Dunc and Amos on Thin Ice (4 page)

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“How do I let you talk me into these things?”

“Be quiet, Amos. Do you want people to know you’re under there?” Dunc straightened the white cloth on the serving cart he was pushing down the hall so that it covered the tips of Amos’s shoes. “Besides, I already did my part by bribing the waiter to let us bring Kim her lunch.”

“Well, just for the record, I think this is one of your stupider stupid ideas.”

“It’ll be a snap, Amos. All you have to do is sit under there and listen. When Kim’s alone, ask her what’s going on.
When you find out, get back on the cart and she’ll push you out in the hall, where I’ll be waiting. You don’t have a thing to worry about. Trust me.”

“You had to say that.”

“We’re almost to her suite. Good luck.”

Before Amos had time to answer, he heard Dunc knock on the door and say, “Room service.” Then he heard someone thank Dunc and felt himself being rolled into the room.

The door shut. Several people were talking loudly in Korean. One of them was yelling.

Great, Amos thought. I’m stuck down here like a squished sardine and I can’t understand a word anybody’s saying.

Someone walked over to the cart, picked up the lid of one of the dishes, and slammed it back down, rattling the tray. He heard more yelling, and then the door shut and the voices stopped.

Amos listened. Nothing made a sound. “Well, since they obviously aren’t eating
…” He slid his hand out from under the corner of the white cloth and felt around the top of the table for a roll.

A sharp voice broke the silence. “Who’s under there?”

Amos choked. The cloth was lifted and he saw Kim Su-Yong’s face staring down at him.

“I can explain …,” Amos started.

Kim raised her hand. “No need. I understand perfectly. Your American friend sent you to discuss my imminent defection.”

“No … I mean yes. Hey. How come you speak English so well? Earlier you were having trouble.”

A flicker of hesitation crossed the girl’s face. “Oh, that. I speak that way for the tourists and news people. I actually speak five different languages fluently. Let’s get down to business. Did your friend send word with you on the time of my defection?”

“But …” Amos looked confused. “I thought you told me during my skating lesson
that you didn’t want to defect after all. That it was all a joke.”

The beautiful young girl put her hand to her mouth and quietly paced the room. Nervously she turned to Amos. “I had to say that. I wasn’t sure if
they
were listening. My government has spies everywhere.” She knelt and put one hand on his shoulder. “Please. You must tell your friend that my defection has to take place tonight.”

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“That girl is wacky. Too many falls on hard ice, if you ask me.” Amos sipped on a soda and leaned back in his chair.

Dunc stepped out of the shower. “Speak up a little, Amos. I can’t hear you.”

“I said, she has a screw loose.”

“I don’t know.” Dunc toweled his hair dry. “It makes sense that she’s been acting strange because she’s scared. These communist countries don’t go easy on traitors.”

The front legs of Amos’s chair hit the floor. “You’re not seriously thinking about going along with her plan, are you?”

“Why not? She’s taking care of the
tough part. All we have to do is be there on time.”

“I don’t understand you. You’re usually the one who uses his head in these things. I can’t believe you’re just going to go along with this. This girl has been nothing but trouble since we met her. She can’t make up her mind about anything and you still want to help her. The two of you deserve each other. You have a screw loose too.”

Dunc pulled on his jeans and a T-shirt. “Come on, Amos. She’s not asking much. Her servant will bring her to the taxi stand at four o’clock in a duffel bag and place her in the trunk of our taxi. All we have to do is get in and tell the driver where in town we want to go. It’s a cinch.”

Amos scowled. “I’ll miss getting my picture taken with the Canadian bobsled team. And if we’re not careful we’ll miss the start of the final figure-skating competition.”

“Got it covered. I already called the Canadians. They’re great. We’ll get the picture later, and they’ve arranged for us to
have a box seat at the skating competition. Don’t worry about a thing, Amos. I’ve got it all under control.”

“That’s exactly what I’m worried about.”

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“It’s cold out here. When is she coming?”

“Stop complaining, Amos. It’s probably not the easiest thing in the world to stuff a girl Kim’s size in a duffel bag and then smuggle her out of a hotel past ten security guards.”

A horn honked beside them. Amos jumped and came down on Dunc’s foot. A burly taxi driver with a smelly cigar rolled down the passenger-side window and stuck his head out. “Hey. You kids need a lift, or what? I ain’t got all day.”

Dunc pushed Amos off his foot. “Like we said. We’re waiting on our luggage. It should be here any minute.”

“It better be or I’m turning on my meter.”

“Kim’s not coming.” Amos rubbed his arms for warmth. “She’s probably up in her room right now laughing herself silly over how stupid we are to fall for something this dumb.”

“She’s coming. Unless I miss my guess, I’d say she’s having a little trouble with her—there they are now.”

A heavyset Korean man walked furtively out the front doors of the complex carrying a large brown duffel bag. Dunc waited on the curb until the driver helped the man put it in the trunk. The large man didn’t say a word. He stared coolly at Dunc, handed him a piece of paper, and went back inside.

Dunc opened the door of the taxi and slid in beside Amos. Quickly he unfolded the paper. An address on the other side of town was written on it.

The driver looked over his shoulder. “Okay, kid. Where to?”

Dunc crumpled up the paper. “I need you to drive down the street one block and take four lefts.”

The driver started the motor and stepped on the gas. Then he took his foot off the gas and scratched his head. “Wait a minute. Four left turns brings us right back here.”

Dunc smiled. “Right. That’s where we want to go.”

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Amos groaned with the weight. “I guess someday you’re going to explain why I’m helping you sneak this heavy duffel bag up three nights of stairs to our room instead of taking it downtown like we were supposed to.” He changed positions and tried to get a better grip on his end.

Dunc nodded and kept climbing.

“And I guess you’re also going to tell me why you’ve been holding out on me about what’s really going on around here.”

Dunc nodded again and fumbled for the key in his pocket. He put it in his mouth, pushed the bar on the door at the third-floor
landing, and helped heave the bag down the hall to their room.

They struggled through the door and dropped the large bag on Amos’s bed. Dunc hurried to unzip it. “Quick, Amos. Get me some water. She’s passed out.”

Dunc gently helped peel Kim out of the bag and propped her up on a couple of pillows. When Amos came back with the water, Dunc stuck his fingers in it and flicked some droplets onto her forehead and cheeks.

Nothing happened.

“That’s not how you do it.” Amos took the glass. “Don’t you ever watch television?” He stepped around Dunc and splashed what was left of the water in Kim’s face.

She sputtered. Then her eyes snapped open. Like a tigress she flew at Amos, landing a hard karate kick in his midsection. Amos crumpled to the floor, holding his stomach. Kim whirled to face Dunc and prepared to give him more of the same.

“Hang on!” Dunc took a step back and
put up his hands. “We’re your friends. We just want to help you.”

Kim kept her guard up. She studied Dunc. “Who are you? Why have you brought me here?”

“I’m Duncan Culpepper. And that”—he pointed at the floor—“is my friend Amos.”

Amos gave her a weak wave. “Hi. Remember me?”

Kim was confused. “I remember. The very bad skater.” She slowly sat up on the bed and held her head. “I not understand.”

“That makes two of us.” Amos crawled to a chair.

“We don’t have a lot of time, so I’ll try and explain it as fast as I can.” Dunc pulled up a chair. “Yesterday a girl from your country gave us a note. It said she needed our help. Then later that night, the same girl met me in room 502. In perfect English she tried to convince me that she wanted to defect. And the strangest part was, she looks exactly like you.”

Kim sat up angrily. “Ikchong!”

“Who’s Ikchong?” Amos asked.

“I have a hunch she’s Kim’s twin sister.” Dunc looked at the girl beside him. “Am I right?”

Kim nodded. “Ikchong is sister. Her servant, Ko Ki-su, fix me special tea to help relax before competition. Next thing, I am here.”

“That explains how she got you in the bag. They must have put some kind of knockout drug in your tea.”

“But why …”

“Does your sister skate?”

“Oh yes. Very good too. She try for spot on championship team but score too low.”

“There’s your answer.” Dunc stood up and moved to the telephone. “Ikchong is jealous. She never wanted to defect. She only made us think that, so we would help her. Then she arranged to have Kim put in the trunk of the taxi so she could take her place in the competition today.”

“Who are you calling?” Amos asked.

Dunc paused. “The competition starts in thirty minutes. We’re going to need help to get Kim on that ice without a bunch of reporters and officials finding out what’s going on.”

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