Freak Sanctuary

By Ann Stratton

Jason Davies considers himself the head wrangler of his little community's sanctuary island, responsible for keeping his people happy, safe, and well. They're all settled in for the long winter, as prepared as they can be. The supply boat is due in any day now, but now there's an arctic storm of epic proportions bearing down on them. And then Joe/Jim had to go and find the stranger washed up on shore...

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ann Stratton
• Release date: Jun 15, 2017
• ISBN: 9781370650088

Ann Stratton

Ann Stratton started writing at age thirteen with the usual results. After a long stint in fan fiction, honing her skills, she hopes she has gotten better since then. She lives in Southeastern Arizona, trying to juggle all her varied interests. 

Book preview

Freak Sanctuary

The Smashwords Edition

Ann Stratton

A Blind Woman Production publication

Copyright © 2017 Ann Stratton

Smashwords License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment. It may not be resold or given away. If you would like to share this ebook, please purchase an additional copy for each person with whom you want to share it. If you're reading this ebook and did not purchase it, or if it was not purchased for your use only, please return to Smashwords and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author's work.

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Disclaimer

This is a work of fiction, a product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance or similarity to any actual events or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

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Credits

Cover photo courtesy of

Editing, formatting, and cover design by Ann Stratton

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Table of Contents

1 – A Man Washes Ashore

2 – A Soft White Damnation

3 – A Strangeness in the Night

4 – Lowell Hemming Reacts

5 – Settling in for the Duration

6 – A Man with No Manners

7 – A Dog in the House

8 – From Bad to Worse

9 – Moving Downstairs

10 – A Talk with Lowell

11 – The Generator Stops

12 – Rescued At Last

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Freak Sanctuary

The snow doesn’t give a soft white damn whom it touches.

—ee cummings

1 – A Man Washes Ashore

Joe/Jim Adams found the stranger washed up on the hard cobbled shore, more or less panicked—Joe more, Jim less—at finding a live man there where no one should be, especially at this time of year, and came galloping on their three legs to find Jason Davies. He and Griff James were in the generator shed, inspecting the main breaker panel and listening to Clyde Yarbrough gibber and slobber in frustration, waving his malformed hands in his effort to explain what was going on. Something about faults on the electrical grid and batteries going dead. Something the Boss was going to have to pay for, certainly.

Jase!/Jason! The twins yelled, crashing through the door. They struggled for a second, trying to get through the door at once, then Jim shoved his brother sideways and led the way. Jason, Griff, and Clyde turned to see what was going on.

Shu’ ‘or! Clyde ordered, and Joe did, cutting off the cold wind.

What’s going on, boys? Griff asked.

There’s a man on the shore! they exclaimed, practically in chorus. You tell him, Joe said. I’ll tell him, Jim said.

Okay, calm down, Jason said, reaching up to put his hands on their outer shoulders. What happened? One at a time, please, he added as they both drew breath. Joe poked Jim with his inside elbow and Jim shoved back. Jason kept a firm grip on their shoulders so their dispute wouldn’t topple them over. Settle down, guys. Tell me. What’s going on?

There’s a man lying on the east shore, Jim said after another shoving session with his brother. He wasn’t moving, but I don’t think he’s dead.

Did you check? Griff asked.

I was going to, Jim said with an outraged huff, giving his brother the stink eye. But Joe here panicked.

All right. Jason zipped up his coat, pulled down his stocking hat, and rewrapped his scarf around his head and neck, making sure his ears and lower face were covered. Show me. Clyde, call Betty and ask her to meet us on the east shore with her kit. Griff, come with me, and Joe/Jim, lead the way.

Clyde nodded and headed for the phone on the wall. Joe/Jim opened the door, passing it in turn to Jason and Griff. The walkways were clear, and Jason was grateful for that, eyeing the piled up snow banks on either side. The snow depth was almost shoulder high to him and he did not relish the thought of thrashing his way down to the shore, once they left the common areas.

Thankfully, Joe/Jim’s panicked dash had left an easily followed trail, and they and Griff stomped it down some more so Jason didn’t have to fight it so much. Still, he was sweaty and panting by the time the rescue party made it down to the hard cobbled shore, slippery with frozen spray and loose rocks. He leaned on his knees for a few minutes to catch his breath, sucking icy air into his lungs, while Griff knelt down beside the castaway and the twins wrung their hands together in anxiety.

He’s alive, Griff reported, fingers on the stranger’s neck. He huffed on his cold hand and pulled his glove back on. Soaking wet, though. We better get him under cover, fast.

Jason leaned over the stranger, looking at him. Anybody recognize him? He’s not one of ours. The stranger had shaggy dark brown hair and beard stubble, pale skin gone a bit blue with the cold, a physionorm dressed in wet flannel shirt, canvas pants, and hunting boots, but no coat or other outerwear. Jason glanced up and down the beach in case the lake had washed something else ashore, but the shining, icy cobbles were bare up to the snowline, where the waves didn’t reach. Aside from the trails the rescue party had kicked, the snow was pristine, stabbing his eyes with reflected sunlight. Jason winced, blinking the bright flashes away, and looked back at their castaway.

Griff and the twins all shook their heads. Maybe he’s one of the Boss’s men, Griff suggested.

The twins nodded. We haven’t heard from him in a while, but we’re due for a supply run and maybe this guy is new, Jim suggested. Joe shoved him. So where’s the boat? he demanded. Howcome he’s laying on the beach all wet, instead of coming to the landing by boat?

Same question I have, Jason said. Betty, Emmaline and Jeremy appeared, kicking their way down the trail to the beach, Jeremy leading the way with the big medical case under one arm, Emmaline carrying a stretcher laden with blankets, and Betty with her smaller kit. They got down to the beach, slipping and stumbling through the frozen cobbles on their way over to the rescue party. The rescue party got out of the way as Betty and her team got to work.

Betty checked the man’s vitals, Airway Breathing Circulation, checked for neck or spine injury, while Emmaline and Jeremy unpacked the stretcher and opened up the medical kit. It didn’t take them long