In the living room, nothing much had changed. The
cloud of gloom still hung over the guests, so palpable
that Judith felt as if she were looking through the
blurred lens of a movie camera.
Bill and Joe entered at that moment, each carrying
more platters of food. Spotting Bruno sitting in his favorite place on the sofa, Bill began to quack in an
angry tone.
“Quack, quack-quack-quack!” He pointed to the
melancholy producer. “Quack!”
Joe put a hand on Bill’s arm feathers. “Quack off.
That guy looks pretty grim. Let him be.”
Bill was slow to respond. “Qu-a-ck,” he finally said
in a reluctant voice.
Joe gave Bill a pat, observed the rest of the morose
gathering, and spoke up: “Anybody care to dance? I’ll
put on some music.”
Ellie laughed with a hint of hysteria and wandered
out into the entry hall just as Winifred appeared with
her Spanish-costumed duo. She glanced at Bruno,
winced, and requested a stiff bourbon from Cathy. No
one else responded to Joe’s invitation.
Bill turned around, calling to an unseen Renie.
“Daisy!” he shouted in his normal, if muffled, voice.
“It’s after midnight. Can we go home?”
Renie stumbled out of the entry hall. She seemed to
be having trouble with her webbed feet. “I’ll ask Judith,” she said.
Judith excused herself and got up from the sofa. “I
don’t see why you shouldn’t go,” she said in a low
voice. “This is one dead party. Arlene and Carl can
help clean up.” She glanced back at the buffet and
sighed. “All that expensive food gone to waste.”
“I put some pots and pans to soak in the sink,” Renie
said. “They should be scrubbed before you put them in
the dishwasher.”
“Okay,” Judith said. “Thanks for everything. As it
turned out, I didn’t need so much help after all.”
Renie nodded, her yellow bill bobbing up and down.
“A real bomb, I guess.”
“Right.” Judith hugged Bill and Renie. Joe, who
kept tripping over the hem of his choirboy’s cassock,
showed them out the back way.
When Judith returned to the living room, Winifred
offered to introduce her to Morris and Eugenia.
“Morris Mayne is Bruno’s studio publicist,”
Winifred said, a bit stiffly. “Eugenia Fleming is Bruno
