THE BEAST ─ five hargreeves

[ 051 ] five gets a new nickname

LI.

f i v e   g e t s   a
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—ZARA KNEW RALPH very well—better, perhaps, than anyone else in Dallas, for she understood much in him that puzzled others.

He was, to a certain extent, the victim of heredity. He had not inherited his father's propensity for drink, but nevertheless he had in him a strain of weakness.

As anyone with decent eyesight could tell you, he was extraordinarily handsome. Just on six feet, perfectly built, with the easy grace of an athlete and a handsome, sunburnt face always ready to break into a smile. Ralph was of those born to charm easily and without effort. He was self-indulgent and extravagant, with no veneration for anything on earth, but he was lovable nevertheless, and his friends were all devoted to him.

Zara knew Ralph.

Correction: Zara thought she knew Ralph.

"What the devil are you doing here, Zar?" whispered Ralph frantically. "Gave me the shock of my life!"

"Me?" She batted his hand off her mouth. "I could ask you the same question! In fact, I have a lot of questions right now, buster! Firstly—"

"Shhh! The sound carries straight from this room to the other."

"And how would you know that? Wait—have you been here before? Why? How? What's up with the tux?"

"The tux?" Ralph looked down and straightened his collar. "What's wrong with it?"

Zara examined him in the low light. "Nothing, really. I've never seen you in a suit before. Looks awfully uncomfortable. Why's it so tight?"

"It is, isn't it?" He shifted his tie uncomfortably. "No good fiddling with it. The lady at the tux place said my shoulders were simply too broad and muscular."

Zara eyed him appreciatively.

"And what a tragedy that is," she said cheerily. Then she frowned. "Tux place? What tux place? Last week you could barely afford to go Dutch with me on root beers!"

The voices from the other room grew louder. Ralph shushed her again. He put his ear against a spot on the wall and listened attentively. Zara watched him in bewilderment.

"They're talking about Hillenkoetter," he said suddenly. "We have to go."

"Go? Go where? What's going on?"

Ralph took out a torch from his pocket and switched it on. A thin beam of yellow light illuminated the room. Then he walked swiftly across to the other side and drew back a long tapestry curtain. A cloud of dust went up. It looked so old, Zara feared it might fall to pieces in his hands.

Behind the tapestry was a yawning space that was dug from the wall. As Zara went closer, she realized that it was not really a hole, but a thin passageway, with rough iron bars that formed a sort of ladder going down to a lower floor. She stared at it.

"Ladies first?" offered Ralph.

Zara swallowed and took a step back. "I don't think so, bud. It's your weird hidden exit, not mine."