He scampered downstairs, to his business cash box, opened it, sighed in relief. He’d done all his spending out of the box upstairs.
But something was wrong. There wasn’t anywhere near enough in the box.... “Hey, Wally.”
His cousin looked at him, gulped, raced out the door. Baffled, Shed hurried outside, saw Wally vanish into an alley. Then the truth hit him. “Damn you!” he yelled. “Damn you, you damned thief!” He went back in and tried to figure where he stood.
An hour later he told the workmen to knock off. He left his new girl Lisa in charge, started the rounds of his suppliers.
Wally had screwed him good. He had bought on credit and pocketed monies payable. Shed covered his debts as he went, growing increasingly alarmed as his reserves dwindled. Down to little more than copper, he returned to the Lily and started an inventory.
At least Wally hadn’t sold what he had bought on credit. The Lily was well-stocked.
Only what was he going to do about his mother?
The house was paid for. That was a plus. But the old girl needed her servants to survive. And he couldn’t pay their wages. But he didn’t want her back in the Lily. He could sell all those clothes. He’d spent a fortune on them and couldn’t wear them. He did some figuring. Yes. Sell the clothes and he could support his mother till next summer.
No more clothes. No more women. No more improvements on the Lily.... Maybe Wally hadn’t spent it all.
Finding Wally was not difficult. He returned to his family after two days in hiding. He thought Shed would endure the loss. He didn’t know he was dealing with a new Shed.
Shed stormed to his cousin’s tiny one-room apartment, kicked the door in. “Wally!”
Wally squealed. His children and wife and mother all screeched questions. Shed ignored them. “Wally, I want it back! Every damned copper!”
Wally’s wife got in his way. “Calm down, Marron. What’s the matter?”
“Wally!” Wally cowered in a corner. “Out of my way, Sal. He stole damned near a hundred leva.” Shed grabbed his cousin and dragged him out the doorway. “I want it back.”
“Shed....”
Shed shoved him. He staggered backward, tripped, rolled down a flight of stairs. Shed charged after him, hurled him down another flight.
“Shed, please....”
“Where’s the money, Wally? I want the money.”
“I don’t have it, Shed. I spent it. Honest. The kids had to have clothes. We had to eat. I couldn’t help it, Shed. You had so much.... You’re family, Shed. You’re supposed to help.”
Shed shoved him into the street, kicked him in the groin, dragged him upright, started slapping. “Where is it, Wally? You couldn’t have spent that much. Hell, your kids are wearing rags. I paid you enough to handle that. Because you were family. I want the money you stole.” As he raged, Shed drove his cousin toward the Lily.
Wally whined and begged, refusing to tell the truth. Shed guessed he had stolen upward of fifty leva, enough to have completed the renovation of the Lily. This hadn’t been petty pilfering. He hurled blows in an angry rain.
He herded Wally around behind the Lily, away from prying eyes. “Now I get nasty, Wally.”
“Shed, please....”
“You stole from me and you’re lying about it. I could forgive you for doing it for your family. But you didn’t. Tell me. Or give it back.” He punched Wally hard.
The pain in his hands, from hitting the man, sapped his rage. But then Wally broke. “I lost it gambling. I know I
was stupid. But I was so sure I was going to win. They took me. They let me think I was going to win big, then took me, and the only way out was to steal. They would have killed me. I borrowed from Gilbert after I told him how good you were doing....”
“Lost it? Gambling? Borrowed from Gilbert?” Shed muttered. Gilbert had moved in on Krage’s territories. He was a bad as his predecessor. “How could you be so stupid?” The rage took him again. He snatched a board off a scrap pile left for kindling. He hit Wally hard. And hit him again. His cousin went down, stopped trying to fend off the blows.
Shed froze, suddenly coldly rational. Wally wasn’t moving. “Wally? Wally? Hey, Wally. Say something.”
Wally did not respond.
Shed’s stomach knotted. He tossed the board into the pile. “Have to get that inside before people cart it off.” He gripped his cousin’s shoulder. “Come on, Wally. I won’t hit you anymore.”
Wally did not move.
“Oh, shit,” Shed muttered. “I killed him.” This tore it. What now? There wasn’t much justice in the Buskin, but what there was was quick and rough. They would hang him sure.
He whirled, looking for witnesses. He saw no one. His mind flew in a hundred directions. There was a way out. No body, no proof that murder had been done. But he’d never gone up that hill alone.
Hastily, he dragged Wally to the scrap pile and covered him. The amulet he needed to get into the black castle. Where was it? He dashed into the Lily, roared upstairs, found the amulet, examined it. Definitely serpents intertwined. The workmanship was amazingly detailed. Tiny jewels formed the eyes of the snakes. They sparkled menacingly in the afternoon sun.
He stuffed the amulet into his pocket. “Shed, get yourself together. Panic and you’re dead.”
How long before Sal yelled for the law? A few days, surely. Plenty of time.
Raven had left him his wagon and team. He hadn’t thought to keep paying the stable-keeper. Had the man sold them? If so, he was in trouble.
He cleaned out his coin boxes, left the Lily in Lisa’s care.
The stable-keeper hadn’t sold off, but the mules were looking lean. Shed cursed him.
“I should feed them at my own expense, mister?”
Shed cursed him some more and paid what was owed. He said, “Feed them. And have them hitched and ready at the tenth hour.”
Shed remained panicky all afternoon. Somebody might find Wally. But no lawman came stamping in. Soon after dark he stole away to the stable.
He spent the journey alternately being terrified and wondering how much Wally would bring. And how much he could get for his wagon and team. He hadn’t factored them into his earlier calculations.
He ought to help Wally’s family. He had to. It was the decent thing.... He was acquiring too many dependents.
Then he was facing the dark gate. The castle, with all its monstrous decoration, was terrible, but it didn’t seem to have grown since last he had been there. He knocked as Raven had done, his heart in his throat. He gripped his amulet in his left hand.
What was taking them so long? He hammered again. The gate jumped open, startling him. He fled to his wagon, got the mules moving.
He entered exactly as Raven had done, ignoring everything but his driving. He halted in the same place, climbed down, dragged Wally out.
No one came for several minutes. He grew ever more nervous, wishing he’d had the sense to come armed. What guarantee did he have that they wouldn’t turn on him? That silly amulet?
Something moved. He gasped.
The creature that stepped out of the shadow was short and wide and radiated an air of contempt. It never looked at him. Its examination of the cadaver was detailed. It was being difficult, like some petty official with a helpless citizen momentarily in his power. Shed knew how to handle that. Stubborn patience and refusal to become irritated. He stood motionless, waiting.
The creature finally placed twenty-five pieces of silver near Wally’s feet.
Shed grimaced, but collected the cash. He returned to his seat, backed the wagon, got the team aligned with the gate. Only then did he register his protest. “That was a prime corpse. Next time you’ll do better, or there won’t be a time after that. Git up.” Out the gate he went, amazed at his temerity.
Going down the hill he sang. He felt great. Except for a fading guilt about Wally-the bastard had earned it-he was at peace with his world. He was free and safe, out of debt, and now had money in re
serve. He returned his team to its stable, wakened the stable-keeper, paid four months in advance. “Take good care of my animals,” he admonished.
A representative of the precinct Magistrate showed up next day. He had questions about Wally’s disappearance. Sal had reported the fight.
Shed admitted it, “I kicked the shit out of him. But I don’t know what happened to him. He just took off. I would’ve run, too, if I had somebody that mad at me.” “What was the fight about?”
Shed played the role of a man who didn’t want to get anybody in trouble. Finally, he admitted, “He worked for me. He stole money to pay back money he borrowed to pay gambling debts. Check with my suppliers. They’ll tell how he bought on credit. He told me he was paying cash.”
“How much was involved?”
“Can’t say exactly,” Shed replied. “More than fifty leva. My whole profit for the summer, and then some.”
The questioner whistled. “I don’t blame you for getting pissed.”
“Yeah. I wouldn’t have begrudged him money to help his family. He’s got a whole mob to take care of. But to lose it gambling.... Damn, I was hot. I borrowed to fix this place up. The payments are rough. I probably won’t make it through the winter now, because that bastard couldn’t resist a game. I may still break his neck.”
It was a good act. Shed pulled it off.
“You want to register a formal complaint?”
Shed played reluctant. “He’s family. My cousin.”
“I’d break my own father’s back if he did that to me.”
“Yeah. All right. I’ll register it. But don’t go hanging him right away. Maybe he can work it out or something. Hell, maybe he’s still got some he can pay back. He could have lied about losing it all. He lied about a lot of things.” Shed shook his head. “He worked for us on-and-off since my father ran this place. I never thought he’d do anything like that.”
“You know how it is. You get too far into debt and the vultures start closing in, you’ll do anything to save your ass. You don’t worry about tomorrow. We see it all the time.”
Shed nodded. He knew how it was.
After the Magistrate’s man departed, Shed told Lisa: “I’m going out.” He wanted one last fling before he settled in to the dreary business of managing the Lily.
He bought the most skilled, most beautiful woman he could find. She cost, but she was worth every copper. He returned to the Lily wishing he could live that way all the time. He dreamed about the woman that night.
Lisa wakened him early. “There’s a man here who wants to see you.”
“Who is he?”
“He didn’t say.”
Cursing, Shed rolled out. He did nothing to hide his nakedness. More than once he had hinted that Lisa should include more than barmaid’s chores in her duties. She was not cooperating. He had to find a handle.... He’d better look out. He was getting obsessed with sex. That could give somebody a handle.
He descended to the common room. Lisa indicated a man. He was no one Shed knew. “You wanted to see me?”
“You got someplace private?”
A hard case. Now what? He did not owe anyone. He did not have any enemies. “What’s your business?”
“Let’s talk about your cousin. The one who didn’t disappear the way people think.”
Shed’s stomach knotted. He concealed his distress. “I don’t understand.”
“Suppose somebody saw what happened?” “Come into the kitchen.”
Shed’s visitor peeped back through the kitchen door. “Thought the split-tail might try to listen in.” Then he gave Shed an accurate account of Wally’s death. “Where did you get that fairy tale?” “I saw it.”
“In a pipe dream, maybe.”
“You’re cooler than I heard. Here’s the way it goes, friend. I have a trick memory. Sometimes I forget. Depends on how I’m treated.”
“Ah. I begin to see the light. This is about hush money.” “There you go.”
Shed’s thoughts scurried like frightened mice. He couldn’t afford hush money. He had to find another way out. But he couldn’t do anything right now. He was too confused. He needed time to get himself together.
“How much?”
“A leva a week would buy a first-class case of amnesia.”
Shed goggled. He sputtered. He choked back his protest. The extortionist made a what-can-I-do? gesture. “I have problems too. I got expenses. A leva a week. Or take your chances.” The black castle flickered through Shed’s thoughts. Low cunning grabbed it, turned it over, looked at the possibilities. Murder did not bother him anymore. But not now. Not here. “How do I pay you?”
The man grinned. “Just hand me a leva.” Shed brought his coin box into the kitchen. “You’ll have to take copper. I don’t have any silver.” The man’s smile grew broader. He was pleased. Why?
The man left. Shed said, “Lisa, I have a job for you. Worth a bonus. Follow that man. Find out where he goes.” He gave her five gersh. “Another five when you get back, if it’s worth it. “Lisa zipped out in a whirl of skirts. “He wandered around a lot,” Lisa reported. “Like he was killing time. Then he headed down by the Sailmakers’. To see that one-eyed moneylender.’’
“Gilbert?”
“Yeah. Gilbert.”
“Thank you,” Shed said thoughtfully. “Thanks a bunch. That casts light on the problem.”
“Five gersh worth?”
“Sure. You’re a good girl.” He made a suggestive offer as he counted.
“I don’t need money that bad, Mr. Shed.”
He retreated to his kitchen, began preparing supper. So Gilbert was behind the extortionist. Did Gilbert want him financially pressed? Why?
The Lily. Why else? The renovations made the place that much more attractive a steal.
So. Assume Gilbert was opening a campaign to snatch the Lily. He had to fight. But this time nobody could help him. He was on his own.
Three days later Shed visited an acquaintance who operated on the nether edge of the Buskin. For a consideration he received a name. He visited the man attached, and left him with two pieces of silver.
Back at the Lily, he asked Lisa to tell her favorite customers that Gilbert was trying to force them out by spreading lies and making threats. He wanted the Magistrate suspicious of accusations leveled against him later.
The morning of the next payoff, Shed told Lisa, “I’ll be gone all day. Anybody comes looking for me, tell them to come back after supper.”
“The man I followed?”
“Him especially.”
At first Shed just roamed, killing time. His nerve worsened with time. Something would go wrong. Gilbert would come back rough.... But he wouldn’t dare, would he? That would tarnish his reputation. Shed’s rumors had him on the defensive now. People would make their loans elsewhere if he pressed.
Shed found himself a woman. She cost too much, but she made him forget. For a while. He returned to the Lily at sunset. “He came by?” he asked Lisa.
“Be back, too. He looked put out. I don’t think he’s going to be nice, Mr. Shed.”
“That’s the way it goes. I’ll be out back working on the woodpile.” Shed glanced at a customer he’d never before seen. The man nodded, departed through the front door.
Shed chopped wood by lanternlight. Now and again he searched the shadows, saw nothing. He prayed nothing would go wrong.
The extortionist stormed out the kitchen doorway. “You trying to duck me, Shed? You know what happens if you mess with me?”
“Duck you? What do you mean? I’m right here.”
“You weren’t this afternoon. Now that girl of yours gives me a hard way to go, trying to steer me away. I like to had to pound her before she’d tell me where you were.”
Very creative. Shed wondered how much Lisa suspected. “Save the dramatics. You want your money. I want your ugly face away from my place. Let’s get on with it.”
The extortionist looked puzzled. “You talking tough? They
told me you were the biggest coward in the Buskin.”
“Who told you? You working for somebody? This not a freelance play?” The man’s eyes narrowed as he realized his mistake.
Shed produced a handful of copper. He counted, counted, counted again, put a few coins away. “Hold out your hands.”
The extortionist extended cupped hands.
Shed had not expected it to be this easy. He dumped the coins, grabbed the man’s wrists.
“Hey! What the hell?”
A hand clamped over the man’s mouth. A face appeared over his shoulder, mouth stretched in a grimace of effort. The extortionist rose to his toes, arching backward. His eyes widened in fear and pain, then rolled up. He slumped forward.
“All right. Perfect. Get out of here,” Shed said.
Hastening footsteps faded quickly.
Shed dragged the body into shadow, quickly covered it with wood scraps, then dropped to hands and knees and began collecting coins. He found all but two.
“What are you doing, Mr. Shed?”
He jumped. “What’re you doing?”
“I came to see if you were all right.”
“I’m fine. We had an argument. He knocked some coins out of my hand. I can’t find them all.”
“Need help?”
“Mind the counter, girl. Or they’ll steal us blind.”
“Oh. Sure.” She ducked back inside.
Shed gave it up a few minutes later. He would search again tomorrow.
He got antsy waiting for closing time. Lisa was too curious. He was afraid she would look for the missing coins and find the body. He did not want her disappearance on his conscience, too.
Two minutes after he closed, he was out his back door and heading for his wagon and team.
The tall being was back on duty. He paid Shed thirty pieces of silver. As he was maneuvering to leave, though, the thing demanded, “Why do you come so seldom?”
“I’m not as skilled as my partner.”
“What has become of him? We have missed him.”
“He’s out of town.”
Shed could have sworn he heard the thing chuckle as he went out the gate.
Chapter Twenty-Two: JUNIPER: RUNNING SCARED