"And we have your statement, ma'am," the policeman said in a tired voice without turning around. He rolled his eyes at his companion.
No one came forward. The crowd began to thin. Ba hesitated, unsure of what to do. Two rotted corpses… at least he was now sure that the Doctor had not been in one of those body bags. He should leave and continue the search, he knew, but something held him here.
That old woman on the stoop. He wanted to speak to her.
Alan walked up a ramp toward a highway. Cars rushed by him; the sheetlike cascades of dirty water from their tires added to the downpour, leaving not a dry spot on his body. He barely noticed. He did not know the name of the highway but sensed that it traveled in the right direction.
He reached the main span of the road and continued walking. Lightning blanched the dark sky and thunder drowned out the rumble of the cars and trucks speeding by. Wind lashed the rain into his eyes. He walked on, faster now, a sense of urgency lighting inside him. He was late, behind schedule. If he didn't hurry, he'd arrive too late for Jeffy.
Without thinking, he turned and began walking backwards. Of its own accord, almost as if by reflex, his arm thrust out toward the traffic, his thumb pointing toward his destination.
It was at a point in the road where the water was particularly deep and the cars had to slow to a crawl to pass through, that a car pulled to a stop beside him and the passenger door flew open.
"Boy, do you look like you could use a lift!" said a voice from within.
Alan got into the car and pulled the door closed after him.
"Where y' going?" said the plump man in the driver's seat. Alan said, "Jeffy."
Finally, the crowd, the ambulance, and the police cars were all gone. Only Ba and the old woman on the stoop remained, he in the rainy darkness, she in the pool of light under the overhang on her front stoop.
Ba walked over and stood at the bottom of the steps.
"What did you see?"
She gasped as she looked down at him. "Who the hell are you?"
"Someone who has seen strange things in his lifetime. What did you see?"
"I told the police."
"Tell me."
She sighed, looked over to the opening of the alley beside the building, and began to speak.
"I was watching the storm. Sitting at my window, watching the storm. I always sit at my window, rain or shine. Not much going on outside most of the time, but it's sure a helluva lot more than's going on inside. So I was sitting there, watching the lightning, when I seen this guy come walking down the alley, walking kind of funny, like he'd hurt his leg or something. And he's walking in the rain like he don't know it's raining. I figure he's on drugs, which means he's right at home around here."
"Excuse me," Ba said, his interest aroused now. "But what did this man look like?"
"Maybe forty. Brown hair, blue pants, and a light blue shirt. Why? You know him?"
Ba nodded. That described the Doctor perfectly. "I'm looking for him."
"Well, you better hope you don't find him! You should have seen what happened to those two bums, God rest their souls"—she crossed herself—"when they tried to rob him! He grabbed them and they went into fits and died and rotted, all in a few minutes! You've never seen anything like ft! And neither have I until today!"
Ba said nothing, only stared at her, stunned.
"You think I'm crazy, too, dontcha? You and those cops. Well, go ahead. Think what you want. I saw what I saw."
"Did you see which way he went?" Ba said, as he found his voice again.
"No, I—" was all he heard, for she flinched as a particularly bright bolt of lightning cut through the rain and gloom, and whatever else she might have said was lost in the thunderclap that followed on its heels. She turned and opened the door to the building.
"I didn't hear you!" Ba called.
"I said I didn't want to see."
Ba hurried back to his car. As he sped along the streets, looking for a phone, his mind raced in time with the engine.
What was happening? First the senator, now these two men. Was the Dat-tay-vao turning evil? Or were these examples of what was meant by that line from the song: "If you value your well-being/Impede not its way"?
Perhaps Chac had been wise after all not to prevent the Doctor from leaving. He might have ended as a rotted corpse.
Ba was no longer searching for the Doctor. That could wait. Before he did anything else, he had to find a phone. The Missus had to be warned. If the Doctor made it to Toad Hall, the Missus might try to keep him from Jeffy, thinking it was for the Doctor's own good.
His mind turned away from what might happen.
He came to a light at a main thoroughfare, but couldn't find a sign to tell him its name. He saw a Shell station half a block to his left and headed for it. Fortunately, the pay phone there hadn't been vandalized and he called Toad Hall.
A recorded voice came on the line: "We are sorry, but your call did not go through. Please hang up and dial again."
Ba did, and received the same message. A third try with the same result left one conclusion: The lines were down again in Monroe.
Ba asked the station attendant the quickest route to the Long Island Expressway and then sped off, his mind consumed with a vision of the Missus withering and rotting under the Doctor's hand as she tried to stop him.
A glance at the dashboard clock showed 8:15. Plenty of time. Still he hurried, weaving through the traffic, dodging the potholes. A sign pointed straight ahead for the L.I.E./ 495. The red light ahead turned green so he accelerated.
And then he saw the delivery truck careen into the intersection as it ran its red light. Ba all but stood on the brakes. As the Pacer went into a spin on the wet pavement, he saw the driver's wide eyes and shocked, open mouth, saw the name IMBESI BROS. in big yellow letters on its side, and then the world disappeared.
"Sure this is where you want to get out?"
Alan nodded. He had remembered his own name—at least his first name—and recognized some of his surroundings. The sign had said, exit 39—glen cove rd. The car was stopped under the overpass, out of the rain. He knew that Jeffy was directly off to his left, due north of here. The driver was heading farther east.
"Yes."
The driver glanced around at the narrow shoulder of the road. "This is where this Jeffy is gonna meet you?"
"Not far," Alan said as he opened the door and stepped out into the rain.
"It's eight-forty-five now. What time they comin'?"
"Soon."
"You're gonna catch pneumonia soon."
Alan said, "Jeffy."
"Just remember me the next time you're driving along and see someone soaked and walking in the rain."
"Yes," Alan said and closed the door.
After the car had sped off, Alan struggled up the embankment to the road above and turned north.
It wasn't far now. He was tired, but he knew that once he reached Jeffy he would be able to take a long, long rest.
Where was Ba?
Sylvia paced the library, dark but for the glow of a few candles placed here and there around the room. The power was out, the phones were out, and the tide was coming in. Quarter to ten now. An hour to high tide.
An involuntary yelp of fright escaped Sylvia as a jab of white-hot lightning lit the room and thunder rattled Toad Hall on its foundations.
Would this storm never stop?
Futile as it was to rail at nature, Sylvia took comfort in the gesture. It vented her tension. And it was better than thinking about the decision facing her.
If Ba had found Alan and was keeping him away until the hour of the Dat-tay-vao had passed, then she was home free. But if Alan was still on his way here…