«Rinse?»
«I'll dunk.» She squatted, sloshed off, stood up. «Just in time, too.»
Someone was knocking. «Dearie? Are you decent?»
«Coming, Pat!» Jill shouted, and added as she stepped out of the tub, «Dry me, please?»
At once she was dry, not even wet footprints. «Dear? You'll remember to put on clothes? Patty's a lady — not like me.»
«I will remember.»
XXVII
JILL GRABBED a negligee, hurried into the living room. «Come in, dear. We were bathing; he'll be right out. I'll get you a drink — then you'll have your second drink in the tub. Loads of hot water.»
«I had a shower after I put Honey Bun to bed, but — yes, I'd love a tub bath. But, Jill baby, I didn't come here to borrow your tub; I came because I'm heartsick that you kids are leaving.»
«We won't lose track of you.» Jill got busy with glasses. «Tim was right. Mike and I need to slick up our act.»
«Your act is okay. Needs some laughs, maybe, but — Hi, Smitty.» She offered him a gloved hand. Away from the lot Mrs. Paiwonski always wore gloves, high-necked dresses, and stockings. She looked like (and was) a middle-aged, respectable widow who had kept her figure trim.
«I was telling Jill,» she went on, «that you've got a good act.»
Mike smiled. «Pat, don't kid us. It stinks.»
«No, it doesn't dearie. Oh, it could use some zing. A few jokes. Or you could cut down on Jill's costume a little. You've got a cute figure, hon.»
Jill shook her head. «That wouldn't do it.»
«Well, I knew a magician that used to dress his assistant as Gay Nineties — eighteen-nineties, that is — not even her legs showing. Then he would disappear one garment after another. The marks loved it. Don't get me wrong, dear — nothing unrefined. She finished in as much as your wear now.»
«Patty,» Jill said, «I'd do our act stark naked if the clowns wouldn't close the show.»
«You couldn't, honey. The marks would riot. But if you've got a figure, why not use it? How far would I get as a tatooed lady if I didn't peel all they'll let me?»
«Speaking of clothes,» Mike said, «you don't look comfortable, Pat. The aircooling in this dump has gone sour — must be at least ninety.» He dressed in a light robe, enough for easy-going carnie manners. Heat affected him only slightly; he sometimes had to adjust his metabolism. But their friend was used to the comfort of almost nothing and affected clothes to cover her tatoos when out among marks. «Why not get comfortable? “Ain't nobody here but just us chickens”.» The latter was a joke, appropriate for emphasizing that friends were in private — Jubal had explained it to him.
«Sure, Patty,» Jill agreed. «If you're raw underneath, I can get you something.»
«Uh … well, I did slip into one of my costumes.»
«Then don't be stiff with friends. I'll get your zippers.»
«Le'me get these stockings and shoes.» She went on talking while trying to think how she could get around to religion. Bless them, these kids were ready to be seekers, she was certain — but she had counted on the whole season to bring them to the light. «The point about show business, Smitty, is that you have to understand marks. If you were a real magician — oh, I don't mean you aren't skillful, dearie, you are.» She tucked hose in her shoes, let Jill get her zippers. «I mean like you had a pact with the Devil. But the marks know it's sleight-of-hand. So you need a light-hearted routine. Did you ever see a fire eater with a pretty assistant? Heavens, a pretty girl would just clutter his act; the marks are hoping he'll set fire to hisself.»
She snaked the dress over her head; Jill took it and kissed her. «You look more natural, Aunt Patty. Sit back and enjoy your drink.»
«Just a second, dearie.» Mrs. Paiwonski prayed for guidance. Well, her pictures would speak for themselves — that was why George had put them there. «Now this is what I've got for the marks. Have you ever looked, really looked, at my pictures?»
«No,» Jill admitted, «we didn't want to stare at you, like a couple of marks.»
«Then stare now, dears — that's why George, bless his sweet soul in Heaven, put them on me. To be stared at and studied. Here under my chin is the birth of our prophet, the holy Archangel Foster — just an innocent babe and not knowing what Heaven had in store for him. But the angels knew — see 'em there around him? The next scene is his first miracle, when a younger sinner in the country school he went to shoot a poor little birdie … and he picked it up and stroked it and it flew away unharmed. Now I have to turn my back.» She explained that George had not had a bare canvas when the great opus was started — how with inspired genius George had turned «Attack on Pearl Harbor» into «Armageddon,» and «Skyline of New York» into «The Holy City.»
«But,» she admitted, «even though every inch is sacred pictures now, it did force George to skip around to record in living flesh each milestone in the earthly life of our prophet. Here you see him preaching on the steps of the ungodly theological seminary that turned him down — that was the first time he was arrested, the beginning of the Persecution. And on around, on my spine, you see him smashing idolatrous images … and next you see him in jail, with holy light streaming down. Then the Faithful Few bust into the jail — »
(The Reverend Foster had realized that, in upholding religious freedom, brass knucks, clubs, and a willingness to tangle with cops outweighed passive resistance. His was a church militant from scratch. But he had been a tactician; battles were fought where the heavy artillery was on the side of the Lord.)
« — and rescue him and tar and feather the false judge who put him there. Around in front — Uh, you can't see much; my bra covers it. A shame.»
(«Michael, what does she want?»)
(«Thou knowest. Tell her.»)
«Aunt Patty,» Jill said gently, «you want us to look at all your pictures. Don't you?»
«Well … it's just as Tim says in the bally, George used all the skin I have in making the story complete.»
«If George went to all that work, he meant them to be seen. Take off your costume. I told you that I wouldn't mind working our act stark naked — and ours is just entertainment. Yours has a purpose … a holy purpose.»
«Well …If you want me to.» She sang a silent hallelujah! Foster was sustaining her — with blessed luck and George's pictures she would have these dear kids seeking the light.
«I'll unhook you.»
(«Jill — »)
(«No,Michael?» )
(«Wait.»)
With stunned astonishment Mrs. Paiwonski found that her spangled briefies and bra were gone! Jill was unsurprised when her negligee vanished and only mildly surprised when Mike's robe disappeared; she chalked it up to his catlike good manners.
Mrs. Paiwonski gasped. Jill put her arms around her. «There, dear! It's all right. Mike, you must tell her.»
«Yes, Jill. Pat — »
«Yes, Smitty?»
«You said my tricks were sleight-of-hand. You were about to take off your costume — so I did it for you.»
«But how? Where is it?»
«Same place Jill's wrapper is — and my robe. Gone.»
«Don't worry, Patty,» put in Jill. «We'll replace it. Mike, you shouldn't have done it.»
«I'm sorry, Jill. I grokked it was all right.»
«Well … perhaps it is.» Aunt Patty wasn't too upset — and would never tell; she was carnie.
Mrs. Paiwonski was not worried over two scraps of costume, nor by nudity, hers or theirs. But she was greatly troubled by a theological problem. «Smitty? That was real magic?»
«I guess you would call it that,» he agreed, using words exactly.
«I'd rather call it a miracle,» she said bluntly.
«Call it that if you like. It wasn't sleight-of-hand.»
«I know that.» She was not afraid, Patricia Paiwonski was not afraid of anything, being sustained by faith. But she was uneasy for her friends. «Smitty — look me in the eye. Have you made a pact with the Devil?»