“THE SUNDIAL ISN’T MUCH FURTHER ALONG! YOU’LL KNOW BECAUSE OF THE WIDE WALKWAYS! PUT HER ON THE SUNDIAL AND RUN IT BACKWARDS! USE YOUR HANDS! MIND ME, IF YOU RUN IT FORWARDS, YOU’LL KILL HER! AND STAY OFF IT YOURSELF! WRITE IT DOWN!”
I did, but only to please her. I’d read Something Wicked This Way Comes and knew the danger of turning the sundial the wrong way. The one thing Radar didn’t need was to get older.
“COME BACK JUST AS YOU WENT IN! BUT BEWARE OF HANA! LISTEN FOR HER IN THE PASSAGE!”
I raised my hands and shook my head: I don’t understand.
Claudia smiled grimly. “THE GREAT BITCH ALWAYS TAKES A NAP AFTER SHE EATS! AND SHE SNORES! YOU’LL HEAR THAT, SHARLIE! IT’S LIKE THUNDER!”
I gave her two thumbs up.
“RETURN QUICKLY! IT’S FAR AND YOUR TIME WILL BE SHORT! YOU DON’T NEED TO BE THROUGH THE GATE WHEN THE THREE BELLS RING, BUT YOU MUST BE OUT OF LILIMAR SOON AFTER! BEFORE DARK!”
I printed Night Soldiers? on the pad and showed it to her. Claudia wetted her whistle with more ale. She looked grim. “YES! THEY! NOW CROSS THAT OUT!”
I did, and showed her.
“GOOD! THE LESS SAID OR WRITTEN ABOUT THOSE BUGGERS THE BETTER! OVERNIGHT IN THE SHED WITH THE RED WAGON IN FRONT! LEAVE WHEN YOU HEAR THE MORNING BELL! COME BACK HERE! WRITE IT DOWN!”
I did.
“WE’RE FINISHED,” Claudia said. “YOU SHOULD TURN IN NOW, FOR YOU MUST BE TIRED AND YOU HAVE FAR TO GO TOMORROW!”
I nodded and wrote on the pad. I held it up with one hand and took one of hers in the other. Written large on the pad was THANK YOU.
“NAH, NAH, NAH!” She squeezed my hand, then raised it to her cracked lips and kissed it. “I LOVED ADE! NOT AS A WOMAN LOVES A MAN BUT AS A SISTER LOVES A BROTHER! I ONLY HOPE I’M NOT SENDING YOU TO YOUR DEATH… OR WORSE!”
I smiled and gave her two thumbs up, trying to convey that I’d be fine. Which I was not, of course.
7
Before I could ask any more questions—I had many—the wolves started in. A lot of them, howling their heads off. I saw moonlight shining between two boards that had shrunk apart from each other, and there came a slam against the side of the house so hard that it made the whole thing shiver. Radar barked and got to her feet, ears up. There was another slam, then a third, then two together. A bottle fell off one of Claudia’s shelves and I smelled pickle brine.
I drew Mr. Bowditch’s gun, thinking They’ll huff and they’ll puff til they beat her house down.
“NAH, NAH, NAH,” Claudia boomed. She looked almost amused. “FOLLOW ME, SHARLIE, AND SEE WHAT ADRIAN BROUGHT!”
She pushed back the velvet curtain and motioned me through. The big room was neat; her bedroom wasn’t. I wouldn’t go so far as to call Claudia a slob about her private quarters, but… you know what, actually I would go that far. Two quilts were rumpled and thrown back. Pants, shirts, and underwear that looked like cotton bloomers and chemises were scattered across the floor. She kicked garments out of her way as she led me to the far side of the room. I was less interested in what she meant to show me than I was in the wolf attack going on outside. And it was an attack, the battering at her flimsy wooden house now almost continuous. I was afraid that even if the clouds covered the moons, the assault wouldn’t stop. They were cranked up and out for blood.
She opened a door, revealing a closet-sized room featuring a composting toilet that had certainly come from my world. “SHITHOUSE!” she said. “IN CASE YOU NEED IT IN THE NIGHT! DON’T WORRY ABOUT WAKING ME, I SLEEP LIKE A GODDAM STONE!”
I was sure of that, seeing as she was also as deaf as a stone, but I didn’t think I’d be needing the bathroom if the wolves broke through. Not tonight, or ever. It sounded to me like dozens of them were out there, trying to get in while Claudia gave me the House Beautiful tour.
“NOW ATTEND YOU THIS!” Claudia said. She used the heel of her hand to slide back a panel next to the toilet. Inside was a car battery with ACDelco stamped on the side. Jumper clamps were attached to the terminals. The cables were attached to some sort of power converter. Another cable came out of the converter and connected to what looked like an ordinary light switch. Claudia was grinning broadly. “ADRIAN BROUGHT IT AND THE FUCKING WOLVES HATE IT!”
Cowards bring presents, I thought.
She flipped the switch. The result was hammering blats of sound, like a bunch of car alarms magnified fifty or a hundred times. I put my hands over my ears, afraid that if I didn’t I’d wind up as deaf as Claudia was. After ten or fifteen very long seconds, she flipped the switch down. I took my hands cautiously away from my ears. In the big room, Radar was barking like mad, but the wolves had stopped.