Alma was just coming offstage. “Alma! You seen Memphis?”
Alma appraised her coolly. “Who wants to know, Mrs. Stoughton?”
“It’s too long a story to tell now, but I ain’t happy about being Mrs. Stoughton, believe me. And I think Memphis is in trouble. Big trouble. My husband works for Dutch.”
Alma’s eyes widened. “He’s been going out back to write sometimes.”
“Thanks!” Theta said, and ran out of the club. When she got to the alley behind the club, she put a hand to her mouth. Roy and two of Dutch’s men surrounded Memphis. Three against one.
“We shoulda taken you out when we had the chance. You gonna start healing for us, Diviner. Or we’re gonna end you right now,” Roy was saying. “And if some crazy bird comes around, we’ll shoot it, too.”
“Roy! Don’t!” Theta screamed. She ran and put herself between Roy and Memphis.
“Theta?” Memphis said. He already had a bloody lip and a swollen cheek. “What’re you doing? Get out of here.”
Roy looked from Theta to Memphis, the realization taking root. “I’ll be damned. I mighta known. Mighta known you was lying this whole time.”
Dutch’s men cackled with glee. “Aww, Roy. You got yourself a situation.”
Roy’s eyes were murderous. “Get over here, Betty.”
Floating. Up to the ceiling. Not here. Theta couldn’t float away this time. Not with Memphis in danger.
Theta shook her head. “No.”
“I said, get over here!” Roy yanked Theta by the hair, dragging her away from Memphis.
“Leave her alone!” Memphis said, grabbing hold of Roy by his jacket sleeve.
“I’ll kill you right here,” Roy said. He took a swing, catching Memphis just above the ear. Memphis winced. His ear still ringing, he fell back and dropped into a boxer’s stance.
The fire bristled inside Theta, aching to come out. She worked to get her glove off.
“I don’t think so, Betty.” Roy wrenched her arms behind her back, and the fire retreated again as Theta cried out in pain. “Come at me again and I’ll break her arms.”
Memphis put up his hands. “Okay. Okay. Don’t hurt her.”
“This who you been whoring around with, Betty?”
“I…”
“Huh?” Roy gave Theta’s arms a sharp pull. Her eyes filled with tears.
“I love…”
“What?”
“I love him! I love… him.”
“Theta?” Memphis said softly.
“I was trying to protect you,” she said.
Roy shoved Theta back. He pushed up his sleeves on his march toward Memphis. “I’m gonna beat you to a pulp. Then it’s your turn, Betty.”
“Leave ’em be,” Bill Johnson thundered, coming into the alley. Memphis almost didn’t recognize him at first. He looked to be a man easily ten years younger, with a full beard and very little gray left in his hair.
“You gonna take on all of us?” Roy challenged.
“Won’t need to.” Bill took a step forward. He was a big man, and his shadow fell across the men like a giant’s. “Said: Let ’em go.”
“Or what?”
Bill reached down and grabbed Theta’s corsage, which had fallen to the street. He squeezed, and the flowers browned and wilted. He tossed the corsage away.
“Let ’em go,” Bill said again.
Roy backed away. “Come on, Betty Sue. We’re leaving. Now!”
“She’s not going anywhere with you,” Memphis said. He stepped between Roy and Theta, but Theta slipped around and stood next to Memphis, side by side.
Roy’s carefully polished hair had gotten mussed up. His collar was sprung, and Theta knew he’d be really sore about that tuxedo. He tugged down his vest and pointed a finger at Theta and Memphis. “You’ll pay for this. Mark my words. Fucking circus freaks! They oughta lock you all up. They oughta put you in the chair and watch you fry!”
“Come on, Roy. She ain’t worth it,” Dutch’s man said. He patted Roy’s back and guided him toward the waiting car.
In the alley, Theta rubbed the ache from her injured arms and wiped her nose on the back of her glove.
“I’m sorry for everything I said to you after that night at the asylum. For pushing you away. I didn’t want him to know about you and Isaiah. I was afraid he’d hurt you. I know what kinda man he is, and I couldn’t let that happen. That’s why I broke it off with you, Poet. That’s the only reason. I had to make you hate me. I knew you’d come after me. I knew you’d try to make it right.”
Memphis kissed Theta. He wrapped his arms around her and it was like coming home after a hard day in the cold. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry,” she kept saying into his chest.
“Shhh, shhh,” Memphis said.
“Well. Glad you’re all right,” Bill said, and started away.
“Mr. Johnson!” Memphis called.
Bill stopped and turned to him. “Bill.”
“Bill. Thank you.”
Bill nodded. “Least I could do. Got some sins to work off.”
Memphis and Theta were kissing again, blind to everything around them.
“Come on,” Memphis said.
Memphis broke into the lighthouse, and he and Theta lay on the blanket they’d kept there for months. Theta had never tasted a kiss so sweet as the ones she shared now with Memphis. Suddenly, she pulled away. “What if I hurt you?”
Memphis grinned. “It’s a nice way to go.”
“I’m serious, Poet.”
“You won’t. I don’t think you can.” He held up his hands. “Healer.”
Memphis kissed Theta, and she kissed him back. His hands pressed against her back just where she wanted them. And the only warmth she felt was the pull of her desire for him. They lay on the floor of the lighthouse. The lighthouse’s shining orb gentled its beam across the sleeping river. As Memphis moved on top of her, Theta kept her eyes on his beautiful face, lost in shadow, then bathed in light, his joy so bright to see. She felt a new fire this time, one that raced through her body with pleasure.
She rested her spine against the soft skin of Memphis’s chest. He draped an arm across her, and the two of them lay pressed together like spoons in a cozy drawer.
“Roy will come for us, you know. He won’t stop,” Theta said quietly.
Memphis kissed the tender spot beneath her ear. “We’ll fight back.”
And Theta let herself be lulled by the idea that maybe, just maybe, they could win.
THE SECRET SIX
In the back of a borrowed dairy truck, Mabel shivered under a blanket and stared up at the moon. It was fat and beautiful, but that didn’t help them much tonight, when the Secret Six needed to stay hidden. Arthur cut the truck’s headlights and parked near the river. The Secret Six scrambled out and gathered behind the shelter of an eastern hemlock. In the distance, Mabel could see the miners’ tents like a dotting of flowers in the field. Arthur climbed up the tree to scout with his binoculars.
“The militiamen are off getting drunk on cheap moonshine just like the miners said they usually do about this time of night.” He climbed back down and brushed the needles from his peacoat. “We have to act before they get back. There are only two guards right now, both positioned by the front gate. Gloria, you’ll draw them out to the field so we can sneak in.”