“Never noticed it till now.”
“I’m glad of that. Sometimes I think I see people looking at it when I’m making a call. Appearance is very important in sales, and someday, when money’s easier, I’ll buy a better one. The best are made in Germany, but they cost a bundle.”
“It looks fine,” the old man told him. “It’s the most natural thing about you.”
“It would be better if the others, especially Madame Serpentina—”
“You don’t have to worry about me. I’ll be gone anyway, just like I told you. When I got you people in here, I kind of hoped they’d leave the old place stand because folks was still livin’ here. It ain’t goin’ to work, though, and I know it. I look at my walls, and I can see that big, black ball comin’ through ’em.”
“I’ll do what I can, Mr. Free,” Barnes said. “I know the others will too.”
“I believe that, Mr. Barnes.”
“I know that none of you—except for Madame Serpentina—think a hell of a lot of me. Just a bunch of talk, a hand-pumper and a back-slapper. But I don’t walk away from my friends, Mr. Free. Not unless I’m forced to.”
Free nodded. “You’re a bigger man on the inside than on the outside, Mr. Barnes. I knew it when I seen you hadn’t got nothing for yourself last night ’fore you brought our grub to us. There’s a few like you.”
Barnes smiled and squatted beside the old man. “I’m glad you feel that way, Mr. Free, because it’s going to make it quite a bit easier to talk to you. When you were up there with Madame Serpentina, you told her—this is what she says—about something valuable you hid away and more or less lost some years ago.”
Free nodded. “Quite a few years. I’m surprised, though, she told you. I guess I said that.” He had picked up a screwdriver, and his hands were busy. He did not look at Barnes.
“Believe me, I would never betray Madame Serpentina’s confidence, and she knows it. She’s asked me to help her.”
“Well, now.”
“Just as you’ve asked me to help you, Mr. Free. And I’m going to try to do my best for both of you.”
“Good for you,” Free muttered. “Now you have a look at that bottle gas. See the valve? Shut her off.”
Barnes did as he was told. “Madame Serpentina’s a very intelligent woman, but she has a certain view of life. A view of the world. She sees things in, um, spiritual terms.”
Free straightened up, the hose end, a hose clamp, and the screwdriver all in one big hand, like a bouquet of soiled flowers. “That’s got her loose. Smells funny, don’t it?”
“Speaking man-to-man,” Barnes continued dauntlessly, “what she told me was nonsense. What I mean to say is, it was nonsense to me, right? I don’t look at things the way she does, but I suppose if you look at them that way, she might be right. Anyway, what she indicated to me was that you told her you once had a—ah—crown, or something of that sort, and you had hidden it. Last night, she said, you told her where, more or less, and that it would be all right with you if she got it. When you—ah—have met your daughter and have no further use for it.”
Free chuckled. “A crown? That’s what she said?”
“Something like that. She used a lot of words I don’t know, but that’s what it seemed to boil down to. Regalia? I always thought that meant a yacht race, but I believe it was one thing she spoke of.”
“And she said I told her where ’twas? Mr. Barnes, don’t you think if I had a crown, and knew where it was, I’d go get it?”
“Not where it was, exactly.” Barnes was stubborn. “Only that you had hidden it away a long time ago.”
The old man chuckled again. “I gave her more than that, Mr. Barnes. I doubt she told you everything.”
Barnes smiled. “Then there is a crown. That’s wonderful, Mr. Free.”
“Not a crown.” Free’s voice grew grave. “I never said it was a crown.”
“I didn’t think so. It doesn’t seem probable, after all.”
“Trouble is, I want to tell you what it was, Mr. Barnes. Only I can’t.”
“I would respect your confidence, Mr. Free. Trust me.”
“’Taint that.” The old man shuffled awkwardly, like a boy. “It’s a treasure. That’s all I can say. A treasure. Something I brought from the High Place, and there’s no words I could use to tell you what it was and make you believe it now.” He held up his hands as if depicting a fish or a putt. “It ain’t too big. Not much wider than that.”
“But it would be worth a great deal,” Barnes persisted, “if we found it?”
“Oh, you could sell it for a sight of money, I s‘pose. ’Cept you never would. Once you had it, you couldn’t part with it. Not for money. Maybe not for anything. I never meant to, you see, Mr. Barnes. I’d used it, and I’d learned a whole lot. I only wanted to put it to one side for a while and stay where I was at. Then one thing and t‘other happened. I thought about it sometimes, but the time never seemed right to go. There was always corn to plant, or this or that. Anyway, I got older—which we all do, Mr. Barnes, treasure or none. And I knew it would be harder. I kept thinkin’ one day I’d feel better, and some days I did, only it never lasted. Then it was too late for me. I started askin’ myself what I’d do with it now, and I’ll tell you the truth, there wasn’t much of a answer.”
“I see.”
“No you don’t, Mr. Barnes. You don’t see a thing.” The old man shambled off in the direction of the water heater.
“I only meant that I can sympathize. My grandfather had a farm and lost it. I still remember how depressed he was. I understand how you feel.”
The candle went out.
