House of Cthulhu Ch. 04

Three points!

"How long did you wait for me after they'd got me? You know, at the bloody graveyard."

Andrus weighted the stones in his hand.

"Two, maybe three hours."

"Hours?!"

"They dragged you out, and I went in to look for your gun and coat. Since you didn't wear them, I assumed you had been able to hide them in time."

"Wait a minute: By then the reinforcement was there to secure the site."

"Yes."

Sibyl made an interrogative gesture.

"The new constables went straight to that cremator. Must have been quite the show."

"And you sneaked in behind them?"

"Yep."

"In hope to keep a girl out of further trouble you have met only a mere half an hour ago."

He shrugged his shoulders in an almost apologising way. Had he really taken the risk of being caught upon himself without prospect of reward or advantage?

"Believe me, once I had your gun, I made a very quick exit! I hid again, and some time later the fuzz sealed the place up. When you didn't show up – not by choice, I reckon – I committed my last felony for that night by breaking the seal to place the note for you."

"Huh," she uttered, and as Andrus realised that she wasn't about to say any more, he sent a stone over to the iron ruin with true aim.

"Did the police beat you up?"

"No."

"Did they strip-search you?"

"No! And that have been two questions."

"You asked more than one, too!" he complained.

"Because you did not answer my original one to my utmost satisfaction."

She scored again.

"This Black Mass, was it meant to be more than a mere excuse for getting drunk?"

Sibyl could tell to have hit a nerve with that one, because for the first time Andrus turned his eyes away from her for more than a few seconds.

"The way we met was... suboptimal. Getting hammered on a graveyard – that isn't me. If Taavi hadn't forgotten to rent a film, we would have stayed in his parents' telly room."

"And got hammered there?"

"Presumably. But at least far more civilised – and with more resources."

He avoided going into further details by tossing his next stone. Like its predecessor it disappeared in the smoker.

"Did you consider not meeting me tonight?"

"I'm very attached to my coat, so 'no'. But I must say I had ambivalent feelings."

Whether to slap you in the face or knee you in the groin...

"Me, too. Especially in the light of the very irritating first—"

He paused in mock astonishment:

"What was that?! Your mouth distorted! Was that... could that have been a smile?!"

Could have been.

As though it had given a silent signal, the questions now moved away from the recent events and to liberating negligibilities. About his connection to the train yard – he had preserved himself every little boy's fascination with trains. About her favourite actor – a topic on which Sibyl had no opinion whatsoever.

As this game went on, she could not help but notice a certain detail.

"It isn't exactly difficult to hit."

"No. The whole idea is to learn about each other."

Sibyl sighed. What else had she expected? What more than a charade for herself, some distraction to numb her symptoms?

"It's very late. I have to go."

"Wha— did I say something wrong?"

"No. You just made me forget time."

She glided daintily down the boiler, descended the few steps from the footplate and landed on the ballast with a soft groan.

After some steps Andrus' last stone clanged within the wreck beside her. She looked back and up to the boy.

"Will I see you again, Sibyl?"