Misery (39 page)

This
t
ime i
t
was Hezekiah who grabbed Ia
n
, bu
t t
he bushes rus
t
led agai
n
a
n
d Geoffrey looked i
nt
o
t
he cleari
n
g, his brea
t
h mome
nt
arily ca
t
chi
n
g i
n
his
t
hroa
t
, as a bi
t
of fabric may ca
t
ch o
n
a
t
hor
n
-- he fel
t
like a ma
n
who mus
t
walk up a rocky hill wi
t
h a load of decayed a
n
d da
n
gerously vola
t
ile explosives i
n
his arms. O
n
e s
t
i
n
g, he
t
hough
t
. Jus
t
o
n
e a
n
d i
t
's all over for her

     "
N
o, boss mussu
n
'," Hezekiah was sayi
n
g wi
t
h a ki
n
d of
t
errified pa
t
ie
n
ce. "I
t
like d'u
t
ha boss be sayi
n
' . . . if you go ou
t
dere, de bees wake up from dey dream. A
n
d if de bees wake, i
t
doa
n
ma
tt
er for her if she be di
n
e of o
n
e s
t
i
n
g or o
n
e-de-o
n
e
t
'ousa
n
' s
t
i
n
g. If de bees wake up from dey dream we all die, bu
t
she die firs' a
n
d de mos' horrible."

     Li
tt
le by li
tt
le Ia
n
relaxed be
t
wee
n t
he
t
wo me
n
, o
n
e of
t
hem black,
t
he o
t
her whi
t
e. His head
t
ur
n
ed
t
oward
t
he cleari
n
g wi
t
h dreadful reluc
t
a
n
ce, as if he did
n
o
t
wish
t
o look a
n
d ye
t
could
n
o
t
forbear
t
o.

"The
n
wha
t
are we
t
o do? Wha
t
are we f
t
do for my poor darli
n
g?"

I do
n
'
t
k
n
ow came
t
o Geoffrey's lips, a
n
d i
n
his ow
n
s
t
a
t
e of
t
errible dis
t
ress, he was barely able
t
o bi
t
e
t
hem back.
N
o
t
for
t
he firs
t t
ime i
t
occurred
t
o him
t
ha
t
Ia
n
's possessio
n
of
t
he woma
n
Geoffrey loved jus
t
as dearly (if secre
t
ly) allowed Ia
n t
o i
n
dulge i
n
a
n
odd sor
t
of selfish
n
ess a
n
d a
n
almos
t
woma
n
ly hys
t
eria
t
ha
t
Geoffrey himself mus
t
forgo; af
t
er all,
t
o
t
he res
t
of
t
he world he was o
n
ly Misery's frie
n
d.

     Yes, jus
t
her frie
n
d, he
t
hough
t
wi
t
h half-hys
t
erical iro
n
y, a
n
d
t
he
n
his ow
n

eyes were draw
n
back
t
o
t
he cleari
n
g. To his frie
n
d.

     Misery wore
n
o
t
a s
t
i
t
ch of clo
t
hi
n
g, ye
t
Geoffrey
t
hough
t t
ha
t
eve
n t
he mos
t
prudish church
t
hrice-a-week village biddy could
n
o
t
have faul
t
ed her for

i
n
dece
n
cy. The hypo
t
he
t
ical old prude migh
t
have ru
n
screami
n
g from
t
he sigh
t

of Misery, bu
t
her screams would have bee
n
caused by
t
error a
n
d revulsio
n
ra
t
her
t
he
n
ou
t
raged proprie
t
y. Misery wore
n
o
t
a s
t
i
t
ch of clo
t
hi
n
g, bu
t
she was far from
n
aked.

      She was dressed i
n
bees. From
t
he
t
ips of her
t
oes
t
o
t
he crow
n
of her ches
tn
u
t
hair, she was dressed i
n
bees. She seemed almos
t t
o be weari
n
g some s
t
ra
n
ge
n
u
n
's habi
t
-- s
t
ra
n
ge because i
t
moved a
n
d u
n
dula
t
ed across
t
he swells of her breas
t
s a
n
d hips eve
n t
hough
t
here was
n
o
t
eve
n
a ghos
t
of a breeze. Likewise, her face seemed e
n
cased i
n
a wimple of almos
t
Mohammeda
n
modes
t
y - o
n
ly her blue eye peered our of
t
he mask of bees which crawled sluggishy over her face, hidi
n
g mou
t
h a
n
d
n
ose a
n
d chi
n
a
n
d brows. More bees, gia
nt
Africa brow
n
s,
t
he mos
t
poiso
n
ous a
n
d bad
t
empered bees i
n
all
t
he world, crawled back a
n
d for
t
h over
t
he s
t
eel bracele
t
's before joi
n
i
n
g
t
he livi
n
g gloves o
n
Misery's ha
n
ds.

      As Geoffrey wa
t
ched, more a
n
d more bees flew i
nt
o
t
he cleari
n
g from all poi
nt
s of
t
he compass -- ye
t
i
t
was clear
t
o him, eve
n
i
n
his curre
nt
dis
t
rac
t
io
n
,
t
ha
t
mos
t
of
t
hem were comi
n
g from
t
he wes
t
, where
t
he grea
t
dark s
t
o
n
e face of
t
he goddess loomed.

The drums pulsed
t
heir s
t
eady rhy
t
hm, i
n
i
t
's way as much a soporific as
t
he sleepy dro
n
e of
t
he bees. Bu
t
Geoffrey k
n
ew how decep
t
ive
t
ha
t
sleepi
n
ess was, had see
n
wha
t
happe
n
ed
t
o
t
he Baro
n
ess, a
n
d o
n
ly
t
ha
n
ked God
t
ha
t
Ia
n
had bee
n
spared
t
ha
t
. . . a
n
d
t
he sou
n
d of
t
ha
t
sleepy hum sudde
n
ly risi
n
g
t
o a furious buzz-saw squeal . . . a sou
n
d which had a
t
firs
t
muffled a
n
d
t
he
n
drow
n
ed
t
he woma
n
's ago
n
ized dyi
n
g screams. She had bee
n
a vai
n
a
n
d foolish crea
t
ure, da
n
gerous as well -- she had almos
t
go
tt
e
n t
hem killed whe
n
she had freed S
t
ri
n
gfellow's bushmas
t
er -- bu
t
silly or
n
o
t
, foolish or
n
o
t
, da
n
gerous or
n
o
t
,
n
o ma
n
or wome
n
deserved
t
o die like
t
ha
t
.