Steam City Pirates by Jim Musgrave Page A

informed.
    “Oh, I was out and about town. You know how busy I can get,” she said. “Please, Patrick, let me hear about it.”
    There was a crashing noise of something hitting the floor in Becky’s bedroom. Having graced its confines before, I knew she had no pet nor other animal which might have done such a deed. As I walked over to the door to the bedroom, I could hear Becky moving from the divan.
    “Who’s in there?” I shouted at the door. There was no response, so I turned the knob. It opened to the sight of another Becky Charming splayed out on the floor of the bedroom. She had knocked over a lamp, and it was dripping liquid gas from the inside. Glass was strewn over the floor in fragmented shards.
    This other Becky was looking up at me, her mouth covered by a wool stocking tied around the back of her head. Her eyes were wide, and she kept tossing her blonde curls from side-to-side in exasperation, as her hands and feet were also bound together behind her black dress.
    “Becky?” I pictured little Seth outside the theater after we had seen The Black Crook . He spoke to us—lectured to us—about the other mazikeen , the evil ones. They will torture you, and burn down your homes, and rip the flesh off your bones!
    I spun around to meet a ball of steel that hit the side of my head with a dull thud. Blackness.
    When I came to, I could see two plump-brown thighs straddling my chest. These legs were on the body of a woman who was wearing a rubber butcher’s apron over them. I could also feel a long, curved blade pressed against my Adam’s apple. I knew it was extremely sharp because I could barely feel its edge; it felt just the way a barber’s blade touches against your jaw when you sit in his chair and are all lathered up.
    Above me, a woman with raven black hair and two differently colored eyes was staring down at me. She was no longer in the form of Becky Charming. I looked into those gray and blue eyes and concentrated. “Are you a mazikeen ?” I asked her.
    When she smiled at me, all of her teeth were gold! They were perfectly formed, and yet their shining brilliance made me think of the Bible story of King Solomon and his mines. “You are a detective! Inquisitor Manette told me you were sly. He has watched you from his dominion for several years. You should feel honored. Now that misfortune has struck, I am afraid you must now be disposed of.”
    I strained my neck so I could see past her into the bedroom. The authentic Becky was still tied-up and lying on the floor. Becky’s eyebrows arched. She flailed her head from side-to-side. I knew I had to think of something very quickly.
    “Did your leader also tell you that we have a mazikeen ? His name is Seth, and he stands invisibly right behind you. I believe his sword is a bit larger than yours.” I felt the weight of her body shift. She was turning around to search for her adversary. I knew I must act at once or become a sacrificial bull.
    I twisted under her and she was thrown off-balance. She tumbled over onto the floor, and the sword clattered across the wood surface until it slid under the rug near the front door. In one motion, I reached into my leather holster inside my right coast pocket and pulled out my Colt service revolver. I sprang to my feet and pointed the barrel at her as she stared at me in a crouch in front of me, from where she was about ready to make a spring for her sword.
    “When will you be attacking the ships?” I wanted information before I tied her up. That was my mistake. I should have tied her up first.
    One second she was there, glaring at me with her golden teeth. The next second she had vanished like the Cheshire Cat. I knew she was still there, but I could not risk shooting at where I thought she might be. I might hit Becky. I tried to listen carefully for this evil mazikeen . I could not hear her moving or breathing. There was a deadly silence. All I could hear was the wind blowing through the laced curtains of the