every time I go somewhere in this place it’s somewhere I’ve never seen before.” At this point it was out of habit that A.J. opened his phone to see if he had any cell phone reception. He snapped it shut and shoved it in his pants trying to keep his sigh of frustration as quiet as possible.

“Not enjoying your time here?” Allison asked.

“Just want to get back on the road. I’m sure two of our shows for this week have been cancelled already and that’s quite a few disappointed fans.”

Allison nodded and let A.J. flood her with how he had been feeling since he arrived, he even poured out some of his suspicions about the town to Allison. When she did not laugh at his thoughts about how creepy the town was, he started to worry even more. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his package of cigarettes, something he noticed he had not done in the last few days. He shook it off and lit the cigarette inhaling deeply.

“Don’t be at a rush to get through those.” Allison’s voice calmly started. “Smoking is looked down upon here and you cannot buy any at the general store. There is no form of tobacco at all, and of course, no alcohol.” She laughed. “It’s why my mother was so glad to find this place with my father. Forced him to stop drinking, but could not stop him from hitting her.”

A.J. got quiet; he had no response for this comment. No consoling words came to mind so he only sat smoking.

After a few minutes passed A.J. asked a question that had been on his mind for a time. “Where are all the children in this town?”

Allison shrugged and looked at her feet. “They usually stay at home. This week they’ve been having a sleepover at the schoolhouse. Happens every year for the Widow’s Walk. The adults celebrate the widow’s and the children have their own little party. Could you see them at these kinds of dinners for a week?” She chuckled uneasily.

“Do you have any children?” He had to know, she was after all married.

She looked away from A.J. and turned towards the horizon. A figure was approaching quickly. “See you.” She tossed her good-bye out and then ran off towards her house.

“There you are.” The girl who was sitting with A.J. at dinner beamed. “I was hoping we could dance.”

A.J. nodded silently and looked in the direction that Allison ran off in.

“Don’t worry about her, I won’t tell John she was talking to you. I don’t fear her as competition.”

He hated the repetitiveness this week was becoming for him as A.J. rose and realized that hey would be doing the same thing today he did yesterday. Pulling on his clothes he made his way downstairs and sat outside waiting for breakfast or to be asked to help with breakfast. He looked across the way at the bus sitting outside the mechanic shop. Curious as to what work actually had been done, he made his way over.

Whispered voices caught his attention and he slowed, making sure the bus blocked him from whoever was talking.

“There wasn’t enough wrong with the bus John.” A male voice spoke. “So I took the liberty to destroy a few more engine parts.”

“Good,” He heard John reply before footsteps behind him startled him.

“You don’t want to get caught here after hearing that.” Allison whispered. She quietly pulled A.J. away from the repair shop, away from the hotel, back towards the way the boys had entered the town.

“What was the meaning of that?” A.J. shouted his question, though he did not intend to shout at Allison.

Allison sighed. “They’ve been doing that for years, as long as the town has been in existence they’ve been stranding traveler’s here.”

“But why?” He brought his voice back down to a normal level, afraid that John and the mechanic or someone else might hear him if he continued to shout in anger.

“For population…. You see…”

“A.J. it’s time to eat and Shelby said if you don’t get here soon you’ll be stuck with dish duty again.” Nick yelled out the door of the hotel.

Allison scurried off before A.J. could turn around and ask her more about what she started to confide in him. The way the people of this town had been acting was really getting tired, he hated to admit it, but Allison’s behavior was one of the strangest. She seemed into him, then ignored him. She wanted to confide in him, then would run off when anyone else approached. He needed some time alone with her away from everyone to find out what exactly was going on with her and with this town, and John, stranding them on purpose? Hadn’t he said something about that the other night? Was Allison around when he said it? Was she playing off his fears to get something from him? He shook his head the thoughts running through his mind were confusing him greatly and it was only eight in the morning.

When he sat to breakfast there were a few more faces at the table. A.J. recognized a girl that had been hanging on Nick the last few days and the girl that was constantly talking to him in the evenings. He smiled slightly and sat down. The girls started talking amongst themselves almost immediately trying to include both him and Nick in the conversation. He noticed he was not the only one trying to keep food in his mouth constantly so he would not have to talk.

Shelby spoke towards the end of the meal. “A.J., why don’t you and Lisa head outside and go for a stroll.” Her eyes twinkled as she spoke, and realization struck him. Lisa was Shelby’s daughter and there were some hidden intentions behind her voice. Perhaps Shelby thought that since someone who was rich and famous came into the town, now would be a good time to try and get her daughter hooked up with one of them. A.J. shook his head to himself, but out of politeness went outside with Lisa and started to walk towards the lake he first saw with Allison.

“So…A.J., has our town started to grow on you?”

He could not give his true impression, that the town was boring and that he never wanted to come back once he got away, he wanted to be nice so he simply stated. “I’m having more fun then I thought I would.” It wasn’t a total lie, he did have fun at the dinners and his time with Allison he found quite pleasurable.

“I’m glad.” He caught Lisa’s face which had now turned a crimson pink.

They were quiet until they reached the lake where they managed to find a tree giving off some shade and they sat down underneath. A.J. leaned against the tree and considered pulling out one of his last few cigarettes but decided against having one now, he felt he would need a stress relief later.

Lisa was practically sitting on top of A.J. under the tree, he face looking down at her hands. Now she’s shy? A.J. wondered to himself, she was so talkative at breakfast and when he had been helping her yesterday. He soon found out the reason as Lisa turned and threw herself on top of him pressing her lips against his. He grabbed her arms and tried to move her away, but she was a bit stronger then he first anticipated and he had to use more force to get her off of him.

“What are you doing?” A.J. asked the young girl.

“I like you, I thought you…” tears were starting to form in her eyes. A.J. looked at the girl then out towards the water.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to, it’s just well. I’ll be leaving here and you live here. It’s best not to get involved.” He couldn’t believe the words were coming out is mouth. Usually that’s what he liked best about being on the road, he would get a girl, have a girl and then never have to see her again.

With tears streaming down her face, Lisa stood up and turned on him with anger. “You think you’re leaving?” she laughed and turned back towards town leaving A.J. to conclude that he was correct, he and the guys were stranded in this town, purposely.

A.J. ran back to the hotel, he had to tell the guys what he overheard this morning, what Lisa just said and his own conclusions. When he arrived back at the hotel Shelby and Walter were waiting for him on the front porch. His heart dropped out of his chest as they stood and walked towards him. “Your friends are out working in fields.” Walter said then turned and walked around back. A.J. was left with a glaring Shelby.

“She liked you when none of the other girls would go near your with that filth all over your body.” She indicated his tattoos and hair color. “Your friends have been so wonderfully compliant, but you’ve been trouble the whole time. Well there is nothing you can do about it is there.” She hissed. “John will take care of you in good time.” With that she pushed her way through the doors of the hotel leaving A.J. standing wondering what exactly was going on in this town.

He strode across the way to the meeting hall where, by listening through the door he could tell he would not be welcome in the room. He heard a crying Lisa telling her woes to the one person A.J. wanted to avoid, John. He turned and started to walk towards Allison’s farm, he needed to ask her to finish what she started telling him. He needed to know.

He only got as far as the mechanic’s before deciding to see exactly how much damage had been done to the bus now. He looked at the engine, the hood conveniently left open. He sighed at himself for never letting his grandfather teach him more about engines. He moved away from the engine, only able to see a few tubes not connected to parts and towards the doors to get on the bus. He stepped on and immediately found his bunk and crawled inside. It was almost like a second home to him, this bunk. He closed his eyes and breathed deep.

He wanted to stay lying there all day, but he knew he had to tell the others about what everyone had been revealing to him. He needed to talk to Allison though, he needed to get more information from her before he brought the topic up with the others. He swung his legs off his bunk, jumping when his eyes caught sight of John boarding the bus. Quickly he got back on the bunk and closed the curtain. He steadied his breathing and hoped John would not find him, Shelby’s statement about John taking care of him did not sit to well with him.

He heard John move around the bus, like he was looking for something. But the footsteps never stopped by the bunks. Whatever it was John was looking for, he did not believe it would be in the bunks so John must not have been looking for him after all.

“I’ll find it Allison, believe me I’ll find it.” John muttered to himself and then strode towards the front of the bus. A.J. heard him descend the stairs but he waited until a good amount of time had passed before he carefully pulled back the curtain and glanced around to make sure no one else was there. Vacating the bus quickly, A.J. ran all the way to the Thompson farm. None of the others were there, but he needed Allison first.

A.J. pounded on the door trying to get a response, she had to be home he needed to talk to her. What was she hiding from John, what had she been trying to tell him. “Allison, I need you to finish telling me what you started telling me this morning.”

No answer came. Frustrated he kicked the door, it creaked open. A.J. pushed the door. “Hello?” He called out. “Allison?” No one answered so he walked carefully around the room looking at the pictures of Allison and her husband smiling broadly on their wedding day. Allison and her parents when she was a child. There was even a picture in the meeting hall where her mother sat stone faced at the table that Allison herself had been gracing for the past few evenings.

A hand stitched pillow caught A.J.’s eye on the sofa. “Salvation lies through the son.” He read it again twice and shook his head. Of course, religious thoughts are not uncommon stitched into pillows. He continued to look around the room, then something caught his eye. It was a picture of Allison and her family, obviously on a road trip. They stood outside the car for the picture, the camera had probably been set on timer. They must have been at a rest stop or something since there was another man in the picture, further back standing around. It wasn’t really that the picture was odd, it just reminded A.J. of something he had not seen around the town. They have a mechanic, but he had yet to see anyone from the town drive a car. Even those that lived the furthest from the town had ridden horses or walked. What was the point of having a garage to work on cars if nobody drove cars?

With this new question brewing in his mind. A.J. set off to find the rest of the group. He turned from the picture and stood face to face with John.

“Allison is not home.” John stated. “Why are you in her home if she did not invite you inside?” He questioned giving A.J. a suspicious look. “We do not tolerate thieves in this town.” He simply stated.

“I wasn’t here to steal anything.” A.J. said in his defense. “The door opened when I knocked.” He couldn’t say when he kicked it that would imply he was using force to get inside. “I came in to make sure Allison was alright and not injured in any way.” He thought his excuse was good, besides isn’t that why many people went inside houses if the door opened easily in movies? To make sure the inhabitant was alright?

John continued to look at A.J. with suspicious eyes for a minute then they instantly softened to the friendly face he remembered on the first day they met. “Why don’t I take you to the fields that your friends are helping out in and you can help them too.” He held his arm out in the direction of the front door and waiting for A.J. to walk in front of him.

Warily, A.J. stepped in front of John. They walked side by side for a bit, A.J. hoping that now was not the time for Shelby’s threat to come to pass. He sighed in relief, hoping John did not hear him, when he saw a field ahead of him and his four friends and three others working in a field straight ahead.

“Well there you are.” John said. “But before you go I wanted to talk with you about something. You have to understand about Shelby, what she said.” He laughed here. “I don’t know what she meant by me taking care of you, I think her daughter was just upset about what happened and you know, mother trying to protect her daughter.” He shrugged as if he was embarrassed and then turned away. “Well I’m sure the Timber’s will offer you all lunch for helping, so I won’t be seeing you again until the dinner tonight.” With that he walked away from A.J.

He stood for a minute thinking about what John had said, it made sense, but there were too many other things he had overheard from John’s own mouth that would lead him to believe that Shelby’s threat was not idle. If it was just a mother protecting a daughter, why wouldn’t she have threatened him with Walter? Why John? He needed to talk to Allison to make the pieces fall together, but he probably would not see her again until that night.

He turned and walked towards the field, waving the other guys over to him. When they all gathered around, Nick was the first to speak.

“Where have you been? It’s not fair that we’ve been working since breakfast and you are just now arriving.” It came out like a whine, something Nick had been working on not doing since he was the youngest but A.J. did not blame him, he would probably sound the same if the positions were reversed.

“That’s what I need to talk to you about.” A.J. started. “I went to check on the progress of the bus, nobody is there working on it at all and it seems worse then before. In fact, I overheard John and the mechanic talking about destroying more engine parts.” He held up his hand when he saw Kevin open his mouth to protest. “I was on the bus this morning too. I saw John get on, he was looking for something then he cursed Allison and got back off the bus. I then went to Allison’s, she wasn’t there, but John showed up shortly after me. Shelby’s daughter made a move on me this morning and when I rejected her...” He ignored Nick’s snicker about A.J. actually rejecting a girl’s advances and continued. “…when I rejected her she stormed off and then Shelby threatened me saying John was going to ‘take care of me’. Strange things are going on in this town. I don’t think we are here by accident.”

Howie and Kevin shook their heads and looked at each other. “A.J. have you been getting enough sleep?” Howie asked. “It sounds to me that your imagination is running away with you. There is nothing strange going on.”

“What about the dinner’s? Have you all been basically paired with a girl from this town at those tables?” A.J. asked.

“So they all want their daughters to have a chance with a good-looking, rich, city guy.” Brian said smiling broadly.

“I don’t think any of these girls are out to leave this town. I don’t think our money or where we were from have anything to do with anything.” A.J. looked at Nick; he hoped to at least convince the youngest.

Nick shook his head. “I don’t know I have overheard some strange conversations. The other night I heard women plotting ‘a way out’ but I didn’t get to hear much else.”

Before A.J. could say another word, a lady approached them. “If you boys don’t stop chatting and get some work done, they’ll be no lunch for you.”

Frustrated with the timing of the people of this town, he grabbed the rake from the woman and marched off into the fields hoping to work off some of his steam.

*****

“I know you said we need them John. I know they are important for survival, but that man with the tattoos and colored hair, he’s causing nothing but trouble. He didn’t even seem interested in my Lisa, always wanting to be around Widow Thompson. I’m telling you, he’s going to be a problem.”

“Shelby, I will handle him. He will be around much longer then Allison anyway and when he realizes that he’s not going anywhere he will settle down to life here like the others are already doing. Then we’ll find him a nice wife and he’ll stay. Trust me dear, have I ever led you stray before?”

When the boys arrived at dinner that night they were separated as usual but A.J. noticed his table did not contain any young unmarried girls, only couples, though the older men at his table all seemed to have women that were at least ten years younger. He did not mind, no one chatting his ear off while he tried to figure out what was going on with the town. He watched the others take their seats at tables with at least 2 or three girls a piece. He started to really look around the room and for the sheer hell of it; he counted the men in the room.

He gasped slightly as he noticed that most of the men in the room were older, there were only two guys, besides him and the rest of the group, that were around their age. The rest of the men were old, but there were plenty of women. One of the men from the town had a table to himself filled with younger girls all hanging on every word he said, laughing at his jokes and each trying to catch his eye.

His train of though was interrupted as the front of the room erupted in crying once again. The woman they were honoring that night, was crying like she did the other night. Nobody seemed to be able to calm her wails, not even words from John kept her from tearing up and crying through the entire evening. By the time the woman calmed down, A.J. had lost what he forgot what he had been thinking about. He finished his meal and made his way outside hoping to catch Allison as she was leaving, it seemed there would be no dancing tonight, they were watching the woman’s favorite film.

He stood outside as he watched the two other guys make off towards the lake with girls; finally a solitary female strode out of the building. “Hello A.J.” Allison turned towards him. “I knew you would be out here.” She smiled and started to walk towards the garage where the bus was.

She boarded the bus and made her way towards the back seating area, A.J. followed like an obedient puppy. “I want you to tell me what you started to tell me this morning.” His voice was as forceful as he could make it with Allison around.

She patted the seat next to him and waited until he was sitting. “Before I do…” She stopped and leaned forward pressing her lips to his. He was startled at first but quickly pulled her closer holding her to him. Just as quickly as she started to kiss him she pulled away. “I would never have forgiven myself if I had not done that.” She smiled slightly embarrassed now.

A.J. tried to move close to her again, he wanted to feel her soft lips on his again; he wanted the jolt of excitement he felt when they kissed to rush back through him. His urge to know what was going on in the town was drowned by his sexual attraction to the woman sitting across from him.

“You wanted to know about the town?” Allison asked.

“That can wait,” A.J. said as he moved forward and took Allison in his arms once again. Her lips received him eagerly. They paused shortly to lift each others shirts off of each other. A.J. let his lips wander Allison’s warm body. He never wanted a woman like he wanted Allison at this moment. Despite the lingering heat of the evening, Allison and A.J. let their bodies entwine becoming one. Wrapped up in their own passion, neither one heard the noise of someone tinkering with the engine of the bus. Or the whispers of female voices outside the bus.

A.J. awoke the next morning alone. He was unaware when Allison left, but it had to be during the dark of night since the morning sun was just coming over the horizon. He stretched his arms high over his head and glanced around the back of the bus. A piece of paper lying next to his crunched under his weight, he sat up quickly and took the paper in his hands.

A.J.,
We need to speak. Meet me around lunch near the lake.
Allison

He stared at the note in his hands, holding it tight he stood and put his clothes back on before carefully exiting the bus.

“There you are.” A male voice startled A.J., his hand holding the paper quickly forcing inside his pocket.

“John.” A.J. said turning and trying his best to act normally. “Sorry, I don’t know what happened. I was looking for something on the bus and must have lost track of time. I swear I only sat down for a minute and the next thing I knew it was morning.”

John stared at him, his eyes giving A.J. the impression he was trying to decide whether to believe him or not. Eventually a strained smile crossed John’s face. “You should have let someone know you needed something off the bus. I’m sure Shelby or Walter would have come to get it for you.”

“Oh no need to bother them, I wasn’t sure if I’d even brought it with me on this trip.” A.J. smiled and turned to walk away from John, the front of the bus catching his eye. The hood was still open but not as many parts seemed to be on the ground around the bus as before.

“What was it?” John’s voice called out before he managed to walk away completely.

“Huh?” A.J. responded.

“What was it you were looking for on the bus?” A.J. could not be sure, but it appeared that John was asking with a smirk on his face, as if he knew A.J. wasn’t looking for something and he was going to catch him in his lie.

“It was only a book.” He turned and walked as fast as he dared away from the bus hoping that John would believe him.

A.J. joined the rest of the group for breakfast that morning and waited as Walter informed them where they would be helping today. Solemnly he stood and followed Nick to the building they were “asked” to clean. They took one look inside and sighed in unison before beginning to move boxes. A.J. picked up a box from Nick and began to move it towards the back of the building as they were asked. Before he could put the box down, the bottom broke and everything inside spilled out.

“Shit!” A.J. cursed and threw the now empty box across the room.

Nick came over to where he stood and looked down at the mess on the floor. “I think there are extra boxes, we can just pack this stuff up again.” A.J. nodded at Nick’s idea and knelt next to the stuff on the floor trying to organize the mess before they put it away.

There were old articles of clothing, knick-knacks of many kinds and even old newspaper articles. A.J. didn't understand why the owner didn't just throw the stuff away versus keeping it stored in a box with what looked like hundreds of other boxes. He picked up an old newspaper clipping and scanned the words on the page, but it was what was underneath that caught his attention. A picture lay on the floor, the glass in the frame slightly cracked, but he knew the picture. He sat holding the picture of Allison and her parents outside a car, the very picture he saw in her house only a day or two before. He stared at it wondering why it was now in a box in an old building.

“What did you find?” Nick asked setting the box down next to A.J.

“Nothing,” He lied, trying carefully to set the picture aside so he could take it to Allison when he met with her later. He would return it and ask her then.

The two boys managed to move all the rest of the boxes without a hitch, and soon they heard the door open and Shelby’s voice calling them to lunch.

Carefully hiding the picture under his shirt, using the waistband of his pants to hold it up, A.J. followed Nick back to the restaurant to eat. He grabbed a couple sandwiches and told everyone he wanted to go for a walk outside since he’d been cooped up inside all day. No one seemed to wonder about the behavior, they were too busy eating.

A.J. walked quickly towards where Allison asked him to meet her. He saw her standing, waiting for him, and his pace quickened. He hugged her and kissed her lips quickly.

“I have to tell you…” Allison started to talk but A.J. held up his finger.

“I know you want to tell me what’s going on here, and I want to know, but I found this, this morning and thought you might like it back.” He lifted his shirt and pulled the picture out showing Allison.

The surprise clearly showed on Allison’s face as she took the picture in her hands. “You shouldn’t have.” She smiled at him, a tear forming in her eye.

A.J. shrugged, “Why was it in a storage box anyway, especially if it means that much to you?”

“It has to deal with what they do here.” Allison looked around. “My house has been cleared out for the next person to take over. The fields have been cleared, but you knew that since you helped. It’s all in preparation for another couple to take the house after marriage to start their family.”

“But where will you go? Do the widow’s all live together.” He realized now that they cleared the fields at each of the widow’s houses all through the week.

Now the tears were falling from Allison’s eyes freely. “They do not have a place for us to live.”

“They make you leave the town!” A.J. was aghast at the cruelty of the idea. These women had made their homes in this town and now because their other half was dead and the town wanted their houses they were kicked out, now homeless. Then an idea struck him about why they celebrated a Widow’s Walk. “They make you walk out of the town on your own don’t they?”

Allison inclined her head; she could no longer speak through her cries.

A.J. moved closer to her, taking her in his arms. “You won’t have to, I’m sure I can convince the other guys to let all of you leave the town with us when the bus gets fixed.” He nodded at his idea. “I’m going to go talk to them now about this.” He turned from her and began to talk back towards the town.

He heard a loud sniff, “They don’t plan on letting you leave, A.J. They plan on making you members of this town.”

A.J. stopped in his tracks and turned towards Allison. “What do you mean? They have to, we aren’t from here.”

“Not many of us are from here originally A.J.” She shoved the picture in front of him. “This picture was taken after we got two flat tires on the road, this man you see walking towards us, that’s John’s father. He approached us shortly after we took this picture and told us that he saw what happened and he was there to help us. He brought us to town, our car came shortly after.” She sighed and looked fondly at her parents. “They took us in, the tires were going to take time to come in they told us, but we were treated well while we waited. My parents soon fell in love with this place and we ended up staying. I’ve never seen our car since. I told my parents I wanted to leave when I reached eighteen but I never was able to. I met my husband, another outsider, and we plotted to leave this town.” She stopped and looked towards the town obviously afraid someone would hear the story.

“But you are being kicked out of the town now, they are making you leave, at least you finally get to leave.” A.J. was trying to help her think of the positive.

“You don’t get it, A.J. nobody leaves this town.”

“But you said….”

Allison held up her hand. “Nobody leaves the town A.J., it’s just not done. Especially not males.” She looked at him as the thought from last night came back into A.J.’s head.

“I noticed last night that there are quite a few more women in this town then men. Older men with younger wives, girls fighting over sitting with boys.”

“Something here, perhaps the water, they would never tell me, makes it difficult to conceive a boy. Boys are born here and raised here, but there are more girls by far. This town lives for its male residents. John’s family has lived for more then a century and they have had a boy child with every generation, so naturally the town has him as the guide, the protector. His word is law. His grandfather started the Widow’s Walk and the town has gone along with it since. Sons and daughters have watched their widowed mothers marched out of town for years now.”

“What about those men who have their wives precede them in death?” He looked at Allison and answered his own question. “They remarry a younger woman with the hope of producing a son.” He shook his head. “You are young though, why force you out?”

“You heard John, I’ve had my chance.”

They stood in silence for a bit longer. “Get the women to finish fixing the bus; we will leave this town Friday night before the ‘parade’ the next morning.”

Allison smiled, “I knew that you would choose this if you knew, the other women didn’t believe that you would care that I was wasting my time, but I knew.”

A.J. blinked at Allison before turning to leave. “I’ll let the other guys know,” he called back to her as he trotted off suddenly feeling very used.

He found the rest of the guys sitting on the porch drinking lemonade outside Shelby’s. “There you are,” Howie called after him. “We were waiting for you. They are letting us take the afternoon however, we want and we thought we could practice. You know keep our vocals no spot for when we return to the tour.”

“I have to tell you something.” A.J. spat out before he lost his nerve. The other four listened as A.J. recounted what Allison told him about the town and his own conclusions. He ended with his plan to get out and take the widows with them.

The others sat staring at A.J. confused, until Nick spoke. “I believe what he says. I’ve been with a couple of girls this week and each one seemed to be very persistent about getting a proposal from me. I thought they were just eager to get married and possibly leave this place. That was until one of the girls started deciding which house here we should live in if we get married.” Nick shook his head, “The sooner we leave the better.”

The guys sat in the shade of the porch planning how they would leave town the next night. Their time ended as they were called to get ready for that evening’s dinner celebrating the next widow.

*****

Walter listened to the talk he heard outside. When John first suggested that he keep his ear on any conversation the strangers might hold he was upset. When the guys talked about singing, touring and even missing loved ones, Walter thought he might have to have words with John about setting him on this pointless task. When he heard the fifth one come back and start talking, his ears perked as he told the story of the town to the others.

John was right in having Walter listen in. He hit the jackpot when the guys started plotting to leave the town. Walter learned about the Widow’s hidden talent of car repair and that these men planned to leave and take the Widow’s with them. A traditionalist, Walter did not want to see their celebration ruined. He knew the women never returned, John always told them that they found their way to the next town, that he’d seen some of these women today and knew they were fine. Walter did not want to ruin the town’s biggest celebration; he knew he needed to tell John what he overheard.

It wasn’t hard to find John; he knew that the council was meeting that night, his own wife Shelby served on the council. Hands sweating he knocked on the door, nobody interrupted council meetings. The door opened and four pair of eyes fell on him.

“Excuse my interruption, but I wanted to tell you that those boys we’ve taken in, they are planning on leaving tomorrow night.” There were scoffs from a couple of the council members, as though they thought the idea of these five leaving was ridiculous. “It turns out; the Widow’s have been aiding the repair of the bus in hopes that they would take them with them when they left. I thought ridiculous; everyone knows that the Widow’s are welcomed in the next town over. Many are still living there.” Walter watched Shelby and John exchange a look before one of them spoke.

“Walter you did right by coming here tonight,” John spoke. “You may leave while the council deliberates the information you brought us.”

They watched as Walter exited before they started speaking.

“What do you propose we do John? These boys are turning out to be a disaster. We should have let them drive by on the road.”

John shook his head. “I would have thought with their driver dead they would be stranded. We could have used the other man, but my decision at the time was he would serve a better purpose dead rather then alive.”

“It’s not all of them, John; it’s the one with the tattoos all over.” Shelby spoke. “I knew he was going to be trouble.”

“We can’t just let that one leave without his friends; he would find his way back to get them. We will have to let them all leave.” John’s decision led to gasps from the other three. “We can replace them.”

“But to lose four healthy men John, it’s madness. We need them.” One of the others spoke.

John held his hand, “it’s my decision. They leave tomorrow.”

“What about the Widow’s, what if they try to take them tomorrow still? You know Allison has been seducing the one and now we know why.” Shelby spoke.

John shrugged. “We move the walk to tomorrow afternoon instead. Announce tonight that we will have Allison’s celebration at breakfast Friday as is her wish, she would hardly put up a fight and if she did who would believe a grieving Widow? After they finish their last meal, we will gather for the walk.”

The others nodded their approval of John’s decision. John’s eyes glinted as he looked towards the doors Walter walked through earlier, “Tomorrow afternoon we will have five fewer problems, and five fewer in population.”

John stared at the bus that brought these now troublesome boys to his town. Allison had hid parts to the bus in order to fix the bus under the town’s nose. He was mad at first, but now they would leave this place, the bus taking them far away. A.J. would never see Allison again, though he wouldn’t know that as he dreamed away. John slammed the hood of the engine down and walked back towards his own house.

****

A.J. managed to steal a moment away from Allison at the beginning of the dinner that evening to tell Allison the plan and to tell her to let the others know as well. She smiled up at him, grabbing his arm before he walked away.

“What’s wrong?” Allison asked A.J., he wasn’t his usual self.

He shrugged. “Something you said earlier this afternoon, made it sound like you were only after me to help you escape, that there was nothing more.”

“At first, you were a means to an end.” A.J.’s face fell. “But, last night would not have happened if I only thought of you that way.” She grabbed his hand and squeezed it tight. “I hope that when we leave here you won’t get swept away in your old life and forget about me, I hope something more might come from this experience.” She smiled at him and left his side, returning to her spot at the front table. A.J. watched as she leaned over and talked quietly to the other women, their faces, even the one who was always crying, brightened.

A.J. returned to his table and tucked in to start eating his food. He wondered what kind of food would be served on Allison’s night, the mere thought of Allison brought a smile to his face and he found himself picturing them going places together when they left the town. He imagined her on his arm as he attended the Grammy’s, he even pictured their picture popping up all over the internet on fan sites. He chuckled slightly to himself hoping no one else at the table was taking note of his mood. He looked towards the others and noticed they were looking towards the front stage. A.J. was so lost in thought he had not noticed John calling for attention.

“Thank you friends,” John started speaking. “The council and I consulted the almanac and we noticed that Saturday will be the beginning of an early fall, which you know will bring an early winter. Therefore we have moved up our annual trip to get supplies to Saturday.”

“What about the parade?” Someone in the audience shouted.

John held his hand to calm the crowd that was attempting to become riled. “We have thought long about that as well. After consulting Widow Thompson, she has kindly agreed to have her celebration tomorrow morning at breakfast with the parade following before lunchtime tomorrow.”

A.J.’s eyes flew to Allison; he knew no such arrangement had been made. The townsfolk were applauding John and the new plan. A.J. caught John’s eye and took note of the look of triumph he received.

John wasn’t finished speaking and as soon as it got quiet, he spoke again. “Unfortunately for us, but I’m sure fortunately for these gentlemen, the five men that have been such a great help this week will be leaving tonight after dinner. Their bus has been fixed and I’m sure they are anxious to continue with their life outside our community. As I understand it, they are a very popular singing group and were in the middle of a tour when they landed in our world.”

Eyes all over the room were turning to look at the five guys mentioned by John; a few murmurs of awe were heard as well. A.J.’s eyes never left John’s face; the look of absolute triumph was enough to make A.J. want to fly from his seat and tear John off the stage. He did not move though, he sat and watched as John told everyone to continue.

The rest of the night A.J. tried to get back to Allison to figure a way out now, but it was no use, someone was always around her. Shelby, it seemed, was her new best friend and would not let Allison out of her sight.

The whole town was at the bus to say good-bye to the five that were leaving. A.J. tried to catch Allison’s eye but she was nowhere to be seen. It seemed Shelby had packed up their items already and they were safely stored on the bus. Walter seemed unsure about the ease of Shelby letting the five of them go.

“Thank you for your hospitality.” Kevin said politely kissing Shelby’s cheek and shaking Walter’s hand. Howie and Brian followed suit. Nick mumbled a “thank you” before getting on the bus himself. A.J. turned to those that helped hold him captive the last few days, he knew he should be somewhat polite and say thank you at least, but he was not feeling it. Instead, he nodded at them and boarded the bus.

Out of what A.J. could only, imagine was anger, Shelby spat out one last comment before the bus doors closed. “You’ll never see her again.”

A.J. found a chair and sat down; Brian behind the wheel started the engine and pulled away from the town. Though A.J. was glad to be leaving, glad Brian took the time to learn to drive the bus from their old driver, and glad that he was returning to his old life, he could not let Allison be run from the town into the desert to walk to the next town.

“We can still help them.” He blurted out when they were at least an hours drive away. “We can go back tomorrow and pick them up after they leave the town. I wouldn’t think it would be that hard to find a group of women walking in the desert.”

The others agreed to help the women at least to the next town if they desired. It was cruel to make them walk all the way to the next town. Some of those women were too old to walk in that kind of heat, then what would happen to them.

Brian found a gas station and got permission from the attendant to park their bus in the lot so that they could spend the night there. Nobody noticed their cell phones now had reception.

*****

The boys woke early the next morning, gassed up the bus and turned back towards the town A.J. desperately wanted to leave since the day they arrived. He watched anxiously out the window for any sign of the women. He wanted to hold Allison; he wanted to take her home to be with her. Those casual flings he had in so many towns so many times no longer interested him, he wanted to be with this one woman.

A gasp came from the driver’s seat as Brian slowed the bus down. “God have mercy.” He whispered loud enough for the others to hear. They all turned towards a window to have a look at what Brian saw.

A.J. isn’t sure what would have happened if Kevin was not there holding him. He wanted to break the window to run towards the evil he saw. His tears blurred his eyes, but he knew, he saw. John, Shelby and two other men were hoisting Allison’s lifeless body into a hole in the ground that held the bodies of the other four women.

He did not know which of the guys called the police; he wasn’t even aware his phone was working. He remembered sitting in the cold interrogation room where the police wanted to know everything that happened in the town. His eyes welled with tears with every mention of Allison, but he got through the process. The rest of his friends left long before him, but A.J. refused to leave until he had an explanation of what happened.

A younger cop took pity on him and let him know what so many other cops denied. It turned out that they uncovered at least 350 bodies of women in the desert where they found John and the others burying the five most recent. Since his grandfather started the tradition of the Widow’s Walk, the council of the town poisoned the last meal of the Widow’s and sent them out on their walk. The rest of the town, even the Widow’s themselves were under the impression that they would end up in another town, the council members spread that lie too. The four current council members were looking at the death penalty themselves for poisoning over 65 women in the last fifteen years. The townsfolk all begged for rides to another town where they might find a way to begin their lives a new, to find a way to mourn their mothers, sisters, grandmothers they now found out were deceased.

A.J. took little comfort knowing that John and Shelby would meet their end for their actions; it would not bring Allison back into his life. Instead of going back to the hotel, they were calling home for the next week; A.J. turned and found himself walking into a bar.

“Double shot of Jack Daniels.” He told the bartender as he sat down on the barstool forcing his tears to stay away. He gulped the drink ignoring the burning sensation in his throat; it only took a few seconds for some of the pain to go away. “Another please.” He asked without looking up.