“Looks that way,” I said.
“It’s a combination padlock,” Lee explained.
Slim didn’t say anything.
“You still there?” I asked.
“Yeah.”
“Maybe you’d better go get help,” Lee called.
“Nice outfit, Lee.”
“Thanks.”
“Red becomes you.”
“You’d better get going,” Lee said. “Try to get the police out here….”
“Not a good idea. I need to keep you covered.”
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“Okay enough. Took care of Valeria, anyway.”
“You sure did. That was great shooting. But what’s wrong?”
“I’m a little beat up, that’s all.”
At first, I thought she meant her earlier injuries… those from the dog and falling down.
“I got worked over a little,” she said.
“What?”
“Bitsy. She jumped me from behind.”
“Yeah. Clobbered me with something. Then she beat the crap out of me. Turned out my lights.”
Through my rage, I felt confusion. “When did she do it?”
“A few minutes after we left you guys. Guess she wanted to ‘go with.’ ”
“That creepy little…!”
“She adores you, pal.”
“Yeah,” I muttered, suddenly glad that Bitsy had gotten herself pounded by Rusty. If I’d known what she’d done to Slim, things would’ve gone a lot worse for her.
“Seen her around?” Slim asked.
“Yeah. She said you got mad and told her to F off.”
“Real nice.”
“Anyway, we sorta ditched her in the woods. Haven’t seen her since.”
“So where’s Rusty?” Slim asked.
“We don’t know. They took him away after Valeria bit him.”
“She
“After he
“Huh? Rusty
“Yeah.”
“You mean sex?”
“Yeah. Right in the cage here. In front of everyone.”
“Holy jeez.”
“Then she tore into him. Next thing you know, they were taking him away on a gurney. We don’t know where he is now.”
“Maybe in their bus or something,” Lee said.
“They were gonna give him back to us,” I explained, “if Lee went five minutes with Valeria. That’s how we ended up like this.”
“Looked like she was about to take a piece out of your neck.”
“Thanks for saving it,” I said.
“Hey, it’s my favorite neck.”
I blushed.
“You still have the knife?” Slim asked.
I slapped the front right pocket of my blue jeans and felt a solid bulge. Slim’s folding knife?
I couldn’t believe it.
I’d forgotten I had it.
“Take it out,” Slim said.
I shoved my hand into the tight, wet pocket of my jeans. No wonder Lee hadn’t been able to get her shorts back on. Something about wet cloth… But I managed to shove my hand in deeply enough to grab the knife.
I pulled it out.
“Now come over to my side of the cage. Make it fast.”
I wanted to ask why, but didn’t bother. Whatever her reasons, they were probably good. As I’ve mentioned before, Slim had more brains than me and Rusty put together.
So I whirled away from the door and rushed across the muddy floor. Through the bars on the other side, I saw a vague shape squirming on the ground in front of the bleachers. It had to be Slim belly-crawling toward the cage.
Suddenly, an engine revved.
Slim scrambled up. Rushing the final few feet to the cage, she entered the headbeams. Her short blond hair was matted and curly with rain. Her black silk shirt, torn in several places, was clinging to her body. She had her bow in one hand and her quiver of arrows in the other.
It felt great to see her.
But she had a gash above one eyebrow and her face was swollen.
I felt like killing Bitsy.
A moment before slamming against the cage, Slim shoved her bow and quiver of arrows through the bars. “Trade,” she gasped.
“Huh?”
The bus was on its way. Though I didn’t look at it, I heard it going through its gears, picking up speed like a school bus after dropping off a load of kids.
“Take my stuff! Gimme the knife! Quick!”
I did as she asked.
“Protect yourselves,” she said. Then she put her face between two of the bars. “Kiss me.”
Valeria’s words exactly. This time they came from Slim and the sound of them hurt my heart.
I dropped to my knees and kissed her on the mouth, forgetting about her puffy, split lips. She winced. I started to pull away, but her hand caught the back of my head. We continued to kiss. I felt the warmth of her lips, the heat of her breath. I tasted her blood.
The brakes of the bus groaned.
Though I didn’t look, the sound told me that the bus was stopping somewhere near the front of the cage.
Slim pulled back. “I love you, Dwight. Don’t let yourself get hurt, or I’ll have to kill you.”
“Oh God, Slim.” I had a catch in my throat.
“See you.”
“What’re you gonna do?”
She tugged open the blade of the knife. “Tell you after I’ve done it.”
I heard the familiar hiss of a bus door opening.
“
In a low crouch, Slim rushed for the bleachers.
A big man sprinted in from the side at an angle to intercept her. He was my guard, the guy I’d elbowed in the nose.
As he chased Slim, I heard the bus engine roar. I glanced toward the sound and glimpsed the bus racing backward as if to put a safe distance between itself and the pursuit.
Just in front of the bleachers, Slim flopped to her belly and squirmed forward.
