“I just hope the little fella’s all right,” Bill said, and even he wasn’t sure if it was a lie.
Later, he perched at the end of Isaiah’s bed and listened and waited for the older Campbell boy to come home and heal his brother. And once he did, Bill could siphon away some of that healing energy for himself. If Memphis wouldn’t heal Bill’s sight directly, well, he’d get it however he could.
“Mr. Johnson?”
Blind Bill startled at the sound of Isaiah’s voice. “Little man? That you?”
“How come I’m in bed? ’S not the nighttime.”
“You had yourself a fit,” Bill said, moving toward the boy, hands at the ready.
“Isaiah? Is he awake?” Octavia burst into the room and Bill pulled back, shoving his hands into his pockets.
“Isaiah? Oh, thank you, Jesus.”
“I’m all right. Why’s ever’body making a fuss?” Isaiah said sleepily.
“I’ll let you be,” Bill said. With his cane, he tapped his way down the hall and out the front door, where he heard a robin singing. Bill snatched the bird up, and in a moment, its song was stilled.
Theta knocked firmly on Evie’s door in the Winthrop Hotel. “Open up, Evil. I know you’re in there. I’ll just keep knocking until—”
The door swung open to reveal a very rumpled Evie, a velvet sleep mask pushed up on top of her tangled curls. She regarded Theta with a look bordering on murder. “What’s the big idea, waking a girl before it’s decent, Theta?”
Theta pushed past Evie. She eyed the empty bottles and glasses littering the filthy room. “Big night?”
“The biggest.” Evie yawned, falling back onto the bed. “Before the party proper, we had a little merry here in my room. I met this maaarvelous burlesque queen from Poughkeepsie, some darling stockbrokers, and a very entertaining fellow who could bounce a quarter off the end of the dresser and have it land in a glass of gin on the nightstand and… aaaah! Are you trying to kill me, Theta?”
Late-afternoon sun pierced the hotel gloom through the window where Theta had yanked the drapes aside.
“Depends.”
“Depends on what?”
“Whether or not you keep using that phony accent around me.”
Evie rubbed her forehead. “Oh, applesauce. Theta, will you have a talk with my head, please? Tell it to stop playing the marimba across my skull.”
Theta sniffed the nearby glasses, finally finding one that didn’t smell of gin. “Hold on.” She disappeared into the bathroom, returning a moment later with a glass of water and two aspirin. “Down the hatch. Doctor’s orders.”
“What’s the rumble? What’re you doing here?” Evie managed to say between gulps.
Theta had been trying to figure out how to talk about this with Evie for weeks. She narrowed her eyes. “If you breathe a word of what I’m about to say, I swear I’ll hunt you for sport and wear your skin as a coat.”
Evie opened one eye. “It would have a satin lining, though. Promise me it would.”
“Evil…”
“All right. I’m shutting up.” Evie mimed locking her lips and throwing away the key.
One of Theta’s eyebrows shot up. “Boy, do I wish that really worked,” she muttered. “Okay. Listen: All these Diviners running around—”
“Not this again…”
“What happened to shutting up?” Theta barked and Evie quieted. “These Diviners. Any of ’em dream walkers that you know about?”
Evie rolled onto her side, her brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, are any of ’em able to walk around inside a dream just like they were walking around Times Square. Sleeping, but fully awake at the same time.”
“Inside people’s dreams?” Evie asked, confused.
Theta threw up her hands and rolled her eyes. “Do I need elocution lessons? That’s what I said.”
Evie scoffed. “That is pos-i-tute-ly impossible.”
“It’s not.”
“Pull the other leg!”
“Henry can do it.”