‘So he parades by our cages, and says how we’re all going to help him set up a surprise for you.’
‘He called you a chickenshit motherfucking asswipe,’ Alice explained.
‘Real nice,’ Erin said. ‘You don’t have to tell him everything.’
‘I’d want to know it, if somebody called me ...’
‘Doesn’t matter,’ I said. ‘What about the surprise?’
‘He said you paid him a visit at the house, and that you ran away, but Thelma’d gone after you. He said Thelma would probably kill you ...’
‘Nail your puny little butt,’ Alice elaborated.
‘But just in case she didn’t get you, he wanted to have a surprise ready. He said you’d probably come over here to the cages, first thing. So we should be expecting you, and we’d better not yell and try to warn you off.’
‘He said he’d toast our twats.’
‘Alice! Stop it!’
‘I’m just telling what he said.’
‘Well, don’t. For Godsake. You don’t have to be so crass.’
‘You talk just as bad. Only not around Rupert.’
‘Hey, girls. Come on.’
‘She’s got the hots for you, Rupert.’
‘I do not.’
‘Like you’d ever admit it to him. But she does, Rupert. Trust me. She told me so.’
‘Liar.’
‘You’re the liar.’
‘I never said I had the hots for him.’
‘Maybe not in those exact words, but...’
‘Can’t we talk about it some other time?’ I suggested. ‘I mean, if I don’t take care of Wesley . . . Does he ever come over to this end of things?’
‘Hasn’t yet,’ Erin said. ‘The closest he’s come is Kimberly’s cage. He hasn’t gotten on top of Connie’s or ours.’
‘Not that he couldn’t,‘ Alice said.
‘Yeah, he could if he wanted to. If he didn’t want to move the ladder, he could always just go ahead and jump. It isn’t that far between ...’
‘What ladder?’ I asked.
‘Our ladder,’ Alice said.
‘He got it at our house,’ Erin explained. ‘Like everything else, just about. He’s been keeping it handy ever since he put us in the cages. It’s one of his things. He climbs up on top of the cages and sort of... messes around. You know, looks down at us. Teases us. He keeps a box of stuff up there. Things he can drop on us whenever he feels like playing “bombardier.”’
‘Mostly books,’ Alice said.
‘He drops books on you?’
‘Yeah,’ Alice said, ‘and they can hurt. Even a paperback hurts if it catches you with its spine.’
‘Especially a corner of the spine,’ Erin added. ‘The deal is, Wesley doesn’t want to bomb us with anything we might use against him. He figures we can’t do much damage with a book.’
‘Sometimes, he bombs us with pages,’ Alice said. ‘He’ll rip one out and wad it up, then set it on fire and drop it through the bars.’
‘You can usually dodge them,’ Erin said. ‘He just likes to hear us scream.’
‘And watch us try to get out of the way. He loves to make us jump around. You know, because we aren’t wearing a stitch of clothes, or anything.’
‘He dumps buckets of water on us from up there, too.’
‘All kinds of stuff,’ Alice added.
‘It’d take all night,’ Erin said, ‘to tell you everything he drops on us. I mean, he’s had a lot of time on his hands with nothing to do but mess with us.’
‘His favorite thing, he lies down and dangles his dong through the bars. Then he’ll...’
‘God, Alice. That’s not . . .’
‘I’m just trying to tell what he does.’
‘Rupert doesn’t need to hear it. You know? Jeez!’
I decided to bring us back to the subject. ‘So Wesley got this ladder, tonight, and used it to climb up to the top of Billie’s cage?’
‘Right,’ Erin said.
‘Then what?’
‘Then he pulled it up after him. And he put it across the gap between Billie’s cage and Kimberly’s to make it easy for him to cross back and forth. He can just use the ladder like a bridge, you know? Instead of having to jump.’
‘That’s why he hasn’t come over here,’ Alice said.
‘I don’t think he’s real eager to jump. It’d be pretty tricky. There’s nothing up there but bars.’
‘And the ladder,’ Alice added.
‘He can get around pretty well, walking on the bars. He’s had a lot of practice.’
‘He’s part ape,’ Alice said.
‘Thinks he’s King Kong,’ Erin said.
‘Thinks he’s King Dong.’
‘You’ll have to excuse my sister,’ Erin said. ‘She isn’t usually like this.’
‘It’s all right,’ I said.
‘See?’ Alice asked. ‘I told you it was okay with Rupert.’
‘He’s just being polite.’
I stayed quiet at that, not wanting to get involved in their little squabbles. The thing is, I didn’t really mind Alice’s language. It’s hard to be offended by stuff like that when you’ve got a guy like Wesley nearby. It’s hard to be anything except scared. But I did find myself a little bit amused, now and then. And sometimes embarrassed.
And turned on. I mean, there I was, sitting on the ground between Erin and Alice. They were stark-naked. I might as well have been naked, too, considering the condition of my shorts.
Even though I couldn’t see the girls, I sort of knew what they looked like. After all, I’d had time to study every inch of Erin when she’d been in the room with Wesley and Thelma. And Alice was her twin sister. What I couldn’t actually see because of the darkness, I had no trouble imagining.
On top of all that, Alice’s talk about things like twats and dongs and boners only made things worse - or better, depending on how you look at things.
Plus, I couldn’t quite stop thinking about Erin having the ‘hots’ for me. Apparently, she hadn’t used that exact word. Whatever words she might’ve used, though, she’d made it clear to Alice that she liked me.
Interesting news. Incredible news. Wonderful news.
Too bad it had to come at a time when everyone was in so much danger that I figured we probably wouldn’t all make it through the night.
Anyway, that sums up what was going on with me, and why I said that I didn’t have any problem with Alice’s language. I wasn’t being polite, I was being truthful.
Trying to get things on track again, I said, ‘So you think Wesley won’t try to jump from cage to cage?’
‘I haven’t even seen him try that in broad daylight,’ Erin answered.
‘Doesn’t mean he can’t,‘ Alice pointed out.
‘If he wants to come this way,’ Erin said, ‘I bet he’ll bring the ladder with him. Put it down across each gap. We’d hear that, if he tried it.’
‘The ladder’s aluminum,’ Alice explained.
‘So we don’t need to worry about him sneaking over,’ Erin said.
‘Unless he does jump the gaps. We’d hear him when he lands on this cage, but...’
‘He’s too smart to try it.’
‘Or unless he gets down off the cages,’ I suggested. ‘Then he could sneak over here on the ground ...’
‘Kimberly’s gonna warn us if he climbs down.’
‘She’s supposed to,’ Alice corrected.
‘Yeah. We sort of set up a few tricks of our own. If Wesley does anything we need to know about, Kimberly’s gonna pass the word to Connie, and Connie’ll tell Alice.’
‘Except Connie’s asleep,’ Alice said.
‘Maybe she is and maybe she isn’t,‘ Erin said. ’Anyway, he won’t climb down. He’s right where he wants to be, up above everything where nobody can get at him.‘
‘I have a spear.’
The girls were silent for a second or two. Then Erin asked, ‘Can you hit him with it?’
‘I do
n’t know.’
‘You’d better not even try,’ Alice said. ‘Even if you get him, he’ll probably still be able to set Billie on fire. All he has to do is drop the torch.’
‘What if I wait till the torch goes out?’ I asked.
For a couple of seconds, nobody answered. Then Alice spoke up. ‘I don’t know.’
‘It might be a really long wait,’ Erin said. ‘And when it does burn out, he’ll just dip it in the gas and light it back up.’
‘With what?’ I asked.
‘Huh?’
‘How would he relight it?’
‘Oh, he’s got a couple of Dad’s cigarette lighters. Keeps them in the box up there for lighting his paper wads.’
‘And cigarettes,’ Alice said. ‘The creep smokes like a chimney. That’s something else he uses on us. His butts. He gets a big charge out of flicking them at us.’
‘He doesn’t have to be on top of the cages for that,’ Erin explained. ‘He mostly does it from the sides. Yells “incoming” and fires the things through the bars. They aren’t as easy to dodge as the paper balls.’
‘They can really sting, too,’ Alice said.
‘That’s horrible,’ I muttered.
‘It isn’t half as horrible as some of what he does to us.’
‘Rupert doesn’t want to hear about it.’
‘And Thelma’s even worse than Wesley,’ Alice went on. ‘She comes right into the cages with us, sometimes and...’
‘Knock it off,’ Erin said. ‘I mean it.’
‘I think she must be part lesbo ...’
They’re both a couple of sicko freaks,‘ Erin said. ’Let’s just let it go at that, okay? You haven’t gotta go and blab about every little perverted thing they’ve done to us.‘
‘Rupert doesn’t mind. Do you, Rupert?’
‘Well...’
‘I mind,’ Erin said. ‘Jeez. So just cut it out. It’s embarrassing. Rupert doesn’t need to hear every disgusting detail.’
‘Let him speak for himself. Do you want to hear what Thelma likes to do?’
I looked for a way out, and found it.
‘She’s dead, by the way.’
‘What?’ Erin blurted.
‘I killed her. Over in the cove.’
‘Wow.’
‘Fantastic,’ Alice said.
‘Good going,’ Erin told me. Something suddenly touched my thigh, so I flinched. Then I realized it was Erin’s hand. It gave my leg a gentle squeeze. ‘How’d you get her?’ she asked.
‘With one of those machetes.’
‘Holy cow.’
‘Fantastic,’ Alice repeated.
Erin’s hand slipped under the tatters of my shorts.
‘So Wesley,’ I said, ‘is the only sicko freak we have to worry about.’
Her warm, small hand glided a ways up my thigh. It came close to my groin before reversing direction. I had to squirm.
‘What about the bucket?’ I asked. ‘You said Wesley liked to take it up on top of the cages and dump water on you?’
‘What about it?’ Alice asked.
‘If I can get my hands on a bucket of water, maybe I can take care of things if Wesley tries to set Billie on fire.’
Erin squeezed my leg. ‘Yeah!’ she whispered. ‘That’s a great idea.’
‘Where do I find it?’
‘I don’t know.’
Alice said, ‘I hate to embarrass you again, Erin.’
‘Then don’t.’
‘The thing is, Rupert, we’ve each got a bucket in our cage. For you know what.’
I was surprised. It certainly made sense for them to have buckets in their cages, but I hadn’t given the matter any thought. I hadn’t seen any buckets, either.
Looking over my shoulder, I tried to spot one in Erin’s cage. Too much darkness.
‘Real nice,’ she was saying to her sister. Even as she complained, her hand crept higher up my thigh.
‘You think Rupert doesn’t go to the bathroom?’ Alice asked her. ‘Everyone goes to the bathroom. We just happen to do it in buckets.’
‘Which won’t do Rupert any good at all, because we can’t exactly hand them to him.’ In a more pleasant tone of voice, she said, ‘My dumb sister seems to have forgotten that the buckets won’t fit through the bars. Thelma has to ... used to come in and take care of them.’
‘Maybe we can make one fit through the bars,’ Alice suggested.
‘They’re metal or steel or ...’
‘Doesn’t mean they can’t be bent.’
Erin’s hand stopped moving. ‘We’d have to fold one in half to get it through the bars. We’d have to, like, jump on it or something. And we’re barefoot. Besides which, even if we could smash one small enough, the thing would make so much noise that Wesley’d probably hear us.’
‘What about Wesley’s bucket?’ I asked. ‘Where’s the one he uses?’
‘Who knows?’ Alice said.
Erin’s hand resumed caressing my thigh. ‘It might be anywhere,’ she said. ‘Maybe back at the house, even. If you wanted to go back to the house, you’d be sure to find something. Cooking pots you could fill with water. Pitchers, waste baskets ...’
‘What about a fire extinguisher?’ I asked.
‘We keep one on the boat,’ Erin said.
‘Not in the house, though?’
‘We’ve been in these cages for almost a month,’ Alice pointed out. ‘Who knows where anything is?’
‘But I bet you could find something and fill it with water back at the house.’
‘You’d better do it, too,’ Alice said. ‘I mean, Billie’s gonna get burnt to a crisp if you don’t have a way to put her out. She’s all fueled up and ready to go.’
‘Maybe I’d better do that,’ I admitted.
Suddenly, I knew where to find a bucket. Back at the mansion, over near the veranda stairs. Earlier, I’d seen Thelma put out her torch in it.
I was awfully reluctant to leave, though. I felt sort of safe, hidden between the cages, the girls on both sides of me.
And Erin’s hand kept roaming my leg.
Her hand was our secret. She was letting it stray pretty far up my thigh.
It was driving me a little crazy.
Anyway, I couldn’t just stand up and walk away.
‘What else should I get?’ I asked, just to delay things.
‘What do you mean?’ Alice asked.
What if I reach between the bars and touch Erin?
‘Back at the house,’ I said. ‘Is there anything else? Something I should get while I’m there?’
‘Like what?’ Erin asked.
If I try anything funny, she might quit. Just leave her alone. Let her do what she wants.
Where was I?
‘Are there any guns in the house?’ I asked.
‘No way,’ Erin said.
‘That’s one reason we left Los Angeles,’ Alice said. ‘To get away from things like guns.’
‘I could sure use one now,’ I said. ‘What about bows and arrows?’
‘No.’
‘Just get the water,’ Alice said. ‘You’d better hurry, too. I mean, there’s no telling. He might go ahead and light her up, just for the fun of it.’
Erin’s hand eased up higher than ever. I flinched and caught my breath. Her hand flew off like a startled bird. And crashed against a bar of her cage with a low, ringing thud. She yelped.
‘Jeez, I’m sorry,’ I whispered. ‘Are you okay?’
‘My hand.’
‘I’m really sorry.’
‘What happened?’ Alice asked.
‘Nothing,’ Erin told her. ‘I bumped the bars.’
‘What were you doing?’
‘Nothing.’
‘We were holding hands,’ I explained. Which sounded better, I thought, than the truth.
‘You shouldn’t go holding her hand,’ Alice said. ‘You don’t know where it’s been.’
‘Very funny,’ Erin said.
‘I’d better get
going,’ I said.
‘Not so fast. Rupie? Come here.’
The Fire Storm
‘Rupie? Come herrrrre.’
The voice made me cringe. For one thing, it was too loud. For another, it belonged to Connie, and she didn’t sound much less crazy than last time.
‘My God,’ I muttered.
Alice was already scurrying across her cage, apparently hoping to shush her.
On my knees, I grabbed my spear and machete.
‘What’re you gonna do?’ Erin whispered.
‘I don’t know. Make her be quiet.’
‘I know you’re there, Rupie! Now come on, pull your cock outa that bitch and come on over. I been waiting for you!’
I scrambled out from between the cages. On my feet but hunched low, I dashed through the grass behind Alice’s cage.
‘What is it with you, boy?’
‘Be quiet!’ Alice gasped.
‘When you aren’t fucking the old ladies, you’re fucking the babies.’
‘Shut up!’ Alice pleaded. Her voice came from my left, and not far ahead. I slowed down.
‘Why not me? You some kinda fucking geek?’
‘Be quiet, Connie!’ I snapped.
‘RUPERT! GREETINGS!’
Wesley’s shout slammed through me, knocking my breath out, stopping me cold.
It had come from far away.
From where he apparently still stood on top of Billie’s cage.
Sounding cheerful, Connie sang out, ‘Look who’s fucked now.’
‘Before you make any rash decisions,’ Wesley called, ‘let me advise you that the lives of the ladies are in your hands. I’m fully prepared to annihilate them all, Rupert, unless you give me your full cooperation.’
I felt sick and weak. I seemed to be trembling all over. My heart pounded hard and terribly fast.
‘Do you hear me?’ Wesley called.
I didn’t answer.
‘In that case, do you have any last words for Billie? I took the trouble of dousing her with gasoline. She’ll make one hell of a torch. You’ll be needing sunglasses, little buddy. Better put ’em on!‘
I shouted, ‘What do you want?’
‘Go to the front of the cages,’ he commanded.
‘Okay.’
I found the bars at the back of Alice’s cage. Keeping track of them with my left arm, I rounded the corner. I rushed between the cages. On one side, Alice said, ‘Be careful.’
On the other, Connie hurried along with me. This much closer to Wesley’s torch, the light was somewhat better. Connie’s shape was fairly visible. Her eyes, mouth, nipples and what I took to be several injuries looked like holes or rips in the pale canvas of her skin. She seemed to be leaping sideways to stay with me.