Thai Horse

since the only thing Thais seemed to like better than sports was gambling.

He returned to the Longhorn in the late afternoon and gave Sy the rest of the day off to prepare for his boxing match that night, promising he would use the ringside ticket Sy had given him. The crowd would be smaller than at the track, and since the tickets in Wol Pot’s wallet were for a previous boxing match it was obvious he liked the sport.

Wilkie seemed delighted to see him. Up in the Hole in the Wall, there was a great deal of activity among the regulars. The poker game had been suspended, and several of them were sitting around the table, talking excitedly. W. T. was leaning back iii his chair, sighting down the barrel of a .30 caliber rifle with a gold inlaid barrel and a stock of hand-carved teak. A formidable weapon and a beautiful one.

‘You’re a betting man, Hatch,’ Wilkie yelled as he entered the Longhorn. ‘Better hop up there and get in on the fun.’

‘What’s going on?’ Hatcher asked, entering the Tombstone inner sanctum.

‘Tigers!’ Prophett said with a touch of awe in his voice.

‘Tigers?’ Hatcher said with surprise.

‘A tiger, to be precise,’ Earp said polishing his rifle with a chamois cloth. ‘A rogue tiger running crazy down the peninsula. Killed a couple of kids and an old man. Max Early has put together a hunt.’ He seemed in a more friendly mood than he had been the day before and obviously was excited by the thought of the excursion.

‘Kind of sudden, isn’t it?’ Hatcher responded.

‘This is a man-eater,’ said Potter. ‘He’s not going to sit around waiting for us to rent tuxedos for the affair.’

‘It goes down tomorrow morning whether we’re there or not,’ said Earp. ‘And we’re gonna be there. This is one bad animal.’

‘Everybody kicks in two purples, killer take all,’ Wonderboy said. They were like kids planning a holiday.

‘Sweets will hold the wagers. He has to stay here and mind his store,’ said Corkscrew.

‘How about the rest of you?’ Hatcher asked.

‘We’re declaring a holiday,’ Gallagher said brightly.

‘We’re taking the dawn plane to Surat Thani,’ said Earp. ‘Leaves at five A.M. Takes an hour. Max’ll pick us up, takes another hour to drive to his place. We’ll be tracking the bastard by eight. With any luck we’ll be back on the seven o’clock flight tomorrow night. It’ll sure perk up your vacation. Interested?’

‘This an official invitation?’ Hatcher asked.

‘Why not?’ said Riker. ‘The bigger the pot the better.’

‘How about a weapon?’ Hatcher asked.

‘Max’ll fix you up,’ Corkscrew said with a wave of his hand.

Max Early was the only one of the regulars Hatcher had not yet met. The tiger hunt was a perfect opportunity to get closer to these men and particularly Prophett. Thus far, his only glimmer of a lead was Prophett’s mention of Taisung.

‘Pai-tio, soldier, great sanuk,’ Corkscrew said with a grin. The Thais tended to divide everything in life into two categories: mai-tio, which was serious stuff, like work, and pai-tio, which was sanuk—fun.

‘You’ll love it, Hatch,’ said Potter. ‘Give you something to talk about when you get back to the World.’

‘Why not, maybe I’ll get lucky and pay for part of the trip,’ Hatcher said.

‘Great! How many’ve we got now?’ Wonderboy asked.

‘There’s you, Melinda, Johnny, W.T., Corkscrew and Potter, Gallagher, Ed Piker, Hatch here, and Max, of course — that’s nine,’ said the Honorable, who was keeping a list.

‘Are you the official referee of this operation?’ Hatcher asked with a smile.

‘I’m treasurer and chief logistician of this little club,’ the Honorable said to Hatcher. ‘I’ll take one purple for the plane ticket and put your change in the ledger.’

‘Fair enough,’ Hatcher said, handing him the purple note.

Riker rubbed his hands together eagerly and said, ‘Not a bad little pot. Five thousand bahts.’

‘Give Sweets two more for the bet and you’re officially in,’ Earp said. ‘And be at the airport by four-forty- five or you may not get a seat. This is one game you don’t want to miss.’

And a strange game it was, thought Earp. We’re watching him while he watches us. Grudgingly, he admitted to himself that the Honorable was right — they had to isolate Hatcher and find out what his game really was. And now Max had provided the perfect solution to the problem. For if Hatcher was as dangerous as Earp suspected, what better way for him to die than chasing a killer tiger.

A TOUGH GAME

Hatcher arrived at the small boxing arena a little after seven. It was mid-city at the rear of one of the stunning Wat Suthat. Although the main event did not start until ten, Sy was a preliminary fighter and was scheduled to fight