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Come on. Upstairs."
Mr. Blair heard Mrs. McGurk give tongue, but too late. George and Kathy scrambled out a
window to a flat roof. He spread out the Carpet and they sat down on it.
"Take us to Maine, if you please," said George firmly. "Deeport, Maine." And then they
rose. They fell giggling into each other's arms. It was so wonderfully absurd and delightful.
Here they were, together. The mad afternoon was over. They floated, free. The sun was
sinking behind a band of red. . . .
"Well, they're gone," said Mr. Blair. "Yes." sighed Mrs. McGurk. Her face was calm. Mr.
Blair thought he knew whither the fugitives were
292 Charlotte Armstrong
flying. He saw no reason to tell this old harridan what he had guessed.
Mrs. McGurk, for her part, knew exactly what she was going to do and how she was going
to find them. But she didn't intend to let this wild young man in on her secret.
"I shall go back to town," said he. "I shall just borrow George's car. May I give you a lift?"
"Oh no, thank you," she said. "I have a car."
They parted. It didn't occur to either to wonder why the other was so calm.
The rose and the gold withdrew, leaving a thin gray sky. They huddled together in the very
center of the Carpet. because it was quite small, for two, and steep and empty air was most
vividly near, on ail sides. Their vehicle was rolling along through chilly space with an
undulating flutter that had been a little trying, at first.
Also. there was nothing between them and me stellar dis- tances to keep off drafts. Ah, it
was bitter up here' Bitter! Finally, George had hauled the Cloak out of the bag and wrapped
it around them both. This helped a great deal, although it was rather frightening and bleak to
be invisible. They had to hang on to each other very close to be sure each was not utterly
alone, in the middle of the air.
Irritably, George said he wished he knew who the dickens had swiped that Lamp.
Kathy said, "Don't wish, George.'*
He stretched a cramped leg very cautiously lest a shoe fall into New England. "Say. Kathy,
why did you make roe take off the Ring? What happened?"
She explained. George found her freezing hand and felt of the Ring with a numb thumb.
"Kathy, if it is a Wishing Ring, I can't have used all mine up." He straightened and the Cloak
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fell back. "Let me gel you a sandwich!"
"A sandwich! Of all things, George!"
"But you're hungry! You're starving!"
"I'm not starving," said Kathy- "I just fee! as if 1 were starving. No!" She sat on the hand mat
wore the Ring. "You know," she went on thoughtfully, pulling a corner of the Cloak up and
vanishing, "you and Mr. Blair make the same
THREE DAY MAGIC 293
mistake. You both want to take care of me. You forget I'm alive . . . and thinking and doing* I
have some sense!" She squirmed indignantly. "Whatever made Mr. Blair think I'd let you
throw my fortune around foolishly? I'd be there, wouldn't I? If anybody was going to throw it
around foolishly, it would be both of us! You men!" Her body leaned on his. It wasn't as mad
as her voice sounded.
"Honey, give me the Ring- This darned thing is too darned drafty and slow ..."
"First you're going to have to think back. One wish you wasted, I know. That silly bird."
"Bird!" said George feebly.
"You've got a pet phrase. You said . . ." George groaned. "Oh, George, how many times?"
"Once before, in my room. I remember, now. It was a sparrow.'*
"Two wishes gone!" wailed Kathy. "And all of mine! That certainly settles it! No sandwich,
and we'll proceed to Maine the way we're going."
"Honey, please ... I don't like you to be cold . . ."
"I'm thinking of both of us. We just can't afford . . ."
"I know and you're wonderful and I love you but . . ."
Kathy said she loved him, too, and the point of their dispute got lost, somehow. After a
while, Kathy laid her head snug on his shoulder. The Carpet kept rolling along, and
miserable as they were, it was peaceful in the silent sky.
Suddenly, it wasn't silent. George heaved his shoulder. He pointed with an invisible hand.
It was an airliner, a silver thing, speeding the way they were going with a steady roar. It
pursued. It caught up. It passed. The Carpet tossed its invisible passengers, as it bucked
and staggered in the backwash.
Through the little windows they could see where the dim light bathed the warm upholstered
scene. Leaning at his ease in the deep cushioned seat was a young man with blond hair
(parted in the middle). He'd been dining. Now he was smok- ing. A pretty hostess bent to
remove his tray. Mr. Blair (for it was he) knocked, as he whisked by in the sky, his lazy ashes
off, and smiled up into the pretty face with a quaint tum-of-
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294 Charlotte Armstrong ^
,S,.
the-century wolfishness, the image of which persisted on the ^ gray cold air when he had
gone. ^ The Carpet kept lumbering along- ^
The night wore on. Mrs. McGurk took the Mirror, once ;^ more, out of her bag. She was tired
and bruised from bounc" ^ ing through the night in Mr. Josefs old rattletrap of a car, || which
he pushed so recklessly at a speed beyond comfort. At ^ times, she'd been about to ask
bun to slow down, but she ^, hated to tamper with his absorption. ^ "Still east?" he asked.
,^> "Still east, I judge. They seem to be nearing Narragansett.'* She and Mr. Josef were, she
feared, far, far behind. Mrs. McGurk sighed. She was weary and her heart was sore, and
she began to suspect that this was ridiculous. She hardly knew anymore what she hoped. At
first, it was only to see George, face to face once more, but now her resolution flagged. She
was discouraged. She was . . . and her heart ached . . . growing old. Oh, she'd known that,
all along. Still, she bad hoped that even her middle-aged heart could hold the luxury of
devotion. A secret spring of joy, it might have been! Ah, that devil jealousy had undone
everything!
She had wept already. In her distress, she'd babbled. She'd mentioned magic.
But Mr. Josef didn't believe. He thought they were pursu- ing a helicopter. He didn't ven [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]