The run down park was not nearly as pleasant as the rest of the town's homey facade seemed, but at least it was a little more isolated. A little, but not much. James was frankly amazed at the turnout of hospital staff to watch over a pack of mental patients, many of whom looked as though they couldn't possibly have even reached the age of twenty yet. Even if there hadn't been anything else to make him suspicious, that would have.

He'd wondered at first how the staff were planning to keep their charges from just slipping off into the town, but the reactions of the other townsfolk were telling enough. Any stranger would probably be suspect today, and as small as the town seemed to be, any stranger would stand out. It was beyond inconvenient, and suggested at least one of the people making the decisions was marginally clever. A pity.

He kept an eye out for other sojourners as he made his way along the path, footsteps crunching softly over ground that held what seemed to be the beginning of winter's chill. And that didn't seem quite right, either. In fact, he was beginning to think he'd be amazed if anything suddenly did seem to make sense.