As they walked down the stairs to the lobby, Perry said, "I'm really not used to drinking like we did last night. I hope there's some coffee somewhere, and something to eat."
"It was fun, though," SarahBeth said. "I want to do it again sometime."
"Oh, me, too. As Pete said, though, maybe with less wine."
"Well, I agree about one thing. There'd better be some coffee somewhere."
They walked into the lobby and looked around. There were about ten or twelve people sitting on the various worn sofas and shaky chairs, but nobody they knew. Some of the people were eating with plates in their laps. SarahBeth went up to two girls and said, "Hi. I'm SarahBeth, and this is Perry. Where did you get the food?"
The girls were apparently somewhere between SarahBeth and Perry in age, and they said hello, but then they looked at Perry and froze, staring at him.
SarahBeth rolled her eyes. She stepped in front of Perry and waved her arms. "Hello?" she said. "Breakfast?"
"Oh, I'm sorry," one of the girls said. "There's food in the dining room." She gestured at a door in the corner of the room.
"Thanks," Perry said as SarahBeth dragged him in that direction.
They went through the door and looked around the large room, which had booths all around the outer walls and small tables in the center of the room. The floor around the outside of the room, under the booths, was raised a few inches, giving the impression that the central area of the room might have been a dance floor at some point.
The booths were all full, but some of the tables were empty.
SarahBeth sniffed the air and said, "Coffee! Come on."
She pulled him through another door, which led to the same kitchen she'd been in the day before. There were more people in it now, though again no familiar faces.
SarahBeth walked over to the coffee urn. "We can just take some, right?" she announced to no one in particular.
No one responded, so she filled two mugs and put them on a tray. Meanwhile, Perry was looking into a large pot on the stove.
"That's breakfast soup," a Black teenager with a shaved head explained. "We're in the process of inventing in, but you're welcome to try some."
SarahBeth got up on her tiptoes to peer into the pot. "What's in it?" she demanded.
"Water. A bunch of those little chicken broth cubes. Some eggs somebody brought last night. Some spices. Cabbage. A moderate amount of white wine."
Perry laughed and picked up a bowl. "Breakfast of champions. Sounds good to me." He grabbed the huge ladle and filled two bowls, squeezing them onto the tray with the coffee mugs.
As they came back into the dining room, SarahBeth paused and looked around the room. Perry saw Sam, David and Sarah Little sitting in one booth with Tammy Nelson, and Jan Sleet and Marshall were sitting with Vicki and Pat in another, but SarahBeth motioned to an empty table.
Perry took the food off of the tray, and then looked up to see Sarah Little coming over across the room. He tried to signal SarahBeth, to let her know who was approaching behind her, but SarahBeth just nodded in resignation. Either she'd seen her former lover walking toward them, or she just assumed that some sort of confrontation was inevitable.
"Nicky," Sarah said, leaning over to kiss SarahBeth very lightly on the cheek, "I'm just so glad you're okay. That's what's important, baby, and I was very worried about you. Take care of yourself," she said, turning away to return to her family after giving Perry a rather strange look.
There was a moment's silence and then SarahBeth started to lose the battle to keep a straight face.
"She seems to be taking it well," Perry said dubiously.
"Well, obviously she's decided that everything is your fault."
"What? What do you mean?"
She smiled. "You saw how she snubbed you. She's obviously decided that it's your fault. You seduced me away from her."
"But..." he protested, trying to keep his voice down but wanting to sputter in protest. "I didn't... You moved into my house! I tried to get you to go back to her!"
She shrugged. "And aren't you glad you're not very persuasive?"
"That's not the point," he said, realizing already that there was no way he was going win this. "Of course I'm glad, but–"
"You are older than I am," she pointed out. "As an adult, you have to take some responsibility."
He sighed. "Are you going to tell her the truth, the facts?"
SarahBeth looked pensive. "No, I don't think so." She smiled. "At least not right now. Maybe when I write my autobiography."
Walking down the hall, SarahBeth saw someone lying in front of the door to Katherine and Pete's room. As usual, she had dispatched Perry to check in with the "important people," while she went to fetch Katherine.
Coming closer to the door, she saw that the figure was a woman, apparently asleep. She had short blonde hair and wore a black sweatshirt and black jeans. SarahBeth tried to reach over her and open the door, but she didn't think she could open the door and step over the woman. She kneeled and touched the woman's shoulder.
"Hey," she said. "I need to get–"
She was interrupted when the woman opened her eyes and barked. SarahBeth stood up slowly as the woman got up on all fours and barked a couple more times, in the direction of the door.
Before SarahBeth could figure out how to react, Katherine yanked open the door. She was naked, and she didn't even notice SarahBeth.
"Daphne!" she cried, squatting down next to the woman, who placed her hands on Katherine's knees and leaned forward to lick her face. Katherine looked like she was about to cry, and Daphne licked her face again and scampered into the room.
Katherine saw SarahBeth for the first time, and got to her feet. "Did you find her?" she demanded. "Did you bring her home? You're the best friend ever!"
Katherine threw her arms around SarahBeth, who said, "I didn't, I just found her asleep in front of the door." She tried to steer Katherine into the room. "I guess that's your dog?" she asked.
Katherine looked at the bed, where Daphne was licking Pete's face. Katherine smiled as SarahBeth closed the door. "That's her."
Pete was awake by then, and he rubbed Daphne's hair and pressed his forehead against hers. "Welcome back, girl," he said. "We thought you were dead. Where were you?"
Daphne was standing on the bed by then, on all fours, and she crouched so that her head was on the mattress and her rear end was sticking up in the air. She wiggled it around a few times.
"That's great," Pete said, rubbing her back. "We're worried that you're dead, and you're out humping some boy dog. You couldn't have let us know you were okay?"
She jerked her rear forward and back a couple of times.
He shook his head. "I do not believe that you were knotted up with a boy dog for all this time."
She looked up, her eyes wide and her expression solemn as she nodded slowly.
He shook his head. "Well, I don't think I believe it, but I'm glad you're back."
"I know she's a dog and all," SarahBeth said as they walked down to the lobby, "but aren't you worried about the fact that a cute girl is all snuggled up with your boyfriend?"
Katherine ticked off the points on her fingers. "One, she's a good dog. Two, I trust Pete. Three, one time, when Pete wasn't around, I told her that, if she ever did anything with Pete, I would shoot her, repeatedly, starting with her hands and feet, and slowly moving toward the center of her body, until I ran out of bullets."
"Wow," SarahBeth said. "What did she say to that?"
"She stood up on her hind legs and said she didn't mess with married men, and Pete was more married than most men who have the piece of paper and the ring." She smiled. "I liked that. But it won't stop me from shooting her if she messes up. And she knows it."
SarahBeth looked up at her with a grin. "So, I guess Pete's not the father?"
Katherine laughed. "You noticed that, huh? It is getting kind of obvious. No, Pete's not the father, though I don't know who is. She and I haven't talked about it, but I think I will have to say something. For one thing, I don't want her to think I'm as unobservant as Pete. And I suspect we'll have to take care of her, so Pete should start getting used to the idea." She shrugged. "It's the closest we'll ever get to having children."
"I saw you stocking up on rubbers at the drugstore. So, no little starlings for you?"
She shook her head. "I'm doing a lot better than before, but I can't commit that I'll be able to keep everything together for the next twenty years. Sometimes I'm not even sure about the next twenty minutes. You saw what happened yesterday. It's okay for Pete, he's made the choice to be with me. But I can't make that decision for a child."
She was silent for a moment, and SarahBeth glanced at her. "What?" she demanded.
Katherine shook her head. "Nothing."
They met Perry in the lobby, and he laughed. "We're getting into quite a routine here. But I guess we'd better get going pretty quickly if we're going to be back for the big meeting."
"I know," SarahBeth said as they went outside. "God forbid we should miss it, since we've been ordered to show up."
The sky did seem a little lighter than it had, and there were a few more people on the street than the other mornings.
Perry shrugged. "I'm sure there's a reason, more than just a memorial. They–"
"It's just that they get to order people around," SarahBeth said with a smile. "When do I get to order people around?"
Perry laughed and threw his arm around her shoulders. "Other than me, you mean?"
"And me," Katherine said, smiling.
SarahBeth turned to her. "When did I order you around?"
Katherine looked at Perry. "Yesterday, she made me start saying 'my boyfriend' when I talk about Pete, instead of calling him my roommate or the guy I live with."
SarahBeth shrugged. "That's not really ordering you around. That's just being reasonable."
"That's what everybody says when they give orders," Perry said. "In Bellona, the government thought it was reasonable for people to give half the food they raised to the govenment, even if they weren't growing enough to survive to begin with."
"Well, if I was running things there, I'd give better orders than that," she said. "But we're talking about here, not there." She punched him on the arm. "And stop comparing me to the government, you."
"If you're going to run things here," Perry pointed out, "you'll have to be willing to at least talk to the people who are in charge now, and you avoid them like the plague."
She sighed. "Are you sure I can't just run things quietly off to the side somewhere?"
"I doubt it."
"I thought they were your family," Katherine said. "I mean, not Raymond, but Vicki. Why don't you want to talk to her?"
"Do you hang out with your family?"
She shook her head. "My parents are dead, and I was an only child. I have a couple of cousins, but I never see them. I think they'd hide under the bed if I showed up for a visit."
"Exactly. Vicki's my cousin, and I don't want to see her either."
Katherine shook her head. "Families are weird."
"Mine is weirder than yours, I'll bet."
Christy seemed to be in charge of the Jinx at the base of the bridge again, and she waved as they came up.
"You started a trend yesterday," she said. "People were trickling over all night. It's pretty cool."
"We're not going over for long today," Perry said.
She nodded. "The meeting, I know. Neil is talking to them now, about having some sort of coverage here and at the highway bridge during the meeting."
Perry nodded. "I hadn't thought of that. Having everybody at the meeting leaves us pretty vulnerable."
She shrugged. "They'll work something out."
"I'm sure. See you soon."
They started up the familiar incline, SarahBeth and Perry holding hands.
When they reached the hole, though, as they were preparing to climb onto the divider, a large spotlight was turned on from the far side of the hole, and an amplified voice said, "Do not move. You are covered."
They turned, squinting at the spotlight, trying to see who was on the other side of the hole.
"Who are you?" Perry demanded. "We're going to get medical supplies–"
"No one is going over this bridge. This is a disaster area, and no one is permitted to enter." There was a pause. "You and the young lady should return to where you came from. Please step away from the fugitive. She will be taken into custody."
Katherine had her guns out by this time, but the voice said, "We have you covered. Drop your weapons."
Katherine was in control of herself, and she stood motionless, her hands at her sides, holding her guns, trying to see to the source of the voice.
There was a shot, and it looked like Katherine was shot in the shoulder. The material of her coat ripped, but she didn't flinch.
"Our man is a very good shot. The next bullet will shatter your shoulder. Drop your weapons now."
Perry stepped directly in front of her. "My name is Perry Nelson," he said loudly and clearly. "I am here covering this situation, writing a series of articles. My books have sold millions of copies, and I have won the Pulitzer Prize. We mean no harm to anyone, and we will go back to U-town, but we will not surrender anyone into your custody."
There was silence for a moment, and SarahBeth whispered to Katherine, "Are you okay?"
Katherine nodded slowly, her hands still held out away from her body, her guns pointed at the ground. "I think I have a scratch, but no more than that."
"Are we all going to die? Are they going to shoot again?"
"I hope not. I'm just going to stay motionless here, so as not to provoke them any more. It shouldn't be long now."
"Long for what?"
Then they heard the sound of people running, from the U-town side of the bridge. "For that," Katherine said.
Katherine turned very slowly and carefully, holstering her guns. She raised her hands, making a series of quick signals.
The Jinx were in sight by then, coming up the bridge at the run, all holding guns, but at her signal they slowed and Neil came on ahead, a shotgun in one hand, his face grim.
"No one is going to fire unless we are fired upon," Perry said, his voice calm and clear. "We are in U-town territory, and we will now turn and go back."
"But if there is another gunshot, we will return fire," Neil said loudly, his shotgun held in one hand. "All of us." The other Jinx spread out across the width of the roadway, all holding their guns at the ready but none taking aim.
"Mr. Nelson," came a different voice. This sounded like an older man, and he sounded very calm. "You have not won, nor are you ever likely to win, a Pulitzer Prize."
Perry nodded. "True. I thought that sounded impressive."
"And you thought we were dumb soldiers and wouldn't know the difference."
Perry pursed his lips. "I wouldn't put it quite that way."
"There is a rifle pointed at your heart, so I should hope not." He paused. "Are you aware of the nature and extent of charges against the woman with you, Katherine diGregorio, also known as 'starling'?"
"I am aware of the general nature of them, and I am aware that she is wanted in your country. Not in ours. And you should be aware that she is my friend, and I will shield her from any harm if I possibly can."
"That will not be necessary. Please return to your territory, and do not try to come over this bridge again. Do you agree?"
"I do," Perry said. "And I can speak for Katherine as well. I can't speak for the rest of the people here."
"We will not try to cross this bridge," Neil said clearly. "I speak for the others here." He gestured and a couple of the Jinx stepped together between Perry and Katherine. "You should go, Kat," he said quietly, and she started to walk down the bridge. When she was out of sight, Perry and SarahBeth followed. He took her hand in his and squeezed.
As soon as they were at the base of the bridge, he went to the edge, leaned over and threw up. She came up beside him and put her hand very lightly on his back as his stomach convulsed. Katherine came over and, when he straightened up, handed him a worn bandanna. She waited as he wiped his face, then she put her arms around him and hugged him briefly.
She glanced at SarahBeth. "I should make it clear that I'm not making a pass," she said, smiling, "but that was . . ." She shook her head. "Thank you. I would do the same for you, for either of you."
"I probably wouldn't," SarahBeth said, hugging them both. "But I might. Be nice to me, and we'll see."
The Jinx were there by then, and Neil and Christy came over. "You're tougher than your books would indicate," Neil said.
"I'm as surprised as anybody," Perry said.
Neil looked at Katherine. "Are you okay?" He pried apart the tear in her jacket and looked. "You took a scratch, and it's bleeding. Do you want–"
"I'll have somebody look at it," she said.
"I guess we have to figure out something else for getting food and medicine and so on."
Neil shrugged. "That's what the meeting is about." He smiled. "I got a preview."
"That guy?" SarahBeth said as they walked back to the hotel. "The one who was so brave up there on the bridge? That's my boyfriend."
Katherine nodded. "I know that." She lit a cigarette and offered the pack to SarahBeth.
SarahBeth smiled and squeezed Perry's hand. "I'm just saying." She took a cigarette and lit it. "So," she asked, "what's up with you and Neil?"
"I beg your pardon?" Katherine asked.
"Why are you so short with him? Is there a sordid history there?"
Katherine shook her head, smiling. "Not really sordid. Just a little sore, I guess. I used to be in the Jinx, many years ago, a long distance from here, and he and I were . . . Well, it wasn't really serious, but then they decided to kick me out. I was too hard to control. And he didn't stick up for me." She shrugged. "There was no reason he should have, I was getting to be a problem, I know that, but . . . It would have been nice if he'd said something."
They heard a bark from down the block, and Perry said, "It's Pete." He paused. "And he's leading a woman on a leash," he added slowly.
"That's Daphne," SarahBeth said. "I forgot to tell you, she came home this morning. She wasn't dead, she wasn't even hurt."
Perry stood very still, as if he was having some trouble absorbing this new information.
SarahBeth squatted as they came up, and Daphne sniffed her very carefully and then licked her cheek.
"I thought I'd come down to meet you," Pete said. "But I–" He saw the rip in Katherine's coat and interrupted himself. "What happened to your shoulder? Are you okay?"
So, as they walked along, toward the hotel and medical assistance, they told him the story. Perry and SarahBeth held hands as they walked, and Pete took Katherine's hand in his. His other hand was holding Daphne's leash, of course.
"So," Vic said, "Let's see the shoulder."
Katherine pulled off her T-shirt, which had quite a bit of blood on it, and reached behind her back to unhook her bra.
"I'll wait outside," Perry said quickly.
As the door closed behind him, Katherine said, "I guess he's squeamish about blood." She dropped her bra on the table and Daphne started to whine, looking at her shoulder.
SarahBeth laughed. "The combination of blood and boobs. He's not comfortable around nekkid women."
Daphne jumped up on the table and came over to look at Katherine's shoulder. She whined again and looked worried.
"I'm not naked," Katherine said, rubbing Daphne's head.
"He's not taking any chances."
"Can I get in here?" Vic asked.
Pete took Daphne's leash and pulled. "Come on, girl," he said. "Let's let the doctor do his work. She'll be okay."
Daphne jumped down to the floor and sat leaning against Pete's leg, looking at Katherine with a worried expression.
"Not even a need for stitches," Vic said, putting on a bandage. "Try not
to exert yourself for a day or two. If it starts to bleed again, we'll
change the dressing. If not, we won't, we're short of bandages. If it
starts to hurt more, try a slug of bourbon."
He glanced at Daphne. Then he glanced at Pete as Katherine put her shirt back on. "That's a fine looking dog," he said hesitantly, and Daphne came over and leaned against his leg, looking up with her eyes wide.
"I'm no expert on dogs," he said, still sounding hesitant, "but I'd hazard a guess that she's going to have puppies sometime soon. Has someone examined her?"
Pete looked at Daphne, frowning, as if seeing her for the first time. Meanwhile, Daphne quickly moved away from Vic, and stood behind Pete, peering around his legs nervously.
Pete reached down and took her collar in his hand. "I don't believe she has been examined, and I think it would be a great thing if you have the time."
He restrained Daphne as she tried to move toward the door.
The next few moments were chaotic.
Daphne broke away from Pete and scrambled under the table. Vic stood well out of the way as Pete crawled under the table after her, banging his head and cursing as she scooted out the other side, narrowly avoiding Katherine and running toward the door.
The door was closed, and SarahBeth stood with her back against it, lighting a cigarette. Daphne veered aside and tried to crawl under a sofa. She didn't quite fit, so she jumped on top of the sofa and growled, baring her teeth.
"She's never been like this before," Pete said, running his fingers through his hair. "I'm not sure–"
SarahBeth tapped his arm. "Come on," she said. "You should wait outside."
"What? She–"
"Trust me. Come on."
Daphne stopped growling and seemed to relax as SarahBeth pulled Pete out of the room and closed the door. They heard her bark once, then there was silence.
Perry came over as SarahBeth offered Pete a cigarette. He lit it and shook his head.
"Is she okay?" Perry asked.
"Vic is examining her now," Pete said. "He figured out she's pregnant."
Perry looked surprised as SarahBeth blew smoke in his direction and he waved it away. "Katherine is pregnant?"
SarahBeth laughed. "Kath's not pregnant. She's fine. He's talking about Daphne."
Perry shrugged. "That was obvious, that she's pregnant."
"Not to me," Pete said with a laugh. "And she really didn't want him to examine her."
SarahBeth jerked a thumb at the door. "It sounds like it's fine now. I told you, she didn't want to take off her clothes in front of you."
"She's never been weird about that before," Pete replied, running his fingers through his hair again to straighten it out. "We've always been pretty casual at home, the three of us."
"Well, maybe it's because she's pregnant now," Perry said.
"Also," SarahBeth said, "did you three live together? Was that when she took her clothes off?"
Pete nodded. "We used to have an apartment."
"Were you and Katherine together then? Or was that before?"
"No, it was before."
She shook her head. "Pete, you are such a guy."
"Pete, think about this. You used to be three people, or two people and a dog, sharing an apartment. But now, two of you are a couple. And Katherine is heavily armed and violent."
He frowned. "Are you saying Katherine would be jealous if I saw Daphne naked? She's not like that."
"Leave that aside," Perry said. "If you were her, wouldn't you want to be extra careful that Katherine wouldn't get jealous? Nothing against Katherine, I really like her." He shrugged. "I nearly took a bullet for her a couple of hours ago, and I'd do it again. But look at it from Daphne's point of view."
"Do you know who the father is?" SarahBeth asked.
Pete laughed. "I didn't even know she was pregnant until ten minutes ago. And she's not in a steady relationship, as far as I know."
"Then she needs you, both of you," Perry said. "She's pregnant, alone, in a situation where food and water and shelter are uncertain from day to day, let alone medical care. I get a sense that you're not uncomfortable living that way, but you're not pregnant, and you're in a deeply committed relationship with someone who would kill to get you help if you needed it."
Pete puffed quietly, and nodded. "I see what you mean. I know starling really well, she's not going to hurt Daphne, but I can see how Daphne might think otherwise." He laughed. "I just take her for granted, I guess, but a friend of mine told me a while ago that there were all sorts of rumors about the three of us, about how I lead a real babe like Daphne around on a leash and all." He looked up. "His description, 'babe,' not mine."
"Well, she is attractive," Perry said, and SarahBeth kicked him. "Moderately attractive," he continued. "That is to say, not unattractive."
"She's not a 'dog,' is what you're saying," SarahBeth said. She shrugged. "I wouldn't kick her out of bed for eating doggy biscuits, I can tell you that."
Pete laughed. "That seems to be a double standard, if you can look at women, and he can't."
She smiled. "Damn right."
She took Perry's hand and squeezed it as Katherine opened the door and said, "You can come in now. Everybody's decent."
Daphne went right over to Pete and leaned against his leg again. He ruffled her hair and she closed her eyes and smiled.
"As far as I can tell," Vic said, "she's completely healthy. Probably about three to four months along. She should get regular examinations between now and the birth, of course. Regular exercise, nothing too strenuous. Does she smoke?"
Pete shook his head. "No, but we do."
"Well, try to smoke as little as you can around her."
As they came into the lobby, Pete spotted Fifteen. "Fif," he called, limping over to the young man. "When's the meeting?"
"Probably about an hour. We, the runners, are having a preliminary meeting with the honchos in a few minutes, then the main meeting will start."
Pete took Daphne's leash from Katherine and turned to the others. "I think I'm going to go back to the room and lie down until then. My ankle is hurting a little."
Katherine said, "I'll keep you company."
SarahBeth said, "No, stick around, Kath, at least for a minute. We may be doing something fun, and you might want to come along."
Katherine looked uncertain. "Oh, don't worry," SarahBeth said, "it won't be terrible." She turned to Pete. "We'll come get you before the meeting."
"Okay," he said, leading Daphne off.
SarahBeth nudged Perry. "Then we can take care of that other thing." She turned to Fifteen. "We need underwear," she said.
He took a step back. "You can't have mine," he said. "It's carefully locked up in my room."
SarahBeth shook her head. "Don't be a wise guy. Is there a store around here that sells girl's underwear? Not cheap stuff, either."
He smiled. "I happen to be able to help you with that. My aunt has completely cornered the fine lingerie market in these parts, in addition to many other commodities. I can give you the address, if you like."
"How far is it?" Perry asked.
"Not far. A few blocks." He took a pad of paper from his pocket and wrote on it. "Be sure to mention that I sent you."
SarahBeth turned to Katherine. "You want to come along? Get some racy new undies? Help us so we don't get lost?"
Katherine smiled. "I don't think–"
"Oh, come on." She nudged her friend. "I'll bet it would make Pete happy."
She shook her head. "He's really not into that sort of thing." She shrugged. "But I'll come along."
"Do you know what this meeting is going to be like?" SarahBeth asked Katherine as they walked.
Katherine shook her head. "Not really. I've been to a few meetings, but that was a while ago, and this one will probably be really different anyway."
"Why did you stop going?" Perry asked.
"Too boring?" SarahBeth added.
"No, nothing like that. One time I was at one and this woman freaked out because I was there. I couldn't quite figure it out, but it sounded like I'd killed a friend of hers once, or somebody from her family. She really went crazy, screaming and running around, so I left. It was obvious nothing was going to get done as long as I was there." She shrugged. "After that, Pete would just go by himself, and he'd tell me about it later." She gestured. "We turn right here."
They crossed the street and Katherine led them to an apartment building and into the lobby. They climbed four flights of stairs, with much complaining from SarahBeth, and Katherine knocked on an unmarked door.
Finch opened it and said, "Are you here for an exam? I'm on my break."
"No, we're here for underwear," SarahBeth said, "especially bras–"
T.C. appeared and grabbed her wrist, hauling her into the apartment. Perry and Katherine followed.
The kitchen looked very much like the one they were familiar with, though they were miles from the apartment where SarahBeth and Perry had last seen T.C. She climbed up onto a stool next to the tiny kitchen table, lit a cigarette, and regarded them, then she rubbed her hands together. "So, I hear that you've moved on from Sarah Little," she said to SarahBeth. "And now you find that you need some new intimate apparel? I'm not surprised, women are sometimes indifferent to that sort of thing, but men always appreciate a woman when she's dressed properly."
SarahBeth nodded. "That's what I've been telling her," she said, indicating Katherine. "She thinks her boyfriend is immune to racy underwear."
T.C. hooted a laugh. "Pete?" she demanded. "I remember at Movie Night once he was sitting right where I'm sitting now, and The Amazing Frankie was sitting on the floor there next to him. She was somewhat the worse for drink, and she hadn't noticed that the top button of her shirt had come open. Pete didn't look at the movie once all night, he just stared down at her décolletage. At one point, David had to catch his wrist, or he would have poured his beer into her cleavage, which was admittedly quite impressive. She was wearing a black push-up bra, in a style which I happen to have available in your size." She got to her feet. "Please come with me."
"Fifteen wanted us to mention that he sent us," SarahBeth said as they followed her into the bedroom, which was almost completely filled with cartons of various sizes. "I think he's expecting–"
T.C. laughed. "He'll get his cut. He sends me a lot of business. He used to try to come and hang out while the customers were trying on the merchandise, though, but I put a stop to that. It made the ladies nervous and put them out of the mood for spending."
Katherine took off her coat and dropped it on the floor, then she took off her shoulder holster and unclasped her gunbelt. T.C. gestured at her T-shirt, which was torn and bloody where she'd been shot.
"Is that a fashion statement," she asked, "or would you like to buy a T-shirt as well?"
Katherine glanced at her shoulder, and she grinned. "I guess I'd better get a new T-shirt. I'd probably really disrupt the meeting if I came in with blood all over me."
She unzipped her jeans and dropped them to the floor, and T.C. regarded her underwear.
"We definitely need to help you today," she said. "I think your underwear is older than your young friend here."
T.C. laughed as she lit another cigarette. "I didn't even let Fifteen hang around when his lady was shopping, just on principle."
"He has a girlfriend?" SarahBeth asked with some skepticism as she pulled off her T-shirt.
"You've met her, a couple of times," Katherine said. "He's going with Christy from the Jinx."
"Who?"
"The red-headed woman we've see at the base of the bridge," Katherine said. She smiled. "The only Jinx who was wearing a skirt."
SarahBeth looked dubious. "The good-looking one? The one who talked to us?" Katherine nodded. "How does a little squirt like him rate that? Plus, she must be twice his age."
T.C. shook her head. "I've often wondered about that. I've tried to ask, but he's not very forthcoming."
Katherine looked over with a smile. "T.C.," she said, "I understand you like to drive a hard bargain. But I also understand you appreciate a little gossip. Would you like to know how Fifteen and Christy got together? Because I know everything about it, and in fact, they wouldn't be together if it wasn't for me." She smiled. "It's quite possible that I know more about it than either one of them, in fact."
T.C. puffed thoughtfully. "I'll see about adjusting the cost, for you." She smiled at Perry. "Mr. Nelson is a famous writer, and I'm sure he can afford my regular prices for his young lady's personal items, which he will, of course, get to enjoy from time to time."
Katherine nodded. "Deal," she said.
And so, over the next half hour, as the two women tried on a wide variety of underwear in front of an increasingly dazed-looking Perry, Katherine told the story of Fifteen and Christy of the Jinx.
"Pete has told you about the time when he and I were on the run," Katherine started. "The main person after us was Inspector Novak, who was quite a dangerous man. He knew Fifteen was friends with Pete, so he grabbed him and tried to beat information out of him, to find out where we were hiding." Her mouth thinned as she spoke. "He beat him pretty badly, but Fifteen didn't tell him anything. Then, later on, when we saw Fifteen and found out what had happened, I thanked him and told him I'm try to get him anything he ever wanted."
"He was being a tough guy, didn't want to talk about it, and Pete joked later that there was only one thing he did really want, Christy, and that wasn't in my power to provide.
"Then later, when Pete and I were at the Jinx headquarters, Fifteen stopped by and happened to see Christy with her son, Jason, who is about the same age as Fifteen. She thought this would make Fifteen realize how silly it was for him to lust after her like that, since she's more than twice his age, but it didn't even slow him down.
"So, she was stuck, because he's a nice kid, and she didn't want to be harsh to him. So, I kind of hung around until she asked me how I thought she could get rid of him. And I asked her why in the world she wanted to do that.
"I told her what he'd done for us, which I know he never would have told her himself. I told her that he was smart and funny and loyal and enterprising, and obviously in love with her. And I asked her to come up with one thing against him besides his age." She smiled. "They slept together that night, and they've been together ever since. So, I told him I'd repay what he did for us, and I did."
"But she's way older than he is," SarahBeth protested. "I mean, I've slept with guys that old, but never because I wanted to."
Katherine smiled. "The gap between their ages is probably only a little more than between me and Pete."
SarahBeth grinned as she tried to clasp a bra which was really a little small for her. "Yeah," she said, giving up and dropping the bra on the bed, "but you're both old, so it doesn't matter as much."
When they left the apartment, SarahBeth was
carrying a shopping bag, and Katherine had a small bag as well.
Perry had a dazed expression on his face.
He shook his head as they walked back to the hotel. "The only thing that made that bearable, the expense I mean, was the possibility that Pete mentioned last night, that money might not be worth anything anymore."
SarahBeth laughed, and Katherine smiled, too. "I thought for a second you were going to claim that you didn't enjoy that," SarahBeth said, swinging the shopping bag so that it whacked him in the leg.
"I might try to claim that, but I'm pretty sure nobody would believe it," he said.
"Damn," SarahBeth said under her breath.
They were standing in the doorway of the theater, and they paused for a second, seeing how packed the huge room was. People bumped into them from behind, impatiently trying to get in.
They stepped to the side, standing out of the way as they looked around.
The theater had been used for meetings before, so it had been fixed up somewhat after Jan Sleet and Vicki had seen it for the first time, but it was still quite dilapidated. There were more seats, though areas of the room were still just bare (or carpeted) floor.
SarahBeth and the others had collected Pete and Daphne at the hotel, and they'd walked to the theater together. Pete lit a cigarette and Katherine took one as well. "I guess we're standing," he said. "It's never been anywhere near as full as this before, which is weird since so many people have died since the last meeting."
Katherine shook her head. "We're going to find you a seat. You can't stand all afternoon with that ankle. Come on."
They walked down the aisle, walking slowly so that they didn't get away from Pete, who was still limping. There were people sitting in the aisle as well, and walking around, so they had to move carefully. Perry glanced at the stage, but there was nothing happening there yet.
Katherine walked up to a young man sitting in an aisle seat.
"Excuse me," she said, and he turned, his head jerking back as he nearly bumped his nose into the holster which held her revolver.
He leaned back, looking up at her with his eyes wide as she gestured at Pete. "My friend twisted his ankle a couple of days ago," she said, "and it's going to get sore again if he has to stand for very long." The young man was already standing up. "I was wondering if he could have–"
"No problem," the young man said, hauling the girl with him to her feet as well. "You can sit down as well. Are these other people with you?"
"Yes, we are," SarahBeth said, and the next two people got up and moved away as well.
SarahBeth pushed Perry in first, then she followed. Katherine came after her, and Pete sat on the aisle. Daphne lay in the aisle, with her head on his foot, and apparently fell right asleep.
SarahBeth grinned at Katherine. "That's pretty useful, I must say."
"I really don't like doing that," she said seriously, offering SarahBeth a cigarette, which she accepted. "I don't deserve any special treatment, not because of what I've done. But I wasn't going to let Pete get his ankle hurt again."
Someone came up and said hi to Pete, and SarahBeth said to Katherine, "I didn't mention it before, I was having too much fun watching Perry pretend he didn't have a hard-on, but I met Inspector Novak once." Perry attempted a comment, but she ignored him. "The guy you said was after you?" she continued. "He was pretty scary. He just looked at me and he knew I was lying about my name."
Katherine smiled as a large Black man came over to talk to Pete. "Hi, George," she said over her shoulder. "Well, you don't need to worry about Novak any more, he's dead."
SarahBeth nodded. "I figured you'd killed him, after what he did to Fifteen."
"I would have, but I didn't get a chance. Pete killed him."
"He did?" Perry asked, leaning around SarahBeth to try to get into the conversation.
"When I told you he'd killed somebody to protect me, that's who he killed. Novak set a trap for me, with Pete as bait, and Pete killed him before I came in, so Novak wouldn't have a chance to kill me."
Her face lit up suddenly and she turned, quickly kissing Pete's cheek as he talked to George. Pete smiled and squeezed her hand, and George laughed. "Katherine, you are always a little different than I expect."
She smiled. "Thank you, I guess."
"Hey," SarahBeth said, poking Katherine in her side, "no mushy stuff." Katherine laughed. "Besides," SarahBeth continued, "I have a question." She gestured around the room. "Where did all these people come from? Everytime we're out, the streets are nearly empty, and suddenly there's all these people."
Katherine shrugged. "Mostly we've been at the hotel, and between the hotel and the bridge. That's only a few blocks. U-town is a lot bigger than that."
George had moved on, and Pete leaned over to speak. "U-town is a lot more than the people in the hotel, too. Most people, the ones whose apartments are still okay, are still living in their homes. But this is not a lot of people, compared to a month ago. Fifteen has told me that it's not only the people who died in the explosion, a lot of people have died since, too. The medical people are doing all they can, but they don't have much to work with."
"So, is this everybody?" Perry asked. "Is this the total population?"
Pete laughed. "You can say a meeting is 'mandatory' all you want, that never means every single person will show up. I'll bet anything T.C. isn't here, for example."
Perry nodded. "Not unless you paid her."
In the wings, Ray lit a cigarette as Pat peeked out through the curtains at the audience.
"It's funny," he said quietly, "how quickly we can get used to things. We look out at all those people, illuminated only by a few candles, and a window that we knocked in the wall ourselves, and it looks perfectly normal, to us and them. All the things we used to rely on electricity for, now we do without. Not that people don't complain–"
"As I recall," Marshall said with a laugh, "people used to complain all the time before, too."
Ray nodded. "Good point." He turned to Vicki. "You ready, chief?"
She laughed. "I'm not going out there alone, and don't call me chief. You guys are coming out with me, even if all you do is sit behind me and try to stay awake."
Marshall and Pat carried out some folding chairs and put them on the stage, and the audience started to react to the activity. There was a lectern at the front of the stage, and they placed the chairs in a row behind the lectern. Then Vicki and Jan and Ray went out on the stage and some people in the audience started to applaud, and some started to yell.
Vicki craned her neck up and whispered to Pat, "I guess they're not mad at me for messing things up."
Pat laughed and hugged her tiny lover. "You haven't messed anything up. Go and talk to them."
Jan and Marshall and Ray and Pat sat in the chairs, and Vicki went up to the lectern. Of course, if she had stood behind it, she would have been completely invisible to the audience. But she picked it up, turned it around, and hopped up so she was sitting on the edge. The room was quite dark, as Ray has mentioned, but her eyes were very sharp. She saw quite a few familiar faces in the audience, in fact a large number of the people there were known to her by this time.
"We are going to start this afternoon," she said, her voice ringing out clearly through the whole theater, "with a memorial to those we have lost. Ray was going to speak first, since he knew Doc Morse and Jack Longstreet longer than anybody else here, but his voice won't fill this room. So, he wrote something for me to read."
She paused, then she started to read from a piece of paper.
"I've missed Doc Morse and Jack Longstreet every day since their deaths, every time Jack would have helped prop up my shaky enthusiasm, every time Doc would have required me to think clearly about something important, rather than trusting to my emotions. But I am not going to speak any more about them, though this is supposed to be a memorial to them.
"Because everybody in this room has lost people, either on the morning of the explosion, or since then, or both. I mourn my friends, you mourn yours, and my grief is no more significant than yours, even though my friends would be up here on the stage with me if they were alive. What makes us, U-town, what we are, more than anything else, is that those of us up here on the stage are not more valuable than anybody else.
"I will now embarrass my friend Vicki by forcing her to say words about herself. She came here, from what she said, and I believe her, with no idea where she was or why she was here, and she sits up in front of you now not because she is more important than you, not even because she is stronger and faster than you, but because she decided that there were things which needed to be done, and that she could do them.
"She took that responsibility, as we have, but that doesn't make her any more important than anybody else. And, if I can anticipate what she is going to say later this afternoon, we're all going to have to take a lot more responsibility, very fast, or U-town will cease to exist by virtue of having no more living citizens.
"Doc Morse and Jack Longstreet died trying to help people, trying to fulfill the responsibilities they took on, but it's up to us whether they will have a suitable memorial at some time in the future, to be observed as people remember these few days and weeks, or whether it will be a small footnote that they preceded the rest of us by a handful of days.
"So, in closing, we all need to mourn, but more than that we need to act, so that there will be a future in which we can mourn more properly. Thank you."
There was some uneasy applause, and Vicki waited, folding the piece of paper and putting it in the pocket of her leather jacket.
Then, she spoke.
"I have exciting news," she began. "We have determined that it's almost certainly Friday afternoon." There was some laughter at this.
"But, more seriously, we, the people up here on this stage, don't know any more about what's happened than you do. We need to learn as much as we can about it, about what the explosion was and about what's going on in the world beyond our borders. But we do know some things, like the fact that we need to eat, and there is no food coming into the area anymore, and we certainly can't start farming in the park. So, we need a new plan, and very quickly.
"We have no working clocks or watches, but time continues to pass, and, the way things are now, this is not a good thing for us.
"If we think small about things, we will all die here. That's a fact. We will starve to death, if we last that long. We can't scavenge forever.
"Let me give you an idea of what I'm talking about. I'll mention three ideas that we've had. One is that I really want to figure out some way to get into that stadium and give those people in there the choice of staying where they are or joining us. So, we need a way to break into a prison, more or less, and defeat the police and army who guard and maintain it, and then have a conversation with everyone inside.
"Two, we may need to get out of here, walking, and go somewhere else where we can find food. Animals to kill or farming or something. I have no idea how far we'd have to walk or what we'd face on the way.
"Three, we're seriously looking into trying to find a ship, to get out of here that way. Cruise lines used to dock in the city. Are any of those ships there now, do they still work, do we know how to run them? Another series of questions.
"That's how we have to think, on that scale, and then make it work, or we will all starve to death in dust and rubble. But we're not going to figure it out, Jan and Ray and me, even with Marshall and Pat to help us. It's going to take everybody in this room, everybody in U-town, and other people, too.
"And these three ideas aren't everything, there are certainly going to be other major projects to think about and plan and carry out. So, everybody in this room should divide up into four groups."
Jan, Marshall, Pat and Ray all stood up and went to the sides of the stage, walking down the few steps into the audience. Neil and Tammy appeared from the wings and took two of the chairs behind Vicki as she continued.
"If you want to help figure out about the stadium thing," she said, "come up to the stage and talk to Neil and me. If you want to talk about walking somewhere else and maybe farming or raising animals, go to the left hand corner of the room, in the back, and talk to Pat." She smiled. "It turns out she was raised on a farm, which I never knew." There was some laughter at that.
"If you know anything about ships, or cruises, or navigation, please go to the right hand corner of the room, in the back, and talk to Jan and Marshall." She shrugged. "None of us know anything about ships, but we figure that, as a dago and a mick, probably somebody in their families came to the U.S. on a ship at some point. So, you see what I mean that we can't figure all of this out by ourselves." There was more laughter at that.
"And if you think all of this is way off, or if there's something else we should be doing, either instead or in addition, you can go over on the side there, and talk to Ray. He hates sports, stadiums, violence, farming, and walking, plus he gets sea sick, so he's in charge of alternatives."
There was some more laughter at this, but Vicki cut it off by saying loudly as people started to move around. "I should make it clear that this is not optional, not for you and not for anybody else in U-town. Runners are spreading the word right now. You can choose which team you want to be on, but you cannot not help with this."
Pete looked at Katherine. "You'll be doing the stadium, right?"
She nodded. "That sounds like it's where I'd be the most useful. What about you?"
"I think alternatives. I'll give that a try, anyway." He stood up.
"Can you make it over there?" she asked.
"Oh, sure. I'll see you at home later, unless both groups let out at the same time."
She nodded. "Okay." She kissed him on the cheek. "See you later."
Katherine made her way toward the stage, and Pete limped toward the group Ray was convening, leading Daphne on her leash.
Perry looked at SarahBeth. "What do you think?" he asked.
She shrugged. "Pretty simple, for me." She pointed at the group around Pat. "I'm not going to work with her." She turned and pointed at the group Jan Sleet and Marshall were assembling. "And I'm definitely not going over there."
"Why not?" he asked. "Jan and Marshall don't hate you, as far as I can tell."
"Well, maybe not, but look who else is over there."
Perry looked more carefully and spotted Sarah Little's bright red hair.
"Okay, that makes sense."
"And of course Tammy is with the stadium people. She hates me, or at least Terry does, and plus she gives me the creeps." She smiled. "So, it's alternatives."
He nodded. "Makes sense. It's so much easier when you decide that way, instead of worrying about where you're needed or what you're interested in."
She laughed and took his hand. "Oh, hush," she said, and they started out toward the alternatives group.
They made it about a yard before Vicki zipped up the aisle and stopped next to them. "Perry," she said, startling him. "I'm going to ask if we can draft you for the stadium group. Neil and I think that's where you can contribute the most."
Perry looked at SarahBeth, and her fierce eyes and set jaw clearly conveyed that their decision had already been made. Vicki sighed.
"But if that's where I can be the most–" Perry started.
"Fine!" SarahBeth snapped, and turned to stalk off toward the group Jan and Marshall were assembling, which seemed to be moving into a side room.
Vicki shrugged, looking sheepish. "Sorry," she said.
He shook his head. "No problem."
Vicki jumped up onto the seat of one of the chairs, and motioned Perry to come over to her.
"We can only take a minute," she said quietly, "but let me give you some quick advice, based on long experience. She will raise holy hell when she doesn't get her way, but don't give in. Not all the time, anyway. If she gives you hell and you stand firm, she'll be pissed off, but she'll respect you. If you give in all the time, she'll lose respect, and she'll start planning her exit. If you spend a week or two with her without a fight, check her eyes. She's probably–"
"Vicki?" Neil called from the stage.
"One minute," she called. She turned back to Perry. "–probably already disengaged emotionally and about to split. But fight her, especially about matters of principle, like this, and you'll keep her respect and her interest." She smiled. "And it will be worth it, believe me."
They turned to walk slowly toward the stage. "Then why aren't you with her? I gather the option was available, when you were at my house."
"It's not an option, because I'm with someone else, who I love and who I respect, more than I do the B. And, in general, there's too much history, and family history there." She tilted her head up and Perry leaned over so she could whisper in his ear. "Plus, SarahBeth thinks it's really, really cool for girls to have sex with other girls, but she's straight." She winked. "My opinion, of course, which she disagrees with."
She looked up at the stage as they reached it, and Neil pointed silently at the back of the auditorium. Vicki turned and looked, seeing some people walking out the door.
She turned and zipped up onto the stage, leaping back to her seat on the lectern.
"I will not bar the doors," she said, her voice filling the room, "but I want to make one thing clear to those people who are leaving. I said before that this is not optional, and I meant it. We need everybody's help, and everybody will help, or you are no longer a member of this community." She leaned forward, and her voice boomed out through the room. "If you want to go home and wait for somebody else to figure this out for you, you can get the fuck off my island. Now."
Next Chapter:
In the Hotel Bar
(or you can read a special longer
version for people who have read
U-town and
A Sane Woman