Dread Brass Shadows

9

Maybe he was just trying to save my legs. He did deliver another one to my door.

Dean was there already. He'd been fixing to let us out when the knock came. Now he was wringing his hands. I asked, "What have we got?"

"Another woman."

I opened up and looked her over. That took a while. You're going to do a job, do it right. There was plenty there to appreciate, though in a small package. I was surprised the whole neighborhood wasn't howling. Hot stuff. All the right goodies packed together in all the best ways. Big green eyes. Big, big green eyes. Lips a dangerous red and puffy, the kind that yell, "Come and get it, I can take it, what are you waiting for?" Breasts like man oh man how did she get that on and how does she keep them in there?

But.

She was a little thing, maybe five feet two on her tiptoes. And she was another redhead. She had lots of wild red hair the way Tinnie had wild red hair. The way my naked visitor had had wild red hair. In fact, she was a ringer for that gal but definitely not the same woman. I wondered if she was a sister. Or was that little weasel in the sky just poking me in the eye by piling on the redheads?

I didn't say anything. I couldn't. I just led her into that pretentious closet I call an office. Dean brought a pitcher without being asked. He looked numb. The way I was going to be numb if I kept getting pitchers delivered.

Another redhead. I hoped some light was going to get shed here. Real soon.

All of a sudden I was convinced that guy with the mustache had thought he was hitting this woman, or the naked one, when he'd stabbed Tinnie. 1 settled, drank a mug, studied her. She looked back boldly, still without having spoken. She didn't go for come-hither but, damn, it was built in, part of the package. She was the kind of woman who'd sit there and smolder while darning her grandfather's socks. The kind that makes me want to run out back and yell at the sky in sheer joy that I share the same world.

I squeaked. "I'm Garrett. I guess you want to see me." Sometimes I'm so cool I amaze even me.

"Yes."

Yes what? I took a drink so I wouldn't pant all over her. I believe in long courtships. Fifteen minutes at least. I swallowed and croaked, "So?"

"I need someone to help me. Someone like you."

I grinned from ear to ear. Could I help her? You betcha... I'd give it my best shot... . Hey! Garrett! Let's calm down a little. Let's get the chemistry under control. Anyway, I'd already begun to suspect that this wasn't a match made in heaven. She was smoldering, but that wasn't my fault. That, was just her being her. Whoever she was. "Well?"

"I need someone to find something for me."

"That's what I do. Find things. But sometimes people are sorry when I do."

She just sat there heating the place up while I started to sweat. I turned sideways and studied Eleanor out of the corner of my eye. A tall, cool, slim, ethereal blonde, Eleanor has what it takes to bring me back to earth. I talk to Eleanor when no one else will listen. She's my rock in turbulent seas. I wondered what the real Eleanor would think if she knew how I used her portrait. I didn't think she'd mind.

The redhead asked, "Is that someone special?"

"Yes. Her name was Eleanor Stantnor. She was the wife of a client. I never really met her. He murdered her twenty years before he hired me. All he got for his trouble was found out for his old crime. I took the painting for my fee. Yeah. She's special. And if she was around, she'd be as old as my mother. But I'd probably fall in love with her anyway." I faced the redhead. "Let's get down to it."

"Have I come at a bad time?"

"You've come at the perfect rime. You're almost a ringer for a friend of mine somebody tried to kill out front yesterday. I have a feeling you could maybe shed some light on why."

She started to say something. What I'd said sank in. Her mouth made an 0. Her eyes got even bigger. She started to get up, sank back, shook fetchingly.

"My friend's name is Tinnie Tate. She never hurt anybody. She's got hair like yours and she's about your height. A little less rounded, here and there, near as I can tell from here, but not enough so anyone could make a case of it. She was coming to see me when some scumbag stuck a knife in her. For no damned reason I could figure till I got a look at you."

"Oh, my," she breathed. "I've got to get out of here. He knows. I've got to go."

"You aren't going anywhere, sweetheart. Not till I know what the hell is going on."

She just sat there oh-mying and heating up the room. I thought about having Dean throw cold water on her, but that would just steam the place up and cause the wallpaper to peel. I said, "Tinnie getting hurt makes me mad. Some other guys, too. Some bad people. Rich people. Her people. They want blood. You look like a gal who knows how to take care of herself. Maybe you wouldn't want to get caught in the middle of all those angry people."

Her pretty little face turned puzzled.

Was I trying to scare her? You bet I was.

She just said, "Oh," like it wasn't very important.

"I figure the guy who stuck Tinnie thought he was getting you." Sure, I was fishing. You don't throw out a hook, you never get a nibble. "That's the only way it makes any sense. He mistook her for somebody else. So let's you and me get to the point." I got up and walked around the desk.

"I made a mistake coming here." She started to get up.

I sat her down. "You made your mistake when you told somebody somewhere that you were thinking about coming here. That worried somebody. He tried to off my lady. Spill. I'm not in a good mood anymore."

Actually, I was being gentle. I had the Dead Man across the hall. All I needed to do was keep her mind frothing so he could get at anything interesting in there.

She tried to get up again. I sat her down with more force. She looked more irritated than scared. That didn't fit.

"The story, lady. Maybe starting with your name."

She looked down at her hands. Man, those were fine hands.

"My name is Carla Lindo Ramada. I'm a chambermaid in the home hold of Lord Baron Cleon Stonecipher."

"Never heard of him." But if all his help looked like this, I'd consider relocating. "Out of town, I take it. What about this baron?"

"He's kind of at the edge of the story. He's about two hundred years old and just lies in bed waiting to die. Only he has a curse on him. He can't. He just keeps getting older. But that's not important. The witch is. The one that put the curse on him. They call her the Serpent. She lives in the castle, too, only nobody ever sees her. Nobody knows what she looks like except her own men. All anybody really knows is she won't take the curse off the baron until he makes her his heir."

"Huh?"

"She wants the castle. It sits way up in the Hamadan Mountains, near the border between Karenta and Therpra.

Both kingdoms claim it, but neither has any real control.

The Serpent wants the castle because it's invulnerable.'

I wondered if Miss Ramada could be half as slow as she sounded. I glanced at Eleanor. She didn't give me a clue. Hell. If she wasn't a genius, so what? She'd never had to use her head. In this world women who look like that never have to work for anything. The only lesson they need to learn is how to pick the times to wag their tails.

"To the point. What're you doing here? I want to know why Tinnie got stabbed. We'll get into background if it seems important."

She showed that flicker of irritation again. "The Serpent was making a book. They called it a book of dreams or a book of shadows. The Baron thought she was putting most of her powers into it. He thought if he could grab it, he would run her out of the castle. He told his men to steal it. They waited till her guard was down. They grabbed the book. There was a fight. Most of the Baron's men were killed. So were a lot of the Serpent's guards. A man named Holme Blaine escaped with the book, but he didn't take it to the Baron. He brought it to TunFaire. The Baron sent me to get it back because I was the only one he trusted. When I asked around for someone who might help me your name kept coming up. I decided to see you. Here I am. But I think I made a mistake."

I had a strong feeling she wasn't telling me the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. But the Dead Man could straighten out the little details. "See me why?"

"I want you to find the book of dreams."

Sure. I looked at Eleanor. She gave me a blank stare in return. Not much help there, honey. I checked the redhead again. Damn, she was a sizzler. "So who tried to kill my friend? And why?"

"The Serpent's men, probably. I know they're here. I've seen them. Did you see them?"

I described them carefully.

"The man with the mustache sounds like Elmore Flounce. Even his friends won't mourn him. The ratman might be Keem Lost Knife. Nastier than Flounce. The ogre could be Zacher Hoe, a hunter and tracker. But the Serpent has other ogres. The dwarves... I don't know. She had dozens around."

"Hunh. Somewhere to start." I hoped the Dead Man was taking her apart inside

The redhead started wringing her hands That isn't something you see much, especiafly in younger people. The only wringer I know is Dean. It seemed studied. "Will you help me find Holme Blaine, Mr. Garrett? Will you help me recover the book of dreams? I'm desperate."

All alone and desperate, battered by powerful forces. A sure way to sew Garrett up Only I didn't feel her desperation. I was becoming disenchanted so fast I almost had to work to pant. String her along, Garrett. What's to lose? "I have problems of my own. But if I come across your book, I'll snap it up."

She gave me a look that melted my spine despite my restored cynicism. It made me want to grab up Dean and the Dead Man and toss them into the street. She took out a doeskin sack, removed five silver coins. "I have to keep a little to live on while you find the book. I'm sorry I can't give you more. It's all we could scrape together. The Serpent grabs all the silver she can find."

Silver had gotten scarce since Glory Mooncalled took over the mines in the Cantard. I opened my mouth to tell her she didn't need to beggar herself. The sucker side of me was wide-awake.

Face it

The Dead Man seldom sends a thought beyond the confines ot his own quarters. If he does, I don't argue. His reasons generally stand up. But having him jump in ruined my concentration. There were a hundred questions I should have asked the woman, but instead I said, "I'fl have a friend of mine see you safely to wherever you're staying" Saucerhead was hanging around somewhere.

She stood "That's not necessary

"I think it is. There's been a knife used once already. Probably meant for you. By now I expect the people who did it know they missed. Understand?"

"I suppose." That irritation again. "Thank you. I'm new at this. I don't expect people to be that way."

Really?

She was good Give her that. She really was good. I called out, "Dean, tell Mr. Tharpe to see the lady safely tucked away home. Ask him to scout the area, see if she's being watched."

Dean stepped into the doorway, nodding. As I'd suspected, he'd been out there eavesdropping. "Miss? If you will?" He could turn on the charm for a guest, that old boy.

I didn't think about the questions I should've asked till after I heard the door close. But what the hell? I could get the answers from the Dead Man.