Cargo for the Styx Read Online Free Page B

talking. He got behind me and took my elbows. Bigboy stood in front of me.
    He said, “This way.” He bounced his fist off my temple just above the right ear. I folded quietly down on the deck, pulling out of Flatvoice’s grip. I laid my head on the rug. I closed my eyes.
    “Aw,” Bigboy complained. “Look at that.”
    A toe probed my ribs. “Pour some water on him.”
    I liked that deck. It was a good place for the nap I needed. But I got up. I don’t like to lie on a wet rug.
    Flatvoice maneuvered behind me again. He put his hands on my elbows. “Tell us about Minos’ wife, Zane.”
    I said, “She was born of parents in Nicodemus, Kansas. At the age of three she danced the can-can in the local church social.”
    Bigboy wasn’t amused. He rapped me on the temple above my left ear. “Like that,” he said. “Just a tap.” He might as well have hit me with a swinging boom.
    Flatvoice said, “You have to learn to control those taps. Next time pull a little.”
    “Okay.”
    Flatvoice sounded a little weary. “All right, let’s try it again.”
    Bigboy picked me up. He gave me to Flatvoice to hold. Bigboy rapped me high on the forehead. My spine creaked a little, but that was all. It was a gentle tap.
    “Better?”
    “Better,” Flatvoice agreed.
    I said, “I want a drink.”
    Flatvoice said, “Let him have a drink.”
    Bigboy held me by the collar in front of the bar. I got my hands on a bottle of bourbon. It took all my strength to loosen the cap. I rested and then put the bottle to my mouth. The gurgle of the whiskey made pleasant music. The warmth of it eased some of the ache from my muscles.
    I said, “That’s, better.” I screwed the cap back on the bottle.
    Bigboy let loose of my collar. I waited. I didn’t fall down. That was good. I wrapped my fingers around the neck of the bottle. I put my other hand on the edge of the bar. I swivelled on my toes. The bottle bounced off Bigboy’s skull, just above his ear.
    He looked surprised. I swung again and connected with the same spot. He stumbled and lost his footing. Flatvoice was trying to get around him. Bigboy threw out an arm to keep his balance. Flatvoice took the back of Bigboy’s hand across his mouth.
    It was a terrific act. Flatvoice slapped the deck with his fanny. Bigboy tripped over him and sat down. He said, “Jeez!”
    Flatvoice yelled, “Get off my chest, you ape!”
    I didn’t wait for the rest of the show. I headed for the wheelhouse.
    Silver water rippled an invitation to me. I accepted the invitation.

CHAPTER VI
    I COULD hear them. I was under the dock. I had one hand on a rough piling, the other wrapped around the bourbon bottle. I unscrewed the cap of the bottle with my teeth. The gurgle of whiskey was lost in the slap of water against wood.
    Heavy feet rattled planking over my head. “Maybe he drowned, Mr. Vann.”
    Flatvoice said savagely, “Shut up! I told you not to use my name around here.”
    He did have emotions. Right now he was irritated. I was pleased. He said, “Out there, see that? To your left, Otho.”
    I almost laughed. He was worked up enough to forget his own advice. That pleased me. I like to know the names of people who work me over. Mr. Vann and Otho. I didn’t know a Mr. Vann. I didn’t know an Otho. I didn’t think I wanted to know them.
    I took another drink. Above me, Otho said, “That ain’t him. It’s a log, Mr. Vann.” Mr. Vann grunted. I drank some more. The water was cold. I didn’t want to get a chill.
    I decided that I wanted to know Vann and Otho better after all. I wanted to know them both real well.
    More clumping above. More muttering. Then grunting. The beam of a flashlight made a white swath across the water. It probed in the damp darkness under the dock. I stayed where I was. I had the piling between myself and the flashlight. The light went away.
    “He ain’t down there,” Otho grunted.
    Silence. Vann was thinking. Then, “All right, Let’s go. But we can’t figure he