either.
We saw only one other vertical human being after the staff left,
a priest who was probably the only decent human being working the
Bledsoe. I knew him vaguely. He was one of the bigger names in one
of the more obscure and bizarre of the several hundred cults
hag-riding TunFaire. He came over and stared down at the huge slab
of muscle that was Saucerhead Tharpe. There was a nobility about
Tharpe even in his extremity. It recalled the nobility of the lion
or the mammoth. A good guy to have on your side, a bad guy to have
for an enemy, simple, trustworthy, and as tough as they make
them.
“Has he had his rites?”
“I don’t know, Father.”
“What gods did he have?”
I put temptation aside. “None that I know about. But we
don’t need sacraments. This is a life watch, not a
deathwatch. He’s going to make it.”
The priest checked the name chalked on the wall above the head
of Saucerhead’s cot. “I’ll say a prayer for
him.” Small smile. “It never hurts, even with a sure
thing.” He went on to those who needed him more, leaving me
with the suspicion I had been one-upped.
Saucerhead must have been awake awhile before he let us know.
His first remark, a hoarse croak, was, “Garrett, remind me to
stay the hell away from your women.”
I grunted and waited.
“Getting that one out of the Cantard got me half killed. I
thought this one did me all the way.”
“Yeah. What the hell did you come
here
for? If
you had go-power enough to make it this far, you could have got
yourself to somebody who could have done you some good.”
“I was born here, Garrett. I had it in my head I was done
for and it seemed right it should end up where it started. I guess
I wasn’t thinking too good.”
“Yeah. You big dumb goof. Well, you’re going to make
it in spite of yourself and these jackals. You got enough energy to
tell me what happened?”
“Yeah.” His face darkened.
“So? What happened?”
“She’s dead, Garrett! They killed her. I got five or
six of them but they was too many and they got past me and cut
her . . . ” And he started by god getting
up off that cot.
“Hold him down, Morley. What the hell are you doing,
Saucerhead?”
“I got to go. I never blowed a job like that before,
Garrett. Never.”
Morley put him back down with one hand. Saucerhead was running
on spirit alone.
There were tears in his eyes. “She was just a little bit
of a thing, Garrett. Sweet as a sugar bun and cute as a button.
They shouldn’t ought to have done that to her.”
“You’re right. They shouldn’t have.”
Part of me had known the worst all along, but the part that wishes
and hopes was just getting the word.
Saucerhead tried getting up again. “I got to,
Garrett.”
“You got to heal up. I’ll take care of the rest.
I’ve got an interest that came before yours. After you give
me everything you’ve got, Morley is going to get you out of
here and take you wherever you want to stay. And I’m going
headhunting.”
Morley gave me a look. He didn’t say anything. He
didn’t have to.
“Don’t you start playing devil’s advocate,
Morley Dotes, telling me there’s no percentage in getting
involved. You’d do the same damned thing even if you dressed
it up as something else. Come on, Saucerhead. Give it to me. Start
from the beginning, the first time you laid eyes on her.”
Saucerhead may not be speedy mentally, but his mind gets where
it needs to go. And he sees what goes on around him and remembers
it.
“The first time I seen her was with you at Morley’s
Place. I thought to myself, How come a runt like Morley Dotes or a
homely geek like Garrett always comes up with all the
jewels?”
“He isn’t dying,” I said. “A sick sense
of humor is the first thing that comes back. Imagine. Calling me
homely. Never mind that night, Saucerhead. When did you see her
again?”
“Yesterday afternoon. She tracked me down at my
place.”
She found him there and told him that I’d
We saw only one other vertical human being after the staff left,
a priest who was probably the only decent human being working the
Bledsoe. I knew him vaguely. He was one of the bigger names in one
of the more obscure and bizarre of the several hundred cults
hag-riding TunFaire. He came over and stared down at the huge slab
of muscle that was Saucerhead Tharpe. There was a nobility about
Tharpe even in his extremity. It recalled the nobility of the lion
or the mammoth. A good guy to have on your side, a bad guy to have
for an enemy, simple, trustworthy, and as tough as they make
them.
“Has he had his rites?”
“I don’t know, Father.”
“What gods did he have?”
I put temptation aside. “None that I know about. But we
don’t need sacraments. This is a life watch, not a
deathwatch. He’s going to make it.”
The priest checked the name chalked on the wall above the head
of Saucerhead’s cot. “I’ll say a prayer for
him.” Small smile. “It never hurts, even with a sure
thing.” He went on to those who needed him more, leaving me
with the suspicion I had been one-upped.
Saucerhead must have been awake awhile before he let us know.
His first remark, a hoarse croak, was, “Garrett, remind me to
stay the hell away from your women.”
I grunted and waited.
“Getting that one out of the Cantard got me half killed. I
thought this one did me all the way.”
“Yeah. What the hell did you come
here
for? If
you had go-power enough to make it this far, you could have got
yourself to somebody who could have done you some good.”
“I was born here, Garrett. I had it in my head I was done
for and it seemed right it should end up where it started. I guess
I wasn’t thinking too good.”
“Yeah. You big dumb goof. Well, you’re going to make
it in spite of yourself and these jackals. You got enough energy to
tell me what happened?”
“Yeah.” His face darkened.
“So? What happened?”
“She’s dead, Garrett! They killed her. I got five or
six of them but they was too many and they got past me and cut
her . . . ” And he started by god getting
up off that cot.
“Hold him down, Morley. What the hell are you doing,
Saucerhead?”
“I got to go. I never blowed a job like that before,
Garrett. Never.”
Morley put him back down with one hand. Saucerhead was running
on spirit alone.
There were tears in his eyes. “She was just a little bit
of a thing, Garrett. Sweet as a sugar bun and cute as a button.
They shouldn’t ought to have done that to her.”
“You’re right. They shouldn’t have.”
Part of me had known the worst all along, but the part that wishes
and hopes was just getting the word.
Saucerhead tried getting up again. “I got to,
Garrett.”
“You got to heal up. I’ll take care of the rest.
I’ve got an interest that came before yours. After you give
me everything you’ve got, Morley is going to get you out of
here and take you wherever you want to stay. And I’m going
headhunting.”
Morley gave me a look. He didn’t say anything. He
didn’t have to.
“Don’t you start playing devil’s advocate,
Morley Dotes, telling me there’s no percentage in getting
involved. You’d do the same damned thing even if you dressed
it up as something else. Come on, Saucerhead. Give it to me. Start
from the beginning, the first time you laid eyes on her.”
Saucerhead may not be speedy mentally, but his mind gets where
it needs to go. And he sees what goes on around him and remembers
it.
“The first time I seen her was with you at Morley’s
Place. I thought to myself, How come a runt like Morley Dotes or a
homely geek like Garrett always comes up with all the
jewels?”
“He isn’t dying,” I said. “A sick sense
of humor is the first thing that comes back. Imagine. Calling me
homely. Never mind that night, Saucerhead. When did you see her
again?”
“Yesterday afternoon. She tracked me down at my
place.”
She found him there and told him that I’d
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