Where the Cicadas Sing

Loretta Kane took her cap off and fanned her face as she waited to check into her room. She looked around the small lobby for any signs of life but all that could be heard was the gentle humming of the ceiling fan.

The fan did not cool but pushed the thick air around giving movement but no relief. Loretta rang the desk bell again and dropped her bags to the floor to hurriedly take off her jean jacket. She peeled it off and raised her arms in an attempt to cool herself. It was summer in Missouri and no one was escaping the wet quilt of heat that fell on De La Terre.

“Hello!” Loretta called again, “Is there anyone working here?”

A man came through the narrow hallway door and switched on the overhead light that cracked then hummed along with the fan. Loretta shielded her eyes as she tried to pull her jacket back on.

“Sorry to keep you waiting ma’am,” the man said. “We’ve all been in the back watching the latest news report about Matilda Glen. Have you heard about her? Poor kid, the family is holding a vigil Saturday night praying for her safe return. Do you have a reservation?”

“Yes I made a reservation, it’s under Kane. First name Loretta. Kane with a ‘K’.”

“Ah I see, here ya are. You’re staying through the weekend with us right? Thursday through Sunday?” He handed her a key.

“Yes I will be and yes, I have heard of Matilda Glen, that’s why I’m here.”

The man’s face fell into a sullen expression.

“Are you a relation? I’m so sorry ma’am.”

“No, oh no I’m here on business. I’ve been hired by the family to look into her case. I’m with a special police unit over in Moran. I’ve come to be of added assistance to the family and the sheriff here.”

“Oh! Well I’ll be damned I wouldn’t have guessed that,” the man said and smiled. “Well let me know if you need anything then. Most of the greasy spoons around here are closed already but you can go down the road to the grocers for dinner. You’ll have a hot plate in your room so feel free to make whatever you’ll like.”

“Yeah thanks,” said Loretta as she headed out the door along the walkway leading to her room.

****

“Excuse me, ma’am, you really need to watch your step! It’s slippery there.”

Lorretta eyed the small yellow caution signs surrounding the produce area on the other side of the store. She hadn’t even noticed them before.

“It’ll probably be best for you to stay out of that area completely,” said the man behind the counter.

Loretta couldn’t place his age. He looked to be about 14 and 40 all at the same time. Puny, with a receding hairline of silky brown hair. Most of his face was taken up by large spectacles.

“Yeah sure thing,” she said.

She continued down the aisle to grab a box of Hot Pockets, a bottle of water and a bag of ice. The ding of the front door opening led in the almost deafening sound of cicadas. The high pitched whine filled the store as two women, who looked to be in their early 30s, came in.

“Damn those cicadas!” One exclaimed. “They’re always so bad this time of year. So freaking loud.”

“Yeah they’re worse down here though on the edge of town. It must be because of the tree line into the forest,” said the other.

“They should be looking for Matilda there,” said the first. “They won’t go in there though. Too much work.”

Loretta grabbed the bag of ice and headed up to the check-out where the two women were buying gum and a six pack of Budweiser.

“That really sucks what happened to hear. Poor thing being just 15. I hope she comes back ok.”

“She probably got pregnant and ran off from her parents or some bull like that.”

Loretta slipped in behind them. Knowing small town politeness, she chimed in on their conversation.

“Why do you think the sheriff won’t go into the woods?”

The two women side-eyed each other and the first said “You’re not from around here are you? The woods have been privately owned by some family or another for generations. It’s so overgrown now you couldn’t get in even if you wanted to.”

The two women said it was a place for the local kids to meet, drink and “get low”. They high-fived over their own memories of exploring through the woods in high school.

“Wouldn’t go there now though, the place gives me the creeps.”

“You ladies done or can I get you all something else,” the man said through pursed lips as he tapped his finger on the register.

“Oh relax Kent, we’re outta here,” the women said and pushed open the door with their backs.

****

Loretta got up early Saturday morning. She hadn’t slept much Friday night and not just because of the heat. She had investigated what the grocery ladies said about the woods being a hideout for the local teenagers and asked Matilda’s parents if she had ever been there. Loretta sat through an hour of “Oh of course not’s” and “How dare you’s” before she decided any conversation at this time would be a wash.

As she left, Matilda’s younger sister Lauren was waiting for her on the front porch swing. Lauren mentioned that “Tilda” had a secret boyfriend whom she had been seeing through the last semester of school and into the summer. That Tilda was afraid of telling their parents because she knew they would break them up since they weren’t allowed to date.

“She swore me to secrecy and I haven’t told my parents yet. But I want her back. I know she was in the woods last weekend. I caught her sneaking out of the window. She mentioned she’d be out all night because her boyfriend was throwing a party and not to tell anyone.”

Saturday came and Loretta was determined to make it into the woods to investigate. Perhaps Matilda passed out, maybe she was lost. She was prepared to go alone as the sheriff couldn’t find any probable cause to enter. She stopped by the grocer to grab some coffee which annoyed Kent who was rearranging the caution signs around the empty produce bins.

The woods cut off the light from the rising sun. The thick canopy of oak and maple leaves was a second sky to a second earth below. Fallen tree trunks crumbled under the weight of new growth and the further Loretta climbed into the forest, the wetter it became and the cicadas grew louder. Loretta panted and sweated towards where Lauren said most of the kids met on top of a hill in the middle of the forest.

The sunlight broke, however, midway up the hill. Loretta ran as fast as she could up to the clearing. When she stopped, she saw that it wasn’t a clearing at all but a circle of pear trees that had been stripped clean. The sunlight fell amongst the branches in fractures and illuminated as far as the pear trees went. The cicadas roared near the sunlight and Loretta noticed the thick carpet of cicada shells littering the ground.

The cicadas rang as Loretta looked over the clearing and saw, amongst the cicada skins, was a hand, a foot, an arm and a leg emerging from the wood debris. Loretta froze in place and looked around. Slowly, she drew near and realized it was a whole body intact of what appeared to be a young woman. Loretta pulled on a pair of gloves and gently brushed the cicada shells away to reveal a bloated and pale but recognizable face: It was Matilda Glen.

She quickly brushed away the rest of the leaves and cicadas. When the body was uncovered, Loretta was hit with an overpowering smell of pears. To most, the natural smells that accompany such a discovery would be all that could be detected but for Loretta, her trained senses pushed past it and realized Matilda smelled of pears though none of the surrounding pear trees bore fruit.

****

“It’s sickening but we are glad to have been able to find closure for the family,” the county sheriff said proudly during that evening’s report. “De La Terre can rest knowing that the body of Matilda Glen has been uncovered and we are pursuing justice to the furthest extent of the law. There are witnesses of a party in the woods last Saturday night where drinking was involved. It is possible that Matilda drank too much and was left there by her so-called friends. We will update you as we uncover more.”

Loretta switched off the TV in her room. She heard the motel staff cheering from the main building. It did not sit right with her. She had told the sheriff of the pear smell but he didn’t take any interest. With a subject and a witness, he was eager to tie the case up. Frustrated, Loretta headed to the grocer for dinner.

Ding.

Loretta was hit once again with the smell of pears. She looked over and saw Kent stacking a tall platform display full of overripe, slightly molded pears.

“Wait! No, wait you can’t come over here!”

Loretta saw a faint red stain around the produce stand and a chunk of the container holding the platform of pears had been taken out. A clean, curved hole in an otherwise perfect square.

“What happened here?” Loretta shouted and turned a cold eye on Kent.

Kent froze and stammered, “Wh-what are you talking about? Things break and we make do with what we have.”

“Not like this, this isn’t just broken, this has been hit with something. And what’s this?”

Loretta noticed, in the deepest portion of the gash were strands of strawberry blonde hair. She pulled them out and realized that it was a close match to what was seen on Matilda. Loretta eyed Kent. He had turned from fearful to angry and seemed to have grown in size, breathing heavily through his nostrils.

Loretta locked eyes with Kent and backed up slowly and then turned to run for it.

“Stop!” Loretta heard Kent yell but she was almost out of the store. She had made it to the glass door when she saw Kent’s reflection behind her with a large black flashlight in his hand. She reached out to push the door open when she saw him raise it above her head.

****

I knew she would be trouble when she first came into my store. Outsiders always poke their nose where it doesn’t belong. I didn’t want to hurt her. Just like how I didn’t want to hurt the little girl.

They both came in the same way. Charging about. Except the girl was drunk, real drunk. She came in all desperate looking for a place to sober up. She wanted money to get out of town and was hanging all over me trying to get me to give her some cash. I pushed her away, hard. She went into the display and then I quickly saw a pool of blood around her head. I took her back up to the woods where she said she came from and dropped her there.

That would’ve been it but this outsider wouldn’t let alone. The woods are filled now with the law, I couldn’t go back there. After I hit her, I first kept her in a separate freezer out back. I heard that boy is going to jail now for supplying alcohol to minors which led to the death of a minor. I’m glad things can be more peaceful now and my garden is in full bloom with the new fertilizer I have buried in it.