Fat Tuesday(60)

Unidentifiable skeletons were frozen in menacing stances. Skins and hides brushed against her. She saw an owl mounted on a perch and didn't realize he was alive until he swiveled his head and fixed his yellow eyes on her, then spread his wings in vexation.

Father Kevin turned sideways in order to pass through a narrow doorway into a small room. A bare bulb dangled from an electrical cord that had been tacked to the rough-plank ceiling. Its meager light cast eerie shadows on the walls, which were covered with yellowing newspaper.

He laid her down in the center of a narrow bed. The bedding smelled musty, like it hadn't been laundered in a long time, if ever. She would have protested if she'd had the strength.

"I hardly recognized you," Dredd said to Father Kevin.

"I hardly recognize myself these days."

"Who's he?"

From the room through which they'd just come, she could hear Father Gregory crying plaintively."Later," Father Kevin replied.

"He looks like he's been run through a tree shredder."

"If I don't kill him myself, he'll survive. It's her I'm worried about."

"Well, let me take a look-see."

Father Kevin backed away and the strange man approached the bed.

Remy was too amazed to scream. His skin was tanned so darkly it hardly looked human and resembled more closely the skins she'd seen in the other room.

His face was a network of crisscrossing lines and creases, all deeply etched. He was bare-chested, but half of his torso was covered by a crinkled gray beard that reminded her of Spanish moss.

It was not on fire. He was holding a cigarette in the corner of his lips.

When he extended his callused hands toward her, she shrank from them.

His touch, however, was amazingly gentle. He eased her left shoulder up, until she was almost lying on her side. She groaned with pain and uttered a sharp cry when he probed a spot.

"Sorry, cher'," he said gruffly."I know it hurts now, but Dredd'll fix you up."

Then he tenderly rolled her onto her back again and turned away.

"You're in my light," he said crossly, pushing aside Father Kevin, who was crowding close.

"How bad is it? Is she going to be okay? Can you handle this?"

"Oh, so now you ask. After you come barging in here with a woman who's gunshot and only half conscious, and a priest who's busted up bout as bad as I've ever seen anybody. After she's bled all over my bed, now you ask me can I handle it?"

"Can you?"

" Course I can. If you'll give me time. Lucky for you it's only bird shot, but she took several pellets."

"What can I do?"

"You can stay out of my way."

Remy closed her eyes. She'd been shot?

Then, her mind working backward, she remembered everything the van breaking down, the cafe, the fight, the gun-wielding priest. Her eyes sprang open. He was standing at the edge of the bed staring down at her with eyes as unflinching as the owl's. His profanity, his fighting skills, and general demeanor belied that the priesthood was this man's chosen profession.

With a detached part of her mind, she wondered how she could have been so naive. Upon close inspection, there was nothing about him that suggested piety. He radiated an intensity that was incongruous with the grace and peace promised to those who walk with the Lord. His mouth wasn't designed for prayer. It was too hard, too cynical, better suited to coarse language. He was passionate, but not in his love of God or mankind. Even though he was standing perfectly still, he seemed to vibrate with an inner heat that frightened her. Not only for herself, but also for him.

The man he called Dredd returned, bringing with him a glass of liquid.

Father Kevin reached for it and sniffed it suspiciously."What's that?"

"Do I meddle in your business?" Dredd said, snatching the glass back.

"Look, Dredd, she's "

"She's hurt. I'm trying to make her better. But if you don't trust me, you can take her and that pathetic excuse for a parson out there and leave me be. I didn't ask to get involved in your mess. You forced it on me. Now, what's it gonna be?"

He took Father Kevin's silence for compliance."Okay then."

Turning his attention back to her, Dredd leaned down and pressed the glass to her-lips."Drink this." The liquid smelled vile. She tried to turn her head aside, but he laid his hand against her cheek and brought it back around."Come on, now. This'll make you sleep. You won't feel a thing."

He tipped the glass and she had to either swallow the foul-tasting stuff that filled her mouth, spit it out, or choke. She figured if she spit it out or choked, he'd only come back with a refill. Besides, the promise of oblivion was seductive. She drank it all.

"Good girl. You cold?" He pulled a blanket across her legs."Now, I'm gonna leave you just long enough to gather my stuff. You'll probably be asleep by the time I get back, but don't you worry. I'll take care of you. When you wake up, you'll feel a whole lot better." He patted her hand and withdrew. On his way out, he said, You asked for something to do. You can get her undressed and onto Then Dredd left the room and she was once again alone with her abductor. He sat down on the edge of the thin mattress and began undoing the buttons on her suit jacket. She was powerless to stop him.