Coming Up Roses (19 page)

“
No. Bear, he cried out, but no one
understand that he’s in trouble until he’s already
gone.”

“
But someone saw him go?”

“
Two white men. They didn’t speak about
it until we asked them if they seen Bear in Winter.”

Little Elk spat on the ground, giving H.L. a
pretty good idea of the Sioux’s opinion of white men. Given the
opinion most white men harbored about the Sioux, H.L. didn’t
begrudge the Elk this turnabout.

“
Oh, dear.” Rose reeled abruptly to
face H.L., her cheeks gone ashen with worry. “Mr. May, you have to
do something.”

“
I
have to do
something? What can
I
do?”

“
For heaven’s sake, Bear in Winter has
been kidnapped!”

“
Yeah. By a wooden-legged man with a
black mustache, it would seem. But I’m still not sure what you
expect me to do about it.”

Rose was getting mad. H.L. recognized the
symptoms. Her cheeks went from ashy pale to bright red and she
snarled, “You can lead us to the police, for one thing! Does this
Exposition have a police station? As Little Elk said already, you
know Chicago and we don’t.”

He guessed she had a point. “There’s the
Columbian Guard,” he said uncertainly. He didn’t add that he
doubted the gentlemen of the Guard would be awfully interested in
the kidnapping of an Indian boy. It wasn’t sportsmanlike, and it
wasn’t nice, but it was the truth.

“
Well, then, take us to the Columbian
Guard!” Rose demanded. “Somebody has to
do
something!”

Why not? Since he couldn’t think of a decent
answer to that one, H.L. said, “Come with me. We’ll find one of
these famous guards. Who knows? He might even want to help us.”
Still, H.L. had his doubts.

“
If he doesn’t want to help us, he’d
better do it anyway,” Rose announced with remarkable ferocity,
given her size and relative delicacy of appearance.

Little Elk remained silent while they
searched for one of the uniform-clad guards hired specifically to
keep order at the Columbian Exposition. They did a good job of it,
too, for the most part, although H.L. would be much surprised if
their expertise extended as far as finding lost or kidnapped
children. Especially Indian children. He really didn’t want to cast
aspersions on his fellow Chicagoans, but he had a notion nobody was
going to care a whole lot about this little lost boy. Except, of
course, his tribe. And Rose, God bless her.

Speaking of which . . . “Say, how old is this
kid, anyhow?”

“
Ten, I think.” Rose turned to Little
Elk, who nodded. “Yes, he’s ten.”

“
That’s not very old.” Lordy, H.L.
hoped whoever’d captured the little boy wasn’t a complete
lunatic.

Although the
Globe
never published the most sordid of the
crimes committed in the wonderful city of Chicago, H.L. knew more
than he wanted to about most of them. Child prostitution was far
from unheard of, and white slavers took boys as well as girls.
Human perversions ran to all types.

The thought made H.L. feel sick to his
stomach. He discovered within himself a fervent hope that they
could find the little boy before something awful happened to him.
He found himself walking faster and faster, until he realized Rose
was panting at his side. He slowed down. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to
race.”

“
No, that’s perfectly all right,” she
gasped. “Finding Bear is more important than my breath.”

“
It won’t do him any good if you
faint,” H.L. pointed out, somewhat irked by her sharp
tone.

“
I won’t faint! For heaven’s sake, Mr.
May, I’m accustomed to much heavier exercise than this on a nightly
basis.”

“
Yeah, but when you ride your horse,
you aren’t wearing a corset.”

She turned brick red and shut up, although
she did cast him a look that might have withered him had he been a
less hardy specimen of mankind. He was totally charmed, although he
knew better than to say so. She’d probably sock him. After sliding
a quick glance at Little Elk, H.L. decided he’d probably help her
do it.

“
Is that one of the guards?” Rose said
suddenly.

Glancing in the direction she pointed, H.L.
released a breath of relief. “Yes. Better let me do the talking.”
He was surprised, but gratified, when neither of his companions
voiced an argument.

The member of the Columbian Guard they
approached appeared very dignified. H.L. hoped his sobriety of
demeanor didn’t mask an empty head, but he didn’t allow himself to
hope very hard.

Chapter Ten

“
I expect the boy’s just run off to see
the fair, don’t you?”

Rose stared wide-eyed at the Columbian Guard,
whose broad, placid face reflected the same complacency she’d heard
in his voice.

Before H.L., who had tendered the
initial explanation of Bear in Winter’s disappearance, could
respond, Rose blew up. “No, we do
not
expect the boy’s just run off to see the
fair! He’s been kidnapped, and I expect you to do something about
it!”

The guard, who was at least foot taller and a
yard wider than Rose, allowed annoyance to dilute some of his
complacency. “Now, little lady, there’s no need to carry on.”

“
There’s no—” Rose could scarcely
believe her ears. She was so irate, her words clotted up and froze
in her throat.

“
Take it easy, Miss Gilhooley,” H.L.
May advised.

Feeling betrayed, Rose turned on him.
“How
dare
you tell me to take
it easy! Bear has been
kidnapped
!” H.L. tried to pat her shoulder, but
she swatted his hand away.

“
Listen, Miss Gilhooley, I’m on your
side, remember?” H.L. hooked a thumb at the guard. “This guy’s the
one who doesn’t give a rap what happened to the kid.”

The round-faced guard, who had by this time
lost the last vestige of his complacency, frowned at H.L. “Now see
here, young man, that’s not true.”

“
It is so!” Rose whirled around and
wagged a finger in his face. She had to reach to do it, but she
wasn’t about to let this matter drop. “A child’s life is at stake
here, Mister, and you’re treating it as if it were a mere
nothing!”

“
Miss Gilhooley.”

Rose could tell H.L. was speaking to her
through gritted teeth, and she resented it like fire. “Don’t you
‘Miss Gilhooley’ me, Mr. May! This matter is too important to be
treated lightly—and this man—” She poked the guard in his chubby
chest. “—obviously doesn’t want to treat it at all!”

The guard took a startled step backward. “My
good woman—”

Again Rose cut him off at the verbal knees.
“Don’t you dare speak to me in that scornful voice!”

“
Scornful? But—” The guard stopped
speaking when Rose didn’t.

“
You’d better do something about this
right this minute, or you’ll face dire consequences. I’ll see to
it!” She had no idea what those dire circumstances would be, or how
she’d ever be able to deliver them, but she was too angry to
consider such trivia at the moment.

“
Miss Gilhooley,” H.L. tried again,
“give the man a minute to think, all right?”

“
He doesn’t need to think!” Rose
bellowed. “He needs to
act
!
Immediately! Instantly! That boy’s life is at risk!” Rose had
forgotten all about Little Elk, although he was still
there.

She jumped when he lightly tapped her
shoulder.

“
What?” When she jerked around to look
at him, she was flabbergasted to see a small half-smile on his
leathery, oak-colored face. She had to suck in air before she could
speak without shouting. “Yes, Little Elk?”

“
Let the man talk,” Little Elk advised
in his grumbly voice.

“
Good idea, Little Elk.”

Rose would have liked to slap the grin from
H.L. May’s face. Instead, she turned back to the guard. “All right,
then, talk.”

“
Ahem.” The guard appeared
flustered.

Rose sneered, imagining this throat-clearing
nonsense was merely a prelude for the spouting of more inanities.
She managed to keep quiet, but it was a struggle.

“
My duties are to provide protection to
fair-goers, ma’am,” the guard said stiffly, as if he’d rather not
be speaking to her at all but perceived no alternative.

“
You didn’t do a very good job of
protecting Bear in Winter, did you?” she snapped
viciously.

H.L. muttered, “Aw, cripes.”

Little Elk touched her shoulder again. Rose,
feeling stifled and miserable, shut her mouth.

“
The Columbian Guardsmen can’t be
everywhere at once, miss,” the guard went on defensively. “I’m
right sorry about the lad, but I can’t leave my post to go
gallivanting all over Chicago to find him if he’s run off to see
the sights.”

“
He
hasn’t
run off to see the sights!” Rose
screeched, unable to contain her rage. “He was
kidnapped
!”

“
Rose,” H.L. said, speaking more
sharply than she’d ever heard him.

He’d also used her first name, which shocked
her so much that her mind went blank and all of her words flew
away. She wondered if that had been his intention, the rat.

“
Let me talk to this poor man, please,”
H.L. went on, speaking into the silence occasioned by Rose’s state
of shock. “We might get farther if we don’t accuse him of shirking
his duty.” The tightness around H.L.’s eyes belied the silkiness of
his voice.

Rose, still flustered, noted his dour
expression and took heart. Maybe he really was concerned enough to
help find Bear.

“
True, true.” The guard tugged at his
fancy uniform jacket and patted his badge. Obviously, he was proud
as punch of his status at the Exposition. Rose would like to shove
the badge down his throat.

“
So, I understand you can’t leave the
Exposition to search for a lost boy,” H.L. said before anyone else
could speak. “But we need to know where the nearest police station
is. Is it the one on Fiftieth Street, or is there one on the Navy
Pier?”

The guard cleared his throat and concentrated
on H.L. Rose got the impression he was happy to be dealing with a
sane man instead of a crazy woman, and she’d have kicked him if she
thought it would do any good.

“
The Fiftieth Street Station is the
closest. I advise you to go there, as long as you’re certain the
lad’s nowhere in the Exposition grounds. It’s a vast place, you
know. Have you looked around the fairgrounds?”

“
Oh, for heaven’s sake.” Rose couldn’t
even remember the last time she’d been this disgusted. “You’ve got
a band of Sioux Indians here, you idiot! Don’t you think they’ve
scoured the Exposition grounds long before this? They’re the best
trackers in the world!”

The guard, unable to avoid further
communication with her, gave her a good, hot scowl before speaking.
“Madam, I have no doubt your Indian friends know how to find
rabbits and so forth in their native forest. This is a big city
they’re in now, and life’s not so simple.”

“
Native forest?” Rose goggled at him,
astounded that anyone could be so stupid. “
Rabbits
!” Turning precipitately, she grabbed
H.L.’s coat sleeve. “Come on, Mr. May. This man is worse than
useless. He’s a fuddle-headed moron! We must get to a real police
station before whoever kidnapped Bear does something awful to
him.”

She’d have liked to shove H.L.’s sigh down
his throat, along with another Columbian Guardsman’s badge. Since,
however, he turned to accompany her, only flipping the Guardsman a
farewell salute as he did so, she decided to wait until later to
scream at him.

“
I’ve never seen such a stupid man,”
she muttered as the three of them hurried back to the Wild
West.

“
He’s only doing his job,” H.L. told
her mildly.

“
Fiddlesticks!”

“
Will police find Bear?”

Rose and H.L. both glanced at Little Elk. His
voice was impassive, but Rose knew how worried he was. She shot
H.L. a quick look before she said, “I hope so, Little Elk. If the
police won’t help us, you and I can find him, I’m sure.”

“
What?” H.L. didn’t stop and stare at
her because they were in too great a hurry, but the effect was the
same. The look on his face was one of clear incredulity. Again,
Rose wished she could do him bodily harm.

She growled, “You heard me.”

“
That’s ridiculous,” he said
flatly.

“
It is not. If the police won’t help us
find that boy, we’ll just have to do it on our own.”

“
And how, pray, do you intend to do
that? Whoever grabbed him probably didn’t take him to a mansion on
the lake, you know. Do you think the two of you can wander around
Chicago’s worst neighborhoods without courting danger? That’s the
most asinine thing I’ve ever heard of.”

If Rose had the time, she’d have grabbed him
by his fancy city-suit lapels and shaken him until his brains
rattled. As it was, she spoke through clenched teeth and with
monumental fury. “You may or may not be aware that Little Elk and I
grew up tracking game, Mr. May. You may also not be aware that
tracking game and tracking people amounts to the same thing. I
wouldn’t be at all surprised if he and I were a whole lot better at
it than any of your fancy-dancy Chicago policemen.”