«He started in on that hallucination. Mr. Brown conducted him up to the office. He was frightening some of the women. He seemed happy enough to go. Something about the glass. When Mr. Brown said there was only one small window in the manager’s office, and that that one was reinforced with wire, he seemed happy enough to go. I presume he’s still there.»
«What he was talking about is no hallucination.»
«No, of course it isn’t.»
«And that thud we felt?»
«No, but, David-»
He’s scared, I kept reminding myself. Don’t blow up at him, you’ve treated yourself to one blowup this morning and that’s enough. Don’t blow up at him just because this is the way he was during that stupid property-line dispute … first patronizing, then sarcastic, and finally, when it became clear he was going to lose, ugly. Don’t blow up at him because you’re going to need him. He may not be able to start his own chainsaw, but he looks like the father figure of the Western world, and if he tells people not to panic, they won’t. So don’t blow up at him.
«You see those double doors up there beyond the beer cooler?»
He looked, frowning. «Isn’t one of those men drinking beer the other assistant manager? Weeks? If Brown sees that, I can promise you that man will be looking for a job very soon.
«Brent, will you listen to me?»
He glanced back at me absently. «What were you saying, Dave? I’m sorry.»
Not as sorry as he was going to be. «Do you see those doors?»
«Yes, of course I do. What about them?»
«They give on the storage area that runs all the way along the west face of the building. Billy fell asleep and I went back there to see if I could find something to cover him up with.
I told him everything, only leaving out the argument about whether or not Norm should have gone out at all. I told him what had come in … and finally, what had gone out, screaming. Brent Norton refused to believe it. No-he refused to even entertain it. I took him over to Jim, Ollie, and Myron. All three of them verified the story, although Jim and Myron the flower were well on their way to getting drunk.
Again, Norton refused to believe or even to entertain it. He simply balked. «No,» he said. «No, no, no. Forgive me, gentlemen, but it’s completely ridiculous. Either you’re having me on» — he patronized us with his gleaming smile to show that he could take a joke as well as the next fellow-» or you’re suffering from some form of group hypnosis.»
My temper rose again, and I controlled it — with difficulty. I don’t think that I’m ordinarily a quick-tempered man, but these weren’t ordinary circumstances. I had Billy to think about, and what was happening-or what had already happened-to Stephanie. Those things were constantly gnawing at the back of my mind.
«All right,» I said. «Let’s go back there. There’s a chunk of tentacle on the floor. The door cut it off when it came down. And you can hear them. They’re rustling all over that door. It sounds like the wind in ivy.»
«No,» he said calmly.
«What?» I really did believe I had misheard him. «What did you say?
«I said no, I’m not going back there. The joke has gone far enough.»
«Brent, I swear to you it’s no joke.»
«Of course it is,» he snapped. His eyes ran over Jim, Myron, rested briefly on Ollie Weeks-who held his glance with calm impassivity-and at last came back to me. «It’s what you locals probably call ‘a real belly-buster. Right, David?»
«Brent … look-»
«No, you look!» His voice began to rise toward a courtroom shout. It carried very, very well, and several of the people who were wandering around, edgy and aimless, looked over to see what was going on. Norton jabbed his finger at me as he spoke. «It’s a joke. It’s a banana skin and I’m the guy that’s supposed to slip on it. None of you people are exactly crazy about out-of-towners, am I right? You all pretty much stick together. The way it happened when I hauled you into court to get what was rightfully mine. You won that one, all right. Why not? Your father was the famous artist, and it’s your town. I only pay my taxes and spend my money here!»