1990 The Batman Murders

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even this food would give him strength.
Tom and a woman at the head of the other line both clapped their hands. "Let's give
thanks to Reverend Droll for the food we are about to receive!" the two called together.
"Thank you, Reverend Droll," fifty-odd voices rumbled around Dick.
"And now," Tom continued, "by the great mercy of the Church of Perpetual Happiness,
we may eat."
The lines moved in an orderly fashion to the table, as Tom and his female counterpart
handed out plates full of gooey sweets. Dick received his in turn, a piece of cake, a couple
sugar-glazed cookies, and a cupcake that seemed to be mostly white frosting. He got
himself a cup of punch to help wash all this down.
"Looks yummy, doesn't it?" a woman's voice said. He looked up to see Sharon standing
by his side. "Let's find a corner where we can talk while we have breakfast."
Dick followed her to the far wall of the church, where they both sat against the wall.
"Let's eat," Sharon said.
Dick took a large bite of fudge cake.
"Wow," Sharon remarked between wolfing down sugar cookies. "They'd never let me
eat breakfasts like this at home."
Dick almost laughed. He felt light-headed, the sugar fighting with the exhaustion in his
body, so that he felt like he wanted to both run and collapse at the same time.
"So," Sharon asked, "have you thought at all about what we talked about last night?"
"We?" Dick asked. It seemed the two of them hadn't had time to talk about much of
anything. Had he forgotten something?
"You and me and Tommy and the group," she explained. "You certainly were in the
meeting long enough. What's the matter? Not quite awake yet?"
"No, I'm awake," Dick managed. But not awake enough to think, he added to himself.
The dry fudge cake seemed to stick in his throat. He took a swig of the warm punch to
wash the food down. The liquid was so sweet it almost made him gag.
He was feeling really dizzy. It was hard for him to keep his head up.
He had to get out of here. He'd be no use to himself, or to Batman, if he got himself
sick.
"I really have to go." He put his plate down. If he could get over this dizziness, he'd
stand up. He tried to take a deep breath.
"Really?" Sharon looked terribly upset, as if Dick had told her someone had died. "I'm
sorry to hear that."
"Hey," Dick said after inhaling again. The oxygen did seem to help a little. "I'm not
saying I'm not coming back. I really want to learn more about your church. There's just a
few things I have to do."
"A few things?" Sharon impulsively grabbed Dick's hands. "Can't they wait? If you
go now, you'll miss out on so much."
Dick pulled his hand away as another wave of dizziness overcame him. He couldn't be
held down. He had to go. "No, sorry. I have to go. You can't keep me here."
Whoops. The dizziness must be making him paranoid. That last thing he'd said
sounded too negative. He smiled weakly at Sharon. "Sorry," he said again.
"Nobody's keeping you here, Dick," a man's voice said from a few feet away. Dick
looked up to see Tom. How long had he been standing there?
"We're all here because we want to be here," Sharon added quickly.
"You don't want to leave just yet," another fellow said as he stepped up next to Tom.
"It's Thursday."
Thursday? What was that supposed to mean? Dick groaned and pushed himself into a
squat, then, using the wall for support, slowly straightened his knees until he was standing.
"Thursday is the day we get a visit from Reverend Droll," Tom explained.
Reverend Droll? Maybe, Dick thought, he should try to stay around after all. From
what Batman had told him, nobody ever got to meet Reverend Droll. If only Dick didn't
feel so bad.
"Look," Tom continued, a note of concern in his voice. "Dick's new here. He's not
used to our regimens. We can't expect him to keep up with the rest of us just yet." He
reached a hand down toward the woman next to Dick. "Sharon? I think Dick needs some
fresh air. Why don't you help him out to the courtyard?"
"Sure, Tommy," Sharon agreed brightly. "I'm sorry. Sometimes we might get a little
overzealous here in the church. But it's always for a good cause!" She held out her hand.
"Here. Let me help you. You've got nothing wrong that a little air and sunshine won't
cure!"
Dick took her arm, and she held them back away from the front door. The courtyard
must be in the back of the church. He was feeling better just by moving his muscles.
He'd just sit in the sun for a few minutes and consider his options without all these people
around him. Maybe, if this dizziness passed, he'd stick around and see what he could
determine by observing the Reverend Droll. But he'd only do that if he felt much better
than he did now. Maybe he'd just get up and go, and come back this evening in time for
Droll's appearance. Yes, that made sense. It would give him a chance to get his wits back
in working order. So he would simply walk away. If he was outside, there was no way
they could stop him.
Sharon stopped and opened a door on the left, a door that looked no different from any of
the others that lined the hall.
"Here's our courtyard," she explained as she led him outside, onto a flagstone path into
what was probably once a formal rose garden before it was left to grow wild. It was a
large space, with the church building stretching off on two sides, and shorter, perhaps
ten-foot-high, grey stone walls enclosing the yard. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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