The Six Messiahs - Mark Frost [152]
"Welcome to The New City, my friends," said the big man.
"Thank you, I—" started Bendigo.
"Isn't it a glorious day?"
"Indeed, indeed, sir, the likes of which I have never—"
"Are you Mr. Bendigo Rymer, friend?" asked the big man.
"The same, sir, at your service ..."
"Would you step down and have your people come out of the wagons and get together here for me, please?"
"At once, sir!" Bendigo turned to the other wagons and clapped his hands. "Players! Front and center, double time, all together!"
The actors and stagehands gathered beside Bendigo; utterly silent now, and still smiling, the crowd pressed in surrounding them. Eileen helped Jacob out of the back of their wagon and, making it appear as if he was still quite infirm, helped him walk haltingly to the front.
"May I humbly present, for your employment and delectation, Bendigo Rymer's Penultimate Players," said Bendigo, doffing his stupid green hat with a flourish.
The big man carefully counted heads. No one in the crowd moved or whispered. He looked down at the woman's notebook, then counted heads again, finished, and frowned.
"Supposed to be nineteen of you," he said to Bendigo.
"Pardon me?"
"S'only eighteen people here. You said nineteen at the gate. You got an explanation for that, Mr. Rymer?''
Rymer gulped and looked around, caught Eileen's eye, and briefly registered the sight of Jacob without his beard. Eileen saw the man's puny mind working like a hamster on a wheel. He took a step toward the big man, folding his arms, assuming a completely unauthentic camaraderie.
"Yes, of course, it's quite simple really Mr...."
Bendigo fished for a response; the big man stared at him and smiled.
"Uh, my good sir. You see ... this gentleman here," said Rymer, turning and pointing at Jacob, "joined our company in Phoenix, when he took ill, and I must have neglected to include him in our number."
"Then that ought'a be one more, not one less," said the big man. "Shouldn't it?"
Bendigo's smile froze on his face, stricken and fresh out of bright ideas. Eileen walked quickly forward to them.
"I'm sure I can explain," she said calmly. "We did have another gentleman with us when we left the station in Wick-enburg, a doctor who traveled along for a while, to make sure our friend made a proper recovery."
"So where'd he go?" asked the big man.
"He rode back yesterday; he'd brought his horse along, tied to the back of our wagon; the last wagon, you see, trailing quite a ways behind the others—I'm afraid driving a team of mules is somewhat new to me—so Mr. Rymer must have failed to notice when the doctor took his leave."
"That's it, of course," said Rymer, sweat greasing his forehead. "The extra man."
The big man looked back and forth between them, smiling, betraying no reaction. Eileen noticed pistols strapped to the belt under his coat and the handle of a shotgun protruding from a deep inside pocket.
"So this man here," he said, pointing at Jacob. "He's not one of you."
"No, no, not at all," said Rymer hastily.
"He's a friend," said Eileen.
"What's his name?"
"His name is Jacob Stern," said Eileen.
The big man gestured to the woman; she wrote the name down in her notebook. Then she turned the page.
"I need the names of the rest of your people now," said the big man.
"Of course, sir," said Rymer, fumbling out a list.
"What's your name?" asked Eileen.
"What's yours?"
"I asked you first," she said.
Bendigo turned and shot her a dirty glance; Eileen half expected him to kick her in the shin.
"Brother Cornelius, ma'am," said the man with a menacing smile.
"Eileen Temple," she said, extending her hand. The big man looked down at it, slightly off balance, then shook it lightly. "Quite a beautiful town you have here, Brother Cornelius."
"We know," said Cornelius.
"Would you please stop?" whispered Bendigo to her under his smile.
"You'll be staying at the hotel, just down the street," said
Cornelius.