Dr. Horker! She struggled for clarity of thought; she realized dimly
that she ought to feel relief, happiness--but all she could summon
was a faint quickening of interest, or rather, a diminution of the
lassitude that held her. She drew the rag of a table cloth about her
and huddled against the wall, watching. The Doctor and some strange
man, burly and massive in the darkness, dashed upon them, while
Nicholas Devine waited, his red-orbed face a demoniac picture of cold
contempt. Then the Doctor glanced at her huddled, bedraggled figure;
she saw his face aghast, incredulous, as he perceived the condition of
her clothing.
"Pat! My God, girl! What's happened? Where've you been?"
She found a hidden reserve somewhere within her. Her voice rose, shrill
and hysterical.
"We've been in Hell!" she said. "You came to take me back, didn't you?
Orpheus and Eurydice!" She laughed. "Dr. Orpheus Horker!"
The Doctor flashed her another incredulous glance and a grim and very
terrible expression flamed in his face. He turned toward Nicholas
Devine, his hands clenching, his mouth twisting without utterance,
with no sound save a half-audible snarl. Then he spoke, a low, grating
phrase flung at his thick-set companion.
"Bring the car," was all he said. The man lumbered away toward the
corner, and he turned again toward Nicholas Devine, who faced him
impassively. Suddenly his fist shot out; he struck the youth or demon
squarely between the red eyes, sending him reeling back against the
building. Then the Doctor turned, bending over Pat; she felt the
pressure of his arms beneath knees and shoulders. He was carrying her
toward a car that drew up at the curb; he was placing her gently in the
back seat. Then, without a glance at the figure still leaning against
the building, he swept from the sidewalk the dark mass that was Pat's
dress and her wrap, and re-entered the car beside her.
"Shall I turn him in?" asked the man in the front seat.
"We can't afford the publicity," said the Doctor, adding grimly, "I'll
settle with him later."
Pat's head lurched as the car started; she was losing consciousness,
and realized it vaguely, but she retained one impression as the vehicle
swung into motion. She perceived that the face of the lone figure
leaning against the building, a face staring at her with horror and
unbelief, was no longer the visage of the demon of the evening, but
that of her own Nick.
11
Wreckage
Pat opened her eyes reluctantly, with the impression that something
unpleasant awaited her return to full consciousness. Something, as yet
she could not recall just what, had happened to her; she was not even
sure where she was awakening.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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