Kathleen was in a state of shock and trembling uncontrollably when Avedissian examined the wound. He did his best
to clean it up with water from the screen bottle and en
courage bleeding from the site of entry but knew that a great
deal of the venom had got into her body. Harry was sitting on
the edge of the ditch with terror in his eyes. Something
terrible had happened to the lady who was kind to him.
Kathleen caught sight of Harry and managed to control her
fear and pain. 'It's all right,’ she said, looking directly at him.
'Come!' She held out her hand and Harry came towards her
uncertainly and took it. 'Just you sit there,’ she said.
Kathleen turned to Avedissian and asked, 'Am I going to
die?'
'I think it was some kind of viper,’ said Avedissian. 'I don't
think the bite will be fatal but you will have a lot of pain. We
really have to get you to a doctor with anti-serum.’
‘
That sounded like the truth,’ said Kathleen.
'It was,’ said Avedissian. He got up and climbed up to the
road to look along it in both directions. 'Please, God,’ he
murmured. 'Just one lousy car.’
ELEVEN
It was twenty minutes before Avedissian's prayer was
answered. At first he thought that his ears were deceiving
him but the sound grew louder and louder until he could see the dusty farm truck coming towards them. He left Kathleen
by the verge and stood in the middle of the road with his arms
raised. The vehicle stopped and the driver, an elderly man wearing bib overalls, looked out of the cab. 'What's your
problem?' he asked.
'My wife's been bitten by a snake.'
The man turned his engine off and got out to hurry over to Kathleen. 'We'd best get you to a doctor as soon as possible,'
he said after offering sympathy. Avedissian and the farmer
helped Kathleen into the cab then Avedissian lifted up Harry
and got in himself. It was a tight squeeze and very hot inside.
They rattled along the flat ribbon of road in the heat and
with the smell of manure from the heavily contaminated
wheel arches in their nostrils. Kathleen seemed close to
losing consciousness and Avedissian took her head on his
shoulder to whisper encouragement.
The boy doesn't look too well either,' said the farmer.
'He's just thirsty,' said Avedissian. 'We've been out in the sun a
long time.'
The man reached down behind his seat and brought out a
bottle of lemonade. He handed it to Avedissian saying, 'Give
him some.'
Avedissian held the bottle to Harry's lips and saw him drink
with relish. The slaking of his thirst brought about an almost
immediate improvement in his demeanour. Avedissian
handed the bottle back.
'Maybe your wife would like some? You too?' asked the
man.
Kathleen took some, then Avedissian. The lemonade was
warm but, in the circumstances, it tasted better than any
thing Avedissian could ever remember.
'Looks like you folks have been having a bad time.'
'Our car broke down.'
'I didn't see it back there,' said the farmer.
'We walked a good bit, trying to find somewhere,' said
Avedissian.
'That's easy to do in these parts,' said the man.
Avedissian could see that they were approaching a small
cluster of houses. 'Where are we?' he asked.
'Alta Vista,' said the man.
Even with all that he had on his mind Avedissian saw the
name as being incongruous. Alta Vista, High View, the
ground seemed absolutely flat for as far as the eye could see.
They stopped at a clapboard house on the very edge of
town and the driver got out and hurried up to the door, while
Avedissian helped Kathleen out and made sure that Harry
was with them. An elderly man came out from the house
with the farmer. Avedissian waited at the gate until he
reached them.
'Doc Feldman,' said the man. 'Let's get her inside.'
Avedissian stood by while Feldman examined the bite on
Kathleen's calf. 'How long?' he asked.
Avedissian looked at his watch. 'Fifty minutes. Do you
have anti-serum here?'
'Should do. Marty said it was a pit viper?'
'I couldn't argue,' said Avedissian. 'I wouldn't know one
from another.'
'English?'
'Yes.'
Feldman brought out a tray from his fridge containing several small brown bottles and extracted one of them. He
read the label, holding the bottle at nearly arm's length, and
said, 'This is the stuff.' He filled a syringe and asked Kathleen
if she was having much pain. The expression on her face gave
him his answer. 'It's going to last for a while yet but this is going to improve matters,' he said and then injected the
anti-serum.
Kathleen was settled in bed in a ground floor room,
prepared by Feldman's housekeeper, and Avedissian said to
Feldman, 'I can't thank you enough.'
'It's my job,’ said Feldman. 'It has been for a long time.'
'How long?' asked Avedissian.
Feldman smiled and said, 'I came here forty years ago to
escape from Boston. What brings you here?' he asked.
Avedissian gave him the story about being on their way to
visit relatives when their car broke down.
'Is someone dealing with it?'
'No, not yet,' said Avedissian. The snake bite took precedence.'
'Of course,' said Feldman, looking intently at Avedissian.
'Would you like me to call Tyler's garage?'
'No!' said Avedissian, almost too quickly, for he had still to
think of a good reason why not. 'It's finished,' he said. 'It's a
rented car and it's just going to hold us up even more if we
have to hang around for the recovery. I'll phone the car
company and tell them where they can find it. They can make their own arrangements.'
'As you like,' said Feldman. He turned to look at Harry
who was sitting on the floor outside the door where Kathleen
was sleeping. 'Your son is very quiet,' he said.
'He is a deaf-mute,' said Avedissian.
'I thought so,' nodded Feldman. 'He's also very nervous.'
'It's been a harrowing day,' said Avedissian.
'I guess so,’ said Feldman with a trace of uncertainty in his'
voice.
'Doctor, is there somewhere in town where we can stay
until my wife is well enough to travel?' asked Avedissian.
'You can stay here,' replied Feldman. 'There's only me and
Minnie, my housekeeper, all alone in this big house.'
'We couldn't presume, Doctor.'
‘
I’ll be glad of the company.'
Deciding that the argument was over, Feldman got up and said that he would tell Minnie. Avedissian thanked him and,
as Feldman went out, got up to have a look at something that
had caught his attention when he had first come in. He was
examining it when Feldman returned. 'I haven't seen one of these for years,' he said, holding up an old laryngoscope.
'Are you a collector or a doctor?' asked Feldman.
'A doctor.'
'I see,' said the old man. Then we must talk. I don't often
have the chance to meet my fellows.'
'What shall we talk about?'
'Why you have been lying ever since you set foot inside my
house,’ said Feldman matter-of-factly,
'I don't understand,’ said Avedissian.
'I think you do,’ said Feldman. 'I may be old but I'm not
stupid. You have an English accent. Your "wife" has a
different one and your "son" is as nervous as a stray dog. You
say you are on your way to visit relatives but you are miles
from the freeway, and if your relatives were local you would
have said so. You abandon your car and presumably all your
luggage, unless, of course, you never had any in the first
place which is the more likely. You are not visiting relatives,
"Doctor", or was that a lie too? You are running from
something or somebody.'
Avedissian's shoulders dropped in resignation as he lost
the will to argue. 'I am a doctor,’ he said. That part was true.’
'And the rest?'
'You're right. We are on the run.'
'Perhaps you would care to talk about it?'
'I can't.'
'It's that serious?'
'I wouldn't know where to begin. What are you going to do?'
Feldman shook his head and said, 'I haven't made up my
mind. The three of you make an unlikely gang. Where did
you hope to get to?'
'Chicago,’ said Avedissian.
To leave the country?'
Avedissian nodded.
'We'll talk after dinner,’ said Feldman. 'I need time to
consider.’
Avedissian went in to check on Kathleen, and felt her
forehead as she slept; she was warm but there was no sign of
fever. All the indications were that the anti-serum had been
given in time and that it was going to prevent the worst
effects of the venom. In Avedissian's mind, Feldman had
now become the bigger problem. If the old man should
decide to call the police he would have to stop him or else it would be the end for all three of them. The vision of a life
together would evaporate almost as quickly as it had arisen, a
momentary mirage in a desert of loneliness.
But having to stop Feldman physically was the last thing he
wanted to have to do. Apart from anything else, it would be
best if Kathleen could stay here until it was certain that the
anti-serum had been effective. If she were to get any worse
during the night she might still have to go to hospital.
Avedissian decided that, for the moment, their future lay in
Feldman's hands.
Enforced idleness gave him time to think about the
opposition. Both
NORAID
and Innes would have used the gas station on the freeway as their starting point after the story in
the paper. It seemed reasonable to assume that they would
have gone north at first until the trail had gone cold, and then
retraced their steps, guessing at possible turn-offs. It was
conceivable that one or the other had already traced their
movements to the Lehman place. From there it would be
back to guess-work. But the longer they stayed put in one
place the more guesses the opposition would have. Every
minute that ticked by could be bringing the enemy nearer.
Avedissian was about to close the bedroom door when he
felt Harry tug at his trouser leg. The boy had spent the last
hour being entertained in the kitchen by Minnie but had
come through to check on things at intervals of never more
than ten minutes. Avedissian picked him up and took him
back into the room to look at Kathleen sleeping. The boy
struggled slightly to be let down and Avedissian placed him back on the floor. He watched as Harry moved up slowly to
the bed and touched Kathleen's hand gently. He turned to
discover Avedissian's reaction and Avedissian smiled at him.
'You and me both,’ he said quietly.
'How is she?' asked Feldman at his back.
'Sleeping peacefully,’ said Avedissian.