Papago.
Almost ready to give up, she tried speaking English to a young Mil-gahn child. As soon as she asked about an Indian, he grinned and nodded.
'Sure,' he said. 'You must mean the chief He's working in the toolshed.' He pointed off toward a small outbuilding. 'Over there.'
Dancing Quail found Gordon Antone bent over a file, sharpening the edge of a hoe. He looked up as she stepped into the doorway, blocking out the sunlight and turning the place into dusty gloom.
'Are you the one they call Chief?' she asked, speaking softly in Papago.
'Hell'u,' he replied. 'Yes.'
Gordon Antone put down the hoe and file. The figure silhouetted in the doorway was that of a young male, but the voice definitely belonged to a female. 'Who are you?' he asked.
'A friend of your sister's, of Louisa's. She said if I came here, you might help me find a job.'
'You know Louisa? But she's in Phoenix. How did you get here?'
'On the train,' Rita replied simply. 'Last night. I ran away.
'You came all that way alone? From Phoenix?'
'I rode the freight train with some others.'
Gordon got up and walked over to the doorway so he could see her better.
'What is your name?'
'My people call me Dancing Quail, but the Mil-gahn call me Rita, Rita Antone.'
'Your name is the same as mine.'
Now that she was here, talking to Gordon, she could tell he was someone who was easy to talk to. Just being with him made her feel much better.
His saying that made her laugh.
'Yes,' she said. 'We share the same name. I told the men on the train that you were my brother.'
With her hair cut short, dressed in a boy's clothing, and grimy from travel, Dancing Quail was still a very beautiful young woman. For Gordon Antone, far from home and missing his family and friends, the real miracle was finding another person who spoke his own language.
That made her more than beautiful.
'Not your brother,' Gordon Antone said, 'but I will be glad to be your friend.'
At least Andrew Carlisle didn't lose his head. He was furious with Myrna Louise, outraged was more like it, but he had sense enough to melt into the background before all hell broke loose. The owner of the El Camino charged out of an apartment across the street and looked up and down the road in both directions, but by then Myrna Louise had disappeared around the corner.
When the U-Stor-It-Here manager showed up a few minutes later. cops were already on the scene taking their reports. Carlisle chose that momentary confusion to reappear, walk past everyone, and head for his locker.
Despite the stifling heat, he went inside his unit and closed the door.
He had to think, to plan.
By now he had opened the envelope and suspected that Myrna Louise had also opened it, damn her straight to hell.
So what the fuck was she thinking when she grabbed the car and took off like that? he wondered. Would she turn him in? No, that didn't seem likely. Would she know what he was up to? Maybe, maybe not. That was a tough call.
After all, she was his mother, and mothers often refuse to believe bad things about their precious darlings no matter how convincing the evidence.
No, she probably wouldn't turn him in, but would she try to stop him?
Damn her, she had already done that, just by taking the car. What the hell was he supposed to do now?
Did she think he'd just give up? Not bloody likely. Go after her and get the car? How could he? For one thing, where would she.go? Home, probably, if she could make it that far. He doubted it. The Valiant seemed to be pretty much on its last legs.
Actually, the more he thought about it, the more he decided it was just as well Jake Spaulding's car was gone.
He'd have to get a new one, and that might be inconvenient at the moment, but for what he was planning, he couldn't risk using an undependable vehicle. No, what he needed was a new car. Not necessarily brand new, but certainly different----@'reliable transportation,' as they say in car dealer's parlance. Once he had another vehicle, he'd figure out some way to make his plan work anyhow.
Not only for Diana Ladd, but also for Myrna Louise. As of now, she was on his list twice over.
It pissed him off that she'd got away clean like that, but he'd get even for that eventually. His main problem now was one of time. How long before she would open the trunk and discover what was in it? If she did that, maybe she'd turn him in after all. He'd have to move forward, probably a whole lot faster than planned.
Standing there waffling back and forth, he was startled by a knock on the door. His heart went to his throat. Damn!
The gun was still in the car along with Myrna Louise.
