Suddenly, she was kissing me.
I won't tell him. Really, I won't, Corwin! I think you can do it. Bleys will be difficult, but Gerard would probably help you, and maybe Benedict. Then Caine would swing over, when he saw what was happening
I can do my own planning, I said.
Then she drew away. She poured two glasses of wine and handed one to me.
To the future, she said.
I'll always drink to that.
And we did.
Then she refilled mine and studied me.
It had to be Eric, Bleys, or you, she said. You're the only ones with any guts or brains. But you'd removed yourself from the picture for so long that I'd counted you out of the running.
It just goes to show you never can tell.
I sipped my drink and hoped she'd shut up for just a minute. It seemed to me she was being a bit too obvious in trying to play on every side available. There was something bothering me, and I wanted to think about it.
How old was I?
That question, I knew, was a part of the answer to the terrible sense of distance and removal that I felt from all the persons depicted on the playing cards. I was older than I appeared to be. (Thirtyish, I'd seemed when I looked at me in the mirrorbut now I knew that it was because the shadows would lie for me.) I was far, far older, and it had been a very long time since I had seen my brothers and my sisters, all together and friendly, existing side by side as they did on the cards, with no tension, no friction among them.
We heard the sound of the bell, and Carmella moving to answer the door.
That would be brother Random, I said, knowing I was right. He's under my protection.
Her eyes widened, then she smiled, as though she appreciated some clever thing I had done.
I hadn't, of course. but I was glad to let her think so.
It made me feel safer.
CHAPTER 4
I felt safe for perhaps all of three minutes. I beat Carmella to the door and flung It open.
He staggered in and immediately pushed the door shut behind himself and shot the bolt. There were lines under those light eyes and he wasn't wearing a bright doublet and long hose. He needed a shave and he had on a brown wool suit. He carried a gabardine overcoat over one arm and wore dark suede shoes. But he was Random, all right-the Random I had seen on the card-only the laughing mouth looked tired and there was dirt beneath his fingernails.
Corwin! he said, and embraced me.
I squeezed his shouder. You look as if you could use a drink, I said.
Yes. Yes. Yes... he agreed, and I steered him toward the library.
Ahout three minutes later. after he had seated himself, with a drink in one hand and a cigarette in the other, he said to me, They're after me. They'll be here soon.
Flora let out a little shriek, which we both ignored.
Who? I asked.
People out of the shadows, he said. I don't know who they are, or who sent them. There are four or five though, maybe even six. They were on the plane with me. I took a jet. They occurred around Denver. I moved the plane several times to subtract them. but it didn't work-and I didn't want to get too far off the track. I shook them in Manhattan, but it's only a matter of time. I think they'll be here soon.
And you've no idea at all who sent them?
He stalled for an instant.
Well, I guess we'd he safe in limiting it to the family. Maybe Bleys, maybe Julian, maybe Caine. Maybe even you, to get me here. Hope not, though. You didn't, did you?
'Fraid not, I said. How tough do they look?
He shrugged. If it were only two or three, I'd have tried to pull an ambush. But not with that whole crowd.
He was a little guy, maybe five-six in height, weighing perhaps one thirty-five. But he sounded as if he meant it when he said he'd take on two or three bruisers, single-handed. I wondered suddenly about my own physical strength, being his brother. I felt comfortably strong. I knew I'd be willing to take on any one man in a fair fight without any special fears. How strong was I?
Suddenly, I knew I would have a chance to find out.
There came a knocking at the front door.
What shall we do? asked Flora.
Random laughed, undid his neckite, tossed it atop his coat on the desk. He stripped off his suit jacket then and looked about the room. His eyes fell upon the saber and he was across the room in an instant and had it in his hand. I felt the weight of the . 32 within my jacket pocket and thumbed off the safety catch.
Do? Random asked. There exists a probability that they will gain entrance, he said. Therefore, they will enter. When is the last time you stood to battle, sister?
It has been too long, she replied.
Then you had better start remembering fast, he told her, because it is only a matter of small time. They are guided, I can tell you. But there are three of us and at most only twice as many of them. Why worry?
We don't know what they are, she said.
The knocking came again.
What does it matter?
Nothing, I said. Shall I go and let them in? They both blanched slightly. We might as well wait
I might call the cops. I said.
They both laughed, almost hysterically. Or Eric, I said, suddenly looking at her. But she shook her head.
We just don't have the time. We have the Trump, but by the time he could respond-if he chose to-it would be too late.
And this might even be his doing, eh? said Random.
I doubt it, she replied, very much. It's not his style.
True, I replied, just for the hell of it, and to let them know I was with things.
The sound of knocking came once again, and much more loudly.
What about Carmella? I asked, upon a sudden thought.
Flora shook her head.
I have decided that it is improbable that she will answer the door.
But you don't know what you're up against, Random cried, and he was suddenly gone from the room.
I followed him, along the hallway and into the foyer, in time to stop Carmella from opening the door.
We sent her back to her own quarters with instructions to lock herself in, and Random observed, That shows the strength of the opposition. Where are we, Corwin?
I shrugged.
If I knew, I'd tell you. For the moment at least, we're in this together. Step back!
And I opened the door.
The first man tried to push me aside, and I stiff-armed him back.
There were six, I could see that.
What do you want? I asked them.
But never a word was spoken, and I saw guns.
I kicked out and slammed the door again and shot the bolt.
Okay, they're really there, I said. But how do I know you're not pulling something?
You don't, he said, but I really wish I were. They look wild.
I had to agree. The guys on the porch were heavily built and had hats pulled down to cover their eyes. Their faces had all been covered with shadows.
I wish I knew where we are, said Random,
I felt a hackle-raising vibration, in the vicinity of my eardrums. I knew, in that moment, that Flora had blown her whistle.
When I heard a window break, somewhere off to my right, I was not surprised to hear a growled rumbling and some baying. somewhere off to my left.
She's called her dogs, I said, six mean and vicious brutes, which could under other circumstances be after us.
Random nodded, and we both headed off in the direction of the shattering.
When we reached the living room, two men were already inside and both had guns.
I dropped the first and hit the floor, firing at the second. Random leaped above me, brandishing his blade, and I saw the second man's head depart his shoulders.
By then, two more were through the window. I emptied the automatic at them, and I heard the snarling of Flora's hounds mixed with gunfire that was not my own.
I saw three of the men upon the floor and the same number of Flora's dogs. It made me feel good to think we had gotten half them, and as the rest came through the window I killed another in a manner which surprised me.