“Not a park,” Pete said, “and not a field. I think Nicolai Nickel’s base is a golf course.”
“A golf course,” Lenny said, mulling it over. “But wouldn’t such a place attract too many people? You said a coin base needs isolation.”
“They do, but golf courses are huge and have plenty of places to hide if you find the right one. Unless someone smacks a ball into the woods or something, they’d never stumble across a coin base.”
“You know,” Lenny said, “come to think of it, I recall Damian Dime saying The Six was a golf aficionado.”
“He did?”
“Yeah, but I didn’t know what aficionado meant at the time. I thought it was Spanish for someone who enjoyed fishing.”
“Why would a coin enjoy fishing?” Sadie asked. “We can’t hold a pole, and even if we managed to reel in a fish, what would we do with it?”
“Exactly! That’s what I said to Damian Dime. He spin-rimmed me into a cow pie.”
“That’s awful,” Sadie said. “Just because you didn’t know what aficionado meant?”
“It was a soft landing.”
“Still,” Sadie said, “why did you put up with his bullying for so long?”
Lenny shrugged. “Damian taught me how to buck ‘n’ roll. He was smart and tough, and I didn’t know better. I didn’t take it personally. Of course, when he tried to kill me, I thought that was a little over the top.”
“You think?” Sadie said.
“But it worked out for the best! If Damian hadn’t tried to drown me, I wouldn’t be here today, right? With my two best buds! I wouldn’t be Steelman!”
“Don’t rub it in,” Pete said. “Anyway, good work, team. I think we’re onto something. Sadie, Ernie, grab us up and head south along the coast. We’ll check out every golf course we come across.”
“Ronald that, Paul,” Sadie said.
“Roger,” Pete said.
“Ronald that, Roger.”
Sadie spun off and took flight. She circled around and came in for a pick up.
“You don’t think she’s still mad at me, do you Wheatman?”
“I’m sure she’s already forgotten all about it.”
“All heart, that Sadie,” Lenny said.
“That’s one way of putting it, yeah.”
Sadie and Ernie swooped down and snatched at the two pennies standing side-by-side. Their eyes slid right as The Silver Soarer soared right past.
“Oh, poo,” Sadie said.
3
dragon slayer
March 1963 — La Jolla, California
Franny looked out upon the expansive golf course, its surrounding woods, and in the distance beyond the flag marking the sixth hole, the gray-blue sea. She took a deep breath of salt air and let it out with a sigh. Despite the beautiful scenery and her tranquil garden environs, month after month of doing nothing wearied her.
Over the years, the Peace Dollar received many new comforts. Among them was the shade of a gazebo built by the old man who owned the property. He placed it in the garden between the lavender bushes. Its overhang kept the hot sun off Franny’s face. Nicolai’s coins moved Franny during the gazebo’s construction, and after it was completed, they moved her back.
Nicolai then ordered bullion base architects and engineers to compliment the human upgrade with some of their own. They replaced the tuna tin that had been sheltering her before with a canopy made from a silk handkerchief held aloft by four ballpoint pens marked First National Bank of Merced. They also scavenged a pillow-lined jewelry case to set her in. The coins angled the case for a picturesque view of the golf course and the hills and ocean that surrounded it.
Franny preferred her circumstances to the years she spent locked in one or another numismatist’s display box, but she still felt a hostage. Like any normal coin, Franny craved commerce, and even a coin show would be better than this monotony, she thought.
The silver dollar’s loneliness was amplified this morning by the absence of the guards that were usually posted at her sides. She also missed the sight and bustle of worker coins, beetle-drawn sleds, and soldiers going about their business around her. An important meeting had been called, and every coin on base was ordered to attend.
Franny didn’t know what the meeting was about, only that it had to do with a major mission in the works. The coins were to assemble inside the base’s stadium at the other end of the garden where The Six himself was going to address the troops, something he usually left up to his commanders.
Although the guards were under orders not to get too familiar with Franny, few coins could resist her sweet voice and friendly demeanor. A beautiful silver dollar with a bright laugh and an engaging smile, she had little trouble drawing the base’s coins into conversation, as long as The Six or one of his commanders weren’t around.
Having lived a sheltered life, Franny enjoyed the coins’ stories, real or exaggerated, and coins liked nothing better than telling them. Coins lived for commerce, but commerce was really just a means for obtaining new tales. People exchanged money for food, comfort, health, and entertainment; coins liked the marketplace for the stories it produced.
Franny lamented that she had few stories of her own to swap, and most of those had occurred decades earlier before her true worth had become known to people. As coins weren’t impressed by the values given to them by humans, the only thing she had to distinguish her was the not-so-insignificant fact that she was the girlfriend of The Four. Even on The Six’s bullion base that counted for a lot. Every coin there had pledged allegiance to The Six, but having done so didn’t diminish The Four’s reputation there.
Ned’s misstamping aside, until Franny had arrived at Coin Castle she didn’t know her nickel boyfriend was so special. He never talked about his powers. The coins’ awe for The Four, or at least the stories attributed to him, impressed Franny, but it also made her feel like a fraud. Her courtship with Ned had been brief after all, and the two hadn’t shared in more than a couple minor adventures together. Franny felt she was riding on his coattails.
A rustling in the nearby lavender bushes woke Franny from her melancholy musings. She turned her head towards the sound, and gasped.
The head of a large gopher snake emerged from beneath the lavender hedge, its forked tongue darting in and out. A dark stripe ran like a mask from its oily black eyes to its jaw. To Franny’s further horror, the snake began to glide towards her.
The bush was six feet away, but the serpent continued to uncoil from beneath it, writhing towards her. She had seen a few baby garter snakes before, but the guards who usually were there to protect her easily chased them away.
On the snake slunk, unfolding foot after wriggling foot, glossy with dark-brown blotches and straw-colored skin, thick as the barrel of a Louisville Slugger, and three times as long. The thing was a monster!
The serpent was now just inches away from the terror-stricken coin. Its obsidian-like eyes gazed at the quivering disc, its dark tongue swiping at the fear she exuded.
Franny screamed, but the stadium where the coins had assembled was too far away for them to hear her shrieks. The snake raised and flattened its head, preparing to strike. Although not venomous, the big snake could swallow mice or birds many times larger than a silver dollar.
A moment from fainting, Franny saw The Six leap somersaulting in front of the snake. The coin landed rim-up and shouted at the snake to back off.
Startled, the serpent flinched and bolted upright.
The Six looked dwarfed in front of the huge snake, but the nickel boldly held his ground.
“Go on,” Nicolai shouted, “get out of here!”
The snake contemplated the odd creature but did not retreat. Instead, it drew up the rest of its six-foot-long body, leered down at the gutsy nickel, and hissed. The snake dipped its head, spat its tongue, and came in for a closer inspection.
Nicolai fell flat and then sprang back, flipping a teaspoon of dirt into the snake’s face. Again the snake flinched
, but now it was angry.
The snake struck at the nickel, but The Six leapt just out of reach. It stabbed again and again, but each time Nicolai evaded, flipping or spinning, luring the reptile away from Franny.
Franny watched with wide-eyed astonishment. Never could she have believed that a coin could move with such speed and dexterity. The nickel appeared absolutely fearless too. He taunted the snake, flipping more sand in its face, rolling left and right, back and forth, and even charging at it, all the while leading the snake farther away from her.
To Franny’s further amazement, Nicolai activated Jefferson’s Monticello mansion on his reverse side, stretching it like an accordion. He whirled and used the wings of the mansion to slap the snake repeatedly on the nose!
The snake pounced again, but The Six exploded upwards like a bottle rocket. The snake missed and smacked its muzzle into the ground.
Nicolai landed rim-up beside the serpent and whistled to him. The creature turned and reared its head.
Before it lashed out, Franny saw a bright yellow gleam shoot towards the snake’s head. Claws extended, a golden eagle latched onto the reptile and dug its talons into its neck. The beast bucked and twisted, but Dominique Double Eagle bestrode it like an expert bull rider. She took to thwacking the snake on the head with her torch, and then reaching around and jabbing it into the snake’s mouth, she animated her flambeau to full flame-throwing mode.
The serpent jerked off the ground straight as a pole, tossing Dominique and her eagle Erica from its back. Erica spread her wings and circled ready to dive-bomb the monster again, but having had enough of the crazed coins, the snake rushed slithering back into the bushes.
“Dominique, dear,” Nicolai said to the hovering gold piece, “please inform the troops that I’m on my way but will be a few minutes late. And tell one of the commanders to send four guards here immediately.”
Dominique nodded and she and Erica flew off to the stadium.
The Six bucked over to Franny, who was still visibly shaken by the incident.
“I apologize for the scare,” he said. “You were not to be left alone. I will see to it that whomever was at fault will be reprimanded.”
“No need,” Franny answered. “I’m sure it wasn’t on purpose, just a miscommunication.”
“That’s not how things are done around here,” he said with finality. Nicolai sprang onto the rock pedestal beneath Franny’s jewelry box. “Nasty beasts, snakes. We normally have teams of scouts and a squadron of eagles patrolling the perimeter of the base to scare them off, but as you are probably aware, today everyone is assembled at the stadium.”
“What’s the special occasion?” Franny asked. “Are you going to proclaim yourself emperor of Coinworld? Or better yet, a god?”
Nicolai grinned. “Is that how you thank coins who saved you from the jaws of death?”
The snake’s sinister face flashed before her, and she lowered her eye in shame.
“You’re right. No, it isn’t.” She bowed her head. “Thank you. I was never more frightened in my life.”
“Don’t worry, it won’t happen again. My troops never make the same mistake twice.”
“So, the stadium,” she said, “are you preparing for a dangerous mission?”
“If my plan works it will be very dangerous; if it doesn’t work, it will be a waste of months of preparation.”
Franny cocked her head. “Shouldn’t it be less dangerous if it works?”
“Where’s the fun in that?” he answered with a wry smile.
Franny wasn’t amused. “Does it have anything to do with The Four?”
“At this point in my career, everything has to do with The Four, madam. Apparently, however, he lacks my single-minded sense of purpose when it comes to you.”
“Or maybe he’s a lot smarter than you give him credit for, sir.”
“You misunderstand me, Franny. He’s a very clever nickel. A coin doesn’t build a kingdom like he has if he’s an incompetent fool. Of course, I could have done the same if my aspirations were as unambitious as his, but I prefer to focus on the big picture.”
“If Ned has ignored all your invitations to meet with him, and none of your threats regarding me have drawn him out, what makes you think this new plan of yours will succeed?”
“Franny,” he chuckled, “will you not at least give me an ‘A’ for effort? After all, I have everyone’s best interest in mind, including yours.”
“Mine?” she said, dubious.
“But of course. I know a lot of things, but I’ve never claimed to understand what accounts for tastes. He loves you. You love him. So be it! I have no desire to break you two up. One big happy family, what could be better than that?”
“May I ask how you intend to lure Ned here?”
“Who said anything about here? And chance giving away my location? Would The Four ever be stupid enough to invite me to Coin Island? Of course not.” He arched his eyebrow. “Have you ever been to Reno?”
Before she could answer, a team of stern-faced quarters rolled up to Nicolai and bowed in salute. Without a word they positioned themselves around the Peace Dollar.
“I always enjoy our little chats,” Nicolai said, “but we’ll have to continue this later. And again, I’m sorry for the scare. I hope it doesn’t give you nightmares.”
Nicolai looked up and saw Dominique Double Eagle hovering above in a breeze. He signaled to her and she swooped down and carried him off.
4
pillow talk
December 1963 — Riverside, California
The security chain smacked with a thud. Seymour Sterling, a short, portly man with silver hair and a puffy red face, peered through the crack in his front door at a man in a gray duster coat and fedora.
Sterling raked the stranger up and down with disapproving eyes. “Who are you and what do you want?” he grumbled.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Sterling. Dr. Monroe Stryker, private investigator.” He flashed his identification. “I’d like to ask you a few questions regarding your recent robbery.”
Sterling squinted at the ID. He sniffed, unconvinced. “The police said nothing about a PI stopping by, and I didn’t order one either.”
“I understand that, sir. I’m investigating another case, and I think the two might be related. If I could ask you a few questions and have a look at the crime scene, I may be of assistance to you.”
“And afterwards charge me an arm and a leg, no doubt,” Sterling said, his ‘no thank you’ imbedded in his remark.
“No, sir. I have a client whose fee already covers my expenses. Do you mind?”
Sterling shifted his jaw in contemplation. “What makes you think you’d find anything the police missed?”
“With all due respect to our fine police force, this is something I specialize in. Something I have a trained eye for. I just need a few minutes of your time, that’s all.”
Sterling grunted, and without replying he closed the door in the man’s face. Stryker heard the sliding of the chain, and grinned. The door reopened.
“Follow me,” Sterling said.
He led the man down a short hallway, into a den, down another hallway, and into his office.
Monroe Stryker glanced about the room. All these offices had started to look alike to him: bookcase, leather furniture, an oak or mahogany desk, a wall of framed photographs, and another covered with awards, diplomas, or other accolades. And inevitably, a safe: a wall safe or a standing safe, some hidden, others sitting in the open, like Mr. Sterling’s.
“The police went through the place with a fine-toothed comb,” Sterling said. “They lifted fingerprints and everything.”
“The thieves left no prints,” Stryker said confidently.
Sterling pinched his shaggy white eyebrows together, wondering how the man could have known such a thing.
“Thieves? You think there was more than one burglar? And yet no prints? They wore gloves then, is that it?”
“No gloves, and no ha
nds to wear them.”
Sterling snorted. “I was robbed by a team of armless men?”
“Who said anything about men?”
“Women?”
Stryker ignored the man’s question and withdrew a large magnifying glass from his coat pocket. He examined the safe and the floor it sat on.
“Do you have any pets, Mr. Sterling?”
“Pets?”
“Do you?”
“Princess, a Siamese cat.”
“Let me guess, when you returned home you found Princess in a drawer or maybe a clothes hamper?”
“The linen closet, but how would you—?”
“And the house was a bit of a mess, correct?”
“Something had gotten into the cat, yes, if that’s what you mean. I’m going to have to reupholster two chairs and a sofa.”
Stryker nodded, not the least surprised. “The missing coins, they weren’t among your more valuable, were they?”
“No, thank heavens, but far from worthless.”
“Most bore an eagle on the reverse side, yes?”
“All of them,” Sterling answered.
“But no gold coins, am I right?”
“If the thieves went to all this trouble, why did they leave behind the gold coins?”
“Because they were too heavy?”
“I won’t have my intelligence insulted in my own home, Mr. Stryker, so if you’d—”
“No insult intended, sir.”
“This is a pattern?”
“One of two. Either the thieves take gold coins or silver coins, never both.”
“And always with eagles on the reverse side?” Seymour Sterling was intrigued.
“There have been a few anomalies, but almost always eagles on the reverse, yes.”
“I suppose I should be glad that the gold marauders didn’t hit me. My losses could have been considerable.”
“To my knowledge, gold thefts have been rare, and mostly in Southern California. Thefts of silver coins have been nationwide.”
The Amazing Adventures of 4¢ Ned (Coinworld: Book Three) Page 3