into the base, shattering it. Gloria laughed at Ted's fumbling, placed
her long, bony hand on his arm, and handed him a new, assembled glass. Nickie
bristled at Gloria's attention and motioned to the two detectives to join her.
The man with
the bandage poured the sparkling cider and offered them each a glass. Ted ran
his hand through his unruly hair and finished his story.
"It's so
strange, though, if it hadn't been for the old lady, that Boy Scout and I would
be history."
"Oh, Dad,
not that again," said Nickie, blushing. "Dad's been sort of
accident-prone lately. Everybody, this is John Look-For-A-Bird and Max
Livingstone. They're going to help me get things for the vault."
Ted smiled and
shook hands with the two. Max tried not to look at the gaps on his misbuttoned
shirt.
"Welcome!"
said the Captain. "We run a tight ship but a happy one."
"Fortunately,
I brought Dramamine," whispered Bird.
"This is
Powers Presnell," said Nickie, pointing to the Captain. "And his
secretary, Gloria Steele." Powers offered his left, unbandaged, hand.
"What
happened to your hand?" asked Bird.
"He sla-"
started Gloria.
"Nautical
accident," interrupted Powers. He downed his drink and glanced at his
Rolex watch. "Back to work! Captain to the bridge! Full steam ahead!"
he said, making shooing motions to everyone.
"Let's
go, Max," said Nickie. "Mr. Bird, please get started on inputting
that list I gave you. We'll be back after lunch."
Max paused a
moment to whisper into Bird's ear, "Remember, trail Ted but don't be obvious.
And don't get into trouble!"
"No
problem, boss," said Bird. On the way to his cubicle, he jumped up and
batted the rump of the red paper mache rat. It spun wildly. "Lookin' good,
Big Red!" he said to the rat.
Max gave him a
doubtful look, then followed Nickie's beautiful neck
out the door.
Later, Nickie
checked off an item in her red phone and handed Max the latest purchase, a
fishing pole. A bead of sweat trickled down the back of his neck as he shifted
the handles of shopping bags. Gnartz, it's hot, he thought. It must be 33
degrees Celsius. And I'm getting thirsty. Doesn't she ever stop for a break? He
stepped under an awning and walked along its shade.
"You
okay?" asked Nickie.
"Me? Hey,
great!" said Max.
She thinks I'm
a shopping cart, he thought. I've followed her on the old-fashioned sidewalks
of New York without conveyors or the Uptown Slide for two hours now and I can't
get her to even notice me. Try to get her to talk about herself, Max, he
thought. But be subtle. And cool.
"So, you
married or anything?" he said, cringing to himself. To his amazement, she
laughed.
"Right, I'm
only seventeen, you know."
He was wrong
about her eyes. He had thought they were brown but now in the sunshine, he
could see they were more green . Green-brown…what was
the word?
"Hazel!"
he said aloud. She looked at him like he had lost his mind. Good, thought Max. Very cool.
They were in
front of a department store window. Nickie looked from Max to the two dresses
in the window. "Oh, I get it, yeah, hazel is a big color for fall."
"That
blue one's better," said Max pointing to a sundress.
"Too
casual. I need to be taken seriously in the office. But…that blue is so pretty,"
said Nickie.
"Yep, that's your dress, that's the
one!" said Max. Why do men always say shopping with women is so difficult,
he thought.
"No,
definitely inappropriate!" she said dismissing it.
Because
shopping is so difficult with women,
he thought.
They moved on
to the next store, a vacuum cleaner repair. "Should we get a vacuum? I
mean will people a hundred years from now use vacuums? Or a
Dustbuster or something? What do you think?
"A
dust-buster? What does it do? Eliminate the dust molecule, or what?"
"Okay,
you're right," she said, smirking. "I guess it isn't a very exciting
item."
They walked to
an appliance store window. "What do you think about a microwave oven?"
asked NIckie.
"You
don't really heat your food with microwaves, do
her long, bony hand on his arm, and handed him a new, assembled glass. Nickie
bristled at Gloria's attention and motioned to the two detectives to join her.
The man with
the bandage poured the sparkling cider and offered them each a glass. Ted ran
his hand through his unruly hair and finished his story.
"It's so
strange, though, if it hadn't been for the old lady, that Boy Scout and I would
be history."
"Oh, Dad,
not that again," said Nickie, blushing. "Dad's been sort of
accident-prone lately. Everybody, this is John Look-For-A-Bird and Max
Livingstone. They're going to help me get things for the vault."
Ted smiled and
shook hands with the two. Max tried not to look at the gaps on his misbuttoned
shirt.
"Welcome!"
said the Captain. "We run a tight ship but a happy one."
"Fortunately,
I brought Dramamine," whispered Bird.
"This is
Powers Presnell," said Nickie, pointing to the Captain. "And his
secretary, Gloria Steele." Powers offered his left, unbandaged, hand.
"What
happened to your hand?" asked Bird.
"He sla-"
started Gloria.
"Nautical
accident," interrupted Powers. He downed his drink and glanced at his
Rolex watch. "Back to work! Captain to the bridge! Full steam ahead!"
he said, making shooing motions to everyone.
"Let's
go, Max," said Nickie. "Mr. Bird, please get started on inputting
that list I gave you. We'll be back after lunch."
Max paused a
moment to whisper into Bird's ear, "Remember, trail Ted but don't be obvious.
And don't get into trouble!"
"No
problem, boss," said Bird. On the way to his cubicle, he jumped up and
batted the rump of the red paper mache rat. It spun wildly. "Lookin' good,
Big Red!" he said to the rat.
Max gave him a
doubtful look, then followed Nickie's beautiful neck
out the door.
Later, Nickie
checked off an item in her red phone and handed Max the latest purchase, a
fishing pole. A bead of sweat trickled down the back of his neck as he shifted
the handles of shopping bags. Gnartz, it's hot, he thought. It must be 33
degrees Celsius. And I'm getting thirsty. Doesn't she ever stop for a break? He
stepped under an awning and walked along its shade.
"You
okay?" asked Nickie.
"Me? Hey,
great!" said Max.
She thinks I'm
a shopping cart, he thought. I've followed her on the old-fashioned sidewalks
of New York without conveyors or the Uptown Slide for two hours now and I can't
get her to even notice me. Try to get her to talk about herself, Max, he
thought. But be subtle. And cool.
"So, you
married or anything?" he said, cringing to himself. To his amazement, she
laughed.
"Right, I'm
only seventeen, you know."
He was wrong
about her eyes. He had thought they were brown but now in the sunshine, he
could see they were more green . Green-brown…what was
the word?
"Hazel!"
he said aloud. She looked at him like he had lost his mind. Good, thought Max. Very cool.
They were in
front of a department store window. Nickie looked from Max to the two dresses
in the window. "Oh, I get it, yeah, hazel is a big color for fall."
"That
blue one's better," said Max pointing to a sundress.
"Too
casual. I need to be taken seriously in the office. But…that blue is so pretty,"
said Nickie.
"Yep, that's your dress, that's the
one!" said Max. Why do men always say shopping with women is so difficult,
he thought.
"No,
definitely inappropriate!" she said dismissing it.
Because
shopping is so difficult with women,
he thought.
They moved on
to the next store, a vacuum cleaner repair. "Should we get a vacuum? I
mean will people a hundred years from now use vacuums? Or a
Dustbuster or something? What do you think?
"A
dust-buster? What does it do? Eliminate the dust molecule, or what?"
"Okay,
you're right," she said, smirking. "I guess it isn't a very exciting
item."
They walked to
an appliance store window. "What do you think about a microwave oven?"
asked NIckie.
"You
don't really heat your food with microwaves, do
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