It Could Happen Here - CZM Book Club: The Barrow Will Send What it May, Chapter Six

Episode Date: April 27, 2025

Margaret reads chapter six of her book, The Barrow Will Send What it May.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's nostalgia overload as Wilmer Valderrama and Freddy Rodriguez welcome another amigo to their podcast Dos Amigos. Wilmer's friend and former That 70s Show castmate Topher Grace stops by the Speakeasy for a two-part interview to discuss his career and reminisce about old times. We were still in that place of like what will this experience become and you go you're having the best time but it was like such a perfect golden time. Listen to Dos Amigos on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, Federation? It's Freddie Prinze Jr. and Wrestling with Freddie is back. And we're going all in on WrestleMania 41. From the unpredictable to jaw dropping finishes, this year's mania might have just changed

everything. By the way, almost all the matches that we saw looked like real fights. I thought, like, they were like, yo, we're going hard today, tomorrow we're gonna hurt, but we're going hard today. Because it was like beast mode times 10 out there. Listen to this episode of Wrestling with Freddie on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

In 2020, a group of young women found themselves in an AI-fuelled nightmare. This is Levittown, a new podcast from iHeart Podcasts, Bloomberg and Kaleidoscope, about the rise of deepfake pornography and the battle to stop it. Listen to Levittown on Bloomberg's Big Take podcast. Find it on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A lot of the biggest names in music and sports. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We met them at their homes. We met them at their recording studios.

Stories matter and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Cool Zone Media

It's the Cool Zone Media Book Club! Hello and welcome to Cool Zone Media Book Club. That's the jingle that we've always used. I'm your host, Margaret Killjoy, and this is the book club where you don't have to do the reading because I do it for you. I'm your host, Margaret Killjoy. I might've already said that.

I'm not certain, but what I haven't told you yet is what we're reading this week. Although you probably know, because it's the same thing we read last week, only an additional chapter further in. And also it's probably in the title. It might even be why you clicked on it. I don't know.

We're reading The Barrow will send what it may chapter 6 which is The second book in the Danielle Cain series which I started reading on book club because book club started with me reading the first book in the series called the lamb will slaughter the lion a year and a half ago or whatever it was and Now the third book which is called the immortal Immortal Choir Holds Every Voice, is about to come out. The pre-orders are available now. And so I thought that you all should get to hear the second book for free. So I started reading it to you. I'm still reading it to you. And then after

that, I'm really excited about what comes after that. But you don't get to know yet, but I get to know. And so I get to have a nice thing and you don't until later. I'm gonna do the thing where I read you the last couple paragraphs of what we read last week just so that you know what happened in case, whatever, here they are. Half an hour later the library door opened and shut and several pairs of feet tromped up the stairs. Hey! Thursday shouted. We're back!

More shuffling of feet as someone, presumably Thursday, walked through the whole of the apartment. At last, he opened the door to the room we were in. Where's Vasilis? Dun dun dun! That's the cliffhanger, but you don't have to wait anymore, because you already waited. Chapter 6 Son of a shit!

Thursday roared, running down the stairs to search the library below. Gertrude stood in the living room, staring at Heather. A weak smile sat on the older woman's lips, and fear and sadness were fighting for control of her eyes. He killed her, she asked, running a finger along Heather's cheek. We really had to do something with the body. I never would have guessed I'd ever be too busy to deal with a dead body of a new friend. But there we were, scrambling to keep everyone else still alive, while a corpse grew cold

on the table. How long till it started to rot? Sort of, I answered. He definitely killed me, though, Asola walked into the room. And he killed two of my friends. To bring you back. I'm sorry, she said. I didn't know. I couldn't get a good read on whether or not she was lying.

What's your story, I asked. For real. What happened to you? I died of cancer. I remember dying. It was peaceful. A sharp end to pain. Like falling asleep, but simpler, better. I was in the hospital in Billings, and there were flowers everywhere, and he was next to me, holding my hand. He was crying. We never had children, him and me. I never wanted them.

Just for a second, I wished I'd had kids, someone else for him to love. He's never been good at not having someone to love, and I worried about him. I wanted to tell him it was fine. I wanted to tell him I was going to a better place, that he could still love me, or love someone else too, and that I'd see him again.

But I didn't say anything. It was all too complicated. I didn't know how to say it. I just let myself die. I nodded. Then I woke up in our bed here in town. I died with snow out the window. I woke up to the sound of summer birds.

Six months had gone by. He told me what he'd done, a bit of it, only part of it, I'm guessing. He told me he'd brought me back to be with him. He told me he couldn't live without me. And you left him, I asked. I didn't say anything at all for a whole day. I laid in bed thinking about everything. He was respectful. He noticed I wasn't feeling right, and he slept on a cot next to our bed.

He only left my side to bring me food and water. He just sat there reading books while I laid there, thinking it over. There are so many sides to every person. After I stayed up through the night, when the sun rose up again, I looked at him and the first words I said were, "'Til death do we part.' Then I told him it's not right what he did. I told him the dead are supposed to stay dead

and what he'd done wasn't right by God. I'd always known and loved God more than my husband did, and my husband had always loved me more than he'd loved God. So I moved out, simple as that. That was the last thing I'd ever wanted to think about any of it. Then your friends show up tonight, tell me he's liable to kill me. Part of me thinks he'd be right to do it. Most of me, though, is just damn scared."

Vulture put his arm around Gertrude, and she hugged him. I decided I believed her. Not completely, but you don't need to believe someone completely to choose to believe them enough that you can act on their words. Much like I believe in the goods and services that support this very podcast, my favorite. It's nostalgia overload as Wilmer Valderrama and Freddy Rodriguez welcome another amigo to their podcast Dos Amigos. Wilmer's friend and former that 70 show castmate Topher grace stops by the speakeasy for a 2 part interview to discuss his career and reminisce about old times.

We were still in a place of like what will this experience become and you go you're having the best time. But it was like such a perfect golden time listen to dose amigos on the I heart radio at Apple podcast or wherever you get your podcasts. We've got takes, we've got questions, and we have a whole lot of love for what these men and women pulled off at Mania. Tiffany Stratton, she earned her stripes at WrestleMania. And I don't mean because she won, she bled for her art. And it always felt like to me after the Attitude Era,

once a wrestler gets cut and you see real blood coming out of their mouth, or real blood coming out of their head, the blood coming out of their head the crowd kind of goes hey respect and they kind of give you that nod right you go wow every one of these guys is bleeding bro that's literally like blood sweat and tears it's all they got is blood we're talking Cody we're talking Rhea Roman Seth Tiffany the future of the business is bright. And if you watched Mania and you're still buzzing, or if you missed it and want to know what went down, we got you. Listen to this episode of Wrestling with Freddie on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or

wherever you get your podcasts. Hey kids, it's me, Kevin Smith. And it's me, Harley Quinn Smith. That's my daughter, man, who my wife has always said is just a beardless, dickless version of me. And that's the name of our podcast, Beardless, Dickless Me. I'm the old one. I'm the young one.

And every week we try to make each other laugh really hard. Sounds innocent, doesn't it? A lot of cussing, a lot of bad language. It's for adults only. Or listen to it with your kid. It could be a family show. We're not quite sure. We're still figuring it out.

It's a work in progress. Listen to Beardless, Dickless Me on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. That's the fun part about being an artist is that you need to have the patience for finding your head. I'm La Gata, the culture's favorite reggaeton historian and musicologist. On an episode of my show, the Reggaeton con La Gata podcast, I sit down with Goldie, a Boricua reggaetonera who's demanding her place in the male-dominated music industry.

That's the game, like who stays and who leaves, you know? Listen to Reggaeton Cuella Gata on America's number one podcast network, iHeart. Follow Reggaeton Cuella Gata and start listening on the free iHeart radio app today. And we're back. One of the books is missing, Doomsday said, crouched next to the stack of books on the floor. Small one, gold spine, black cover. It's where I learned about witch's fire.

She looked up toward the window, where she'd been sitting earlier. Fucking gun is gone too. Getting fucking sick of people stealing my gun. Vasilis went to the gift shop, I bet, I said. He's trying to get into the basement, trying to get the book without waiting for us. I thought that through for another moment. He wants the book because he's going to try

and resurrect Heather. I bet he'll kill Mr. Miller to do it." He seemed desperate, Doomsday said, but I didn't realize he was both desperate and stupid. Men will do anything if they think it's in the best interest of some woman they love, Gertrude said. Whether or not the woman agrees. Thursday rushed back up the stairs,

slamming open the apartment door. He's not in the library, I checked everywhere. He probably went after Sebastian, I said. Okay, Thursday said. Vulture, Brynn, Danielle, we'll go after him. Doom, you stay here. Guard these two. The town was just starting to rise as we tore down the main road on bikes,

and people came out of stores on the main strip to stand on the boardwalk and stare. Crows and magpie sat on the power lines, watching us too. We hit the one traffic light on a red and waited, though there were no cars coming in any direction. Thursday pulled up beside me. Feel like it's high noon or something, he laughed. I heard shouting up ahead and ran the light. Vasilis and Sebastian stood in the shadow of the Tyrannosaur, not ten feet distant from each other, weapons leveled. Vasilis held Doomsday's pistol in a one-handed amateur grip.

Sebastian held a bolt-action hunting rifle, shouldered. Sismen, Bren said, shaking her head. She dropped her bike on the street and flicked open her baton, walking toward the pair. Hey, I shouted. If the two exchanged fire, it wouldn't work out well for either of them. Vasilis didn't know what he was doing,

but he had a semi-automatic pistol and likely a full magazine. Sebastian had probably brought down an animal or two in his day. But a bolt-action rifle ain't the tool for the job of close combat. They both turned to look at me. Who in God's name are you people? Sebastian asked.

I'm Danielle, I said. I knew what he meant, but I didn't feel like answering his implicit question. I caught this man trying to break into my place of business. I have every legal right to shoot him if he doesn't leave the property. You don't care about law, I said. I don't care about law. I care about what I can get away with, and that includes shooting your face-tattooed freak

of a librarian friend. You don't want that. I don't even know what I want anymore. All the fuss had attracted some onlookers. We were at the very end of town, but a few people had already filtered over. None of them looked particularly friendly toward us. In their shoes, I wouldn't be either.

He's stalling, Brynn whispered into my ear, waiting for a crowd. We should bring him down now. No, come on, I said back. I don't want Vasilis to die. I'm sick of seeing people die. We'll talk our way through this. Sebastian had a small backpack thrown over one shoulder. Vasilis kept eyeing it, and Sebastian

kept moving his body unconsciously to keep it as far from his assailant as possible. The book was in there. It was a hunch, nothing to gamble a life on. I approached, raising my hands over my head. Stay back, Sebastian said. His voice was cracked with worry and exhaustion. For all the world, he could have just been someone's dad.

If things had played out the slightest bit differently, he'd have just lived his life reading thrillers and watching TV and hunting, and none of this would have happened. Just want to talk this through, I said. We're at an impasse. Let's find a way past it. I don't see the impasse.

I've got the upper hand. You attack us, we'll kill you. We attack you, you kill one of us, and likely at least some of us end up in jail, you included. You'll end up in jail in either scenario, he said. You think people with face tattoos are the kind of people who are afraid of ending up in prison, I asked. I stepped closer.

I approached from his right side, which was convenient because it's the harder direction for a right-handed shooter to swing a rifle. I wasn't near enough to reach his gun, even if I lunged, but I was getting close. You think you can scare women who spent their lives hitchhiking alone? You think a man who raises the dead would be afraid of a bunch of fucking punk kids? No, Bren said, standing shoulder to shoulder with me.

You're right. You're not afraid of us. You're a different kind of coward. You're afraid of being alone. You're a different kind of coward. You're afraid of being alone. You didn't resurrect your wife for her. You did it for you. Take one step closer and I'll shoot at least two of you. See, I said.

What was I telling you? Impasse. I looked over my shoulder. Thursday and Vulture were there with the bikes. Thursday had his hand in his hoodie pocket. Vulture had his phone. A serious crowd was gathering, maybe ten people already with another dozen on their way. They stayed clear of the line of fire between the two armed men,

but were getting awfully close to the rest of us. A few of them were open carrying pistols at their waists. Interpersonal crime is so much more annoying to commit in open carry states. of us. A few of them were open carrying pistols at their waists. Interpersonal crime is so much more annoying to commit in open carry states. At the back of the crowd, leaning against the glass front of a lawyer's office, a man with black sunglasses and a black suit sipped coffee, his blonde hair in a tight bun. Next to him, a freckled woman with her hair and a 60s bob, dressed identically to the man, ate a donut.

They weren't part of the crowd. They were just watching. Fucking Magic Feds. Hipster Magic Feds. You need any help, Mr. Miller? A young boy shouted. Why, yes, I need these products and services! He shouted back. Because he too, all sides

of a conflict, really could do a lot with products and services, just like you can. It's nostalgia overload as Wilmer Valderrama and Freddy Rodriguez welcome another amigo to their podcast Dose Amigos. Wilmer's friend and former That 70s Show castmate Topher Grace stops by the speakeasy for a two-part interview to discuss his career and reminisce about old times. We were still in that place of like what will this experience become and you go you're having the best time but it was like such a perfect golden time. Listen to dos amigos on the iHeart radio app, Apple podcast or wherever you get your podcasts.

Wrestling fans all over the globe. It's Freddie Prince Jr. And on wrestling with Freddie we're breaking down every damn moment from WrestleMania 41. Two nights, nonstop chaos, legends, surprises, emotions and some of the best wrestling we've seen coming from WWE. We've got takes, we've got questions and we have a whole lot of love for what these men and women pulled off at Mania. Tiffany Stratton, she earned her stripes at WrestleMania.

And I don't mean because she won, she bled for her art. And it always felt like to me after the attitude era, once a wrestler gets cut and you see real blood coming out of their mouth or real blood coming out of their head, the crowd kind of goes, hey, respect. And they kind of give you that nod, right? You go, wow, every one of these guys is bleeding for the road. Bro, that's literally like blood, sweat and tears. It's all they got is blood. We're talking Cody, we're talking Rhea, Roman, Seth, Tiffany. The future of the business is bright. And if you watched Mania and you're still buzzing, or if you missed it and want to know

what went down, we got you. Listen to this episode of Wrestling with Freddie on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey kids, it's me, Kevin Smith. And it's me, Harley Quinn Smith. That's my daughter, man, who my wife has always said is just a beardless, d***less version of me. And that's the name of our podcast, Beardless D***less Me.

I'm the old one. I'm the young one. And every week we try to make each other laugh really hard. Sounds innocent, doesn't it? A lot of cussing, a lot of bad language. It's for adults only. Or listen to it with your kid. Could be a family show. We're not quite sure. We're still figuring bad language. It's for adults only. Or listen to it with your kid. Could be a family show.

We're not quite sure. We're still figuring it out. It's a work in progress. Listen to Beardless, it's me on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever. You get your podcast. The Marvin, I'm La Gata,

the culture's favorite reggaeton historian, musicologist, public scholar and recording artist. Yes, that means I've done the work. On my show, The Reggaeton with La Gata podcast, I'm not only talking to Florm Hennon, who has the number one reggaeton track in the world right now, I'm also going beyond Perreo to speak with music inhibitors like Rainao, who is known for her media roquera tracks and collaborating with artists like Bad Bonnie. We're also giving you the culture breakdown straight from the source. Listen to Reggaeton con la Gata on the iHeart or wherever you get your podcasts. And we're back.

These punks broke into my shop, he answered. I scared them off, because they're chicken shit, but they got me outnumbered out here. Fuck this. I took another step forward. Sebastian started to swing the gun around to face me. Long barrel, terrible for close range. I pushed in closer, knocking the barrel aside. Used my bad arm to do it, which I shouldn't have, the stitched up wound in my shoulder complained. Got my knife out of my pocket and open in one motion,

brought it up. He flinched, hard, closing his eyes, dropping the rifle to point slack at the ground while he covered his throat. I cut the strap of his backpack down at the bottom where the strap is thinnest and the farthest away from meat and snatched it. I stomped the barrel of his rifle and disarmed him. Too many armed strangers around to kill him then and there. Fucking run, Bryn shouted.

We ran. Vasilis came with us. Thursday at the front put his nod and substantial mask to bear and plowed through our audience before they had time to react. We got off the main street first thing and Vasilis took us through an alley. Bryn overturned a dumpster in our path to slow down our pursuers. Ahead of us, Thursday shouted. Four men at the mouth of the alley barred our path.

We grabbed a second dumpster and pushed it ahead of us on its caster wheels. I pushed with my one arm, the other hurt like hell. I might've ripped the stitches. A shot rang out, the ping against the steel side of the dumpster almost as loud as the report itself. Couldn't have been a long gun, or it would have gone through, and probably into someone I cared about. All five of us were packed tight behind our moving shield, and I found that strange clarity I've only ever known in riots.

The world had always, it seemed, been against me and my friends. These though, were moments of me and my friends against the world. I know that's bullshit on a bunch of different levels. Hell, the people shooting at us right now weren't even our enemies. I wouldn't shoot back even if I could. But our collective power felt like its own magic just then, in the early morning in some small town in Montana. We'd picked up speed and shouted our wordless power. We hit the street. As I'd

guessed, the men trying to stop us moved out of the way of the couple hundred pounds of steel barreling toward them. They were still armed, though, and we were in the open in the street, the library 20 feet away. Another shot rang out, but it wasn't from our assailants. Thursday had his gun out. He'd fired at the ground by their feet. They bolted, taking cover behind cars.

They'd be returning fire any second. We sprinted for the library, Thursday covering us, firing shots to keep our attackers behind cover. Doomsday met us with the door open and I dove through. Bangs everywhere, loud ones and tinny ones, and ones that just went poof more than bang, and just way too much gunfire everywhere. Thursday was pinned down behind the dumpster. Vasilis drew his pistol aloft, but Doomsday

snatched it out of his hand and stepped aside, firing calmly. I don't think she was aiming to keep those guys pinned down. I think she was aiming for the guys themselves. They ducked. Thursday ran zigzag. A shot shattered the glass of a window, not a meter in front of him. But he got in through the door and doomsday slammed it shut. The firing stopped. I fucking hate gunfights. Dun dun dun. I guess it's not really a cliffhanger. Well, it's

a cliffhanger. You don't know what's going to happen in chapter seven or chapter eight, which is the number of chapters. It's there's eight chapters and you're six of them through. But they've made it through. They've got the backpack that might have the book and they're back in the library and they're safe for now and everyone's dead and dying and everything's complicated. And I guess without Robert here, I should probably just talk about the book a little bit. You know, one of the main things I think about rereading this several years after it came out, you know, many years after I wrote it, I know a lot more about guns than I did before.

I don't think I got anything this particularly wrong, like long guns are not particularly good for close combat, and dumpster steel is probably not going to stop rifle rounds and all this thing. But I keep calling everything a pistol. Like I don't even say what kind of gun it is. I'll be lucky if I don't call it a clip instead of a magazine at some point. And these things probably don't really matter to the average reader at all. But it's just funny to think about. I don't know. I like this story. I'm

glad to read it to you. I feel like I should have more clever things to say about it because it's a book club and I'm supposed to talk about the books. But I wrote this one so it's complicated. This chapter is kind of where the theme of the book that I was really going for sort of starts to come into its own which is around the first book is really really going for sort of starts to come into its own, which is around the first book is really about like the concept of power, right? And this idea of like summoning a demon to stop people from taking power over other people and how that actually becomes exerting a sort of power in and of itself and things like

this and this one is probably fairly transparent, but is much more intentionally around feminism and around the kind of things that people do for love. And in particular, like heterosexual couple, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, patriarchy, et cetera. This idea like, oh, you didn't bring her back for her. You brought her back for you. And you know, and I don't think it's like an entirely cynical take. It's a slightly cynical take, obviously, you know, but I think that that was the primary

theme I was trying to get across with this book. And it's not really up to me to say whether or not I succeeded. But there's going to be more about all of that next week when you can hear the next chapter. OK, bye, everyone. It Could Happen Here is a production of Cool Zone Media. For more podcasts from Cool Zone Media, visit our website, coolzonedmedia.com,

or check us out on the iHeard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. You can find sources for it could happen here, updated monthly, at CoolZoneMedia.com slash sources. Thanks for listening. It's nostalgia overload as Wilmer Valderrama and Freddy Rodriguez welcome another amigo to their podcast Dos Amigos. Wilmer's friend and former That 70's Show castmate Topher Grace stops by the Speakeasy

for a two-part interview to discuss his career and reminisce about old times. We were still in that place of like, what will this experience become? And you go, you're having the best time. But it was like such a perfect golden time. Listen to Dose Amigos on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, Federation? it's Freddie Prinze junior and wrestling with Freddie is back we're going all in on WrestleMania 41 from the unpredictable to jaw dropping

finishes this year's mania might have just changed everything by the way almost all the matches that we saw looked like real fights that thought like they were like you know we're going hard today tomorrow we're going to hurt we're going hard today because it was're going to hurt, but we're going hard today. Because it was like beast mode times 10 out there. Listen to this episode of Wrestling with Freddie on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

In 2020, a group of young women found themselves in an AI-fueled nightmare. Someone was posting photos. It was just me naked. Well, not me, but me with someone else's body parts. This is Levittown, a new podcast from iHeart Podcasts, Bloomberg, and Kaleidoscope about the rise of deep fake pornography and the battle to stop it. Listen to Levittown on Bloomberg's Big Take podcast.

Find it on the iHeart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott. And this is season two of the We're on Drugs by a Game. Find it on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glod. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. Last year, a lot of the problems of the drug war this year, a lot of the biggest names in music and sports.

This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We met them at their homes, we met them at their recording studios. Stories matter and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really it. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast

season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast or wherever you get your podcast.