The Ear, the Eye and the Arm (27 page)

It was how his foot felt when it had fallen asleep and sensation was returning. It was a tickling, wriggling, gurgling feeling as life trickled back. Arm realized he had claimed her without thinking, and whatever spirits listened to such things had made it true. He had bonded to her in exactly the same way a parent did when presented with his or her newborn child. Except that Arm, whose psychic abilities were developed far beyond those of ordinary folk, could feel the exact instant when it happened.

He belonged to her, and as she rested in his arms and her stomach rejoiced over the meal, he knew that Sekai thought she belonged to him, too.

"Why are you here? Did you find General Matsika's children?" came Eye's voice.

"Why, no," said the captain. "The Masks attacked a subway train. No one hurt, for a change. But tell me. How do you know about the children?"

Arm explained that Tendai, Rita and Kuda had been expelled from Resthaven earlier. To avoid trouble, he pretended to have met them inside.

"Call in reserves," commanded the captain. "We'll go over these streets with a microscope, and check the trains, too." She insisted that Ear, Eye and Arm go home, especially after examining the lumps and bruises caused by the stones.

Arm had to agree with her. He didn't think they would have more luck than hundreds of policemen, and his shoulder throbbed painfully. He and the other detectives sat in the squad car — in the back, where they wouldn't make the driver nervous.

"I can see why they were thrown out of Resthaven," whispered one of the policewomen in front. "Maybe there's something wrong with the baby, too." Her companion told her to be quiet.

"Don't feel bad," Ear told Arm. "You made a great bogeyman."

"Where did you learn to moan like that?" asked Eye.

"Late-night holovision.
I Was a Teenage Werewolf.
" Arm cuddled Sekai and felt her memory of floating on a dark sea and of listening to the boom of her mother's heart in the distance.

"He's been like this ever since we got home,” said Ear as he let the doctor in. This time it wasn't a paramedic but a real medical specialist with degrees in psychology and abnormal spirit possession. Mother had sent him over as soon as she heard of Arm's strange state.

"We all took some thumps —
tsotsis
pelted us with rocks — but nothing we haven't experienced before." Ear was careful not to mention Resthaven. "Arm seemed all right then, but this morning
..."

Arm lay on the sofa with his eyes closed. He didn't react when the doctor clapped his hands by his ear. He didn't flinch when he was pricked with a pin. Sekai stirred in her bed — a beer crate donated by Mr. Thirsty — and made sucking noises.

Arm pursed his lips.

Sekai began to complain, softly at first, then more insistently. Arm blinked and looked up at the doctor. "Who are you?" he asked.

"He's awake!" cried Eye.

"Of course I'm awake — and very hungry. I think — I think I'd like a glass of warm milk."

"Extraordinary," said the doctor.

"Good morning, Sekai," Arm said as he got up. "You sound hungry, too. Where are those bottles the police gave us? I'll get the formula out of the fridge." He warmed it in a pot of hot water. "Mmm! That smells good!"

"Arm, that's baby formula," said Ear.

"And very good, too. You like it, don't you, Sekai?" He popped the bottle into her mouth, and she began sucking greedily. "I can almost taste it. In fact . . .
I can."

"Just what I was afraid of," said the doctor. "I've always been interested in your cases. I studied them in medical school. Only one in a million such mutations prove beneficial. You're remarkable people."

"We know that. What's wrong with Arm?" Eye asked.

The doctor refused to be hurried. "You have remarkable eyesight: you can see a drop of rain in a thundercloud.
You
have amazing ears: a whisper in the next room sounds like a shout."

"Perfectly true," Ear said, patting his muffs.

"Tell me. Do your abilities get better as you get older?"

Ear and Eye looked at each other and shook their heads.

"How about you, Arm?"

Arm went to the window and pulled the curtain aside slightly. Eye reached for his dark glasses. Outside, the late-afternoon sun gilded the roofs of the Cow's Guts. It was too early for the beggars to return and too soon for the drunks to get rowdy. "A few weeks ago, I looked into Mr. Thirsty's mind," Arm said. "It was only for a minute. I had never focused on one person before. It was like seeing into the man's soul."

"Ugh!" said Eye.

"Strangely enough, underneath — deep down — I found something decent."

"Go on," the doctor said. Arm described his glimpse inside the Mellower and how, after the dinner party, he had walked through General Matsika's thoughts, opened a door and stepped into an actual memory. Suddenly, his knees buckled. Ear and Eye had to catch him. The doctor went to Sekai's crib and took the bottle out of her mouth. Her eyes popped open.

Arm woke up.

"You bonded with the baby, didn't you?" said the doctor. Arm nodded. "Bonding happens between parents and their children during the first few hours of life. It's the strongest emotion anyone can feel, but you aren't just anyone. Your mind is too sensitive for ordinary emotions." The doctor shook the baby gently, and Arm's head jerked up from the doze he was falling into. "You and the infant are one," he said urgently.

Arm rested his head on his hands while he thought. He could feel Sekai's irritability at not being allowed to nap. A gas bubble worked its way through her stomach. "What am I to do?"

"You need distance. No" — the doctor held up his hand — "I'm not telling you to give her away. That would be cruel to both of you. But her attention has to be diverted, or we're going to have to buy you the large size in diapers."

"Don't even
think
of it," said Arm with a grimace. Then he fell into a deep sleep, and this time no one could rouse him.

The Mellower arrived the next morning. Arm and Sekai were awake and enjoying their breakfasts. Sekai had milk; Arm had scrambled eggs, but he kept looking hungrily at her bottle.

"A baby!" cried the Mellower. "I adore babies! Wuggie-wuggie-woo. Oh, the sweet-ums, the little darling!" He picked up Sekai. Arm felt unreasonably jealous.

"She likes you," he accused.

"Well,
 
of course.
 
Who's
 
the
 
cleverest baby in Africa? Who's got the cutest little button nose?"

"Come on, Arm. Let's go for a walk," said Ear. He and Eye pulled him across the street to Mr. Thirsty's.

"I'm sure he'll drop her. He's so scatterbrained," Arm said.

"He's going to be fine. Now we've got to discuss the other children." Eye signaled to the bartender, who threw down his dish towel immediately. He scurried over with three glasses of fruit juice before bustling off to wrench a broken beer bottle out of someone's hand.

"Tendai, Rita and Kuda got on the train that was attacked by the Masks. They were with a big man who was probably Trashman," said Eye.

"You mean they were in the
subway
while we were breaking into Resthaven?"

"I'm afraid so."

Morosely, Arm looked across the beer hall. The light was dim and the air musty. In deference to Christmas, which a few people celebrated even in the Cow's Guts, Mr. Thirsty had decorated the bar with a stuffed antelope on a platter garnished with holly. Its head was topped with a pair of fake reindeer antlers, and it had an apple in its mouth.

"Somehow, I don't think Mr. Thirsty has quite captured the spirit of Christmas," remarked Ear.

"I owe you an apology, Ear," said Arm. "You wanted to listen to the subway, and I wouldn't let you."

"That's all right."

"No, it isn't. I was a bully. I was overbearing. I'm the worst detective in history." Tears ran down Arm's face.

"Arm, is Sekai crying?"

"Why, yes, she is."

Ear and Eye looked at each other in consternation. "You're picking up her unhappiness. She probably only has colic," said Ear.

Arm sat still a minute, then burped loudly. "You're right."

Eye went on: "The conductor says the General's children got off at Borrowdale, but one of the passengers — an ex-member of the Filed Teeth gang — swears they caught the next train to Mazoe."

"Volunteering information to the police isn't like an old Filed Teeth member," Arm said.

"She said she had been possessed by a
shave
for stealing, but a spirit medium drove it out."

"Oh, sure," said Arm.

"At any rate, it makes sense. Why stay in Borrowdale? The conductor said an old man gave them the money to travel." Eye signaled to Mr. Thirsty. He brought them more fruit juice. Arm's glass was decorated with a sprig of mint and a little umbrella. "The police located the old man, but his short-term memory is poor. He
did
give them money. He can't remember how much."

Ear shook Arm. "What's the matter? Is Sekai going to sleep again?"

Arm stretched his long, long arms, an activity that caused the drinkers at the next table to move their chairs. "I can hardly keep my eyes open. Keep shaking me."

"The children never got to Mazoe," said Eye.

The beer hall's bouncer removed a customer who had passed out. He expertly dragged the man in and out of the tables. One of the man's shoes came off, and someone picked it up. A moment later, the thief went outside to get the other one.

"You know, this isn't a good environment for raising a child," said Arm.

"Let's worry about that later," Ear said in exasperation, but Arm had nodded off again. The detectives carried their comrade back to the apartment. Outside, the man who had passed out was being used for third base by a gang of street urchins. Once inside the office, Arm could only be kept awake by having ice cubes poured down his neck.

"This isn't working," he said in a thick voice. "Mellower, could you take Sekai with you for a while?"

"Do you mean it?" cried the Praise Singer. "I'll get Kuda's old cradle from the basement — and the lullaby robot — and the stuffed elephant. Tendai used to sleep on it for hours. Let's see. I'll need formula. ..."

Arm was dismayed by how quickly the Mellower organized his life around the baby. "She's only yours for a few hours."

"And what a wonderful few hours they're going to be!" The Praise Singer lifted Sekai from her beer crate, and she smiled at him.

It wasn't actually a smile, that is, it wasn't on the outside. But Arm knew as soon as she figured out how her face worked, she would produce a real one —
for the Mellower!
He silently took the infant away and held her. Yes, there it was: the niggling, tickling feeling of belonging. Their spirits were together in a way no one else could ever duplicate. Satisfied, Arm handed the baby back. "Have you heard anything about the other children?" he asked suddenly.

 
"Who? Me?" The Mellower was so startled, he almost tripped over Eye's sleeping bag.

"Is the General going to offer a reward? I know it's against his principles, but it might work."

The Praise Singer turned so pale Arm thought he was going to faint. "Why are you asking
me?
The General doesn't tell
me
anything. Oh, my! I can hear the limo now. I simply must fly." He gathered up a baby bottle and a towel to cover Sekai. "Be back this evening. Good-bye, you wonderfully talented people!" And with that he was out the door.

"Strange man," murmured Arm. As the limo receded into the distance, he felt the heavy, drugged sleepiness go away.

"He acted as though he were hiding something," Ear said.

"Yes. Why should he care about a reward?" And why did I think to ask about it? thought Arm. He pushed the Praise Singer out of his mind and gave his attention to the General's children, who needed his help far more. "I wish they weren't in the subway," he said aloud. "That's the Masks' favorite hunting ground."