and a long, fur-lined cape, so he was just as glad that he would never be the King of Mardi Gras.
The huge, elaborate floats began rolling by, pushed along on their wheeled platforms by krewe members who were concealed under the layers of flowers and bunting. Cheers went up from the crowd as the costumed men atop the floats began tossing their gifts over the heads of the spectators. It seemed to be raining candy and flowers and coins. Longarm grinned and ducked his head as a particularly heavy shower of gifts pelted him. Beside him, Annie was gleefully plucking items out of the air. On the other side of her, Claudette was doing the same thing. Children swarmed around them, darting between them to scoop up the treats that had fallen to the sidewalk.
Someone bumped heavily into Longarm from behind, and taken by surprise, he stumbled forward a step. As he caught his balance, he glanced back to see who had run into him, forcing down the irritation that was welling up inside him. Mardi Gras was no time to be losing his temper just because some old son was clumsy.
The light from a torch on one of the passing floats glinted off steel. Longarm's eyes widened as he saw a man in a pirate costume thrusting a short cutlass at him.
He would feel foolish if the cutlass turned out to be rubber and the 'pirate' only playing, but Longarm had learned a long time ago it was better to be foolish than dead. He twisted, letting the blade pass harmlessly by him, and clamped his left arm down on the arm of the man holding the weapon. He drove his right fist into the man's midsection, sinking it almost to the wrist. Breath puffed out of the man's mouth.
Longarm caught hold of his wrist and wrenched it, forcing the pirate to drop the blade. It clattered to the cobblestones, and the sound told Longarm that the cutlass was most definitely the real thing. For some reason, this piratical reveler had just tried to kill him.
Close by, a woman screamed.
Longarm brought his fist up and slammed it into the pirate's jaw. The blow didn't travel more than half a foot, but it had all of Longarm's strength behind it. The would-be killer's head slewed to the side, and he sagged against Longarm, stunned. Longarm let go of him and stepped back, allowing the man to slide to the ground. He didn't want the pirate to be trampled to death, but that scream had sounded like Annie, and he was more interested in making sure she was all right. He looked urgently through the crowd for her.
She was gone.
So was her brother, Longarm saw. No sign of Paul Clement met his searching gaze. Of course, in this crowd someone could be only a few feet away and be invisible. Claudette was still there, looking surprised and more than a little frightened. Longarm leaned close to her and shouted, 'What happened?'
'Paul and Annie, they are gone, them!' she replied. 'I did not see where they went-'
Longarm wasn't surprised. No one in the wildly celebrating crowd had even noticed when the pirate tried to run him through. Everyone was too caught up in the excitement of Mardi Gras.
Which meant it was a damn good time to get rid of some enemies without anyone noticing.
'Royale,' muttered Longarm through clenched teeth.
'What did you say?' asked Claudette, looking worried.
Longarm shook his head. 'Nothing. Let's get you out of here, and then I'll find Paul and Annie.'
He hoped he could make good on that statement. Royale clearly had spies everywhere, and he would know that the Clements were regular customers and friends of Jasper Millard's. It seemed unlikely that Royale would try to strike at Millard by hurting Annie and Paul... but none of Royale's other recent attempts had worked out exactly as planned. Royale could be getting desperate enough to kidnap the Clements and use them to try to force some concessions from Millard.
Those thoughts raced through Longarm's brain in an instant as he gripped Claudette's arm and attempted to wedge a path through the crowd for them. Everyone was pushing forward, trying to get closer to the floats that were still passing by, and once again Longarm was struck by the similarity to swimming upstream. He and Claudette were making only scanty progress.
How he heard the gun being cocked over the uproar was beyond him. Maybe it was instinct again. But something made him jerk around in time to see the little pistol being pointed at him by an Indian--or somebody made up to look like an Indian. Longarm's hand shot out and grabbed the barrel of the gun, twisting it upward just as it cracked spitefully. He heard the wicked whine of the bullet passing close beside his ear. It struck his hat and sent it spinning off his head. The Indian tried to bring the gun back to bear, but Longarm held it off while he brought his other hand up in a jabbing blow. With people all around him, there was no room to swing the roundhouse punch he wanted to throw.
The jab was good enough. The Indian's head rocked back, and the pistol slipped from his fingers. Longarm shoved him away and turned back to Claudette, hoping nothing had happened to her.
She was still there, but the crowd around her was clearing out a little. The gunshot had been loud enough to carry to the ears of the nearest revelers, and they were scurrying for cover. Several men shouted angry questions, and a couple of women cried out in fear. Longarm just grabbed Claudette's arm again and took advantage of the opportunity to plunge through the momentary opening in the crowd.
The whole place might be full of assassins, he realized. Like a damn fool, he had come out here to have a good time, and Royale's hired killers had followed him. He still had no idea what had happened to Annie and Paul, but there was no time to search for them now. He had to get Claudette to someplace where she would be safe.
For several yards, they were able to hurry along the sidewalk, but then the crowd closed in around them again. These people further along the block had not heard the shot, and did not know that a murder attempt was occurring in their midst. Frustrated, Longarm tightened his grip on Claudette's hand and pulled her toward the only open space he saw.
Together, they ran into the street, darting between two of the floats.
A startled shout went up from the krewe members on the next float in line. Longarm turned and began running alongside the colorful procession, tugging Claudette along with him. It was as if they were part of the parade, despite the fact that neither of them wore costumes. More shouts of surprise trailed them. Interfering with the Mardi Gras parade was unheard of. Not even those who had drunk far too much champagne would dare such a thing.
Longarm looked back and saw that he and Claudette weren't the only ones ignoring tradition tonight. Several men were pursuing them: a clown, a devil, and a man in the buckskins and coonskin cap of an early-day frontiersman. Dan Rice, Satan, and Davy Crockett, Longarm thought wildly. But the guns in their hands made them
