Book of Secrets (24 page)

  Finally, one of the lackeys brought up the next item for bid, and it was the book. The same I'd seen on Barbara's special, the same one that Marconi had pinched and ended up getting greased over. It was sealed in a Lucite box, the cover about the dimensions of a letter size sheet of paper, but practically as thick as it was wide. It seemed in pretty good shape, considering its probable age, but then again it was missing at least one page. Through the Lucite, I could make out the wellworn leather covers, the metal clasps, and the silver disk on the cover, though not well enough to see any detail on it.

  "Okay," Carerra began, checking out the card attached by a red thread to the corner of the Lucite case, "item number forty-nine: Antique Book, Some Wear, With Metal Highlights. The bidding starts at five hundred. Am I bid five hundred? Any bookworms in the house?"

  I clenched my fists, waiting to see what would happen next.

  What happened next was a pair of fans jumping up and down so much it could have air-conditioned the whole room, number 17 over with the mystery trio in gray on the left of the room, and number 45 across the room in the hands of the incognito Supreme Court Justice. Within a few minutes, the high bid had jumped from $500 to just over fifty thousand, and didn't seem about to slow down any time soon. As nondescript as the two groups of "civilians" might have wanted to be from the outset, they were certainly attracting more than their fair share of attention now, as the mobsters and hitmen settled back to see which group would snap first. A few of the onlookers had begun to consider seriously bidding for themselves, figuring that anything someone else wanted that badly must be worth something.

  "O-kay," Carerra sighed wearily, looking from the Lucite box and back out to the crowd. "I am bid fifty thousand, do I hear sixty? Can anyone beat sixty?"

  I swallowed hard, steeling my nerves, and climbed to my feet.

  "I will," I said, as forcefully as I could manage.

  Angela tugged at my sleeve, and snatched up my fan from the floor.

  "You just wave the fan, Cassidy," she said, chuckling. "You don't have to pop up like a jack-in-the-box."

  I waved her off, my palms sweating, my eyes never leaving Carerra. In their respective corners, the holders of fans 17 and 45 were looking at me hard, with those if-looks-could-kill looks.

  "You're an eager one, aren't you, kid?" Carerra said. "So, what do you bid?"

  I shoved a hand into my suit pocket, and felt the hard edges of the jewel case.

  "Information," I answered, proud that my voice hardly cracked at all.

  Carerra's thick eyebrows knitted together, and he looked at me quizzically.

  "What?" he asked.

  "Information," I repeated, straightening up a bit taller, trying to come off the dangerous guy.

  "Alright, kid," Carerra finally said, "I'll bite. What the hell are you talking about?"

  "I've got information to sell," I answered, pulling the jewel case from my pocket and holding it up for him to see. This was a bit of stagecraft on my part, the disc inside little more than a prop, but I figured I needed it for the kind of play I was trying for. "On this disk are a few choice files I've pulled from my collection, about the murders of Sonny Bianca and his family, about what really happened to Mayor Kelly's daughter, about what's buried in the foundation of the First Federal Bank of Chicago, about…"

  "Okay, okay," Carerra said angrily, banging the microphone against the podium like a gavel, sending a shriek of distortion and feedback through the P.A. system. "So you got a little dirt," he said, trying to play it cool. "So what?"

  I knew so what as well as he did. For all their tendency to boast and brag when around family, there are still some messes even the loudest mob boss doesn't want to get mixed up in, things he's done personally that he should have passed off to a subordinate, or even secret transgressions against other mobsters. Bad business, all around, and that was precisely what I was talking about. Enough dirt to bury Carerra, thanks to my contacts over the years and a few dashes of spice from Tan. As soon as Tan had told me who was hosting the auction, and always did, I remembered the half dozen stories about him I'd heard but could never use, for fear that he'd manage to get me killed before someone else got to him first. But desperate times and desperate measure, so here I was with my ass hanging out and a disc of pure dynamite waiting to go off in my hand, hoping Carerra would jump the way I'd guessed he would.

  "So what," I answered, as evenly as possible, "is that I'm not part of any family, and worse still, I'm a reporter." I paused for a second, letting that one sink in, and heard chairs scraping against the floor as the heavies around me started to their feet. "And," I added louder, "if I don't make a call at a certain hour tonight, everything on this disc will be automatically emailed to every newspaper and FBI office in the country, along with a few other choice morsels I've collected over the years."

  Carerra fumed, but kept his place. So far no one had clubbed me from behind or stuck a knife between my ribs, so I was ahead of the game. I just hoped I could make it to the end of the play without collapsing on my shaking knees, or wetting myself, or both. I'm not nearly so tough as I'd like to make out.

  "Okay, okay, everybody stay cool," Carerra finally said, waving to the room. "Alright, Mr. I'm-Really-A-Reporter-And-I'm-So-FuckingClever, what do you want? Huh? What's going to keep your yap shut?"

  I nodded towards the Lucite box on the podium next to him.

  "That book, and a clear path out of here," I answered.

  The combatants in the bidding war didn't like that one bit, and jumped to their feet. The Justice, acting like he thought he was back at the bench, actually shouted "Objection!" while the guy in the gray suit with the 17 fan across the room just shouted "The Book is mine" in a screwball accent.

  "Somebody shut them up," Carerra said out of the side of his mouth, and while he rubbed his chin a few lackeys made their way to the front rows and convincingly argued that everyone should keep to their seats. Not happy about it, but not seeing any options, everyone sat back down and kept quiet, their eyes never leaving me.

  "Let me ask you something, Reporter," Carerra said, his head cocked to one side. "What's to keep me from just having my boys break your neck, burn the disc, and let the chips fall where they might? Hmm? Are you that convinced you've got the goods on me, or that I even give a shit about my reputation?"

  "No," I answered calmly, "but I know one thing for sure. You don't shit where you eat. It's not good business."

  Carerra looked at me for a long minute, tapping the microphone lightly against the palm of his hand, and then nodded.

  "Okay," he finally answered, "you've got a deal. Give me the disc, take the book, and get the hell out of here. And if I ever see you or hear your voice again, I will personally rip off your head and shit down your neck, you get me?"

  "I got you," I started to say, taking a step forward, but the outbursts from the party on the left and the party on the right drowned out my words. I couldn't make out what they were saying, but I got the distinct impression that they weren't happy.

  Carerra snapped his fingers, and more lackeys and bruisers appeared from the wings to join those already waiting at hand.

  "Keep those mugs quiet," he ordered, indicating the two parties in front, "and if they give you any trouble, kill them."

  The lackeys nodded mutely, and within seconds had the situation well in hand. The former bidders weren't happy, but they seemed content now to bide their time.

  I made it to the podium without incident, and handed over the disc as with his other hand Carerra passed me the Lucite-encased book. With it firmly in hand, I decided not to waste any time with idle chat, and hurried towards the door. The mobsters and killers looked on as I passed, vaguely bemused, as though I had provided a bit of dinner theater and they were thankful for the distraction. A few seemed sorry to see me go, not eager to get back to the business of the auction.

  At the door, Angela caught my elbow, smirking.

  "I was right about you,
Cassidy
," she said in a low voice, her mouth near enough to my ear to give me the shakes. "You certainly weren't boring."

  I smiled back, wishing for better circumstances, and beat feet the hell out of there. I still wasn't sure if I'd make it to the car alive; getting out onto the road was another thing entirely.

As it was, I made it out without incident, the car untouched and the Lucite case on my lap. Once back on the main road, the electric gate swinging shut behind me, I hauled ass through the gathering dark, passed up Sizemore without a backwards glance, and made it Flagstaff in record time. I ditched the rental car in a parking garage. Lugging my suitcase, the cardboard box of my grandfather's things and the Lucite encased book awkwardly across the street, I bought a ticket at the Greyhound station for the first red-eye heading east. In just over an hour after leaving the ranch, I was nestled in a cramped bus, the suitcase wedged under my seat, the cardboard box at my feet, and the Lucite case in my lap.

  I was too wired to sleep and was looking at another five or six hours in that seat, so I figured I'd take a peek at this book that was worth so much of my time and trouble and so many other people's lives. I couldn't figure the case, though, and didn't want to risk damaging the book in the dim light trying to get it out. The passing scenery was ghostly gray in the darkness, and not much to look at in the light, so I didn't have a choice but to pull another piece of madness out of my grandfather's box to give me something to focus on, and hopefully calm me down a bit. I pulled out a sheaf of Xeroxed papers, with a rusty staple in the corner holding them together, and started to read.

Dated sometime after 1430, this ballad represents one of the earliest surviving of its type. It is preserved in one fragmentary manuscript copy in Cambridge University Library, MS Ff.7.97, folios 94v-109v. It is presented here as re-edited by Professor E. Mettler (Cambridge University) from the original MS. This text, along with the critical apparatus, was first presented in
Scoundrels and Rogues: Forgotten Ballads of the Me
dieval Period
, 1898, eds. E. Mettler & J. Boanerges.

Despite parallels with early Robin Hood legends, notably
The Gest of Robyn Hode
and
Robin Hood
and the Monk
(both anon.), the ballad of the Blake Hande seems to predate either of them, and may well have served as a precursor, if not inspiration, for both.

  The setting for the story is the close of the Eleventh Century, during the 3rd Crusade. The principal figure, who by the end comes to be known by the nom du guerre of "Blake Hande" or
Black Hand
, is Edward, the son of a tailor. Desiring to win the respect and admiration of his countrymen, Edward allows himself to be impressed into service as a foot-soldier. It is his earnest hope to win his spurs through his valor, and thus ennoble both himself and his family. 

  (Throughout the body of the text, the editors have included glosses and commentary drawn substantially from later versions of the tale, which, it is hoped, will help fill the gaps left by those portions lost over the years.)

Edward the Tailor's Son joins a massing of soldiers and knights, nobles and commoners alike, led by Richard the Lion-Hearted. They cross the Channel and make their way through Europe, coming at last to the Holy Land. They meet and fight against the forces of Saracen repeatedly, sometimes knowing victory, sometimes defeat. Finally, in a melee near the Muslim-held Jaffa, Edward himself is separated from the bulk of the English contingent and finds himself lost, cut off in the wilderness.

Edward and the Moor spend several days travelling together. The Moor speaks English well enough to communicate, and entertains Richard with tales of his home, and of the great mysteries and legends thereof. The Moor finally tells him of the fabled, half-legendary Order of the Black Hand, which has acted as a force against mindless aggression and slaughter in the Moorish lands for countless ages.