“Holy cow.”
“Fantastic,” Alice repeated.
Erin’s hand slipped under the tatters of my shorts.
“So Wesley,” I said, “is the only sicko freak we have to worry about.”
Her warm, small hand glided a ways up my thigh. It came close to my groin before reversing direction. I had to squirm.
“What about the bucket?” I asked. “You said Wesley liked to take it up on top of the cages and dump water on you?”
“What about it?” Alice asked.
“If I can get my hands on a bucket of water, maybe I can take care of things if Wesley tries to set Billie on fire.”
Erin squeezed my leg. “Yeah!” she whispered. “That’s a great idea.”
“Where do I find it?”
“I don’t know.”
Alice said, “I hate to embarrass you again, Erin.”
“Then don’t.”
“The thing is, Rupert, we’ve each got a bucket in our cage. For you know what.”
I was surprised. It certainly made sense for them to have buckets in their cages, but I hadn’t given the matter any thought. I hadn’t seen any buckets, either.
Looking over my shoulder, I tried to spot one in Erin’s cage. Too much darkness.
“Real nice,” she was saying to her sister. Even as she complained, her hand crept higher up my thigh.
“You think Rupert doesn’t go to the bathroom?” Alice asked her. “Everyone goes to the bathroom. We just happen to do it in buckets.”
“Which won’t do Rupert any good at all, because we can’t exactly hand them to him.” In a more pleasant tone of voice, she said, “My dumb sister seems to have forgotten that the buckets won’t fit through the bars. Thelma has to… used to come in and take care of them.”
“Maybe we can make one fit through the bars,” Alice suggested.
“They’re metal or steel or…”
“Doesn’t mean they can’t be bent.”
Erin’s hand stopped moving. “We’d have to fold one in half to get it through the bars. We’d have to, like, jump on it or something. And we’re barefoot. Besides which, even if we could smash one small enough, the thing would make so much nose that Wesley’d probably hear us.”
“What about Wesley’s bucket?” I asked. “Where’s the one he uses?”
“Who knows?” Alice said.
Erin’s hand resumed caressing my thigh. “It might be anywhere,” she said. “Maybe back at the house, even. If you wanted to go back to the house, you’d be sure to find something. Cooking pots you could fill with water. Pitchers, waste baskets…”
“What about a fire extinguisher?” I asked.
“We keep one on the boat,” Erin said.
“Not in the house, though?”
“We’ve been in these cages for almost a month,” Alice pointed out. “Who knows where anything is?”
“But I bet you could find something and fill it with water back at the house.”
“You’d better do it, too,” Alice said. “I mean, Billie’s gonna get burnt to a crisp if you don’t have a way to put her out. She’s all fueled up and ready to go.”
“Maybe I’d better do that,” I admitted.
Suddenly, I knew where to find a bucket. Back at the mansion, over near the veranda stairs. Earlier, I’d seen Thelma put out her torch in it.
I was awfully reluctant to leave, though. I felt sort of safe, hidden between the cages, the girls on both sides of me.
And Erin’s hand kept roaming my leg.
Her hand was our secret. She was letting it stray pretty far up my thigh.
It was driving me a little crazy.
Anyway, I couldn’t just stand up and walk away.
“What else should I get?” I asked, just to delay things.
“What do you mean?” Alice asked.
What if I reach between the bars and touch Erin?
“Back at the house,” I said. “Is there anything else? Something I should get while I’m there?”
“Like what?” Erin asked.
If I try anything funny, she might quit. Just leave her alone. Let her do what she wants.
Where was I?
“Are there any guns in the house?” I asked.
“No way,” Erin said.
“That’s one reason we left Los Angeles,” Alice said. “To get away from things like guns.”
“I could sure use one now,” I said. “What about bows and arrows?”
“No.”
“Just get the water,” Alice said. “You’d better hurry, too. I mean, there’s no telling. He might go ahead and light her up, just for the fun of it.”
Erin’s hand eased up higher than ever. I flinched and caught my breath. Her hand flew off like a startled bird. And crashed against a bar of her cage with a low, ringing thud. She yelped.
“Jeez, I’m sorry,” I whispered. “Are you okay?”
“My hand.”
“I’m really sorry.”
“What happened?” Alice asked.
“Nothing,” Erin told her. “I bumped the bars.”
“What were you doing?”
“Nothing.”
“We were holding hands,” I explained. Which sounded better, I thought, than the truth.
“You shouldn’t go holding her hand,” Alice said. “You don’t know where it’s been.”
“Very funny,” Erin said.
“I’d better get going,” I said.
“Not so fast. Rupie? Come here.”
The Fire Storm
“Rupie? Come herrrrre.”
The voice made me cringe. For one thing, it was too loud. For another, it belonged to Connie, and she didn’t sound much less crazy than last time.
“My God,” I muttered.
Alice was already scurrying across her cage, apparently hoping to shush her.
On my knees, I grabbed my spear and machete.
“What’re you gonna do?” Erin whispered.
“I don’t know. Make her be quiet.”
“I know you’re there, Rupie! Now come on, pull your cock outa that bitch and came on over. I been waiting for you!”
I scrambled out from between the cages. On my feet but hunched low, I dashed through the grass behind Alice’s cage.
“What is it with you, boy?”
