The Girl In The Glass Part 22

Jimmie started to get nervous, but then Antony's jacket opened a little. The kid's face broke into a smile.

"Hey, mister, you've got a gun."

Antony straightened up. "Of course I do," he said. "This b.u.t.terfly stuff is dangerous business. You like guns?"

"Yeah," said the kid.

The big man took the Mauser out and removed the clip. "Here," he said, handing the kid the gun. "You can hold it. Lead on, James, only the absolute truth will do."

"Don't tell my mother."

"I swear," said Antony, crossing his heart. "You too, Dr. San Diego." The kid led the way. Fifteen minutes later, after pa.s.sing two ponds and winding snakelike along a less distinct path, our journey ended at a ten-foot stone wall. It stretched a good fifty yards in either direction.

"Who lives here?" asked Antony.

"I don't know," said Jimmie. "But I found the b.u.t.terfly on that wall right there." Antony took two singles from his pocket. "It could get dicey from here on out, kid," he said. "You'd better give me the gun back." As the kid handed over the gun, the big man slipped the two dollars into his hand. "You don't mention the gun, we don't drop one on you to your mom about coming out here." Jimmie nodded.

"Run home now," said Antony. The kid took off through the trees. We started around to the western side of the wall, taking pains to walk as quietly as possible. As we crept along, Antony replaced the clip in the Mauser.

If the wall Jimmie had taken us to was about fifty yards in length, the western wall was a good seventy-five. Keeping tight against it, we followed it to where it turned another corner. The trees thinned out a little there, and we could see that halfway down the next wall of the huge rectangle there was a dirt road that led into the place.

"I'll sneak down there and take a look through the entrance," I whispered.

"I'm right behind you," said Antony.

"No, you're too big. I'll make less noise. Give me the gun; you can keep your two bucks." I took off my hat and handed it to the big man, who crouched down to wait.

I slid along the wall like a shadow, gun pointing up and ready as I'd seen Antony carry it. When I got close to the entrance where the road pa.s.sed in, I saw a tall iron gate. I got down on my hands and knees and crept along only a few inches at a time, stopping to listen every now and then. Reaching the gate, I took a deep breath and stuck my head out to peer around the corner and through the bars. The road that led into the place went straight up to a tall, old house with a wraparound porch and two gables. There was a black car, a Ford, parked at the end of the dirt drive about ten yards from the house. Sitting on the porch in a rocking chair was a man in a black suit and hat, cradling a machine gun. Another fellow, in a similar dark getup, sat on the steps. The yard around the house, with the exception of the front, which was a leaf-covered, flat expanse, was thick with trees. I was about to pull my head in and inch back to Antony, when I heard something just inside the wall.

Another man in a black suit, carrying a Tommy gun, pa.s.sed inches away from me inside the gate. I was so low, he didn't notice, but had he turned, he'd have easily seen me. I waited for him to pa.s.s the gate and continue on behind the other side of the wall before making my move. With the same stealth I used to get there, I retreated. A few minutes later, I was crouching next to Antony at the corner.

"This has got to be it," I said. "I saw three of those guys in the black suits." Antony nodded.

"Who are those guys anyway?" I asked.

"If I didn't know better I'd say they were gangsters, but I never knew any gangsters who all wore the same outfits. The black suits are like uniforms almost. Private security maybe, paid for by Agarias's wealthy friends. Who knows, maybe government issue."

As I was describing the house to him, we heard the sound of a car motor starting up. We moved around the corner, behind the wall. The gate opened a minute later, and the black Ford sped out down the dirt road, dust flying up behind it.

We made our way quickly back through the woods and to the Cord sitting parked on Clayton. I wanted to find the entrance to the dirt road leading to the compound. Leaving Jimmie's neighborhood, we drove south and then took the first road to the right. Before long, we spotted the path through the trees. Antony marked it on the map.

"I'm not sure what this is going to do for us, but at least we probably know where Sch.e.l.l is," I said.

"Start thinking, Boss," said Antony as he turned the car around and headed back toward our house. Along the way, we pa.s.sed through some small town; it very well could have been Fort Solanga, I don't know. There were a few shops and about a hundred yards of sidewalk along either side of the main street. Parked in front of the general store was the black, Model A Ford I'd seen leave through the gates of the compound.

As we cruised by, two of Agarias's men in those distinctive dark suits came out of the store, carrying brown paper bags. The second Antony saw them, he hit the gas, and we were gone before they could look up.

"What do you think?" he asked. "Were they getting lunch maybe?"

"They gotta eat," I said. "I doubt Agarias is cooking for them."

"You've got a smile on your face," he said to me.

Only when he said it did I realize it myself. I nodded. "I've got it," I said. "When we get back to the house, call Sal. Tell him they need to come tonight."

"Okay," he said.

"Tell him we need guns, and if he can, to scare me up a stick of dynamite."

THE FEROCITY OF MY PIGEONS.

I sent Antony south to pick up Isabel and Morgan. There was no way, once Sal and the others showed up, that we could all fit in the cottage in Babylon, and I needed everyone a.s.sembled to go over my plan. It was a chance I'd have to take. I hoped Agarias would be too confident and think he had us stymied to the point where he didn't have to bother tailing us. Otherwise, once everyone was gathered at Sch.e.l.l's, if he sent a raiding party with Merlin and the goons, we'd be finished. Before the big man left, I'd told him to keep Morgan down in the backseat. sent Antony south to pick up Isabel and Morgan. There was no way, once Sal and the others showed up, that we could all fit in the cottage in Babylon, and I needed everyone a.s.sembled to go over my plan. It was a chance I'd have to take. I hoped Agarias would be too confident and think he had us stymied to the point where he didn't have to bother tailing us. Otherwise, once everyone was gathered at Sch.e.l.l's, if he sent a raiding party with Merlin and the goons, we'd be finished. Before the big man left, I'd told him to keep Morgan down in the backseat.

"Tell her to wear a long dress and a sweater with long sleeves. Have her put her hair up and wrap a kerchief around it. Dark gla.s.ses if you can find some."

I sat and waited for Sal to show up with the reinforcements from the city. In that time, I tried to polish my strategy, tie up the loose ends. There was a good chance someone was going to die when the exchange eventually went down, and that made me queasy. It would be machine guns versus the likes of myself and Hal Izzle. The deck was most a.s.suredly stacked against us.

Morgan, Isabel, and Antony arrived only minutes before the two cars carrying Sal's recruits. Marge the Ton Templeton was the first to push back the rug and enter. Following her, and giving her a shove in the rear end to squeeze her through the opening, was Hal. Then came Captain Pierce, dressed in his parade uniform, carrying his case of throwing knives and sporting a cane. Sal was the last of the first group, wearing his cape and top hat, holding a wand in his left hand and a stick of dynamite in his right. A few seconds pa.s.sed and the next carload filed in-Miss Belinda, toting a huge crate of pigeons, Peewee Dunnit, carrying another crate of pigeons, and bringing up the rear, scuttling along on his knuckles, Jack Bunting, the spider boy. Peewee informed Antony and me that Vonda had to work and couldn't make it. "s.h.i.t, somebody's gotta work," said Sal as he pa.s.sed by. I caught Antony in the hallway, coming out of Sch.e.l.l's room with four bottles of champagne.

"Do you think that's a good idea?" I asked.

"Are you kidding? It's a great idea. We got to keep the morale of our forces up."

"I don't want them to get too drunk," I said.

"No," he whispered. "You want them to get drunk, so when we get to the part about the machine guns, they won't have second thoughts."

I acquiesced with a sinking feeling. For the next hour, everyone milled around and drank and talked and smoked cigarettes. I introduced Isabel and Morgan to each of the volunteers. Miss Belinda told me she needed to find someplace to let the pigeons out, so I showed her to the Bugatorium. She nodded and called down the hall for Peewee and Antony to bring the crates. I closed the door behind me, and Miss Belinda said, "Okay, let 'em loose." Antony and Peewee lifted the sliding planks at the ends of the wooden cages, and the birds rushed forth in a torrent of flapping wings and falling feathers. Once they settled down and found perches, a pandemonium of cooing filled the air and set the room to vibrating.

Miss Belinda took a small satchel from within the folds of her gown. Dipping into it, her hand came forth filled with golden meal, and she began spreading it on the floor like a farmer sowing seeds. The pigeons fluttered down to feed, strutting and bobbing their heads. As we left the Bugatorium, careful as to where we stepped, Antony muttered, "And I used to worry about b.u.t.terfly s.h.i.t." The four bottles of champagne didn't last long, and once they were done and some of the guests were inquiring if there was more, I called for all to gather in the living room. Isabel and Hal brought chairs in from the kitchen so that everyone could have a seat. Marge took up half the couch but at least held Jack Bunting on her lap. When everyone was settled in, I took up a position near the front window, facing them. Antony stood just to the left of me, hands behind his back in his chauffeur att.i.tude of attention. The first thing I did was thank everyone for coming and then didn't waste any time but got right down to business.

"Okay," I said, "was anybody able to bring a gun?"

"I brought my Colt," said Captain Pierce. He held his gun up in the air to show it.

"Look at that thing," said Hal. "It's rustier than Sal's act."

"Does it even fire anymore?" asked Peewee.

"Haven't shot it since...," said the Captain, trying to remember.

"Okay," I said. "Anybody else?"

"I got my derringer," said Peewee.

"No need for personal confessions at a time like this," said Miss Belinda, and the crowd broke up. As soon as the mirth died down, Marge farted, a sound like she was sitting on a string of firecrackers. "I got a Gatling gun," she said. More laughter, and Jack Bunting faked pa.s.sing out. I had no choice but to wait. When things had quieted down, I asked Sal for the stick of dynamite. He stood and rather ceremoniously handed it over to me. "My wife's cousin is a foreman on one of the blasting teams working on the subway tunnels. He snitched this stick but said it's only a half of a real stick from an old batch and is probably pretty unstable to boot."

"Just what I wanted to hear," said Hal.

"A light touch is probably a good idea," said Sal retaking his seat. I gingerly placed the dynamite down on the windowsill behind me. "So that's it on the weapons then," I said.

"I've got my knives, of course," said Pierce.

"And I've got a straight razor out in the car," said Jack.

"Don't discount the ferocity of my pigeons should I command them to attack," said Miss Belinda.

"Excellent," I said and then launched into my somewhat prepared speech about the dangers we'd be facing. I didn't get very far before Hal interrupted me.

"Diego, look, I told them all this stuff already. Save the gas. This loathsome f.u.c.k has Tommy, wants to take this fine young woman's blood"-he pointed to Morgan-"would have the likes of us either sterilized or erased, and worst of all considers himself a patriot. We understand, bullets, mayhem, whatever. We're determined to whack this guy and get Sch.e.l.l back. Case closed. Why get maudlin?" There was a huge round of applause, and I wasn't sure whether it was for the fact that he'd cut short my oration or had done such a fine job himself. I noticed even Isabel and Antony were clapping, so I hoped it was the latter.

"Okay, Okay," I said. "Before I get to the particulars, I was wondering if you had anything to add, Antony?"

Antony looked at me and nodded. He stepped forward and addressed the crowd. "Besides the guns, one thing I wanted to warn you all about is when we're in the middle of this, if you happen to see a huge white guy charging at you, drop whatever you're doing and run your a.s.s off."

"s.h.i.t," said Captain Pierce, "I've been practicing that my whole life."

"This guy's the whitest guy you ever saw," said Antony, "and he's got a head like a f.u.c.ked-up Thanksgiving gourd with teeth. He could break your neck with his bare hands."

"Is he single?" asked Miss Belinda.

It was close to midnight by the time I finally could explain what I wanted each of them to do. The second I was finished, though, like some magic trick itself, they snapped to and set about the various tasks I'd a.s.signed.

Isabel and Hal started making gasoline bombs out of old jars and strips of cloth. Sal Coots instructed Peewee and Marge in the fine art of papier-mache as he tore long strips from Antony's old newspapers. Morgan searched for a pair of scissors. Jack and Antony and Pierce planned a harness made of trouser belts for the spider boy. The house was a beehive of activity until well past four in the morning. Once everyone had finally bedded down on the various couches and on blankets on the floor, I decided to go in and join Isabel for a few hours of sleep. Heading through the living room, I walked by the lounger that the Captain was sitting in. I thought he was asleep, but as I pa.s.sed he reached out and tugged my shirtsleeve. He looked up at me with his clouded eyes.

"From one captain to another," he said, "when the battle is on, the only real enemy is Doubt." Having said that, he closed his eyes and leaned his head back.

It was crowded in bed. Besides Isabel on my right, lightly snoring, Doubt was to my left, tossing and turning, elbowing me in the ribs and talking in its sleep.

BREAK A LEG.

It was midday and Antony and I sat at a table by the front window of a coffee shop that faced out on that main street that ran through the little town we now knew to be Fort Solanga. We were on a third cup of coffee each, silent as statues both, waiting for a sign. The street was empty save for an ancient Negro with a cane, sitting on a bench on the corner across from us, near the general store. We'd been there more than an hour, and the waitress was looking at us a little suspiciously.

"Here we go," Antony whispered.

I turned just in time to see a pigeon flutter down out of the sky and land directly on the head of the old man on the bench. It stayed perched there for nearly a minute before lifting off again. Then the man got up and headed west on the sidewalk. He was nearly out of sight when he pa.s.sed a small shop. At that instant, an exceedingly heavyset woman, filling nearly the entire sidewalk, exited the place. She moved slowly eastward, stopping often for lingering looks in the shop windows.

A black Model A Ford appeared, heading west down the street. It stopped just past our coffee shop, turned around in the middle of the road so as to be heading east, and pulled up at the curb in front of the general store. Two men dressed in black suits got out of the car and went into the store. The fat woman proceeded down the street toward the corner, still taking her time. There then appeared, pa.s.sing by our window, a small disfigured fellow, a legless cripple. He was atop a makeshift dolly and pulled himself along the sidewalk, using his hands, heading west. Another man, with a scrawny physique and a bobbing Adam's apple, hat pulled down to cover his eyes, left a shop across the street from us, and pa.s.sed the fat woman, heading east, his hands in his pockets, his lips pursed, whistling. By the time the black-suited men exited the general store the heavy woman had reached it and was looking in its window. The two men got in the car, and the motor came to life. The thin man with the pulled-down hat turned around as if he'd forgotten something and began heading back toward the general store. As the Ford pulled away, the woman turned with a speed that belied her girth, took three steps, the last off the curb, and walked right into the front fender of the car. She went down with a thud that might possibly have cracked the asphalt. The car stopped, and the two men got out. The woman was lying in the road, writhing and screaming.

The woman's cries covered the rattling of the cripple's wheeled board as he crossed the street and headed for the scene of the accident. The two men in black, with a show of great exertion, helped the heavy woman to her feet. The thin man, who'd also come to the woman's a.s.sistance, reached down and picked up her pocketbook and hat. She put her hat on, took her pocketbook, and then, as if in answer to a question one of the men had asked her, nodded her head, drying her tears with the handkerchief she'd pulled from her purse. The thin man, seemingly satisfied that his help was no longer needed, broke away from the group and continued down the street.

By this time, the cripple had positioned his rolling board directly behind the Model A and lay down flat upon it. As the heavy woman stepped back onto the sidewalk, the thin man stepped down off the curb into the street as if to cross it, turned quickly, and with his right foot shoved the cripple on the dolly under the car.

The two men in black suits got back in the car. The thin man crossed the street. The Model A pulled away, revealing beneath it an empty board with wheels. Entering the coffee shop, Peewee took a seat at our table, "We're in," he whispered.

"Let's just hope the heat under the car doesn't set the dynamite off on the little guy," said Antony. Late that afternoon, I sat by the phone in the office at the house, waiting for the call from Agarias. I'd already dispatched two cars, each with a ladder tied to its roof, to the street that the kid Jimmie lived on. From there, Isabel and most of our army would make their way to Agarias's compound, through the woods, past the sand dunes, and the ponds, carrying the ladders and a box full of gasoline bombs. The minute the sun went down, the phone rang. I answered it, knowing it would be Agarias.

"Do you have her?" he said.

"I've got her, but she's reluctant to join you. I had to tie her up," I said.

"As long as she's not injured," said Agarias. "I knew I could count on you."

"I want to talk to Sch.e.l.l," I said.

"That's not necessary," he said. "I'm a man of my word."

"Either I talk to him first or the deal is off," I said.

There was silence on the other end. "Sch.e.l.l's a very tricky customer, as you well know," he finally said.

"He's nearly escaped twice. I've had to chain him and sedate him."

"Sedate him?" I said, anger creeping into my voice. I'd decided I'd be as cold as ice, but my resolve was already breaking.

"Okay," said Agarias. "You've got thirty seconds."

Sch.e.l.l came on the line. "Don't bring her here," he said, his voice weak, the words slurred.

"We're coming to get you," I said. "The h.e.l.l with her, she's been nothing but trouble. You don't know the whole story on her."

"Don't," he repeated. "You're not chained to this deal. I don't want you to lift a pinky to help me."

"It's going to be smooth," I told him. "Just like McLaren and the red balloon."

"Smooth," said Agarias's voice. I knew he'd be listening in.

"That wasn't thirty seconds," I said.

"You've got one hour to get here," he said. "Get ready to write down the directions." I prayed the directions he gave would be to the place we'd staked out. If not, all would be lost. As he recited them, I was so nervous I missed the first part, but then the words Fort Solanga Fort Solanga sounded, and after that the turns and street names fell into place. sounded, and after that the turns and street names fell into place.

When Agarias finished, I told him, "I want to be able to see Sch.e.l.l the entire time. An even exchange. I'll bring Morgan out of the car, you bring Sch.e.l.l to meet me."

"Of course," he said. "But you'd better hurry, because if you're a minute late, I'll start the transfusion, and I don't think Mr. Sch.e.l.l is in any shape to receive the pure blood of Merlin." I hung up. Antony was standing in the doorway.

"We're on," I said.

"Did you talk to Sch.e.l.l?" he asked.

"He told me he's got a pin he can use as a key on whatever chains they have him in," I said. I meant to get up then, but my determined cool broke like a dam, and I started to cry. My memory filled to bursting with thoughts of Sch.e.l.l, a swirl of scenes from my years with him. I owed him my life, and now his was in my hands. It took quite a few minutes for me to regain control of myself, and I was surprised that Antony didn't say a word. When I was done, I dried my eyes and stood up. The big man put his hand on my shoulder. "Okay, you ready?" he asked.