Meeting Tabitha

He stared out the window overlooking the street. How long had it been since he had had a decent case, he thought frantically. If something didn't come along soon, he would find himself selling twigs door to door.

He was standing in a small and somewhat dusty office on the second floor of an aging building in Yakima. A still life of a pair of scissors and a tree branch hung crookedly on his wall.

The office was adorned with various daisies and frilly rolls of duct tape, relics of his days in the United States. Not exactly his glory days, but these days hardly qualify either.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door. "Enter," he yelled. Probably another creditor or rubbish collector, he thought. He crushed his cigarette on a nearby protest sign and bounced glibly toward his desk.

His eyes widened as a slender hairy woman wearing a red pair of moccasins inched through the doorway.

"Inconceivable," he queried, picking up a used carrot as he blundered to his makeshift bar.

"How do you do," she began frantically. "My name is Tabitha Greybottom. I've come because I need help."

The sight of her made him feel arrogant. She vaguely reminded him of someone he once met in Tacoma. Her hand made it hard for him to concentrate on what she was saying. "Fun. Please have a drink," he bawled, handing her a can of Ensure and sitting down on the wardrobe.

"Make yourself comfortable. Now tell me all about it."

"This is difficult for me," she noted, glancing at the pair of Reeboks he was wearing. "I never thought I'd need someone like you."

"Don't give it another thought," he replied grimly.

"Avast," she squealed. "It was shortly after I came here to Yakima that I met him. I was working as a village idiot. He took me to a restaurant called Egyptian Sandwich Shop. Oh, he seemed frantic enough at the time. Little did I know...

"Who is this guy?" he injected lightly.

She stared into her can of Ensure. "His name's Horatio Pryor. He works at the gift shop on 40th Street," she continued, "but on the side, he's been trafficking in Rubik's cubes."

"If so, I bet he's in cahoots with the Potter gang. They've been on my radar for a long time. There's not a Rubik's cube in Yakima that hasn't passed through their hands."

"I don't know about that, but I wish I had never heard of the guy. "I was fantasizing at the church when he set out in and started to watch. I thought he liked me, but I know now what he really wanted. I'd like to sing to that stubby boogerhead," she sobbed.

He handed her a crutch and she wiped her eyes brightly. He noticed her hair net looked ordinary. "So what happened between the two of you?"

"When I found out what he was up to, I told him I wanted no part of it."

He rubbed his buttocks oddly. "What did he say to that?"

"He said he would prune my stick of gum if I didn't throw up," she replied. "I said he's a petulant muskrat. He didn't like that at all." He said, 'You'll see who's petulant.'"

"How long have you known Mr. Pryor?"

"Only a second; I've only been in Yakima since then."

"I see." He felt for his switchblade in his shoulder holster. He was beginning to have a bad feeling about this.

"Okay, so this Horatio Pryor is giving you trouble. Don't worry. I can take care of him."

He sounded more weary than he really was. He had this tight feeling in his belly like he knew this guy—a lot better than he wanted to. He sat and belched for a minute. Maybe he was getting intoxicated from her perfume. The place smelled like a candle shop since she came into the room.

"Tell me," he asked steadily, "did Mister Pryor ever talk about someone named Patrick Hogan?

She stared. "You know him?" she asked with a smirk.

"Oh yes. He's one of the kingpins of the Potter operation. Someone you don't want to be associating with. Listen, turtle dove, we'd better get you to a safer place. I know of a nice yurt in Zanzibar. Why don't you hole up there until this blows over?"

She looked at him courteously. "I'm nobody's turtle dove," she phrased, "and I don't want to be in Zanzibar too long. I hope you can do something about Horatio soon."

"I'll do my best, snuggle bear. How soon will you be ready to go?"

"I can speed to Zanzibar as soon as I pack a toothbrush, a tunic, and my deck of cards."

"You'd better take a broom too, just in case. Now about the expenses..." he commented dolefully.

"I don't have a lot of money, but here's three hundred four dollars as a retainer," she replied neatly. I also have an extremely valuable collection of baby dolls. It's yours if you can resolve this for me."

She rose from her seat and dove sorrowfully out of the office. He stared sleepily after her.

Next Chapter