No Strings Attached
Page 3
he was sure Alfear hadn't been lying, and the story thecreature had told made more sense than the older superstitions. Henryadjusted his mind to having a well-conditioned demon on tap and thenbegan the harder job of bracing himself for Emma's incoherent butdetailed account of the movie when she came back.
Unfortunately, it was a more complicated plot than usual, and she wenton and on, from the moment she entered the door. He tried to close hisears, but he'd never succeeded in that. He yawned, and she yawnedback, but went on until the last final morsel was covered for thesecond or third time.
"He was wonderful," she finally concluded. "Just wonderful. Only Iwished you'd come with me. You'd have liked it. Henry, did you takethe garbage out?"
"Yes, dear," he answered. "Hours ago."
He yawned elaborately again. She mumbled something about having tokeep the kitchen clean because cleanliness was next to godliness, buther automatic yawn muffled the words. Then she glanced at the clock."Heavens, it's almost one! And early to bed and early to rise...."
Henry jerked his eyes away, just as he caught the first glimpse ofAlfear popping into existence beside her. He heard the beginning of ashriek change to a horrible gargling and then become a dying moan.Something soft and heavy hit the floor with a dull thud. Henry turnedaround slowly.
"Dead," Alfear said calmly, rubbing one of his fingers. "This businessof getting just one finger through the planes into her head cuts offthe circulation. There, that's better. Satisfied?"
Henry dropped beside the corpse. She was dead, according to the mirrortest, and there wasn't a mark on her. He stared at the puffy, relaxedfeatures; he'd expected an expression of horror, but she seemed simplyasleep. His initial feeling of pity and contrition vanished; afterall, it had been quick and nearly painless. Now he was free!
"Thanks, Alfear," he said. "It's fine--fine. Do I dismiss you now?"
"No need this time. I'm free as soon as the job's done. Unless you'dlike to talk awhile...."
Henry shook his head quickly. He had to telephone a doctor. Then hecould call Shirley--her mother would be gone by now. "Not now. MaybeI'll summon you sometime for a smoke or something. But not now!"
"Okay," Alfear said, and vanished. Surprisingly, seeing him disappearwasn't unpleasant, after all. He just wasn't there.
Waiting for the doctor was the worst part of it. All the legends Henryknew ran through his mind. Alfear could have given her a stroke andthen added some violent poison that would show up in an autopsy. Hecould be sitting wherever he was, chuckling because Henry hadn'trestricted his wish enough to be safe. Or any of a hundred thingscould happen. There was the first witch, who had thought she hadApalon under control, only to be turned to dust.
But the doctor took it calmly enough. "Stroke, all right," he decided."I warned her last year that she was putting on too much weight andgetting high blood pressure. Too bad, Mr. Aimsworth, but there wasnothing you could do. I'll turn in a certificate. Want me to contact amortician for you?"
Henry nodded, trying to appear properly grief-stricken. "I--I'dappreciate it."
"Too late now," the doctor said. "But I'll be glad to send Mr. Glazieraround in the morning." He pulled the sheet up over Emma's body,leaving it on the backroom couch to which they had carried it. "You'dbetter go to a hotel for the night. And I'll give you something thatwill make you sleep."
"I'd rather not," Henry said quickly. "I mean, I'd feel better here.You know...."
"Certainly, certainly." The doctor nodded sympathetically, but as ifit were an old story to him. He left the pills with instructions, saidthe proper things again, and finally went out.
* * * * *
Shirley's voice was sleepy and cross when she answered, but it grewalert as soon as he told her about Emma's stroke. He was almostbeginning to believe the simple version of the story himself.
"Poor Henry," she murmured. Her voice sharpened again. "It _was_ astroke? The doctor was sure?"
"Positive," he assured her, cursing himself for having let her guesssome of the thoughts that had been on his mind. "The doctor said she'dhad hypertension and such before."
She considered it a second, and then a faint laugh sounded. "Then Iguess there's no use in crying over spilled milk, is there, Henry? Ifit had to happen, it just had to. And I mean, it's like fate,almost!"
"It _is_ fate!" he agreed happily. Then he dropped his voice. "And nowI'm all alone here, baby lamb, and I had to call you up...."
She caught on at once, as she always did. "You can't stay there now!It's so morbid. Henry, you come right over here!"
Demons, Henry thought as he drove the car through the quietresidential streets toward her apartment, had their uses. They were amuch maligned breed. Probably the people who had summoned them beforehad been ignorant, stupid people; they'd messed up their chances andbrought trouble on themselves by not finding out the facts and puttingit all down to superstitious magic. The fellows were almostpeople--maybe even a little superior to humans. If a man would justtry to understand them, they could help him, and with no danger atall.
"No strings attached," he said to himself, and then chuckled softly.It fitted perfectly; now there were no strings attached to him. Emmawas at peace, and he was free. He'd have to wait a few months to marryShirley legally, of course. But already, she was as good as his wife.And if he played up the shock angle just enough, this could be awonderful evening again....
Shirley was unusually lovely when she met him at the door. Her softgolden hair made a halo for her face--a face that said she'd alreadyanticipated his ideas, and had decided he was a man who neededsympathy and understanding for what had happened.
There was even time for the idea that he was free to be brought up,tentatively at first, and then eventually as a matter of course. Andthe plans expanded as he considered them. There was no need to worryabout things now. The quiet marriage became a trip around the world ashe confessed to having money that no one knew about. They could closethe shop. He could leave town almost at once, and she could followlater. Nobody would know, and they wouldn't have to wait to avoid anyscandal. They could be married in two weeks!
Henry was just realizing the values of a friendly demon. With properhandling, a lot of purely friendly summoning, and a reasonableattitude, there was no reason why Alfear couldn't provide him withevery worldly comfort to share with Shirley.
He caught her to him again. "My own little wife! That's what you are,lambkins! What's a mere piece of paper? I already think of you as mywife. I feel you're my wife. That's what counts, isn't it?"
"That's all that counts," she agreed with a warmth that set fire tohis blood. Then she gasped. "Henry, darling, it's getting lightalready! You'll have to get back. What will the neighbors say if theysee you coming from here now?"
He tore away reluctantly, swearing at the neighbors. But she wasright, of course. He had to go back and take the sleeping medicine tobe ready for the arrival of the mortician in the morning.
"It's still early," he protested, automatically trying to squeeze outa few more minutes. "Nobody's up yet."
"I'll heat up the coffee, and then you'll have to go," Shirley saidfirmly, heading for the kitchen. "Plenty of people get up early aroundhere. And besides, you need some sleep. Early to bed and early torise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and--"
From the kitchen came the beginning of a shriek. It changed to ahorrible gasp, and died away in a failing moan. There was the sound ofa body hitting the floor.
Alfear stood over Shirley's body, rubbing one finger tenderly. Hisears twitched uncertainly as he studied Henry's horror-frozen face. "Itold you," he said. "I warned you some of us get conditioned to ahabit the first time. And you thought of her as your wife and shesaid...."
Abruptly, he vanished. Henry's screams were the only sound in theapartment.
THE END
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nds