This time Jase smiled at Luis. Then he said, “I'm good, Matthias. Not right now.”
The last thing Luis needed to worry about now was Jase taking up smoking again. He'd lose his mind for sure if that happened. His life was smoke-free and he wasn't about to pollute it because Jase had lost his memory.
“Hey,” Beth Anne said. “Look over there.” She pointed to the sidewalk, not far from where they'd parked. “There's a little girl on the corner. Let's go over and see if she knows where this fucking compound place is.”
Matthias stepped on his cigarette and said, “Luis and I will go. You stay here. We don't want to frighten her.”
Beth Anne sat back in a huff. “How would I frighten her?”
Everyone else looked in different directions, including Blaze.
Luis wondered how he'd gotten roped into going again with Matthias. Had he forgotten to mention to Matthias that he'd never been considered the bravest soul in the world? If anything, Luis had always avoided confrontation. He still had nightmares about the bear that had almost attacked him in Alaska last summer. Though he'd been to his share of psychics and he found the supernatural fascinating, he'd never been the type who would walk down the dark basement stairs to see where the unusual sounds were coming from. He'd call the cops, then run out of the house and down the road as fast as he could. Luis cared more about fashion, fine food, and good shoes. If there was a choice between a horror film and a tender romance, Luis would take the romance all the time. In fact, he craved happy endings so much he'd literally buried himself in Elena's romantic blog for the past seven years of his life.
But he followed Matthias anyway, almost running across the street trying to keep up with his large strides. At one point, he said, “Slow down, will you? She's not going anywhere and we're going to scare the poor little thing to death.”
Luis was right. The little girl remained on the corner, holding something square and flat in her hands. Her head remained pointed down to the sidewalk. She didn't even flinch when they walked up to her and Matthias said, “Hey, look who we have here.” He used his friendliest, upbeat voice. Almost too upbeat and fake for Luis's taste. Luis had never believed in talking down to children. He'd always spoken to his son, Hunter, as if speaking to an adult.
The little girl wore a faded pale cream dress with darker cream lace trim that was frayed at the edges. It looked so old that if Luis were to touch it the lace might crumble between his fingers. She had white anklet socks turned down once and scuffed-up black Mary Janes. The dress was long, four or five inches below her knees, and her blond hair had old-fashioned finger waves with a pink plastic barrette on the side where it was parted. Luis had seen what the little girls in Hunter's kindergarten class wore and they looked nothing like this kid. She reminded Luis of a character in an old 1930s movie.
“We were wondering if you could help us out,” Matthias said, looking down at the little girl.
But she ignored them, with her eyes fixed on her shoes now.
“I think she's deaf,” Luis said. “I don't think she can hear a word you're saying.”
Then Luis gently reached for her shoulder and crouched down so he could look her in the eyes. She didn't jerk sideways or jump back. Her head moved slowly and she turned a blank gaze on Luis. When Luis saw she only had one blue eye and the other was just a blank white eyeball, he refrained from making any sudden movements. He pressed his palm to his chest and asked, “We were wondering if you can help us. Do you read lips?” He moved his mouth slowly.
She nodded. He didn't think she could speak. But at least she could see with one eye.
Luis sent her a warm smile. “We're visiting your nice little town and we're looking for a place called the Glatenfrissle compound. Have you ever heard of it?”
Her expression remained vacant. But she nodded and lifted the square flat thing she was holding in her hands. It looked like some kind of a small blackboard with a string and a piece of chalk attached to the end of the string.
Luis tapped the blackboard and said, “Can you tell us where the compound is? We'd be very grateful to you if you can write it down.”
When the little girl lifted the black board and chalk and started to write, Luis noticed she only had three fingers and thumbs on each hand. A chill passed through Luis's body. As she wrote something on the blackboard, he looked up at Matthias and said, “She's the sweetest little thing I've ever seen. If she doesn't know, I'm not going to pressure her. She's just a baby, no more than six years old.”
Matthias smiled and rubbed the back of Luis's head. “I agree. We don't pressure her. But I have to say I think you're the sweetest little thing I've ever seen, not her.”
Luis knew the little girl couldn't hear them, but he pushed Matthias's leg and he said, “Not in front of the child. I don't want her to get the wrong idea. Someday she'll remember the two guys who stopped and asked her about the Glatenfrissle compound, and I want it to be a good memory, not a bad one that confused her. I doubt she knows anything about gay men.”
When she finished writing, she lifted the blackboard and held it up for Luis. He squinted and read the poorly scribbled words, “Over there.”
Luis looked at her and shrugged. “I don't understand. Over where?”
The little girl pointed to a pickup truck not far from the cafe. The two guys Luis and Jase had almost run over were sitting inside the truck sipping their coffee. Then she pointed to the blackboard and back to the truck once again.
Luis smiled. “Do you mean they know where the compound is? The guys in the truck can tell us how to find it?”
She nodded and pointed at the truck again.
Luis reached into his back pocket and pulled out a fifty-dollar bill. He had smaller bills, but she looked like she needed the money. He handed it to the little girl and said, “Thank you so much. You've been very helpful and we really appreciate it.” He wanted to take her in his arms and hug her. He felt so bad for her his heart ached. But he just patted her shoulder and stood up. He turned to Matthias and said, “I think we should just go back to the cabin now. I'd rather not approach those guys about the compound. We asked them once and they said they knew nothing.”
It started to rain again and Matthias put his arm around Luis and guided him back to the gazebo. “Maybe you're right. But we have to come back into town again tonight for dinner. If I see those guys again tonight I'm just going to ask if they know anything about the compound.”
Luis rested his palm on Matthias's stomach very gently and rubbed it. For some reason, the most aggressive men turned to mush the minute he started to rub their stomachs. He could get a man to do anything for him faster by rubbing the man's stomach than rubbing the man's cock. He looked up at Matthias and said, “I wish you wouldn't. I hate the way those guys look at me. I'd like to get out of this town alive.”