The Bridge Read Online Free Page B

here.”
    “I grew up around here, too, with my sister, Bonnie. You and I are about the same age and there aren’t that many people around here. How is it I’ve never seen you before?”
    He didn’t answer.
    “You’re one of them, aren’t you? One of The Hidden People?”
    He was caught. All he could do was smile.
    “Are you going to kill me?” he said.
    “Don’t worry , I’ll never tell. I’ve heard about you people my whole life. I don’t know why people hate you so much.”
    “They’re afraid of what they don’t understand.”
    She pulled into a driveway and told him to wait. “I’ll be right back.”
    It was her parents’ house and, in a few minutes, she was back and they were headed toward Crested Butte.
    “I’m sorry you had to wait. That was my parents’ house and I was afraid for them to meet you. You look so much different. Your complexion is so clean and smooth. My father used to tell us stories about hunting The Hidden People when he was younger.”
    Heidi had never met a man like him before and knew she probably never would again. It was a rare occasion to see one of The Hidden People. He was Huldufolk, a clan that very few people had ever seen and she was actually talking to him. She didn’t want to let him go. All she could think about was what a wonderful novel his life story would make. He was so clean and pure. Innocent , she thought, and handsome . She invited him to dinner using the guise that she wanted to hear more about his fascinating life and work when her real intention was research for her book. The things that he had told her were fascinating, but really over her head, so much misunderstood. She laughed, thinking she could sell her book to insomniacs. She had never even considered that her body was made out of bacteria.
    For Axil, it was love at first bacterial exchange and, before the night was over, she’d invited him to move into her apartment and live in the spare bedroom until he got himself settled. She never pressed him to tell her about his life. She would ask a question now and then, but just let him have his space and tell her things when he was willing. At night, while he was asleep, she would get on her computer and work on her book. After a week or so, she called her scientist friend, Mike, and invited him over one night.
    “We didn’t have telephones when I was growing up,” said Axil. “I’ve never used one. We always communicated over distance by telepathy.”
    “You can call someone if you want, but don’t ever answer it unless I’m here. There’s a religious group that keeps calling. I see their name on the caller ID. They’re so annoying that I never answer. They call here about three hundred times a day,” she laughed. “All they want is my money.”
    Heidi’s scientist friend was so impressed with Axil that he offered him a job at his laboratory, but Axil turned him down. He wanted nothing to do with the man who developed the snappers. Later that night, Axil showed her the silver and gave her a brief review of its age and where it had come from.
    In turn, she showed him the yellow butterfly she had tattooed on her right hip. Life was good. One thing led to another and before long, Heidi was showing him the butterfly several times a day. By then, Axil didn’t care who he had been or where he had come from. The bridge and Alfheim were the farthest things from his mind. This was a new and wonderful experience for him, exchanging bacteria through bodily fluids; nothing else seemed to matter.
    “How long have you known about this?” he asked her after they had sex. It sure beat watching his big-bosomed neighbor hang out her clothes. From then on, he called her Butterfly. She taught him everything she knew about sex and he told her everything he could remember about Alfheim . He even wrote down notes when he was alone, but in a few months, his memory of Alfheim and The Hidden People was almost gone. The dark shadows were taking control.

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