He didn’t get around to visiting Gay until Friday of that week. Gay showed him into his private office, and then they sat opposite each other at Gay’s desk, neither of them speaking, Gay smiling, and Willy’s sense of mysterious excitement mounting as the clock on the wall ticked off minutes.
“Willy,” Gay said at last, “I was wandering around uptown, oh, last month sometime, around where the old Porter Theater used to be, you know where I mean?”
“Yes, sir,” Willy said.
“There’s a bookstore on the corner there, do you know the one?”
“I’m not sure,” Willy said.
“Well, the reason I mention it is that you went into that bookstore.”
“I did?”
“Uh-huh. You stood outside looking in the window for a while, and then you went in.”
“Oh yes,” Willy said. “Uh-huh, I remember.”
“I wonder what caught your eye in that window, Willy.”
“A book, I guess,” Willy said, and shrugged.
“What book?”
“I don’t know,” Willy said cautiously.
“It was a book called The Communist Peril in America, wasn’t it?”
“Is that right?”
“That’s right.”
“What’s this all about, Mr. Prentiss?” Willy asked.
“Well, when you went inside there, it seems you asked about that book. And you also asked a few questions about the organization sponsoring the bookstore. Do you remember that, Willy?”
“I was just curious,” Willy said. “I don’t have anything to do with that organization.”
“I know you don’t. But you are interested in Communism, aren’t you?”
“No more and no less than anybody else.”
“Well, certainly interested enough to go in and ask about that book.”
“I only wanted to know how much it cost.”
“Four-fifty,” Clay said.
“That’s right,” Willy said.
“You told the man in the shop that four-fifty was more than you cared to spend.”
“That’s... listen, how do you know all this?”
“Leonard is a friend of mine.”
“Leonard? Who’s Leonard?”
“Leonard Crawley. Working in the bookshop.”
“Oh.”
“Do you remember now?”
“I remember asking the price of a book, yes.”
“A book about the Communist peril.”
“Well, yes, but that don’t mean...”
“What doesn’t it mean, Willy?”
“Nothing.”
“Willy,” Clay said gently, “there’s nothing wrong about hating Communism.”
Willy said nothing.
“Were you thinking of joining that organization?”
“No,” Willy said immediately.
“Then why did you ask questions about it?”
“I was just curious about how come they had only books about Commies in the window, that’s all. I thought maybe it was a Commie organization, that’s all.”
“But it isn’t, as you found out.”
“That’s right, but I still wouldn’t want to belong to it. I’ve read a couple of things about it in the papers and in magazines since then, and I don’t think it’s the kind of group I want to get involved with.”
“Why not?”
“It just doesn’t appeal to me, that’s all.”
“You’re not in favor of Communism, are you?”
“Hell, no! Who said that? Listen, would you mind—”
“I mean, you might be interested in a group that was against Communism, though not that particular group, isn’t that right?”
“No. I’m not interested in any group,” Willy said. “Not that one, and not any other one, either.”
“Oh,” Clay said. “I see.”
“Why? You got a group?”
He put the question flatly and abruptly, leaning across the desk at the same time. Clay’s dark brows lowered for an instant. Then he grinned and said, “Yes. We’ve got a group.”
“Who?”
“Some interested Americans.”
“Some interested Americans interested in what?”
“In the same thing that interests you.”
“Which is what?”
“The Communist peril.”
“Yeah?” Willy said.
“Yes,” Clay answered.
“So?”
“Are you interested?”
“No.”
“You seemed interested.”
“Seems and is are two different things.”
“Okay, Willy, then let’s forget it.”
Willy was silent for a moment, thinking. “What’s the name of this group of yours?” he asked.
“It hasn’t got a name.”
“Who’s in it?”
“A few people here in town,” Clay said, and paused. “And some people elsewhere.”
“Where elsewhere?”
“New York, Chicago, Richmond, Boston, few other places.”
“How many people are in it?”
“Why do you want to know?”
“Because I do. Look, Mr. Prentiss, you sent for me, not vice versa.”
Clay seemed to hesitate. Then he said, “All right, six of us started it. There are now twenty of us. We need forty-two.”
“Why forty-two?”
“Why not?”
“It just seems like a funny number to hit on.”
“It wasn’t hit on. It’s what we need.”
“For what?”
Clay smiled.
“For what, Mr. Prentiss?” Willy asked.
Clay continued smiling.
“Mr. Prentiss,” Willy said, “did you want to tell me what this is all about, or did you want to just waste time bullshitting?”
The smile dropped from Clay’s face. Willy listened to the clock ticking in the silence of the room. Very slowly Clay said, “We need forty-two men to prepare for an action that will protect our nation and preserve our American way of life.”
“What kind of an action?”
Clay shook his head and said nothing.
“You’ve got a group thinks it can do all that, huh?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
Again, Clay shook his head.
“What is it, a vigilante group?” He had learned about vigilante groups in Social Studies II. They were supposed to be bad.
“No,” Clay said patiently. “Not a vigilante group.”
“Then what would you call it, Mr. Prentiss?”
“I would call it a group of patriots like yourself who would not like to live under Red domination. That’s what I would call it, Willy.”
“Patriots, huh?” Willy said. “Lots of speeches and slogans, huh?”
“We have no slogans, Willy.”
“What do you have?” Willy asked.
“Guns,” Clay replied.
The office went silent.
“That is,” Clay said, smiling, “we’d planned to do a little target shooting over at the range near the old Granger place, in case you’re interested in joining us.”
“With rifles?” Willy asked.
“Uh-huh. Rifle practice.”
“I wouldn’t mind a little rifle practice,” Willy said. “I’ll probably be going in the Army next few years, anyway, you know.”
“That’s right,” Clay said.
“I wouldn’t mind a little rifle practice at all.” Willy paused. “When did you plan on going up there? To the range?”
“Sunday morning.”
“Could I bring a friend?”
“Who’d you have in mind?”
“Flack. Frank McAllister. We call him Flack.”
“I’ll let you know.”
“What’re you gonna do?” Willy said, smiling. “Check with Leonard to see if Flack was in there asking about some books, too?”