Chapter 15

As he and Dawn took their leave of Marigold, Thule shook his head to himself, drew a cigarette out of his pack, and lit it. There was a small risk a teacher would make him extinguish it, but he decided to chance it. Now that he was smoking again, he found that it helped him think.

"Can I get one of those?" Dawn asked.

Thule looked at her suspiciously. He had a feeling Dawn and Marigold were in some sort of cahoots now, but wasn't sure over what. There were too many meaningful looks between them, too many unspoken messages. Not having the cipher, he didn't know what the messages were saying. But, there were definitely cahoots going on.

He offered her the pack of cigarettes, "You smoke?"

"Almost never," said Dawn, turning around and drawing one out without slowing her pace. "Just when I want to look cool."

Thule lit the cigarette for her without slowing his pace, "Very cost-effective."

Dawn, kept walking backwards, "So, if Marigold isn't coming, do I get promoted to the front seat?"

"It's a brevet promotion only," said Thule. "And, I don't have a bag for you to wear. So, try to stay ducked down."

"A what?" asked Dawn.

"A bag," said Thule. "A soft receptacle for carrying items in. Most commonly made of paper, plastic, or cloth. In this case, I was thinking plastic would be unnecessarily cruel..."

"I know what a bag is," said Dawn, still backpedaling. "What's a brevet promotion?"

"A promotion in name only," said Thule, "often done in the heat of battle for the purpose of maintaining the chain of command and rescinded after the battle is over. For instance, a sergeant can be made into a brevet lieutenant if the lieutenant over him is killed. But, since non-commissioned officers are generally not being groomed to become commissioned officers... I'm giving too much information, aren't I?"

Dawn shook her head. Still walking backwards, she sidestepped to avoid a chain link fence, "Not at all. I love information I'll probably never have any use for. Don't you?"

Thule laughed, "Actually, I do. And, while I'm not sure whether you are humoring me or mocking me, I'm going to pretend that you're humoring me and thank you for it."

Dawn wrinkled her nose, "Neither, actually. I really do collect facts that I never know when I'm going to need. For instance, did you know that the goldfish's memory is only eight seconds long?"

"No," said Thule, "I didn't. What conceivable use would you have for that fact, though?"

"Well," said Dawn, "I wouldn't lay awake worrying my goldfish were mad at me... if I had a goldfish. What do you need to know about brevet promotions for? You're not planning on going into the military, are you?"

"Well, no," said Thule, "but you never know when I might need to raise an army. I'd hate to lose a battle based on a syntactical error."

"So," asked Dawn, spinning around as she reached the top of the steep cement staircase that led down the side of the gym to the senior parking lot. "What were you going to say about brevets?"

"First," asked Thule, "how the hell did you do that?"

"Do what?" asked Dawn.

"Walk backwards all the way from the side steps to the parking lot steps and not fall on your pretty, little ass?"

"You think I have a pretty, little ass?" Dawn asked.

Thule shook his head, "It's a figure of speech that actually means, 'enormous, hideously deformed ass.' Now, how did you do it?"

Dawn stopped at the passenger door of Thule's car and shrugged, "I've walked from the school to the gym probably fifteen hundred times. I know the way. Plus, I watched your face. Whenever you looked like you were about to dive to my rescue, I know I had to be close to the next obstacle."

"What if I just chose not to rescue you?" said Thule.

"Not in your nature," said Dawn, "You see a damsel in distress, you have to rescue her."

Thule got into the car, opening the passenger-side door for Dawn. Once she'd bounced into the car, he said, "So, you know my nature, huh?"

"At least that part of it," said Dawn, "You only radiate it like a freaking lighthouse." She looked around herself, "I like my brevet. So, what's my new rank?"

Thule started the car, "Brevet Front Seat Rider, First Class?"

"Too wordy," said Dawn, "How about Brevet Girlfriend?"

"Definitely not," said Thule emphatically, "Now, stop flirting with me. I'm trying to drive."

"Okay," said Dawn. "Can I flirt with you some more when we get to a stop light?"

Thule rolled his eyes at her and scowled.

"See?" asked Dawn. "This speaks to the point I was making. It's like when you see those guards outside Buckingham Palace with the big, fluffy hats..."

"Beefeaters," supplied Thule.

"The guards or the hats?" asked Dawn.

"The guards," said Thule, "The hat is called a Tudor bonnet."

Dawn glanced sideways at Thule, but continued, "As I was saying, it's like when you see those Beefeaters standing guard outside of Buckingham Palace. You want to see if you can rattle them. So, you make silly faces or say rude things about the queen, just to see if you can get a rise. You remind me of them."

"I look like a red Q-Tip with a black top?" asked Thule.

"No," said Dawn. "You're like, completely incorruptable. Like the FBI or Batman."

Thule laughed, "And you think you know my nature."

"Well," admitted Dawn, "maybe not completely. But, you're an honorable guy. I'm always crushing on honorable guys and straight girls. It's probably avoidance syndrome or something."

Thule gazed out of the windshield, focusing on his driving. He didn't answer. Dawn watched him, the smile softening on her face.

"Hey," said Dawn, her voice comforting. "It's okay. I crush on lots of people. I'll get over it."

Thule laughed hollowly, "Actually, I was just thinking about how wrong you might be on the honorable thing."

Dawn's face was earnest, "Don't judge yourself too harshly, Thule. I've been watching you. You've got the tortured 'Dark Knight' thing going. But, you're still one of the good guys and, ultimately, you'll do the right thing, even if you have to walk through fire to do it. If you don't, it's going to totally wreck my image of humanity and I'm sending you the bill for my psychotherapy."

"All right," said Thule, "I promise. No turning evil in the third act. But, answer me this. How do you know about the Dark Knight stuff? Weren't you a cheerleader a couple of weeks ago?"

"Reserve cheerleader," said Dawn, "with an occasional brevet to full cheerleader. But, Brianne was right about me. I really do feel much more at home among the gearheads and the geeks. Blame my big brothers for that."

"You have brothers?" asked Thule.

"Three of them," said Dawn, "All in their late twenties and early thirties. Grease monkeys and science types, all of em. Practically every conversation I heard growing up involved cars or Star Trek or Star Wars or Spiderman or, even occasionally, girls. Now, I have at least a passing interest in all of those things."

"So," asked Thule. "What's the deal with you and June Kane?"

"What deal?" asked Dawn too casually.

"Well," said Thule, "she's supposed to be Brianne's closest friend, but Brianne hates you and yet I see you two chatting, all friendly-like, at the fountain on Sunday. Then, again today, I saw you two walking together, talking. But, as soon as she realized I saw you, she kept on walking, pretending as if you weren't even talking to each other."

Dawn shook her head as if to deny Thule's observation.

"So," said Thule, not really making it a question. "She's your girlfriend. Right?"

Dawn's face paled a little, "Let me get this straight. You were running at full speed, preparing to punch Elliot in the head, and you noticed who I was talking to?"

"Force of habit," said Thule, "I also noticed that, when you stumbled away, she was afraid to touch you. I suspect it was because someone might see."

"You couldn't have seen that," said Dawn. "You were in the damned fountain."

"No," said Thule, "but you did. And you just confirmed what I suspected happened."

Dawn slapped Thule on the shoulder, "That was a sneaky, underhanded way of getting the information. Why didn't you just ask?"

"Because," said Thule, lighting another cigarette. "If you knew I wanted it, you might have wondered why and lied to me."

Dawn made an outraged noise. Thule said, "And you thought I was honorable. You might as well start therapy now."

"You didn't have to do that," said Dawn. "I wouldn't lie to you. Ask me anything."

Thule chuckled, "Have you got a crush on Marigold?"

"No," said Dawn indignantly.

"See?" asked Thule, "Without even thinking, you can lie to me."

"I don't," said Dawn, her voice rising.

"Dawn," said Thule patiently, "I spotted the body language at the fountain, well enough to guess what happened next. Are you going to tell me I can't read it when I'm standing still and it's right in front of my face?"

Dawn lowered her head, hiding her face behind her bangs, "Are you mad?"

Thule laughed, "Not at all. I commend you on your good taste. I only asked because it was the first question that popped into my head that you'd lie to me about if I asked."

"That's the only reason?" asked Dawn, "Or are you harboring some deep fantasy about me and her getting all hot and heavy?"

"Well, I hadn't," said Thule, laughing. "But, I imagine that I will now."

"Like I said," answered Dawn, "Honorable guys and straight girls. Story of my life."

Thule considered telling Dawn she wasn't entirely right about him or Marigold, but decided that Marigold's secrets were her own to keep or share. Instead, he changed the subject, "So, have you thought about what kind of phone you wanted to get?"

"Whatever kind works," said Dawn. "You don't need to... Wait a second. You changed the subject awfully quickly. Marigold is straight, isn't she?"

Thule shrugged, "You would have to ask her that."

"Funny," said Dawn, "because she told me about this one time..." Her voice got a dreamy, faraway quality.

"Nice try, Robin," said Thule.

"You know," said Dawn as Thule pulled into the parking lot of the strip mall they were headed for, "If I ask Marigold that question, she might want to know why I'm asking."

Thule nodded, unbuckling his seatbelt, "She might at that." Before Dawn could say anything else, he was out of the car.

-=-

Thule bought himself a just-below-the-top-of-the-line phone and would have bought one for Dawn too. But, she insisted on a much less expensive model, claiming that the one Thule had selected was too complex and she would never be able to learn how to use it.

When the salesman handed them the phones, he said, "You're all set now. These will be activated within the next four hours. If they're not, call me here and I'll take care of it."

Thule nodded, taking the phone and sliding it into his shirt pocket where the other one had been. He found the weight oddly comforting, even if the new phone weighed about a third of what the old one had.

Checking his watch, he said, "We've got another couple of hours before Marigold is ready to be picked up. Do you want me to drop you off at home or would you rather hang out?"

Dawn shrugged emphatically, hands in her pockets, "We can hang out." Indicating one of the other shops in the strip mall with a nod of her head, she said, "I'll buy you ice cream. I can afford that at least."

"Thanks," said Thule. "But, I'm not much of an ice cream guy."

"Suit yourself," said Dawn. "Do you mind if I get some?"

"Go right ahead," said Thule. "Watching you eat it is all the reward I need."

"Evil, evil boy," said Dawn, smacking him on the shoulder again before bouncing away to the ice cream shop. Thule went and sat down on one of the big cement cube benches. The things were provided by a subsidiary of Vandevoort Industries and all over the area, just another sign of the pervasiveness of their influence. Dawn came bounding back, a little more cautiously, with a scoop of strawberry ice cream in a cup. She sat down next to Thule.

"Aww," said Thule. "A cup. That's no fun to watch."

Dawn grinned mischievously, then dug her spoon into the dish, drew it out, held the spoon upside down in front of her face, snaked her tongue out at it and, closing her eyes, began to lick it gently with just the tip of her tongue. As Thule sat, transfixed, she licked around the edge of the ice cream in a circle, teasing little bits away until it began to slide down the spoon. Then, she moved her tongue quickly up to the tip of the spoon, catching the dropping ice cream and sucking it into her mouth.

Smiling at Thule, Dawn swung her feet up onto the seat, resting her back against his shoulder, "Get comfortable," she said, "This may take a while."

Thule sighed, "You're incorrigible."

Dawn laughed, wiggling her shoulders so that Thule moved his arm out of her way and she could lean more against him, "And you're incorruptible. I'd say we make a great pair."

"You know," said Thule after Dawn had begun eating her ice cream normally, "If you touch the Beefeaters, they're allowed to crack you one."

"So, Thule," asked Dawn, spooning out more ice cream. "You want to take a swing at me?"

"Not particularly," said Thule. "No."

"Good," said Dawn, "because I don't think I particularly like the rough stuff. Of course, I might have to try it to be sure."

"So," said Thule. "You managed to skillfully avoid my question about June Kane."

"Yes, I did, didn't I?" Dawn stuck the spoonful of ice cream into her mouth.

Thule frowned, "I don't trust her."

"Quite honestly," Dawn shrugged, "I don't trust her either. But, no relationship is perfect."

"It doesn't bother you?" Thule asked.

Dawn stood up, walked away a bit to throw away her ice cream cup, and came back. Still standing, she said, "Of course it bothers me. But, I have to spend another year at this school after you and Marigold ride off into the sunset. Brianne is grooming June to be queen bitch. She can protect me and, if I'm in good enough with her, she probably will. Besides, she's the only girl I've ever wanted who wanted me back."

Thule nodded. He was about to say something else, but his phone chirped. He glanced at the display, and saw that the voice mail icon was active.

"That was quick," he said as he retrieved his messages. In less than twenty-four hours, he'd acquired a half-dozen messages. Taking out his PDA, he made notes from each message.

When he got to the one from Marigold, he stopped writing. Once the message was finished, he turned to Dawn, "Marigold just left me a really weird message. We'd better get going."

"Is she in trouble?" asked Dawn.

"I don't know," said Thule, already walking towards the car. "But, we'd better get moving, just in case."

Dawn was already trotting past him, "Should we call her back?"

Thule shook his head, "I can't. She didn't leave a number and the only place I had it was in my other phone."

-=-

Thule wasn't tired anymore. He was too busy weaving in and out of traffic in order to maintain a constant speed.

"Doesn't this pile of rust go any faster?" Dawn urged.

"Yes," said Thule, "a lot faster actually, but I'm already going seventy. I'm not going to do Marigold any good if I get pulled over and have to wait for a cop to write me a ticket."

As if by magical summoning, a police car pulled out from behind a copse of trees on the median just as they crossed the town line, sirens blaring, red and blue flashers going.

"Fuck," shouted Thule, slamming his hands on his steering wheel, "Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" Looking over his shoulder to confirm that the cop couldn't be after anyone other than him, he slowed down and pulled over.

As they sat there, waiting for the officer to approach, Dawn said, "Shit! Do you want me to flirt with him or something?" Even as she was speaking, she was unbuttoning her shirt, revealing a white racerback sports bra underneath.

Thule sighed, "If you think it will help. But, don't go overboard."

Dawn nodded. Pulling down her visor, she reapplied her light pink lipstick and fluffed up her hair to look a little bit wilder. As the cop car door opened, she asked, "How do I look?"

"Well," said Thule, "I would soft sell it from this point on or the cop may insist I leave you here with him."

Dawn licked her lips, "Okay."

As the officer approached his car, Thule felt a surge of hope. Even without the blue uniform, there was only one person that size in Mannsborough. He folded down and bent over to look into the car window, "Thule, I didn't know it was you."

"Oh, heya, Vladi," said Thule. "Good to see you again. Sorry about blowing past you back there, but..."

Vladi waved him off, "Don't worry about it. Just be careful. You were speeding in Vonsburgh. They don't know you there yet." Crouching down a little, he looked across at Dawn, "Oh, Jeez. I didn't realize you had company."

"Well," said Thule, "now you can see that I do." Vladi seemed to be waiting for something else, so he added, "I'll be sure to mention to Ivan what a good job you boys are doing out here."

Vladi touched the tip of his cap, "Much appreciated. Drive safely." Then, he stood up and walked back to his car. When Thule pulled away, he spun his tires, spraying gravel on the squad car behind him.

"Well," said Dawn, "that was a lucky break. I guess it's good to have friends on the force."

"Randy's friend, not mine," said Thule. "Before yesterday, I hadn't seen Vladi since I was a freshman and he threw me down the stairs by the parking lot because he thought it would be funny."

"Damn, Thule," said Dawn. "What have you got on Randy Vandevoort that his friends show you that kind of respect?"

"Quite a lot, actually," said Thule. "But, that's not why any of this is happening. Randy wants to be my ally because he assumes I'm playing Marigold for a sap so I can get to Jonas's money."

"Really?" asked Dawn, her eyes narrowing. "Are you?"

"Of course not," said Thule, "but, I'm content letting him think that. It's why my star has been rising so fast lately."

"But, you're not really friends with Randy?" asked Dawn.

"Could an honorable man be?" asked Thule.

"No," said Dawn, "I suppose not. But, you have to admit that it is pretty confusing."

"I know," said Thule, "and I'll explain more of it to you soon. But right now..."

Dawn filled in for him, "More rescuing. Less talking."

Thule nodded. Even with the stop, he still got to the newspaper office in thirty five minutes by applying a lead foot the rest of the way. Because it was closest, he pulled into teacher parking lot.

Thule took the stairs three at a time, leaving Dawn behind. As he burst into the office, he saw that Brianne, Ian, and Marigold were alone in the office. Marigold was sitting at her desk, the other two standing over the desk, leaning in.

"I hope it's okay that I came early," Thule said loudly, trying to hide the fact that he was catching his breath. "We got finished early in Vonsburgh. I thought we might be able to help."

Brianne and Ian jumped back guiltily at the sound of Thule's voice. Thule asked, "Did I interrupt something?"

"No," said Brianne. "We were just conferring on the physical layout."

Dawn came in behind Thule, keeping him body between her and the three people in the room so that no one could see her chest heaving with the effort of running up the stairs. Marigold's eyes were flooded with relief when she said, "Well, I'm glad you two are here. I don't want this to take all night. Thule, could you copyedit the galleys that are done? And Dawn, if you could do paste up on these," she crossed the room and handed Dawn a pile of letter-sized papers, "we should be done in no time."

For the next twenty minutes, Thule and Dawn and Brianne and Ian worked side by side in more or less complete silence. Finally, Brianne said, "Thule, did you talk to Ioke about the tutoring yet?"

Thule cursed inwardly, but said calmly, "No. Thanks for reminding me." He pulled out his wallet, "Here's a card with my cell phone number on it. Have her call me and we'll set up a time."

"Oh," said Marigold, a little too casually, not looking up from the light table, "what are you tutoring Ioke in?"

"Math," said Brianne, looking at Thule and licking her lips, "He offered to help me with my math, too. Hey, Thule, maybe you could do me and Ioke together." Marigold looked up sharply.

"Well," said Thule, deliberately missing the double entendre, "you two are at different levels. The subject matter would be completely different."

Based on the triumphant, self-satisfied smile on Brianne face, Thule thought that he must have kept up the double entendre somehow, but couldn't figure out how. But she said, "It's true. I am much more advanced."

The lascivious tone of Brianne's voice was so strong that Ian finally caught it. He looked up from the articles he was trimming and stared directly at Thule with anger flashing in his eyes.

Thule just smiled at him, though, "Of course," he said, "you and Brianne should be on the same level. Maybe I could help the two of you with your math at the same time." Then, to make sure the football player didn't miss his meaning, he put a hand on Ian's arm and glanced down at the quarterback's package. Ian and Brianne were so shocked that they didn't see Marigold cover her mouth to keep from laughing.

"Yeah, uh," said Ian slowly. "That might be all right."

"Good," Thule smiled, glanced down again, and went back to work.

Ten minutes later, Brianne said, "Oh, Marigold, honey, I forgot. There's something Ian and I have to do tonight. Can you three finish up without us?"

"Well," said Marigold, looking up from her computer and pushing hair out of her eyes, "I suppose we could, although it would be faster if you two were here."

"Sorry," shrugged Brianne. As she was going out the door, she turned, "Why, Dawn, you're looking rather naked today."

Dawn, who was still dressed in blue jeans and sports bra, said, "Thank you, Brianne. I was hoping you would notice."

Brianne didn't harumph as she turned to leave, but she clearly wanted to. Ian gave Thule an inquisitive look at he left, but Thule's features were cautiously blank. After they had left, Marigold leapt up from her desk, ran to the office door, closed, and locked it. Then, she ran over to Thule, throwing herself into his arms, laying her head on his solar plexus.

"Oof," said Thule.

"I'm so glad you showed up when you did," said Marigold. She reached up, grasped the back of Thule's head, and drew him down into a passionate kiss. Thule braced the back of her head with one hand, wiping away her single tear with his thumb. When he pulled away, he asked, "What happened."

"Nothing," said Marigold, "and I was starting to feel stupid for having called you. But, they were clearly up to something. They kept getting closer and increasingly cryptic in their comments, like they had some inside joke they weren't telling me about. I think you got here just on time."

Thule nodded, "Be very careful in this office in the future. It's too isolated. Anything could happen here."

Marigold looked up at him and started giggling. Thule chuckled. Soon, they were both guffawing. Dawn looked at them like they'd both gone insane.

Still hugging Thule, Marigold turned to Dawn, "Why are you so naked anyway?"

"I got stopped for speeding on the way over here..." began Thule.

"... and, I was going to flash him if I thought it would help get Thule here sooner," said Dawn.

"You were?" asked Thule, "I thought I said 'Don't overdo it.'"

"I didn't say it was the most subtle approach," said Dawn, "but as a last-ditch effort."

Marigold, seemingly overcome, unwrapped one arm from around Thule and waved Dawn over. Dawn came over and Marigold pulled her into the hug, pinning her between Thule and herself so that Thule was standing behind Dawn and Marigold was facing them both. Then, she hugged them both fiercely.

"You two are the best," Marigold said, tears welling up in her eyes. "I'd never make it without you."

Thule tried to stand as still as possible and think of baseball. When he was sure he could speak evenly, he said, "We should get this paper done."

Marigold nodded and released them. Dawn turned around and hugged Thule directly. A half foot taller than Marigold, her head fit comfortably under his chin. To Marigold she said, "It's not every day you get to hug a knight in shining armor."

"Actually," said Marigold, smiling, "it is."

"Well, okay," said Dawn, "It's not everyday I get to hug a knight in shining armor."

Marigold gave a dismissive wave, "Hug him whenever you want. In spite of the shining armor, he's like a big teddy bear."

Dawn gave Thule another squeeze, "I was just noticing that," she said. When she released him, she had a look on her face that hovered between mischievous and evil.

An hour later, when they'd finally gotten the galley proofs printed, proofed, and dummied up, Thule sat on the faded gray couch nearest the door. Marigold came and flopped down next to him. Dawn sat on the nearest desk, facing them.

"Now," said Marigold, "all we need to do is run those over to the printer and we're done."

"When do they close?" asked Thule.

"Not until ten," said Marigold, "We've got two and a half hours to spare."

Thule relaxed. Editing and doing actual mechanical cutting and pasting was strenuous because it was so detailed. His shoulders ached with the effort of keeping his hands steady while cutting articles from their printouts. Marigold said, "Now that that's done, I was wondering if you could explain something to me, Thule?"

"Yes, love of my life?" said Thule.

"Did I or did I not see you come on to Brianne and Ian earlier?"

"Yeah," said Dawn, "I noticed that, too."

Thule nodded, "Yup. I figure that Brianne is still pissed at both of you and, in her mind, what better way of getting back at both of you and taking a shot at Randy at the same time than by sleeping with me? As long as she thinks she's got a shot at it, she's very friendly to me. Since she and Ian are plotting something against you, I need to move against them soon. If I can play them off of each other, I have a better chance of driving a wedge between them."

"But, sleeping with them?" said Marigold. "There's got to be an easier way."

Thule nodded, "I have no intention of sleeping with either of them. If I can break them up, particularly with what I have in mind, it will be entirely reasonable of me to want to put as much distance between us as possible."

Dawn said, "Oo. What have you got planned? This I've got to hear."

"Leave me some surprises," said Thule, "Within a week, you should see."

-=-

When they got to his car, Thule saw a yellow slip of paper under his windshield wiper, "Shit," he said, pulling it off.

"What is it?" asked Marigold as she got in her side.

"Un-fucking-believable," said Thule, "I can probably get away with murder in this town, but I can't get away with parking in the teachers' parking lot. I've got detention tomorrow."

For some reason, Marigold and Dawn found that hysterically funny. Once they started giggling, they fed off of each other until tears were leaking out of the corners of their eyes. Thule didn't understand why they found it so funny.

"Listen," said Thule when he was reasonably sure the paroxysms had died down, "Today actually illustrates a point I needed to make. Now that things are heating up, you two should never be alone, particularly at school. As long as you're in class or busy hallways, you should be okay. If you have to go anywhere else, find each other. Or, find me. In an emergency, find Oksana or one of the guys with the crew cuts we eat lunch with. But, use the buddy system. Remember, if you're not with her, she might be alone and that's not acceptable. Always keep your phones with you. If you get the slightest whiff of danger, call me. I'd rather go to a hundred false alarms than miss one real emergency."

"Wow," said Dawn, "you're really demanding. Is he always this demanding?"

Marigold smiled, "Pretty much. It's the basis of our relationship. He tells me what to do and I do it."

Dawn looked back and forth between them. Thule kept his eyes on the road. Marigold was still grinning from the gigglefest that she and Dawn had just finished. Finally, Dawn said, "You're kidding, right?"

"No," said Marigold, "He gives me orders and I imagine that he's going to do something really awful to me if I don't follow them."

Dawn sat up straighter in the back seat, "You're serious, aren't you?"

Marigold nodded.

"That's so..." Dawn seemed to be searching for a word, "un-PC."

Thule hadn't realized he was holding his breath until he let it go. He said, "I've never been much for PC."