Dragon Town

  Chapter Nine

  "Well, this is great," Sapphire thought. "Four thirty and I'm wide awake. Thanks for that, Agent Sneed!" She knew she wouldn't be able to get back to sleep, but she drove back to the hotel anyway and was pleasantly surprised to find the breakfast buffet was already being set out. Although it wasn't quite open yet, the ladies putting it together let her go in and help herself to some cereal and orange juice. As she sat there in the otherwise deserted room, she tried to plan out her day. It wasn't helping that the ladies had turned the television on to some more apocalyptic babbling on the part of some so-called reporters. The current trend had begun not long before, with the "Singularity Scare" of the "Renegade Robot", some alleged mechanical contraption that was said to have outwitted the entire United States government by failing to be captured and dismantled. The absence of the thing was taken to be the proof of its existence, and it had turned out to be quite a profitable angle as far as the news business was concerned. The End Times were still all the rage, and there was money to be made.

  Sapphire considered three choices: to go see the girl in the hospital, to go to the sinkhole itself and try to get in past security, or to go and see Argus Kirkham. She figured she would do all three, so it was only a matter of which one first. She could be sure of making the attempt of the first two at any time, but she had no idea about Argus' schedule, and since he was still not answering his phone, she decided to go there, to camp out if need be, as it was still too early for a regular social call.

  The harbor-front neighborhood had indeed changed dramatically, as she had expected. Instead of the old rundown bungalows there were now rows and rows of fairly new town-homes, each with its own fenced in garden with walkways and playground and pool, each following a slightly variegated color scheme so the people could tell whose was whose by the shades of its beige, brown and green. Argus occupied the left bottom half of a split-level condo. Sapphire was able to park right out front and waited, in the slowly emerging dawn, for a light to come on, or some other sign of awakening. Eventually a curtain was pulled aside near the front door, and she took that as a good enough omen. She hopped out of her car, dashed up to the house and knocked. It was Argus who opened, an Argus she would have known anywhere. His eyes were exactly the same as they'd been as a child - bright and yet dark, too big for his head, which was otherwise normally proportioned. His thin brown hair was parted just off to one side, the same as it was when Argus was five. He was still shorter than Alex, therefore much shorter than her, but unlike his brother, he was still trim and looked considerably more youthful. He recognized Sapphire as well.

  "I assumed you would come," he greeted her unsmilingly. "Well, now that you're here, come on in"

  It was not the warmest of welcomes, but Sapphire wasn't surprised. She followed him into the kitchen, where she saw a miniature version of Argus seated calmly at the table. Little Arvid looked up at her with exactly the same look on his face as his father. It was almost like stepping right into the past, and Sapphire nearly had to catch her breath.

  "You must be Arvid," she said with a smile.

  "I know who you are," the child replied. "You're the one who rescued my daddy."

  "Nobody rescued anyone," Argus snapped with a frown, but immediately went over to his son and patted him on the head, regretting the tone of his voice.

  "Sapphire is an old friend," he said quickly, "she used to practically live in our house."

  "It was better than mine," Sapphire said. "I was an only child," she explained, and immediately realized she'd said the wrong thing, but it was too late.

  "I'm an only child too," Arvid said, "but my home is just fine."

  "I'm glad to hear that," Sapphire said. She was still standing in the doorway. Argus had not asked her to sit, nor offered her anything as he went about cleaning his son's dishes. There was a long silence, filled by a staring contest between Arvid and Sapphire. She knew she should talk but was uncertain of where to begin. Then she heard footsteps approaching behind her. She turned to see a fair-haired, young-looking woman.

  "You must be Peggy," Sapphire said.

  "Margaret," the woman replied.

  "She hates being called Peggy," Argus spoke up.

  "I'm sorry," Sapphire said, "it's just that Alex said ?"

  "So you have seen my brother," Argus interrupted her, as Margaret squeezed past the still-standing Sapphire, and went over to give Arvid a kiss on the cheek.

  "Yes," Sapphire said, "I saw him yesterday."

  "It's because he hates women," Arvid spoke up, and everyone turned to look at the boy.

  "He doesn't hate women," Argus said, after a moment.

  "Mom says he does," Arvid insisted.

  "Margaret!" Argus chided her as she came over to give him a peck on the mouth.

  "Well, he does," Margaret chuckled, "at least he hates me."

  "And you hate him too," Argus said and she nodded.

  "Can't argue with that," Margaret said, and then to Sapphire she added, "Please, come in and sit down. Would you like a cup of coffee?"

  "I would, thanks," Sapphire replied, coming into the room and taking a seat next to Arvid.

  "You look like you look on TV," Arvid said.

  "Very good," Sapphire said. She knew it was a dumb thing to say, but she wasn't that used to talking to kids, especially not blunt ones like this guy.

  "Go brush your teeth," Margaret said to the boy, and he got up and did as she told him.

  "He says what he thinks," Margaret explained. "He used to say nothing at all, so we're happy now whenever he talks."

  "Takes after his father," Sapphire noted.

  "His father approves," Argus told her. He was done with the dishes and was now reaching into the closet to pick out a jacket.

  "I walk him to school every day," he informed her, "and then I'll be going to work. I know you want to ask me some questions, but really, I don't want to answer. I've had enough of this nonsense already. You can talk to the feds or whoever you want. I don't mean to be rude, but, well, actually I do. So, goodbye."

  Argus walked out of the room, picked up a backpack in the hallway, and a briefcase by the front door, and with Arvid's little hand in his, walked out the front door. Sapphire had turned to watch him leave, and turned back as Margaret was placing a cup of coffee on the table before her.

  "You don't have to run off now, do you?" asked Margaret.

  "I guess not," Sapphire said glumly. She had expected Argus to be a difficult subject. She hadn't anticipated impossible.

  "He's not angry with you," Margaret said reassuringly, seating herself where Arvid had sat, with her own cup of coffee in her hand. "It's the whole situation, you know."

  "I can understand it," Sapphire said, "but I would like to hear his side of the story."

  "Let me tell you what I know," Margaret said, "or at least what I think."

  "I'd be glad to hear it," Sapphire said, and relaxed just a bit.