Angry Lead Skies

81

"I've got a bad feeling about this, Singe," I said, puffing as I headed south, the knees beginning to ache. "I'm willing to bet I know exactly where that thing was headed."

No dummy she, Singe opined, "Mr. Dotes' establishment."

"Yeah."

Yeah.

The skyship was long gone by the time we reached The Palms but people were still hanging around in the street, telling each other about it. There'd been enough excitement for the visitation to become a neighborhood forty-day wonder. I noted a couple of familiar faces among the gossipers, guys asking only occasional questions and doing a lot of listening.

Some snooty galoot got his heart broken when I didn't even slow down going past him at the door—with a rat in tow, for the gods' sake! For a moment I thought I'd finally get me a chance to witness a genuine sputtering fit of apoplexy.

Snooty galoot disappointed me.

People so often do.

"I smells, wit' my little smeller, somet'in' what a man ought not ta got ta smell," Puddle announced from the shadows at the other end of the room.

Sarge hollered from the kitchen, "Dat mean dat Garrett's here?"

"Dat it does indeed."

"Ha! So pay up! I told ya da man don't got a ounce a shame an' he'd turn up before da dust settled."

"Sounds like we guessed right," I told Singe. "They did come here."

"Hey, Greenwall," Puddle yelled. "Ya need more help talkin' people outa comin' in da door?"

The snooty character gobbled some air. It was obvious that Morley had hired him for his upthrust honker, not for his ability to intimidate hard men.

I said, "Don't be too rough on the guy, Puddle." I intended to explain how he naturally went spineless when he saw Singe and me bearing down, but Puddle interrupted.

"Yer right, Garrett. It's his secont day on da job. Ain't every day ya look out da door an' dere's one a dem flyin' disk kinda t'in's landin' in da street out front, wit' goofy-lookin' silvery elf guys jumpin' down an' whippin' up on everybody."

I took a second glance at Greenwall. He did look like a man nursing a ferocious headache. So did Puddle, for that matter. "So the girls all got away."

Puddle stared at me with narrowed eye for several seconds. "Yeah. Dey went. But one a dem had ta be dragged kickin' and da udder two cried all da way 'cause dey didn't want ta go."

"Wow! Your boss is quite the man. He'll be heartbroken, I'm sure."

"Morley's gonna be singin' hosannas, soon as he gets enough strengt' back." Puddle's grin slid away. His face turned serious. "I hate ta be da one what gives ya da bad news, Garrett, but dem sluts, dey stole Mr. Big when dey went."

"Oh, that is awful." What an actor. I know what racket I ought to be in, now. Not involved in inventing and manufacture. I ought to be on the stage. I managed to be convincing in my loss. "O Cruel Asp of Fortune, thou wicked serpent, how painful thy sting... "

"Gods, Garrett, you aren't just a ham, you're the whole stinking pig." Morley had managed to get most of the way downstairs. He looked like a guy fighting a big headache, too.

Once again I brought my acting skills to bear and concealed my amusement. "You look like death warmed over. You been playing with the vampires?"

"Of a sort. Right now I don't think I ever want to see another woman."

"Oh, I suspect you'll change your mind. After you recover from the fantasy come true." Given a few days I'd found myself thinking of Katie and Tinnie in a nonplatonic fashion again. But I am a very resilient fellow.

"They stole Mr. Big, Garrett."

"You sound like that bothers you."

Morley's eyes narrowed suspiciously. Like why wouldn't that bother the gods themselves?

"It's no secret that I wasn't fond of the ugly moth. But if you miss obnoxiousness fluttering around you I'll send over some of the swarm of pixies that're living in my walls, now."

"No need. Mr. Big will be back," Morley predicted. He sounded so confident I wondered if I ought to be worried.

"You sound sure. And glum at the same time."

"Evas and her friends are going to come back with him."

"Heh-heh-heh." I pulled my most evil laugh out of my bag of attitudes for special occasions. "You sure they won't just wring his neck when they get tired of him?"

"You'll be laughing out the other side of your mouth when they get here, Garrett."

"I'll move. I'll go into hiding."

"You're marked, buddy. You're special. You started something and now you're marked for their special attention."

"I started nothing. It was all Evas' idea."

"You gave her the idea for her new idea, Mr. Entrepreneur. She's going to get hold of a bigger skyship and start bringing silver elf women to TunFaire for very special vacation getaways. And she sees you as a whole lot better partner in her enterprise than she sees me. She told me so." A bit of wickedness lurked in the corners of his eyes. He just might have had something to do with the lady Visitor's attitude.

Telling stories on me again, probably. I have to break him of that habit.

"Their government will never let them do that." Stopping adventurers was Casey's business. His whole purpose in life was to prevent contacts between his people and ours.

"You really think? It's beyond corruption?"

"Glad to see you're all right," I said. "Get plenty of rest. And get some meat in your diet. You'll need to beef up if you want to make it in the gigolo racket." I began to sidle toward the door.

"I plan to maintain my amateur status. But you being a businessman now, you might want to exploit the opportunity."

Maybe I could recruit Kip and Rhafi and a dozen of their friends. What they lacked in experience they could make up in enthusiasm.

I sidled some more, noting that Singe was enjoying my discomfiture entirely too much.

"What's your rush, Garrett?" my old pal asked.

"I've got to see a Dead Man about a horse."

Morley took his turn chuckling. Chances were he had a fair notion what was going on in my head. But he said only, "You be careful on the street. There are some ratfolk out there who resent what the Guard did to Reliance. And they think you and Singe might have had something to do with that. Your friend John Stretch is having trouble setting himself up as Reliance's replacement."

"My friend John Stretch is going to get some grief from me, too." I'd concluded that John Stretch had given me completely bum information about where to find the Maskers. That Singe and I had stumbled into the right place at the wrong time almost entirely by chance. That we never would have found the Visitors if Bic and his sorcerer friend hadn't been dogging us.

Dotes got in a final gouge as we stepped into the street. "See you at Chodo's birthday bash. I think you could sell your gigolo franchise to the Outfit."

Chodo's birthday party. That bucket of ice water put everything else into a more favorable perspective. The return of the insatiable Visitor girls sounded positively attractive by comparison.