The Cold Smell Of Sacred Stone

'He came up with this plan just before he barred me from the clinic?'

'Yes. Even a layman could see that Garth had made tremendous progress in a very short time. He wasn't violent, certainly no threat to himself or others, and he was lucid. Under no circumstances would any responsible psychiatrist want to do absolutely anything but continue to observe patiently, listen, and perhaps counsel. Yet Dr. Slycke was planning to saturate Garth with these drugs. I couldn't make any sense out of it-and then I remembered some of the concerns you'd expressed to me during the course of our conversation outside on the grass. I realized then that you'd been absolutely right. I also understood then why you'd been barred from the clinic. I guess I panicked.'

'Why didn't you call and tell me about this when it happened, Tommy?'

'There was so little time. I was to begin administering doses to Garth-in any way I could manage-that very evening. I didn't know if you'd be able to stop Slycke, or what would happen to Garth, or me, if I tried to stop him. I'm just a nurse, and he could have ordered me off the premises out-of-hand-and had me locked up, to boot, as a suspected security risk. I was. . very upset. By that time, as I think you know, I'd become very attached to Garth- and to you, if I may say so. I just couldn't let Dr. Slycke do something that could destroy Garth's mind. So I did the only thing I could think of at the moment.'

'You took Garth out.'

'Yes,' Tommy Carling replied quietly. 'I just had to do something. I hadn't even thought about what I was going to do afterward. . I just acted.'

'Thank you, Tommy,' I said simply. 'Garth and I owe you more than we can repay.'

'Oh, no,' the other man said quickly-and then looked at me in a way that made me slightly uncomfortable. I'd seen a similar look before-on Marl Braxton's face, when he had started to talk about Garth. 'It's I who owe the two of you. Garth is. . very special.'

'How did Marl Braxton get to join the party?'

'I took him out with Garth. Garth wouldn't leave without him, and. . well, there just wasn't a lot of time to argue; I only had two or three minutes' leeway. If I didn't take Garth out then, the chances were slim that I would be able to do it at all before he was drugged.'

'A hell of a big decision, Tommy.'

'Yes,' the male nurse replied simply.

'How did you know Braxton wouldn't kill you the moment you got them away from the clinic? For that matter, how do you know he still won't kill Garth or you one of these days?'

Carling shook his head. 'Garth assured me that Marl would be fine, and that he wouldn't cause any trouble. It's hard to explain, Mongo, but somehow I knew instinctively that Garth was right. He was.'

'So far.'

'He was right.'

'Garth has an apartment.' I said tightly. 'I happen to be living in it. Why didn't you bring him back there?'

'For the same reason I didn't contact you; I was afraid the authorities would catch us, and somehow force Garth to go back to Slycke. Besides, Garth didn't want to go back there. He told me he wanted nothing more to do with anything in his past.

'We ended up in a flophouse not too far from here. I had — some cash with me, but it wasn't going to go very far with the three of us.' Carling paused, spread his hands on the surface of the desk. 'Mongo, I don't really know how to explain easily all that's happened since then. Four months is such a short time, but. .'

'Just tell me what happened, Tommy.'

'On that very first night, Garth started his work-talking to and comforting some of the others in the flophouse, walking the streets and talking to drunks, bag people, people living in cardboard boxes. Those people responded to him the same way the patients in the clinic responded to him. Garth explained to me that he had to do these things, that it was the only way he could keep from crying.

'The next day, Garth went to the bank and emptied his savings account. He thanked me for taking him out of the clinic, and told me I should leave and go back to my old life. He and Marl were going to spend all his money on food and clothing for the street people, and then just do whatever it was they had to do. He wasn't worried at all about the future.

Mongo, I just got caught up in the spirit of what Garth was trying to do. You may say I'm crazy, or a fool, but I didn't want to leave. I just had this feeling-and it's impossible to describe-that something wonderful and very important was about to happen, and I wanted to be a part of it. I had my own savings, and a trust fund with a not inconsiderable amount of money in it. I used that money to put the down payment on the bathhouse to use as a base of operations for what Garth wanted to do, as well as buy the first food and clothing supplies to give out to those who needed it.'

'If you used your money to buy the bathhouse, why did you put it in Garth's name?'

'Because I wanted to.' Carling paused, smiled thinly. 'You still don't understand. It was Garth who was going to make this wonderful, important thing happen, not my money. Although I didn't fully realize it at the time, I'd made a commitment, like Marl, to give everything I had-including my life-to whatever it was Garth wanted to do.'

'Go ahead.'

'After we moved into the bathhouse, things just began to snowball. Garth and Marl were out all the time, walking the streets and bringing people back here for food, shelter, clothing-or just comfort. We were quickly running out of everything, including money, and then the wonderful things started to happen. The 'word' that I mentioned had already started to get around. The Salvation Army, as well as a number of other relief agencies that operate down here, began to help us and share their resources. Lines began to form, and still Garth and Marl walked the streets to bring more people here. I think what most impressed the other agencies was Garth's effectiveness; some of the men and women he got to come to us for help would never think of going anywhere else. Nobody had ever been able to get them to accept help; they had always been afraid to go to city shelters, even during the winter.'

'Afraid with good reason,' I interjected. 'They get ripped off in those shelters. Who keeps order here?'

Carling thought about it, as if the question hadn't occurred to him before. 'There's Marl, of course,' he said at last. 'He can be very intimidating-to anyone who's looking for trouble. Also, we have a couple of dozen Guardian Angels who work for us. But we've never really had any trouble. There's just this feeling of goodness and good feeling around here that's almost palpable, at least to some of us, and I really do believe that it's this sense of goodness that radiates from Garth which keeps away evil.' He paused, flushed slightly. 'Silly, I know.'

'Maybe not so silly,' I said quietly. I was indeed most impressed with what was going on in the bathhouse- and terribly proud of my brother, despite all my other concerns and misgivings.

'Anyway, almost before we knew it, we were getting all sorts of offers of money, goods, and services from other relief programs, wealthy individuals, and corporations; the jackets and headbands you see everyone wearing are donated-no advertising strings attached-by a sporting goods manufacturer. You want a jacket, Mongo? I'm sure we can find one that will fit you.'

'Let me think about it.'

'The point is that we ended up, virtually overnight, with a sizable financial structure-and the responsibility that goes along with it. Thank God for Sister Kate.'

'Sister Kate, I take it, is the nun outside?'

Carling nodded. 'She's with the Sisters of Mercy. They donated her, in a manner of speaking, and it was a most significant contribution. Besides being a nun, she's a C.P.A., with an M.B.A. from Wharton. She helped us organize, and she keeps the books. Without her, we'd have been swamped long ago. She's just wonderful. She's a gift from God-Who, as I said, provides.'

'But she's still a Catholic, in good standing with her order?'

'Of course; as I said, they 'donated' her. Why shouldn't she be?'

I pointed to the rings-and-knife mural on the wall behind the desk. 'Is that a religious symbol?' I asked in what I hoped was a neutral tone.

'No. It's just. . well, it's just kind of a sign that identifies. People seem to like it. Kind of 'catchy,' don't you think?'