The Island Stallion Races (5 page)

“Flick,” the man said without taking his eyes off Steve, “please bring the lantern over here. I want to talk to Steve, and one
can’t
talk to a person in the dark.”

As the other came forward with the lantern, Steve was about to run but he checked the impulse. The two men were now within a few feet of him, but they were still far enough away for him to be able to elude them, he decided.

The man who had brought the lantern spoke. “Really, Jay, this is all taking much too long,” he said impatiently. “Let’s try again some other time. We’re neglecting our duties.”

“Nonsense. Just relax, Flick. I’ll attend to everything, and it won’t take very long.”

“No,” the other answered. “You’re too impetuous. I’m in charge, remember that.”

Steve turned from one to the other. Far from being sinister, these two men were arguing like a couple of children. He looked at them again in the bright light of their lantern. The one called Flick wore a brown tweed suit, a white shirt and a black-and-gold tie. His hair was gray and cropped short; it had a bright reddish tint, and yet the small mustache beneath his large beaked nose was more black than gray or red. Steve found it impossible to be alarmed by him.

The other man wore a sky-blue suit, a white shirt and a black string bow tie. His hair was very long and wavy, more blue than black. There was nothing frightening about him, either.

“Careful,” Steve warned himself. “That may be what they want you to think. Don’t let them come closer.”

Jay’s gaze was still on him. Steve glanced at the man called Flick and found the same shimmering clearness of eye, devoid of all color yet containing all the colors in the world. He felt a sudden throbbing in his head.

“Aren’t you surprised to see us, Steve?” Jay asked again. “You’re more startled than frightened, isn’t that so?”

Steve nodded as he felt a numbness claim his body. He fought it, telling himself that he should run, but he couldn’t leave. He could only stare into those eyes, thinking how much they resembled glass marbles. And yet they looked back at him as marbles never could, with more expression than he had ever seen in anyone’s eyes.

The men waited patiently, kindly, while he tried again to speak. They came no closer … but even if they had, he could not have left.

They were helping him, and finally his words came in a whisper. “How did you get here?”

Both smiled, and it was Jay who answered. “Why, in our ship, of course. You’ve seen it, Steve. You’ve been watching us right along.”

“We’re just over there,” Flick added, nodding his cropped gray head to one side.

Steve turned his head toward the wall of the chamber, and Flick chuckled and said, “Of course I mean
outside
, Steve.”

“There you go taking too much for granted again,” Jay said disapprovingly.

Flick’s small mustache trembled in his irritation. “I wish you’d stop saying that, Jay. It’s all I’ve heard from you during this trip. You know as well as I do that there’s only so much we can tell Steve.”

“Oh, nonsense,” Jay retorted. “You’re always worrying about nothing. No wonder you’re gray long before your time. And wearing that ridiculous crew-cut doesn’t fool anyone, either.” He turned quickly to Steve, not wanting to give Flick an opportunity to speak just then. “Steve,” he explained, “we’re on the water out there. We arrived late yesterday afternoon, and of course we knew that you were watching us. We realize how concerned you’ve been. Please don’t be any longer.”

Flick said, “Actually, we’ve been just as concerned about
you
.”

Jay nodded his blue-black head in agreement. “That’s one of the reasons for this visit. I don’t believe we’ve ever been seen before. It’s quite …”

“Now, now, Jay,” Flick interrupted nervously. “You know what Julian said.”

“Worrying, always worrying, you and Julian. Just leave it to me to know how much to explain.”

“I’ve tried that before and it hasn’t worked out very well,” Flick answered gravely. He turned to Steve and smiled. “You mustn’t mind our bickering. This has been going on a long time.”

“Too long,” Jay said. “The next trip will be different. I’ll team up with Victor.”

“They won’t have it,” Flick answered. “You and Victor are too much alike.” He shrugged his thin
shoulders, adding, “But it would be perfectly all right with me. In fact it would be a pleasure not to have to worry about you at all.”

Steve realized vaguely that none of this could be real. He couldn’t be thousands of feet deep within the walls of Azul Island, listening to these men argue as they might have done in any living room! It couldn’t be happening,
and yet it was
.

Finally Jay turned to him again. “I suppose old Flick is right in a way, Steve. Maybe you’d better just accept our being here. It’ll be easier on you. Of course you know about our ship, having seen it. Unfortunately, it takes us a little while to cool down after a long voyage … friction, you know. But we never dreamed anyone would be at this remote spot to see us come in.”

They were talking about the golden mass of light, only it was more than light. It was their ship and it was still there, above that small grayish-white patch, without being visible!

Sudden alarm passed through Steve like an electric shock, shattering the numbness that had brought immobility to his legs. He moved them now, seeking to turn and run.

But their hands caught him quickly, keeping him still, and he knew he could not get away, that all hope of escape was lost.

Flick said casually, “So little has missed Steve’s attention. Really, it’s most remarkable. He’s even seen the cruisers.”

“So he has,” Jay returned. “But I don’t think it matters. Steve has as much to conceal as we do. He’s a very unusual person.”

As Steve listened, there flashed through his mind all he had read about the frightening, secret weapons of war that were being developed and tested by countries throughout the world. Was this ship one of them? Were those needle-shaped objects he’d seen even now bent on the destruction of distant cities? This was very real and
deadly
!

“Look at us, Steve,” Jay said.

Only then did Steve realize that Jay and Flick had been silent for many minutes. He made a great effort to focus his eyes upon them, to see them as they actually were. He
had
to know the answers to his questions.

They were looking at him, but neither spoke. Their features had become so blurred it was difficult for Steve to make them out. He tried to blink to clear his vision, but found he could not move his eyelids. The two faces grew more and more indistinct until they were blotted out completely. Only the shimmering light of their eyes remained and that shone brighter and brighter, seemingly enveloping him in an intense heat.

Steve knew that he could not fight this growing inner warmth, that all he could do was to welcome it. Stronger and stronger it became, flooding his body and very being till there was no room left for fear or suspicion. He felt only a deep sense of comfort and confidence and trust.

How long it was before he could see their faces again, he could not have told. But suddenly he was asking himself how anyone could look at these two men and think anything but good of them. Flick was smiling, pleased and happy that Steve trusted them completely,
that he now felt confident no one, no country, had anything to fear from them. Jay, too, was smiling, even chuckling.

“
Now
, Steve,” Flick said softly, “I was wondering when you and Pitch first found this place.”

“Pitch! Do you know Pitch?” Steve asked aloud, surprised at their mentioning his friend’s name, surprised even more that his words came so easily.

“Oh, no,” Flick answered hastily, “… just a little
of
him.” He glanced at Jay with fleeting concern.

“Who told you about him?” Steve asked.

“Well … well,
you
did, Steve.” Flick turned to Jay helplessly.

“There you go getting yourself into a jam,” Jay said, “and wanting me to get you out of it. I told you before that if you start something with Steve you must finish it. You just can’t let it hang in the air. He won’t have it.”

“He’s only a boy,” Flick answered defiantly.

“Of course, and that’s exactly what I mean, Flick. We’re not dealing with a closed, inflexible, adult mind here. Young people
are
different, Flick, and we might as well accept that right now. We must get used to having Steve ask questions that I believe no one but a young person
would
ask. And really, Flick, it’s going to make our visit much more fun.”

“But, Jay …” Flick began.

Jay ignored him and turned to Steve. “Getting back to your question about our knowing Pitch, Steve. As Flick started to say,
you
told us about him. What I mean is that you’ve been thinking about him right along and we’re able to tune our minds to yours without much trouble. It’s something on the order of what you’d call
telepathic power, I believe. But it’s simply an exchange of thought messages, which we’ve taken great pride in doing for a long, long while.” He chuckled, then added, “However we don’t overdo it, Steve, for fear we’ll lose the use of our voices. Now let’s talk about Flame. While we were watching you ride him this morning we …”

“Y—you mean you know about Flame too? You were in the valley this morning?”

“Yes to both questions, Steve,” Jay replied. “As Flick mentioned a few minutes ago, we were concerned about your having seen us. Naturally, we thought it best to check up on you.” He straightened his black string tie and smiled, hoping to relieve Steve’s anxiety. “Of course everything is all right, perfectly all right
now
. It’s just that we didn’t know what to expect.”

Flick nodded his cropped head in full agreement, and Jay went on, “But let’s talk about the horses, Steve. Flame is a very beautiful animal and you sit him well.”

“Can’t you get your mind off horses, Jay?” Flick asked in a bored tone. “That’s all I’ve heard from you since we arrived.”

“I’m sorry but that’s the way I feel about the subject,” Jay answered brusquely. “My interest in horses is nothing new, as you very well know.”

“I know. I know,” Flick said resignedly. “You certainly have a well-balanced mind, ninety percent horse, I’d say. I should have known better than …” He stopped abruptly, and raised the lantern to Jay’s face. Then he went on, “It’s just occurred to me, Jay, that you might have known there were horses on this island when you picked our landing site. After all you were at the controls at the time.”

“Oh, no, Flick,” Jay said, hurt. “This is just as much of a surprise to me as it is to you.”

“How did you get in here?” Steve interrupted the argument.

Jay smiled. “Oh, we have means of leaving the ship,” he replied casually. “You’ve seen us.”

Steve thought of the cruisers they’d mentioned. Even now one of those slender objects must be somewhere within the barrier walls of Azul Island … probably in the smaller valley near the sea entrance.

Flick came around Jay to join in the discussion. “And then of course we followed you into the tunnels, when you went to look at our ship again. We stopped to rest when we came to this chamber, knowing you’d return presently.”

“That was your idea,” Jay said bitterly. “I wanted to go ahead and surprise Steve.”

“I’m glad you didn’t,” Steve spoke up.

Flick said, “We’d better be getting back now, Jay. I’m sure it must be very late.”

“Julian is there. He’ll take care of things.”

“But it’s
our
job,” Flick insisted. “The others won’t like it.”

“We’re late now, so they’re angry already,” Jay answered. “A few minutes more won’t change things.” He turned to Steve. “I’d like a cup of tea, Steve. You do have some, don’t you?”

Steve nodded and obediently followed them out of the chamber. He marveled that they knew their way through the tunnels but he was not surprised. One’s mind could take in only so much and his had had its fill. Later he’d find out all he needed to know. From what
country had they come? What manner of people were they to have built an airship that could not be seen while anchored and were so far advanced in the power of telepathy that they knew about Pitch just from his having thought of him?

He continued walking close behind Flick, who led the way, the light bobbing before him. He felt no fear or suspicion of them, only the confidence and trust that had come to him in the chamber. This, too, had been their doing. Otherwise wouldn’t he have been afraid for himself and the horses?

When they emerged from the tunnels and stood beside the waterfall, Blue Valley was in deep shadow. The air was very cool and pleasant, much as it had been that morning.

Jay glanced at him and said, “Lovely, isn’t it? And you’d like it to remain this way?”

Steve nodded.

Jay winked and said, “Sometimes weather can be a state of mind, Steve … like a lot of other things.”

Flick gave Jay a stern look of reprimand as they started down the trail.

It took only a few minutes to get the canister of tea Pitch had stored away and to have the water boiling. Jay balanced his cup of tea on the fine crease of his blue pants. “Let’s talk about Flame, Steve,” he said.

“Not now,” Flick interrupted. “Make it another time. Drink your tea and let’s go.”

“You’ll be coming back then?” Steve asked.

“Of course, Steve,” and Jay chuckled. “I wouldn’t miss this for anything.” He looked at the table behind Steve. “May I have one of those biscuits?” he asked.

Steve passed the can to him. Jay had taken only a bite when Flick rose from his chair, his face red with anger.

“You’re being most difficult,” he told Jay. “You know you’ll get plenty to eat when we get back. I’ve taken enough of your lack of consideration.” He pulled Jay from his chair and forcefully led him down the steep trail.

Steve watched them go. After they had reached the valley floor they walked across to the field of wild cane. Flame was grazing in the distance, and Steve wondered if he should warn his departing visitors that the red stallion would not tolerate strangers in his kingdom. Almost at once he decided it was not necessary to warn them … yet he wondered why he felt so certain of this.