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F e b r u a r y M a r c h 2016 93 Fiction Jason Brown staffimage J immy an old friend of her husbands showed up with a goat in the back of his truck and his arms crossed under his ridiculous mustache. The goat he ex- plained had shown up at his job site near Robinhood Cove. I know where it liveson this little island up the Sassanoa. A nice afternoon for a boat trip. He held up his hand to take the tem- perature of the air. Warm for late March. A false spring. She knew what he wanted. Shed been puttinghimoffformorethanayearfirstbe- cause her husband had only just died then because of Jimmys wife a Canadian wom- an who worked at the library and finally be- cause contrary to what Jimmy thought he was not mysterious dangerous or adven- turous. For some reason though the same type of behavior that had made her dislike him in high schoolrusty cars full of beer cans cheating on his girlfriends growing ridiculous mustachesnow made her want to get in the truck with him. Hurtling down 127 with the goat pressed against the rear window of the cab Marian thought of the stories her husband Frank- lin had told her about working with Jim- my walking away from half-finished jobs shoddy work. Jimmy continued to talk about the goat and for a moment she almost believed him. A man and his girlfriend hid- ing from the feds on Stinson Island drugs Jimmy said and using the goat for cover. She didnt believe the people existed at all but she didnt care. Better than an afternoon at work where her boss Mr. Ingersoll the lawyer in Bath in case you made the mis- take of underestimating his importance the degree from Harvard hung on the wall to the right of his desk hummed all day as he chewed typing paper. When she couldnt sleep at night which was often she heard his teeth grinding. At the harbor the goat eyed her wari- ly from its left eye and blinked. Or winked. A tinkling sound alerted her to the goats leather collar. Natalie a tag said. Are you sure this goat belongs to drug dealers she asked. What Yes. He tied the goat to the center console of the boat and they sped upriver toward Montsweag Bay. She hadnt been this way since before her husband drowned. Jimmy nosed the boat up to the beach of the small island cut the engine and tossed the an- chor. Then he started to take off his shoes and pants. Dont want to get my jeans wet. He smiled. She took off her shoes and pants leav- ing on her shirt and underwear and hopped into the shallows. The goat stomped. She must be afraid of the water Mar- ian said. She had to swim ashore to get off this Goat