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aboard quite dead.
The guy with the beard cleared his throat and said,  That was a swell
story the first dozen times we heard it, Vinnie, but are you going to talk or
play cards?
 Bite me, Jewboy, it ain t like we haven t had to fight the yawns through
your loaves and fishes epic a hundred fuckin times. Then Vincent flashed
him a feral grin.  And since it is now your bet, I will advise you to fold, as
I am now holding a hand that is so hot it is about to burst into flames like
the proverbial bush.
The guy with the beard held up a punctured palm to silence Vincent.
 You re holding a pair of eights, Vinnie.
 I hate fuckin playing with you, Vincent said.
25
We Ask the Gods for Answers and
They Give us Questions
Tucker Case heard the beating of wings above his head and suddenly there
was a familiar little face in front of him. Roberto was hanging upside down
from the harness ropes around Tuck s chest. He never thought he d be glad
to see the little vermin.
 Roberto! Buddy! Tuck smiled at the bat.
Roberto squeaked and bent forward to lick Tucker s face.
Tucker sputtered. He could smell papaya on the bat s breath.
 How about climbing up there and gnawing through these ropes, little
guy?
Roberto looked at him quizzically, then laid a big lick on him, right across
the lips.
 Ack! Bat spit!
Tuck heard a weak voice from above.  He no gnaw rope. His teeth too
little, Kimi said.
Roberto took flight and landed on Kimi s head and began licking and
clawing him ecstatically.
Kimi was suspended about two feet above Tucker and about five feet
away. It hurt his neck, but he could see the navigator dangling if he
stretched.  You re alive! Tucker said.  I thought you were dead.
 I am bery thirsty. Why you put us in tree?
 I didn t. It was an old island guy. I think he s going to eat us.
 No, no, no. No cannibal in these islands for many years.
 Good. You tell him that when he comes back.
Kimi struggled against his bonds and set himself spinning.  These ropes
hurt on my arms. Someone put us in crab harness.
 I figured that out, Tuck said. He craned his neck and eyed
102 / Christopher Moore
Kimi s harness.  Maybe I can swing to you and catch on to your harness.
If I can get hold of it, I might be able to untie you.
 Good plan, Kimi said.
 Yankee know-how, kid.
As Tuck started to swing his arms and legs, he felt the harness tighten
around his chest. Soon he was swinging in a wide elliptical pattern that
brought him within a foot of Kimi, but the harness was so tight he could
barely breathe. Weakened from lack of food and water, he gave up.  I can t
breathe, he gasped.
 That good plan, though, Kimi said.  Now I have Roberto bring that
knife over by door of house and I cut the ropes. Okay?
 Roberto can fetch?
 Yes.
 Why didn t you say so?
 I want to see Yankee know-how.
Sarapul tried to run back to his hut, but the pain in his ancient knees
wouldn t allow him to move faster than a slow amble. If only he could ab-
sorb the power of an enemy or two, perhaps the pain would subside and
his strength would return along with his courage. It was courage he needed
now. Instead, he had questions.
Why, if Malink dreamed a message from Vincent, did the white bitch
say that he did not? And if Vincent had sent a pilot, why did the Sky
Priestess not know about him? And if Vincent had not sent a pilot, who is
hanging in the breadfruit tree?
In the old days Sarapul would have asked the turtle, his clan animal, for
an answer to his questions. Then he would have watched the waves and
listened to the wind for an answer, perhaps he would have gone to a sor-
cerer for an interpretation. But he was too deaf and blind to see a sign now.
And the only sorcerer left was the white man who lived behind the big
fence and gave medicine to the Shark People: Vincent s Sorcerer. Sarapul
didn t believe in Vincent any more than he believed in the god Father
Rodriquez had worn around his neck on a chain.
Father Rodriquez had said that the old ways the taboos and the totem
animals were lies and that the skinny white god on the cross was the only
real god. Sarapul was prepared to believe him, especially when he offered
everyone a piece of the body of Christ. But Christ tasted like dried pounded
taro and Father Rodriquez lost
Island of the Sequined Love Nun / 103
the old cannibal as a convert when he said that you would be thrown into
fire forever if you ate anyone besides the stale starchy god on the cross.
Then the Japanese came and cut off Father Rodriquez s head and threw
his god on a chain into the sea. Sarapul knew for sure then that the Father
had been lying all along. The Japanese raped and killed his wife and made
his two sons work building the airstrip until they became sick and died. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]