Hydrofoil Mystery (10 page)

I nodded. “I'll be careful.”

“No, you won't. If you were careful you'd be home in bed, but come along anyway.”

The street was mostly deserted by this time. There were a few couples out strolling arm-in-arm, a group of kids not much different in age from me sitting in front of the general store, and a few men wandering around by themselves. As we passed close by one of the men it was obvious he'd been at the same bottle as Herbie.

We left the street and walked into a dark alleyway, and Herbie started singing to himself again. The farther from the street we got the darker it became, and I moved closer to Herbie, although the idea of this little old man protecting me didn't make much sense.

“Here it is,” Herbie said, stopping at the back door of a small building. “Keep close to me, don't bump into anybody and mind your manners. Some of these boys ain't the most polite at the best of times, and they can be downright ornery when they've been drinking and gambling … especially if they're down a few dollars.”

He opened the door and I came in beside him. A large man rose to his feet and blocked our way.

“How's she going, Harry?” Herbie called out. “Who's this?” he asked, pointing at me.

“He's with me, Harry. He's come to learn the fine art of poker from a master.”

“The master? You? The only thing you've ever mastered is the bottom of a bottle,” Harry taunted him.

“Pure jealousy it is. If it wasn't so dim I'm sure I could see the colour green shining in your eyes.”

“Well, I guess he could learn from you.”

“That's more like it,” Herbie said.

“Learn all the wrong things to do is what I mean. You just watch old Herbie there and do the opposite of whatever he does. How old are you, son? When were you born?” he asked me.

“Shouldn't you want to know how old my money is?” I asked as I pulled it out of my pocket. It wasn't much, but I'd gotten all the bills in ones and had them wrapped around a dozen pieces of paper to make it look like I had a bundle.

Harry chuckled. “I guess any friend of Herbie's is a friend of ours. Come on in and get into a game.”

“He's just here to watch!” Herbie protested.

“This isn't a tourist attraction. Either he comes to play or he goes. Got it?”

“Sure, I'll play … as long as somebody can explain the rules to me,” I answered, trying to sound as innocent as possible.

“Explain the rules!” he snorted. “I'm sure I can find you a game where people would be willing to teach you a thing or two. Come along.”

We followed him along a dimly lit passageway until we came to a door. He knocked three knocks, paused, and knocked three more times. The door swung open.

“We have new players, and I mean really new players,” Harry said as he showed us in.

As we entered the room the door closed behind us, with Harry returning to his lookout spot at the back entrance. It was a big room, and while it was a lot brighter than the passageway it was still dim. There were four tables surrounded by men playing cards. Off in one of the corners a half dozen men were crouched down on the ground throwing dice. In the corner three men, one with an accordion and two with fiddles, were playing away loudly. At the back of the room, men stood at a bar throwing back drinks. Judging from the loud conversation, the bottles and glasses present everywhere and the smell in the air, it was clear a lot of liquor was being drunk. This was good for me. The more they drank, the better they'd think they were, and the better I'd do.

“You want a drink?” Herbie asked.

I shook my head. “I don't drink.”

“I guess I'll have to drink for the two of us then.

Remember what I told you and don't get into any trouble.” Herbie wandered over to the bar.

I started to circulate through the room. I needed to investigate the action and decide which game would be best for me to get into. The secret was to check them out without them knowing they were being checked out.

I quickly decided against joining the group playing dice; they were drunk, which normally would have been good, but the men seemed nasty and bad-natured. There was going to be a fight there sooner or later and I didn't want to be part of it. At the four tables there were men playing poker. Two tables were occupied by players
gambling for stakes that were too rich for me. If I got a few unlucky hands to start off then my whole bankroll would be drained off and I'd be finished for the night.

I spent my time watching the two remaining tables. There were six men at one table and five at the other. Both tables were playing straight poker. At one the chips were worth twenty-five cents each, while the other men were playing ten cents a chip.

“Don't stand behind me!”one of the men barked at me. “Sorry, I was just watching,” I apologized.

“Poker isn't a spectator sport. Either play or leave!” “I'd like to play … but I'm not really sure about all the rules,” I replied in a quiet voice.

Suddenly I was aware that eyes at both tables were watching me intently.

“I think we can find a place for him in this game,” a man announced.

“No, no, we have an extra spot right here!” somebody from the second table argued, standing and pushing out a chair for me. “You do have money, don't you?”

I pulled my bills from my pocket. The man looked at the money and then practically pulled me down into the seat.

“Does your mama know you're in here tonight, sonny?” “Nope. She's hundreds of miles away. My friend Herbie brought me.”

“Herbie, huh? Well, we've all taken enough of his money so I guess there's no crime in taking a little of his friend's as well. Let's have a new deck for the new player.”

T
HE SECRET OF POKER
is to size the other players up without them being able to size you up. They were
playing sloppy poker, and most of the players seemed more interested in keeping track of their drinks than they did in watching the cards. It was soon clear that I was the only person at the table who wasn't at least half in the bag. I let the first few hands pass me by, folding my cards and losing my ante without raising the bet. On the fourth hand I was dealt a pair of aces. I deliberately laughed out loud and then tried to hide my smile as everybody at the table stared at me. I raised the stakes extravagantly and everybody else at the table folded, leaving me with a small pot and, more important, a reputation as a player who couldn't hide a good hand.

“You got good luck, kid. Now if you could just work on that poker face!” one of the men chuckled and the rest laughed along.

“What do you mean?” I asked, feigning ignorance. “Never you mind. You don't go changing … just keep playing. It's your deal.”

“I
'VE GOT TO GET GOING
,” I said softly.

“It isn't good manners for the winner to be the first to walk away from the table,” one of the men scowled.

He and two of his friends had become increasingly unfriendly with every hand I'd won throughout the night. They weren't that much older than me, maybe nineteen or twenty. I hadn't counted my money—it's never a good idea to count your winnings at the table—but I knew I was up almost thirty dollars and the three of them were all down about ten each. They were bad players, and I'd only had to deal off the bottom of the deck a few times and palmed cards no more than half a dozen times during
the whole game. The challenge wasn't in beating them but in not beating them too badly or too fast.

“I've got to go. I have to be at work in the morning,” I lied.

“You can't just go walking off with our money,” a second argued loudly.

“As far as I can tell it isn't your money any more,” Harry interrupted from behind me. “You done okay, kid?”

“I guess so.”

“He done better than okay. He seemed to win almost all the hands he dealt,” the first one, whose name was Angus, argued.

“You down any money?” Harry asked of the older gentleman at our table.

“Maybe two or three dollars.”

“And the kid, did he play fair and square?”

“I didn't see anything going on except for plain dumb luck going for him. I'll take luck over skill any day. It was his night, that's all there is to it. I'm going to cash in.”

“Maybe everybody should call it a night,” Harry suggested.

“Maybe nothing, I'm not leaving without having a chance to get my money back,” Angus, the biggest of the men, practically yelled, jumping to his feet.

Suddenly Harry was flanked by three other men, almost all as large as him and considerably larger than Angus.

“I think you better call it a night, friend. If you leave now, all you'll have lost will be a few dollars … start a fight with me and it'll be your teeth you'll be leaving behind,” Harry said quietly.

The other two slowly got up and went over to their friend, taking him by the arms. He cursed under his breath and cast me an ugly look but willingly allowed them to lead him away.

“Come on, kid, it's time for you to take your money and run,” Harry said.

I gathered up the money in front of me and stuffed it into my pockets. I looked around for Herbie. He was slumped over in a chair in the corner, snoring away loudly.

“Don't worry about Herbie. He sleeps here as often as he does at home. Of course, it might be better if you leave by the front door. No telling what might be waiting in the alley.”

I was thinking the same thing myself.

“Come this way,” Harry said, cocking a finger.

I followed after him and he led me through a door beside the bar. It led into a darkened shop. We walked down the aisle between rows of canned goods. We were in the general store. I'd been in here earlier in the day getting an ice cream cone. Harry unbolted the front door.

“You don't have to worry about those boys. Once the booze is out of them they'll be fine.”

“And while it's still in them?” I asked.

“That's another matter. It looked like Angus was going to try me on for size back there. Thank goodness I didn't have to put him down. I've known him since he was just a lad, and his father before that. You get straight home.”

I walked out and heard the door being bolted behind me. The street was completely deserted, and only a couple of streetlights were still burning. I looked anxiously along
the length of the street. They were no place to be seen, but there were shadows everywhere that they could be hiding in.

“Good evening.”

I jumped and spun around in midair. Corporal O'Malley stepped out of the shadows of a storefront. He walked toward me.

“Did you have yourself a good night?” he asked. “Umm … yeah … I guess so,” I mumbled.

“And did you win or lose?”

I didn't know what to answer so decided to say nothing. “You look surprised. I already told you last week there isn't anything in this town I don't know about, including where every card game is.”

I dug my hands deeper into my pockets and looked down. The light reflected off his shiny boots—boots like I'd seen that night in the arbour. I looked up at him in shock.

“What's wrong, boy? You look like you've seen a ghost.”

“No … nothing … I guess I'm just tired. Do you know what time it is?” I asked, trying to divert his attention.

He pulled a watch out of his vest pocket. “The exact time is one-twenty-five. That is well past the time you should be home. I'll expect not to see you again at such an hour. Do you understand my meaning?”

“Yeah.”

“Now, get home,” he ordered. Before I could even think to respond he turned and walked briskly down the street.

I turned and started to walk in the opposite direction. I walked down the centre of the wide street. I kept
swinging my head from side to side, alert for any sign of Angus or his two buddies. As I passed the last darkened house I felt relieved. They were behind me, and there was nothing ahead but a long walk.

It was funny, usually after a night playing cards I kept on thinking about the game, the way the cards were played, the hands I'd played well and those I should have handled differently. Now, I found myself thinking about that hydrofoil and how they didn't want me there, even though I was willing to work for free. Just another place I wasn't wanted.

I turned around suddenly at the sound of feet on the road. There just thirty feet back were two of the men from the game … two of them. I had a terrible feeling that I already knew where the third man was. I turned back around and he was standing in the middle of the road, blocking my way forward. I felt overcome with fear and my body was bathed in a sudden rush of sweat. I looked all around, desperately searching for a way out. The road had narrowed at this point and there was a thicket to one side and a steep drop-off to the other. They'd chosen the spot wisely.

“Don't even think about dropping off the side. It's forty feet down to the water,” one of them yelled. They were closing in on me from both directions.

“Don't do anything stupid, kid. All we want is our money.”

“The money you cheated out of us,” added the third. Fighting them wasn't going to work. Two of them were taller than me and all three outweighed me. If I could only get by them there was no way they'd ever catch me. I had to somehow talk my way past them.

“You … you can have your money.”

“We know we can have our money!” Angus laughed. They were now right on top of me. I turned sideways so I could see them coming at me from both sides.

“But we figure we deserve a little more than just our money after what you did … making us come all this way … cheating us like you did!” Angus growled.

Two of them, one from each side, sprang out at me, grabbing me by both arms. I tried to struggle but they held me firmly. Angus stood directly in front of me with a ugly, sickening smile on his face.