Page 31 - Extraterrestrials, Foreign and Domestic

The Hermits

Wilson hesitated for less than one second. He scampered
through the tattered fence and thrust the newspaper into the old
man’s open hands, then stood expectantly, like a retriever awaiting
a biscuit. Al ignored him and carefully scanned the first page of
the local news.
There it was: ‘HAVE YOU SEEN THIS MAN? HUNT FOR
RAPIST CONTINUES. Police today issued a composite
rendering based on victims’ descriptions. Reward offered for
information leading to capture and conviction...’ And a sketchy
likeness of Pancho Villa. The picture Lorraine Lafong sent her
brother to fetch. Al started to itch terribly.
“Nope. Nothing in here about the circus, yet. Maybe next
week.” He carefully refolded the newspaper and handed it back to
Wilson.
The boy mumbled something Al could not interpret, and
scuttled back into his own territory. The old man dropped his hoe-
crutch and clambered up the kitchen steps with little intent of
appearing casual.
“Ricky!” he shouted hoarsely, upon reaching the stairs leading to
the quarters of his guest. “Ricky! She’s gonna call the cops! You
gotta do something! You hear me?”
Al scrabbled up the cursorily carpeted steps on all fours.
Halfway up he saw the alien silhouetted against the wall behind the
top landing. The man stopped, his heart pounding.
“I told you she’d be trouble. There’s some nutcase in the
neighborhood, attacking women, and she’s got it into her head
that I’m harboring a criminal up here. I don’t know what to do. I
can’t stop them from searching the house without making it look
even worse. What’ll we do?”
Ricky’s ocular members curved down toward his host. “I’m
shocked at the change in your epidermis, Al. Haven’t you been
taking care of it?”
“Eh? No, it’s just a little eczema, been kicking up on me since
that bitch started snooping on us. Listen, I’m serious. This is
serious. Wilson just brought her a newspaper with a very rough
drawing of the suspect; it may well be enough to get her calling the
law down on us. In force.”
Ricky stood or sat silently for several of Al’s heartbeats.

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