Tyger Tyger (8 page)

The alley crossed a back street and another alley, where a stray cat growled over a pile of chicken bones.

Teagan glanced sideways at Finn. "Will you tell me more about the
cat-sídhe?
"

"Does this have something to do with your having a bad day?"

"Maybe." Teagan told him about Tiny Tiddly, and the scary kitty in the primate house.

"Sounds like a
cat-sídhe,
sure enough. Travelers are blamed for many a thing a
cat-sídhe
has done. They delight in ruining our lives. But it's never happened to you before? That's surprising."

"Can Travelers see these ... cats?"

"Most don't have the second sight," Finn said. "But they know the creatures are about. Like I said,
cat-sídhe
cause trouble. Set traps."

"But you see them?"

"I'm the Mac Cumhaill." Finn shrugged. "It's part of the curse."

"What curse?"

"Your da just read you the story," Finn said. "Fear Doirich cursed my family for all time. It's surprising that you've never seen one before if you have the second sight, though. And if you don't, then how did you see the creature at the bus stop?"

Aiden had stopped, and Teagan was so focused on Finn that she almost ran into him.

"Lennie?" Aiden whispered.

Twenty-five feet ahead, three guys had Lennie backed against a brick wall. Teagan had seen one of them at school in the senior lobby and the others around the neighborhood. The senior wore his football jersey; one of the others had a goatee, and the third wore a baseball cap turned backwards. They looked like Football Jersey's older brothers.

Lennie hadn't washed the face paint off before he'd started home, and his feather-boa tail was draped over his arm. He looked more like the Cowardly Lion than a Wild Thing.

"I was talking to you." Jersey slapped him. "You think that paint makes you scary?"

Teagan saw a dark stain spread across the front of Lennie's pants.

"Pee yourself, retard?" Baseball Cap shoved Lennie. "Your mama never teach you what a potty's for?"

Teagan took out her cell phone. These were college kids, and they were going to hurt Lennie.

"What are you doing?" Finn asked.

"Calling the police."

Finn snatched the phone out of her hand, dropped it in his pocket, and pushed her and Aiden behind the nearest Dumpster.

"What are you doing?" Teagan demanded.

"Keeping you and the boyo out of it," Finn said. "Cops won't get here in time to help. Go on home the long way. I'll meet you there."

"Finn!" Teagan whispered. "Your arm's broken. What do you think you
can
do?"

"I told you," Finn said. "I'm the Mac Cumhaill. I'll do what needs doing. Go on, now. I don't have time to argue. Get your baby brother out of here."

He strolled around the corner of the Dumpster.

Teagan took Aiden's hand to pull him back down the alley, but he jerked it away.

"I'm not a baby! I want to go with Finn!"

She caught his collar and dragged him back behind the Dumpster, just as Baseball Cap shoved Lennie again.

"You'll be stopping that now," Finn said.

All three bullies turned to look at him, and Lennie whimpered.

"Do I know you?" Goatee asked.

"We're about to get acquainted," Finn assured him. "You can go on home, Lennie."

"He can what?" Jersey asked.

"I said he could go home. You're done with him."

"You did?" Goatee laughed. "Well, we're not done. It's just starting to get entertaining."

Finn hit him in the mouth with his left hand.

Lennie looked confused. So did Goatee.

"Go on, Lennie," Finn said.

"What the f—" Goatee started. Finn hit him again.

Lennie started shuffling away.

Goatee looked at his brothers. "What the hell are you waiting for?"

Finn was fast. He kept them all in front of him, and Teagan could hear the impact every time his fist connected. She wrapped her arms around Aiden, who had gone very still. Run. They should run for help. But her muscles weren't moving. She'd never been this close to a fight before. The sound of fists on flesh made bile rise in her throat.

Aiden put his hands over his eyes. "No bad guys, no bad guys," he chanted.

Teagan pulled him close. "Lennie is getting away," she whispered.

Finn was buying Lennie time. But with his cast strapped to his side in a sling, he couldn't even use his right arm to deflect their fists. He made up for it by striking twice for every blow they threw at him.

Jersey didn't get behind Finn until Lennie was half a block away. He jumped in as Finn was punching and caught his left arm.

Teagan looked around wildly, hoping to see someone peering out of a window or standing in a doorway, anyone she could call to for help, could ask to call the police. There was no one.

Jersey Boy and Baseball Cap held Finn while Goatee used him for a punching bag.

When they let go, Finn collapsed. Goatee aimed a kick at Finn's broken arm, but Finn twisted and took the boot in his side instead. It lifted him off the ground, and Ball Cap and Jersey laughed.

"This leprechaun's done," Ball Cap said.

Please
let it be over.
Teagan rocked Aiden.
Let Finn stay down until they leave. If he gets up again
...

Finn shook his head like he was trying to clear the sweat and blood from his eyes and turned to look the way Lennie had gone. Lennie was shuffling as fast as he could, one hand holding his wet pants up, his tail dragging in the dirt behind him. He was almost at the end of the alley. If he made it out onto the street there would be people to help him. Everyone in the neighborhood knew Lennie.

"So if the leprechaun's done," Goatee said, "let's go get the retard."

Nausea washed over Teagan. It
wasn't
over. They were going to hurt Lennie the way they'd hurt Finn.

"Hey, asshole." Finn had pushed himself up.

Goatee turned back as he struggled to his feet.

"What did you call me?"

Finn spat blood against the wall.

"Asshole," he said. "And you answered."

"You Irish shit," Jersey said. "We're going to kill you."

Finn got in a couple of good swings before Ball Cap and Jersey caught his arms again.

"Aiden." Teagan pulled his hands away from his eyes. "Stay here. I mean it." He nodded, then covered his eyes again.

Teagan grabbed the first thing she could find from the pile of trash—a flat bicycle tube—and ran at the bullies swinging it as hard as she could. The tube made a loud
twok
when it hit Baseball Cap on the side of the face.

He let go of Finn and jumped back. "What the hell?"

"Hey! It's Spikes' friend Ko-Ko-Bop." Jersey let go, too, and Finn slumped against the brick wall. "What's she doing here? Show us some shimmy, babe."

Teagan swung the inner tube backhand, slapping him across the face. "Shut up!"

"The little bitch wants to play." Jersey started to circle around behind her, but Finn came off the wall and stepped between them.

"Don't you know when you're beat?" Goatee asked.

Finn wiped his mouth with the back of his good hand. "I'll let you know when I am. Go on, Tea. I told you to go home."

A horn blared, and everybody jumped. Lennie must have made it out of the alley, because a rusted old pickup truck had turned in from the street and was almost on top of them. The driver was leaning forward, peering at them over the steering wheel through John Lennon glasses. "American Pie" blared from the radio. He leaned on his horn again.

"Let's get outta here," Jersey said. He shoved Teagan's shoulder on his way past.

Teagan and Finn pressed up against the wall. The driver stared disapprovingly at the blood on Finn's shirt as he went past. The pickup stopped and the driver got out. He pulled the red wagon from behind the Dumpster, then reached behind it again and pulled Aiden out as well. He held him up and examined him.

"Hey!" Teagan yelled. "Put my brother down!"

The man looked at the inner tube in Teagan's hand, then dropped Aiden beside the wagon, climbed up into the Dumpster, and started rooting through the contents. Aiden grabbed the wagon's handle and ran toward them as fast as he could over the bumpy alley ground.

"That freegan almost recycled me," he said, and started to cry.

Teagan picked him up and hugged him. She was still shaking inside and out.

"I'm not a baby." Aiden sobbed.

"I was wrong to say it," Finn said. "I might cry, too, if that freegan had caught me. He was scary."

"Really?" Aiden gulped. "Scarier than those big boys?"

"I don't lie, my man." Finn was still leaning against the wall. "He was a lot scarier." He turned to Teagan. "Who's this Spikes?"

"He was just some jerk on the bus," Teagan said. "I don't even know him. Can you walk, or do you want to ride in the wagon?"

Finn eyed the wagon. "I think I can stagger along if you help me."

"I'll pull the wagon." Aiden took the handle again and started down the alley. The wheel caught the tail of his wolf suit, but after Teagan tucked it up, he did just fine.

Teagan put her arm around Finn's waist to hold him up, and he draped an arm over her shoulder. Even the adrenaline that was making her shake inside hadn't cured the chemistry. Touching Finn didn't feel good. It felt really good.

"You're just the right size for hugging." Finn pulled her closer. "That's nice to know."

"You can walk by yourself." Teagan started to step away.

"Ouch! Don't let go," Finn said. "I'll fall over, really. You can send me to my room when we get home, girl."

"You're sure you can't walk?"

"Finn doesn't lie," Aiden assured her. "He saved Lennie. He's
the Mac ***Cumhaill.
"

"I get it," Teagan said. "You're some kind of cursed Irish Robin Hood."

"Nah," Finn said, and winced. "I never steal from the rich. That's a goblin game."

STREET fighting?" Mr. Wylltson examined Finn's swollen eye. "You need to talk your way out of these things. Use your head!"

"Sorry, John," Finn said. "If I were a book man like yourself, I might have tried it. I never meant to get your daughter involved, though. I told Tea and Aiden to go on home."

"I got myself involved." Teagan handed Finn a fresh ice pack. "And they were beyond talking when we got there, Dad."

"You did just fine." Mrs. Wylltson's eyes flashed. "Both of you. I'd have given them something myself, if I'd been there. Picking on that poor boy! Next time, put a rock in the inner tube, Tea. It'll be more useful. You have to think your way through things, even in the midst of it. Use your brain, girl."

"Aileen!" Mr. Wylltson said. "Don't encourage violence. There are civilized ways to deal with things like this."

"I'd have civilized the hooligans on the spot," Mrs. Wylltson said, pulling Finn's shirt up to look at his ribs. "It was the right thing they did, and you know it, John."

"You said you don't know their names, Tea?" Mr. Wylltson asked.

"I've seen one of them around school," Tea said. "But I don't know any names."

"You don't have any broken ribs," Mrs. Wylltson said.

"Na." Finn touched his side gingerly. "I thought I did, but it was only the wind they kicked out of me. I'll have some bruises for certain." He had just pulled down his shirt when Mrs. Santini burst into the room.

"Lennie and his mom are here," Aiden said as he came in behind her. "I let them in."

Lennie had changed his pants so he no longer had a tail, but he was still wearing his Wild Thing face paint. He leaned against the wall and slid down until he was sitting on the floor. Teagan knew just how he felt. Her legs still felt weak. Aiden put his arms around Lennie and started whispering to him.

Mrs. Santini stood in the doorway, looking at Finn, her hand over her heart for half a minute before she rushed across the kitchen, wrapped her arms around him, and pressed him to her large bosom.

"Ouch," Finn said.

"My Lennie told me. He told me what you did."

"Ouch." Finn's voice squeaked this time.

"I think you're hurting the boy, Sophia," Mrs. Wylltson said.

Mrs. Santini released him.

"You need anything, you come to me," she said. "You need a kidney? I got two. You need money...?" She hesitated. "I don't got any. But anything else, you just come to me—"

"You could give them lasagna," Lennie said. "Aiden likes lasagna."

Mrs. Santini's mouth fell open. "Of course I could! What was I thinking? Aileen! Don't cook supper! I've been cooking all day, because my** bum of a brother Jordy said he might come over. I'm telling him not to come. I'll bring the food here."

"You don't have to do that," Mrs. Wylltson said.

"Of course I don't have to. I want to, all right? Jordy eats like a pig, so I cooked plenty."

"Sophia," Mrs. Wylltson said, "we don't really need—"

Mrs. Santini drew herself up. "Finn saved my Lennie. I don't have much, but you gotta let me do this."

Mr. Wylltson looked at his wife and shrugged.

"Then it's settled," Mrs. Santini said.

Aiden gave Lennie a high-five.

"Come on, Lennie." Mrs. Santini pulled him to his feet. "I'll make some calls while I finish the salad. I'm going to tell everybody there's a hero on the street. A hero!"

"Sophia," Mr. Wylltson said, "there is one thing that Finn needs."

"You name it," Mrs. Santini said. "It's yours already."

"He needs this whole thing kept quiet. If his caseworker finds out he was fighting, it won't matter that he was saving Lennie. They'll take him to Juvenile Hall."

Mrs. Santini's broad face went slack with shock, then stretched and reddened into outrage. "They'd throw a saint into juvie?"

"Yes," Mr. Wylltson said. "They would."

"My lips"—Mrs. Santini pretended to zip them shut—"are sealed forever. Don't cook, Aileen. I'll be back."

"How long is forever?" Aiden asked after she had gone.

"In this case," Mr. Wylltson said, "probably a week."

Finn was cleaned up before Mrs. Santini came back with lasagna, calamari, eggplant Parmesan, breadsticks, green salad, tiramisu, and Lennie, with every trace of Wild Thing washed from his face. He was carrying a man purse like Aiden's. He and Aiden settled at the table and compared contents. Aiden must have shown Lennie what he carried in his kit at the park; Lennie had the requisite socks and tape, but Aiden pulled out a bottle of perfume from the bottom of Lennie's kit.