Black as Night: A Fairy Tale Retold (39 page)

“Blanche.”

She knew that voice. It was similar to Bonnie’s voice, but deeper, richer. Younger.

“That is your real name, isn’t it? Don’t go yet. I just want to talk to you.”

Go.
She started towards the door again.

“Is there any harm in listening to me? Just stay by the door and listen. Did they really say you couldn’t even speak to me?”

Hand on the door, poised to run, she looked warily over her shoulder at the figure in black.

“That’s right,” the woman said, shuffling closer and halting about ten feet away. She wasn’t wearing her blue hat, and lank black hair hung around her wrinkled face, still covered with the green visor. “But now you call yourself Nora: the dark girl. That’s what you want to be, right? You don’t want to be a silly young thing needing to obey orders to be kept safe. You’ve grown, you’ve learned how to survive in the night.”

“What do you want?” the girl asked brusquely, feeling a chill on the back of her neck.
I can still run if I need to
, the girl told herself.
I can still run
.

For an answer, the old lady bent down, opened one of her bags, and pulled out an apple. She bit into it, and munched, looking at the girl meditatively.

“You’re not running away from me now, are you? That’s because you want to know. You don’t want to be a pawn of monks, or men. You want to be independent. You want to be free. A girl of the night, a lady of the dark. Just like me, Nora. Just like me.” She dabbed a hand into her bag again and held something out. An apple lay in her palm, round and red and shiny. “Would you like one? They’re fresh.”

The girl shook her head, no.
I’m not that stupid
.

The woman laughed. “So you’re a better girl than Eve?” she chuckled. “Smarter than that unlucky lady, are you? Or are you just afraid to know? Would you rather trust in some man, or in some patriarchal God who’s never been in your shoes?” She paused. “What’s that in your hand?”

The girl covered the bottle with her long sleeves and looked at the old woman guardedly.

“So you
do
know what’s going on, don’t you? It’s silly to have pretenses any longer. Don’t you want to know the other side of the story? Her story, instead of his story?”

“I’m sure you have some way of justifying yourself,” the girl said at last.

“I’ve been wondering why you’re doing this for him. Do you even know what you’re doing? Is it for the money? Or are you just in love with him?”

The girl faced the old woman stolidly. “I’m not in love with your husband.” She pushed her hand on the door to leave.

“I’m not talking about my husband.”

The girl froze, and looked around.

Seeing she had made an impact, the woman sucked in her breath. “You don’t know as much as you think you do, do you? It can be dangerous to meddle in matters that are too big for you.”

Suddenly the woman darted forward and pulled her away from the door, spinning her around. Now she was between the girl and the door. She made a grab for the bottle, but the girl held it away from her and screamed. They struggled as the woman yanked at the girl’s arm, but the girl wrapped the bottle tightly in both hands. Breathing hard, the woman pinched the nerves at the base of the girl’s neck. Black spots swelled up before the girl’s eyes.

The woman’s voice whispered mockingly in her ear. “Sleep, sleep, black night girl, snow white girl, and dream of your phony prince…”

II

“Has anyone seen the dogs?” Charley asked, pausing in the doorway of the refectory.

“I haven’t seen them,” Brother Herman said, and the other friars around the table shook their heads.

“I think they escaped again,” Charley groaned. “Shin’s the worst. He’ll sneak out when I’m not looking all the time.”

“Needs more discipline,” Brother Matt said.

“Well, I guess they’ll be back when they’re hungry.” Charley sat down at the table with resignation. “I’ve got to get busy building a pen before they get lost for good.”

“You’ll build it tomorrow,” Father Francis said, pointing at him to indicate that Charley was under obedience. “Remember—I am the Big Dog.”

Charley panted and inclined his head. The others chuckled.

Leon put down the plate of steamed cabbage leaves he was serving. “Aren’t the dogs with Nora in the high school?”

Brother George cocked his head. “I’m not sure, but I heard her calling them when she went back to her room.”

Leon reminded himself not to be too preoccupied with Nora, and focused his attention on meal prayer. But after the blessing was prayed, he got up. “Father Bernard, can I go check to see if the dogs are in the high school with Nora? She shouldn’t be there by herself.”

“You may,” Father Bernard said, handing him the key, while Matt raised his eyebrows slightly.

Leon paid no attention to him, but hurried out to the high school, crossing the courtyard in the dim light. The sun was almost down.

Anxious despite himself, he banged on the door. “Nora?” he called as he pushed the key into the door and turned it without waiting for an answer.

The door creaked open, and he flicked on the hallway light. Nora lay on the ground, and someone stood over her. The light glinted on a green eyeshade. Seeing Brother Leon, she turned and fled down the corridor.

In an instant, Leon was at Nora’s side. She was groggy, but aware.

“Are you okay? Can you get up?”

Nora glanced down at her empty hands. “She took the bottle.”

“What bottle?”

She stumbled to her feet. “That’s what she wanted, all this time.”

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

She nodded. “I have to—”

“—Go get help.” He could hear the intruder racing up the steps of the high school to the second floor. Plunging into the shadows, he followed her up.

Up and up the steps he ran, past the locked door to the first floor, the second floor, up to the third floor door, which he knew was unlocked. The echoes of his coming distorted sound, and when he reached the top of the steps, he couldn’t hear where the intruder had gone. He listened, his heart beating, praying for guidance. The doors at the far end of this floor were locked, so he guessed that Nora’s assailant was still on this floor.

Carefully he looked through the window of the door at the top of the steps into the shadowy hallway. Nothing moved.

He pushed the door open silently and stepped into the corridor. It was still lit with the late summer evening sun, peering through the glass doors of the classrooms. Along the sides of the hallway were the stacked-up desks, movable blackboards, chairs, and other furniture they had moved out of the classrooms. Any of these obstacles could provide a place to hide.

Step by step, he moved down the corridor through the stacks of furniture, scanning for movement, listening intently. Fortunately the classrooms were mostly open and bare. A quick look inside each told him they were empty.

At last he was coming towards the double doors at the far end of the corridor. He knew they were chained shut. As he moved closer, a dark figure suddenly rose up from the ground before the doors.

“Don’t make a sound or I’ll shoot you!”

It was Bonnie’s voice. She was standing in front of the doors in her battered black trench coat, brandishing a gun, a streak of sunset red hitting the muzzle. The green eyeshade still covered most of her face, but the hat was gone. No longer hunched down over her bags, she was taller than she usually seemed, taller than Leon himself. And clearly not an old woman.

Help would be coming soon, Leon knew. He raised his hands, grateful that she hadn’t fired first.

“Where’s the closest exit?” she demanded, tossing her head so that the long black and gray hair flew to one side, making it suddenly obvious that it was a wig.

Leon nodded his head back over his shoulder. “Behind me.”

“You’re going to walk me there without calling attention to yourself,” she directed, training the gun on him.

In answer, Leon leaned against the wall of the corridor. “First you tell me who you are, and what you want with Nora,” he suggested.

Bonnie snickered. “Can’t you figure it out for yourself?”

“I’m kinda dumb that way. You tell me.”

“Why, drugs of course,” the woman drew in her breath. “Didn’t you find her cache? She took off about a week ago with a stash, and didn’t pay the cartel. So they sent me to recover the goods.”

“So she’s a small-time drug dealer and you’re the woman above her on the totem pole?”

“That’s how you could put it.”

“Liar,” Leon said flatly. “Liar. This isn’t some drug cartel payback. This is character assassination. Maybe starting to go beyond just character.”

The woman snorted. “So she’s been working her charms on you too, huh? I can imagine what kind of story she told you. Are you going to start moving or do I have to get nasty? I’ve got hollow point bullets in this gun, and they’ll rip your insides to shreds if I shoot you. It’s a bad way to die.”

Brother Leon scrutinized her, standing his ground. Despite her threats, he was fairly certain that the lady wasn’t going to fire that gun, which would alert everyone to their position. “What’s with the eyeshade?” he said easily. “You’re a little too eccentric, even for a bag lady.”

Not bothering to answer his question, she brandished the gun once more and said, “Move!”

Brother Leon went on the offensive again.
Keep her talking
. “Funny, I know quite a few drug dealers, and I find your story hard to believe. If you want to get rid of her, why the disguise and the fooling around with choker necklaces and perfume? Why not just take her out? In fact, why don’t you just take me out instead of letting me talk your ear off?”

“I was just asking myself that,” the woman said.

“I’ll tell you why,” Leon said, pointing at her. “Because you’re not a drug dealer any more than Nora is. You’re some high-class uptown lady and you’re trying to ruin this girl’s reputation for some reason of your own. And you’re trying to do it carefully so that you don’t get any stain on your own name.” He spread his hands. “I’m right. Aren’t I?”

“If I were you, I would be worrying about the consequences your run-down monastery will be suffering for harboring a criminal.”

“First of all, we’re a friary, not a monastery,” Brother Leon said, folding his arms. “Second of all, who is Nora that she’s such a threat to you?”

“None of your business.”

“Oh, if my brothers are going to be getting in trouble with the police for sheltering her, I think it’s our business.”

“And she’s your particular concern, isn’t she? And you’re just another man who’s fallen in love with her.”

Brother Leon stared at her, taken aback by the change in gears, but seeing the trap. “Well, you’re wrong,” he said. “I haven’t.” He was glad he had been reading his own heart on this subject, and he knew, as he said it, that it was true.

“So blind, so blind!” Bonnie purred. “Don’t you know what beautiful women do?”

“Manipulate men, you mean?”

“But of course. That’s how the game is played. The great war game between the sexes.”

“It’s no war, and it’s no game,” Brother Leon said. He was watching her carefully, and listening. She couldn’t get out without getting past him. He wondered if he dared to tackle her with the gun, but he didn’t quite trust that he would be quick enough.

“Then perhaps you’ve met very few really lovely women. Perhaps that’s why you’re in a monastery in the first place,” the lady hissed.

“Friary,” Brother Leon automatically corrected her as he gauged himself. With a quick prayer, he seized a nearby desk and half-shoved, half-threw it toward Bonnie, ducking as he did so. As he had guessed, she didn’t fire the gun, just dodged. Then she got behind a stack of metal school desks jutting out from the wall and shoved them towards him with vehemence. The stack teetered.

Ho boy, Mother Mary…
were his last thoughts as the metal pile came crashing down on him. He had just enough time to throw up his arms to shield his head from the onslaught. The noise of ten desks hitting the floor in three seconds was deafening.

III

“You want me to drop you off here?” Rose sounded puzzled as Bear pulled over to the side of the curb.

“Yes.” Bear turned off the car and tossed the keys to Rose. “Go and get Fish out of his lecture. Tell him it’s very important and to meet me back here.” He grabbed the suit jacket he had worn to Mass and got out of the car into the sweaty heat of the New York evening. Darkness was coming on fast.

“Okay,” Rose tried to sound cheerful as she slid into the driver’s seat and fumbled around for the seat adjustment. “Are you sure you can’t tell me what this is all about?”

“I probably can later on, but there is someone I need to speak to first,” Bear said. “Sorry I can’t be more specific.” He didn’t want to talk about this until he had actually done it.

“That’s okay,” Rose said. She slid the seat forward several inches until she could reach the pedals. “Boy, are you tall!” She pulled away, leaving him on the sidewalk to stare at the great house, alone.