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Medicine Crow. What else could he possibly tell her?
     
    With no direction in mind, Penny started to walk down Main Street. She walked past the library and peered through the windows of the Grey Rose restaurant before finally spotting the Powderhorn Saloon. It was early, but she figured it might be open. Worth a shot anyway.
     
    Crossing the street, she pushed open the doors and stood in the doorway of the old place. It had been built in 1912, right after the flood wiped out the old Bandit Creek. Penny figured people always seemed to gravitate to a saloon, no matter what the year. However popular it was, the saloon didn’t look like it had ever been updated. Grit covered the floors, and the dusty charm of the place brought back good memories of when she was younger.
     
    She wasn’t sure what she was doing here, but she wouldn’t find anything she wanted at the Powderhorn. That was for sure. With a sigh, she stepped back outside and stood in front of the saloon. What was she supposed to do?
     
    “ Aftnoon, Cherry.”
     
    Penny whirled at the voice.
     
    Speaking of memories, there was a living one right there. Jack was walking -- actually, stumbling -- toward her. He passed her without another comment and continued down the street. She wasn’t sure where he was going, but he had a brown paper bag in his hand that she’d bet ten dollars had a bottle of JD in it.
     
    Jack was an interesting fellow. He had that ageless kind of face that made you play guessing games about how old he was. He’d been ancient since she’d been in diapers, that was all she knew about it. But, there was something about Jack…Hold on, had he called her Cherry? Had he meant Cerise?
     
    “ Jack! Hey, Jack.” Penny jogged toward the man, stopping a little distance away from him. Geez, he reeked. Jack had that particular eau de bum that made her want to walk away.
     
    He kept walking, ignoring her.
     
    “ Jack? I don’t know if you remember me? Penny Anderson. I used to live here a while back. Moved away with my dad right after my mom died. Cerise Anderson? Do you remember her?”
     
    “ Cemtry.”
     
    “ Sorry, what was that?”
     
    “ Come out to play,” he mumbled. “Cemtry girl.”
     
    Right, that made sense. What the hell? What was she doing, coming to Jack of all people for a clue? Something made her stand still, though. She’d heard rumors about Jack her whole life.
     
    “ Jack, can you help me? It’s about my mom.”
     
    Jack took a swig from his bottle before letting out a belch that just about seared her nose hairs. Lovely.
     
    “ I don’t know where to start. Looking for information about what might have happened to her. To Cerise Anderson.”
     
    “ Cemtry lane.”
     
    “ Cemetery Lane? Is that...Are you saying I should go there?” God, she felt stupid.
     
    “ Cemtry. Cherry girl. Go to lake.” Jack belched again before stumbling off away from her.
     
    Extremely helpful, Jack was. Penny sighed. Well, she had nothing else to go on. Might as well follow through on the drunken ramblings of the town bum. What else did she have to lose?
     

Chapter 5
     
     
    She’d gone back to The Candy Store to tell Craig she was heading to the cemetery—she’d needed him to drive her back to his house so she could pick up her rental car—and now she stood here feeling like a complete idiot. Her mom was here, but she didn’t want to go down and cry over her tombstone. She was going to force herself, though. God, she hated cemeteries. Walking down the manicured rows, she looked around. There was an even mix of modern and older headstones, which made her think of her mom. They’d come down here when Penny was growing up, to pay their respects to their family buried here.
     
    In a way, it was nice, that Cerise was buried here beside her family that she used to come and visit. Taking a much longer route than she’d originally intended, Penny walked around and stopped at each of the headstones she’d used to