Fellowing Longghost

Miles Traumer drowned. It's true he survived, but drowning is drowning, not that he would ever tell a soul.

Surfer-to-be Longghost observed it all. Later, along with the Mo'reapy Raiders, Longghost had a reputation—he was dangerous to be around. But he had something. Indeed, he was everything Miles wasn't.

When Miles runs into Longghost in Pierce, Arizona, he knows something is up. Miles escaped California and found refuge in Lonesome Valley. But Longghost? Why would he leave the early morning glass to live at a "ranch" he calls Calabooza?

Miles is determined to find out. A strongbox of drug money, recently dug up? Let that suffice as a clue. More, what's up with the flaneur of night-active pollinators, the artist who lives in the Laughing Jesus Tepee? Invited inside, it's another realm, a habitat for Blue Moon Butterflies. Maybe a secret life is the only one worth living.

At Calabooza, fellowship is in the air, "daresay" and "dearsee." But a something hushed steals in. No, it's not another bout of what Miles calls Mood Neptune. He fears it's in keeping with what surfer Miki Dora said: "A real secret will get you dead."