"Yes?" I said, walking about halfway to the trailer.
"Send him over now. Then I want you to go to my van and bring me the map I keep in my glove compartment."
"You keep a lot of maps there," I said. "Which one do you want?"
He laughed. "Bring 'em all, you nosy little bastard."
I escorted Mr. Romany to the trailer, hunted up the maps and returned with them, and then walked over to the dormitory tent. Every now and then I would step outside to see if the meeting had broken up yet, but as night fell over the snow-covered Vermont countryside none of the three had emerged from the Dancer's trailer.
Chapter 15
The meeting lasted until almost ten o'clock. Then the three of them—Thaddeus, Mr. Ahasuerus, and Mr. Romany—got into Thaddeus' van and drove off without a word to anyone.
I went to bed around midnight, and slept very restlessly, which was unusual for me. I woke up at seven, checked the clock by my bed, and went back to sleep for another two hours. Dapper Dan, Rainbow, and Scratch were up and moving around by the time I got my clothes on, and Scratch offered me a cup of hot tea, apologizing for the lack of coffee but explaining that while he could speak the language fluently he still had some difficulties reading it, and that the instructions on the electric coffee maker had been a little beyond him.
I thanked him, took the tea, and walked over to the couch, where I sat down and stared out the window. The van still wasn't back, and I began wondering if it had skidded off some ice-covered Vermont road.
I wasted an hour sitting around the trailer and loafing, and had just decided to go over to the dormitory tent when the big blue-and-white Dodge maxivan pulled up and Thaddeus emerged from it. For a moment I thought he was alone, but then Mr. Ahasuerus and Mr. Romany got out, and all three climbed the four stairs to the trailer door.
"Jesus, it's cold out there!" said Thaddeus, ushering the other two inside and rubbing his hands together briskly.
"Good morning," said Scratch.
"Good morning yourself," said Thaddeus. "Tojo, are we set to roll?"
"Everything's loaded except the dormitory tent," I told him.
"Good. Have Monk back his bus up to it and load the aliens into the back. Then have him stop by here to pick up Scratch, Rainbow, and Dapper Dan."
He turned to Mr. Ahasuerus and Mr. Romany. "You two want to ride with the others?"
"That will be perfectly acceptable," said the blue man.
"Where are we going?" I asked.
"Not too far away," said Thaddeus. "Tell everyone to form a caravan and follow me."
"Who do I go with?"
"You go with me. And bring along a pencil and some paper."
Monk got the aliens loaded in about an hour—we took a little more care with them this time—and then, when all the trucks and vans and trailers and buses were lined up, I climbed into the van and Thaddeus pulled out and turned south on a nearby state highway.
"Got that paper?" he asked, lighting up a cigarette.
"Yes," I said, pulling out a notepad and a ballpoint pen.
"Good. Write these names down: Monk, the Dancer, Diggs." Suddenly the car ahead of us hit a patch of ice and started skidding, and Thaddeus concentrated on his driving for the next mile or so. "Where the hell was I?" he asked at last.
"Monk, Dancer, Diggs."
"Right. Put down Gloria's name, too." He paused for a minute. "Barbara and Priscilla and Swede. And what's the name of that blond girl who works the Fascination game for the Rigger—the one with the big boobs?"
"Jenny."
"Right. Jenny. Put her name down. And Stogie, I suppose." He paused again, as if considering. "Yeah. Put Stogie's name down. And that redhead with the tight little ass who worked with the Dancer last month before we stuck her out with Diggs."
"Lori?"
"Yeah, I think so." He snuffed out his cigarette. "And Fast Johnny."
Fast Johnny Carp was the Rigger's second-in-command, and I scribbled his name on the pad.
"You got it all written down?" he asked.
"Yes."
"Okay. Fold it up, stick it in your pocket, and don't lose it."
Thaddeus turned the radio on then, cursed it roundly when he couldn't find any sports events, and finally settled for a rather tinny country-and-western music station. We drove in silence for almost two hours, then turned off onto a side road, went about a quarter of a mile, and came to a stop.
Thaddeus reached over to the glove compartment, opened it, and pulled out a couple of sheets of paper that bore his unmistakable scrawl. He studied them for a moment, then laid them on the dashboard and started the van again.
The terrain became hilly, then mountainous, and the road grew more hazardous. Thaddeus kept referring to his notes, though, and continued driving despite the dangerous conditions. At last he came to a large flat field and pulled onto it, and the rest of the caravan followed suit.
"Okay," he said, turning off the ignition. "Round up everyone but the aliens and tell them to come on over here. I've got something to say to them."
It took a few minutes—there were thirty-two of us—but before long we were all standing in front of the van. Then Thaddeus climbed out and faced us.
"I just want to announce that there are going to be a few changes around here," he said, walking back and forth to keep warm. "I've taken on a couple of partners, and from now on we're going to have two divisions, just like the Greatest Show on Earth."
He paused for a reaction, but it was too cold for anyone to do anything except just listen.
"Most of you will be staying with the main division, the one you've been working with. Mr. Romany will be in charge of it. You'll play up and down the Atlantic seaboard, just like we've always done. Everyone who stays with this division will be getting raises, starting today."
That brought a rousing, though brief, cheer.
"Mr. Ahasuerus and I will be taking the other division a little farther afield," he continued. "It's too damned cold to tell you what we have in mind while we're out here, but Tojo will hunt each of you up and we'll talk about it in my trailer. That's all."
He walked around to the trailer, which had been hitched to the back of the van, and climbed into it. Everyone else dispersed to go to the warmth of their vehicles, but I managed to grab Monk before he could return to the bus and told him that Thaddeus wanted to speak to him.
"Probably wants to tell me why I shouldn't expect a raise," he grumbled, walking over to the trailer.
He emerged half an hour later with the strangest expression on his face, and I sent the Dancer in.
"That's the damnedest thing I ever heard!" Monk exclaimed. "I still don't think I believe him!"
"What did he say?" I asked.
"Let's go over to Buffalo Bill's trailer," he said. "It's too cold to stand out here talking."
I followed him, and by the time we got there the Dancer was already on his way back. Diggs was puttering around his Winnebago, and I yelled over to him that it was his turn to speak to Thaddeus.
"Did he tell you what he told me?" asked Monk when we were inside and the Dancer was shutting the door behind us.
"Probably," said the Dancer.
"Then what are you doing back so soon? Didn't you have any questions?"