again.'
I bowed.
113
I kicked a wooden match into life in the night air, dragged deep on my cigarette.
'Why'd you tell her you was scared, mahn?' Clarence asked.
'It was the truth. Still is.'
'You really think she knew we had no weapons?'
'Yeah.'
'How would she know that, mahn?'
I shrugged. 'Maybe that's what she wants to tell us.'
We waited, listening to the crime sounds from the street.
114
The messenger came into the yard. 'Will you come back with us?' he asked me.
I nodded. We started for the basement. The messenger held up his hand. 'Just you, please.'
I looked at Clarence. 'Wait in the car,' I told him.
He scanned my face carefully, nodded.
They took me right before her this time.
'You have returned our offering to us. In exchange, I will answer your questions.'
'I have no questions.'
'All men have questions,' she said, her voice so low and dark I had to strain for the words. 'Do you think I am some foolish fortune-teller, some thief with a crystal ball? I am the third daughter of a third sister. That is the mystical number, three. People of confused religion say Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. That is idolatry. Before religion, there was Earth, Wind, and Fire. Always three. Primitive man did not understand that sex makes babies— if it were not for sex, there would be no man. Sex is the drive force, and it is controlled by women. There are three ways into the female body, but only one will make children. A man would have no preference. That is why a woman s sex is a triangle. Three again. The true root of all communication with the spirits. Only a queen may know all the truth. A man may know only what he is told. People first mated like animals, never face to face. This changed only when women grew tired of bending over. When there is famine, women are not fertile. Their bodies know the spirits— their bodies are the link to the earth. Do you understand this?'
'Yes.'
'Do you believe it?' Something else in her voice, testing.
'Yes.' Thinking of Blossom, lying on her bed, listening to her chuckle. 'No wonder men are so stupid— their brains are all in such a small place.'
'You are Wednesday's child, born to sadness. Yes?'
'Yes.'
'Many children are born without a father— only the most damned are born without a mother. You know this?'
'Yes.'
'Why did you look for this baby?'
'It was a job.'
'No.'
'I can't explain it, then.'
'I know. Listen to me, child of sorrow: the baby is in the water, as you believed. I know this. The man you seek, he worshiped with us. Pretended to worship. The night of the child's death, he came to us. The baby's body in his arms. He said the child had choked to death in his crib. He asked us for a sacrifice. To save the baby's spirit. He thought what you thought…what you are afraid to say…that our offerings contain the bodies…that the baby would be cut up, placed inside the bag. When we told him how we would make the sacrifice, he walked away from us. We thought it was grief then. Now we know the truth— he feared the baby's spirit would walk.'
'I understand.'
'Do you? Do you understand that you are a baby's spirit? Spirit walking? Go now. You will search for the evil— I see that in you. When the time comes, return to me. I will show you the path.'
115
No cars followed us from the house. Rain misted around the Rover, overmatching the puny wipers.
'Where shall I take you, mahn?'
'Anywhere over the bridge.'
'You don't want me to see where you live, then?'
'Better you don't know, right? You were planning to drop in one day, have a visit?'
'Maybe I do that, mahn. Bring you some Island beer, sit around, talk some…would that be so bad, now?'
'That's not what I'm saying, Clarence.'
'Yes, I know,' he said. But his eyes were hurt.
