hopefully.
'East of the Sun and West of the Moon,' she intoned.
'You're mean to me,' Marvin pouted.
'I didn't know what time it was,' she said. 'But I know what time it is now!' And so saying, she whirled and darted out the door.
Marvin watched her leave, then sat down at the bar. 'One for my baby, and one for the road' he told the bartender.
'A woman's a two-face,' the bartender commented sympathetically, pouring a drink.
'I got the mad-about-her-sad-without-her blues,' Marvin replied.
'A fellow needs a girl,' the bartender told him.
Marvin finished his drink and held out his glass. 'A pink cocktail for a blue lady,' he ordered.
'She may be weary,' the bartender suggested.
'I don't know why I love her like I do,' Marvin stated. 'But at least I do know why there's no sun up in the sky. In my solitude she haunts me like a tinkling piano in the next apartment. But I'll be around no matter how she treats me now. Maybe it was just one of those things; yet I'll remember April and her, and the evening breeze caressed the trees but not for me, and-'
There is no telling how long Marvin might have continued his lament had not a voice at the level of his ribs and two feet to his left whispered, 'Hey, meester.'
Marvin turned and saw a small, plump, raggedly dressed Celsian sitting on the next bar stool.
'What is it?' Marvin asked brusquely.
'You maybe want see thees muchacha so beautiful other time?'
'Yes, I do. But what can you-'
'I am private investigator tracer of lost persons satisfaction guaranteed or not one cent in tribute.'
'What kind of an accent have you got?' Marvin asked.
'Lambrobian,' the investigator said. 'My name is Juan Valdez and I come from the fiesta lands below the border to make my fortune here in big city of the Norte.'
'Sandback,' the bartender snarled.
'What thees theeng you call me?' the little Lombrobian said, with suspicious mildness.
'I called you a sandback, you lousy little sandback,' the bartender snarled.
'That ees what I thought,' said Valdez. He reached into his cummerbund, took out a long, double-edged knife, and drove it into the bartender's heart, killing him instantly.
'I am a mild man, senor,' he said to Marvin. 'I am not a man quickly to take offence. Indeed, in my home village of Montana Verde de los Tres Picos, I am considered a harmless man. I ask nothing more than to be allowed to cultivate my peyote buds in the high mountains of Lombrobia under the shade of that tree which we call "the sun hat", for these are the bes' peyote buds in all the world.'
'I can understand that,' Marvin said.
'Yet still,' Valdez said, more sternly, 'when an exploitator del norte insults me, and by implication, defames those who gave me birth and nurtured me – why then, senor, a blinding red mist descends over my field of vision and my knife springs to my hand unaided, and proceeds from there non-stop to the heart of the betrayer of the children of the poor.'
'It could happen to anyone,' Marvin said.
'And yet,' Valdez said, 'despite my keen sense of honour, I am essentially childlike, intuitive, and easygoing.'
'I had noticed that, as a matter of fact,' Marvin said.
'But yet. Enough of that. Now, you wish hire me investigation find girl? But of course. El buen pano en el arca se vende, verdad?'
'Si, hombre,' Marvin replied, laughing. 'Y el deseo vence al miedo!'
'Pues, adelante!' And arm in arm the two comrades marched out into the night of a thousand brilliant stars like the lance points of a mighty host.
Chapter 19
Once outside the restaurant, Valdez turned his moustached brown face to the heavens and located the constellation Invidius, which, in northern latitudes, points unerringly to the north-north-east. With this as a base line, he established cross-references, using the wind on his cheek (blowing west at five miles per hour), and the moss on the trees (growing on the northerly sides of decidupis trunks at one millimetre per diem). He allowed for a westerly error of one foot
'East of the Sun and West of the Moon,' she intoned.
'You're mean to me,' Marvin pouted.
'I didn't know what time it was,' she said. 'But I know what time it is now!' And so saying, she whirled and darted out the door.
Marvin watched her leave, then sat down at the bar. 'One for my baby, and one for the road' he told the bartender.
'A woman's a two-face,' the bartender commented sympathetically, pouring a drink.
'I got the mad-about-her-sad-without-her blues,' Marvin replied.
'A fellow needs a girl,' the bartender told him.
Marvin finished his drink and held out his glass. 'A pink cocktail for a blue lady,' he ordered.
'She may be weary,' the bartender suggested.
'I don't know why I love her like I do,' Marvin stated. 'But at least I do know why there's no sun up in the sky. In my solitude she haunts me like a tinkling piano in the next apartment. But I'll be around no matter how she treats me now. Maybe it was just one of those things; yet I'll remember April and her, and the evening breeze caressed the trees but not for me, and-'
There is no telling how long Marvin might have continued his lament had not a voice at the level of his ribs and two feet to his left whispered, 'Hey, meester.'
Marvin turned and saw a small, plump, raggedly dressed Celsian sitting on the next bar stool.
'What is it?' Marvin asked brusquely.
'You maybe want see thees muchacha so beautiful other time?'
'Yes, I do. But what can you-'
'I am private investigator tracer of lost persons satisfaction guaranteed or not one cent in tribute.'
'What kind of an accent have you got?' Marvin asked.
'Lambrobian,' the investigator said. 'My name is Juan Valdez and I come from the fiesta lands below the border to make my fortune here in big city of the Norte.'
'Sandback,' the bartender snarled.
'What thees theeng you call me?' the little Lombrobian said, with suspicious mildness.
'I called you a sandback, you lousy little sandback,' the bartender snarled.
'That ees what I thought,' said Valdez. He reached into his cummerbund, took out a long, double-edged knife, and drove it into the bartender's heart, killing him instantly.
'I am a mild man, senor,' he said to Marvin. 'I am not a man quickly to take offence. Indeed, in my home village of Montana Verde de los Tres Picos, I am considered a harmless man. I ask nothing more than to be allowed to cultivate my peyote buds in the high mountains of Lombrobia under the shade of that tree which we call "the sun hat", for these are the bes' peyote buds in all the world.'
'I can understand that,' Marvin said.
'Yet still,' Valdez said, more sternly, 'when an exploitator del norte insults me, and by implication, defames those who gave me birth and nurtured me – why then, senor, a blinding red mist descends over my field of vision and my knife springs to my hand unaided, and proceeds from there non-stop to the heart of the betrayer of the children of the poor.'
'It could happen to anyone,' Marvin said.
'And yet,' Valdez said, 'despite my keen sense of honour, I am essentially childlike, intuitive, and easygoing.'
'I had noticed that, as a matter of fact,' Marvin said.
'But yet. Enough of that. Now, you wish hire me investigation find girl? But of course. El buen pano en el arca se vende, verdad?'
'Si, hombre,' Marvin replied, laughing. 'Y el deseo vence al miedo!'
'Pues, adelante!' And arm in arm the two comrades marched out into the night of a thousand brilliant stars like the lance points of a mighty host.
Chapter 19
Once outside the restaurant, Valdez turned his moustached brown face to the heavens and located the constellation Invidius, which, in northern latitudes, points unerringly to the north-north-east. With this as a base line, he established cross-references, using the wind on his cheek (blowing west at five miles per hour), and the moss on the trees (growing on the northerly sides of decidupis trunks at one millimetre per diem). He allowed for a westerly error of one foot
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