Eric let out several startled exclamations. He did not need the keys he had brought with him, for his outer door, too, had been forced open. But as he charged forward into the inner office, he let out a cry of relief as he spotted his dental chair and the tower, which held the drill apparatus. Relief changed to mild expletives as he saw that the drawers of his accessory cupboards were pulled out.
"They only looked and saw nothing they could use," he cried af-ter a closer examination.
"Now, where's your electrical supply? Like the man said, it's on and I don't want to electrocute anyone, especially me," Herb Bayes said, lumbering forward.
Eric showed him both the panels and then where he would have to disconnect the tower and the chair, which could be adjusted by the dentist as needed. Kris remembered such a unit, with its foot controls, from visits to her own dentist. They had to pull up the carpet and un-loosen the bolts that held the two pieces to the floor.
"If you'd help me, Kris," Eric said, "I have more in my work-room." He pushed open the door to a small anteroom with work-tops and drawers in wall cabinets, many of which had been opened. As he examined one cabinet, he exclaimed again in relief. "Enough jaw trays, I think, and some of them must fit Catteni-size maws," he was muttering to himself. He opened a wall cabinet and hauled out some paper shopping bags with the Saks Fifth Avenue logo on them as well as some bubble wrap. "Here, help me package these things, Kris. And I've more in the storeroom-1 hope." He pulled out the drawers he wanted her to empty and then disappeared into a closet. "Good, good," he said, pulling some of the bubble wrap nearer so he could wrap mortars, pestles, and other items for which she had no names.
"Now, if only Eddie Spivak has anything left, we'll be in business even in benighted Barevi. you don't know how lucky I feel right now, Kris;' Eric said, almost crowing with success.
"One for our side, Eric," she said encouragingly.
By the time they returned to the main office, the men had fin-ished disconnecting the dental chair and had the lift tilted up to take its burden. Zainal was explaining the controls of the apparatus, em-bedded in one long side of the platform. They secured the chair with the rope that Jelco had tossed into the truck.
"Hey, don't use it all on this," Eric exclaimed. "The drill rig is more important than the chair."
"Whyn't you say so?" Bayes retorted huffily, tugging at a knot to be sure it was firm.
"See if you can find something else to tie it down with, Kris," Eric said, waving his hand toward the corridor.
Kris went out, as much to escape the tension in the room as to be useful. She hadn't a clue where to find more rope -someone would have found such a prize long before they arrived. But she did find some dusty draperies of a heavy fabric, and wondering that they had been left untouched, she hauled three pairs down. It must have been an attorney's office, to judge by the bindings on the books on the shelves. It was almost a travesty to have to use the draperies but once back in Eric's office, she asked him for something sharp to cut with and he provided her with a knife. She didn't ask what it was originally intended for, but with it she managed to tear the fabric into strips, which she then connected into a rope of sorts. She had yards of it, ready in time for the tower to be secured to its platform. Several of Eric's wrapped bundles were secured by adhesive tape (which he had also found a quantity of in his stores) to the empty spaces on the lift. They added a scatter o text- and reference books, nurses'uniforms, and some aprons. There were still more parcels for herself and Eric to carry. Zainal took several from those at her feet and then they felt ready to make the long descent.
The men, with Zainal showing them how to guide their cumber-some bundles, maneuvered into the corridor and toward the stairwell. Fortunately the powered units were easy to manipulate though the first landing on the way down took some angling, but once they found the trick to it, they proceeded at a fair pace down the stairs. Without the lifts they never would have managed. Even so, by the time they reached the last landing, everyone was sweating and winded, even Zainal. Kris leaned heavily into the final stair post, struggling to slow her heartbeat and pulse.
"Not as fit as I thought I was," Eric admitted, wiping his sweating forehead on his sleeve. "You guys have been splendid," he said, beam-ing at the team.
"Yeah, yeah," Dover said in a caustic tone.
"Free dentistry for your entire family?" Eric asked.
"If you got to start here, you'd never finish, Doc," Dover re-marked, "but kind of you to offer." His tone was nearly sarcastic but he caught the look Jelco gave him and nodded his head.
Their reappearance, not to mention their odd cargo, caused a complete silence in the foyer as they reached the ground floor. A few nasty looks were cast in Zainal's direction, but he ignored them. The silence continued as everyone watched the levitated heavy equipment float to the front doors. These were glassless but Dover pushed the frames open, hauling the front of his lift with him.
"Hey, what'll you take for one of those things?" a bearded man asked, pulling at Eric's sleeve.
"No one has that much money," Eric replied.
"I wouldn't insult you by offering you money, man," was the retort. "That's enough, Mac," the Cardinal head guard said, moving swiftly between the two men. Kris idly wondered what the man would have offered as she followed the others out of the foyer. The fresh breeze cooled her face and smelled of newly mown grass and other, less salubrious odors.
"What's in there?" the guard asked, pointing to the Saks carriers. "Oh, there was a sale on," she said whimsically and deposited them in the truck bed on one side of the dental chair. Her wrists and arms ached from lugging the oddments down so many flights. If they hadn't had the floats, how would they have managed? With great re-lief, she hauled herself back into the front seat and reached for the bottle of water that she had seen earlier. She was parched. She handed it to Zainal when he slid in beside her. Murray pulled another con-tainer from the door pocket on his side and took a long swig before a whistle reminded him that a guard was clearing the sidewalk and street so they could depart.
"Where to now?" Murray asked.
"One-thirteen East Thirteenth Street," Jelco said, consulting his notepad. "Eddie Spivak's Dental Supplies."
"A snap," Murray said. "We can go right down Ninth, or would you prefer Broadway or even Fifth?"
"Most direct route, Murray. We gotta conserve gasoline, y'know," Jelco said repressively.
"Gotcher!"
"Murray, is Macy's still there?" Kris asked softly.
"Yeah, but it still don't talk to Gimbels, which ain't," and he be-stowed another of his frightening toothless grins on her, reminiscent of Popeye.
"Oh!"
There was more traffic on the street now-most of it handcarts, many of them heaped with clothing and rolls of fabric. Kris remem-bered Floss and wondered what she had to trade for some blue cloth. As they passed a cart, she saw the blue had a huge stain down the middle of the bolt and she shrugged the incident aside.
They turned left on Fourteenth to Second Avenue and then turned right, and Kris noticed there seemed to be few vehicles. Maybe one-way streets were no longer required as traffic controls. She didn't remember this area at all, if she'd ever been in it. There were three- and four-story houses, all made into tenements to judge by the fire escapes, interspersed with concrete-block buildings that would house family-owned businesses of some sort. There were two cafes: she could see people at the counters eating whatever it was, and drinking. Coffee? She licked her lips. A cuppa would taste nice right now. Give her some energy. She was beginning to sag with fatigue. She wondered how the rolls were holding up and if there were enough to "do lunch" for everyone. They still had two trays of rock squats.