Gene Wolfe - An Evil Guest

Cassie nodded. “Did India tell you?”

“No. He did. Now tell me about the wolf.”

“You must have heard about that from Ebony.”

Gideon nodded. “What she told me was sketchy and subjective. I’d like to hear it from you. Everything.”

“All right. I’m sure I’ll be subjective, too, but I can’t help it. My second husband showed up. He said he was working for somebody named Arthur Thomas Franklin. Do you know who that is?”

Gideon said, “Go on.”

“He gave me a picture of us dancing in the show, you and me. I told Ebony it’d been faked — Ebony was with me. That’s what I said, but I didn’t believe it.”

“The names, I suppose.”

“Yes. You two were about the same size, and certain things Gil Corby said made me think of you. I decided to buy a camera and try it myself. I was going to take a few shots of you there in my dressing room. Only I couldn’t figure the camera out.”

The waiter returned, and Gideon ordered lièvre à l’Allemande for them both. “Wine?” he asked Cassie.

She nodded. “I could use a drink. A nap, too.”

“Champagne, in that case.” When the waiter had gone, he added, “Three glasses should do it, and you can sleep on the way home.”

“Three glasses and you’ll have to carry me back to the car.”

“With food? Nonsense. Get to the wolf.”

“I’d rather get to the waiter. He’s not — well, he’s not like us.”

Gideon nodded.

“So what is he? Somebody from Woldercan?”

“I doubt it. Their ears aren’t pointed, as far as I know. Or hairy, for that matter.”

“A werewolf?”

“Certainly not. Werewolves are human.”

Cassie sighed, spotted the waiter returning with their champagne, and sighed again. The waiter opened it. Gideon sampled and approved it, and the waiter poured for them. Gideon sipped and said, “The wolf now, please.”

“Do you ever feel like you’re in the wrong show?”

He sipped from his glass again, and set it down. “Just what do you mean by that?”

“It’s a nightmare I’ve had. Maybe a nightmare I’m having. I’m onstage, I’ve got no idea what the play’s about, and the audience is always behind me. I’m in a restaurant that can’t possibly be in one of those guides you can read online, the waiter’s not — shouldn’t this place serve dragon’s eggs? Stuff like that?”

“Certainly not. They’re poisonous.”

“You’ve tried them?”

Gideon looked disgusted. “It’s common knowledge, that’s all. If you don’t believe it, you eat them.”

“All right. Pink clouds with spun sugar. Delicious!”

“Not to me. Too sweet. Let’s talk about the wolf.”

“Right. We were having breakfast. That’s Ebony, my second husband Scott, and me. Scott was there because he had promised to tell me who killed Norma. It was Arthur Whatshisname. That’s what he said.”

“Truthfully, I’m sure.”

“He pulled out our picture, and all of a sudden Wally was at our table, too. Can I say Wally?”

“You just did.”

“Then the wolf came in with a man holding a leash and pretending it was a dog. It was bigger than any dog I’ve ever seen. It looked like it could kill a bull moose all by itself, no problem. The wolf looked Scott in the eye, and he looked at it. When it went out he followed it. I don’t know why, and he didn’t say a word.”

“But Wally did, didn’t he? Think carefully, please, because that’s my key question.”

“I don’t think — wait! Yes, he did. He said not to worry, we were safe. Then, after the wolf was gone and Scott, too, he said his sandwich needed Russian dressing.”

“Fine. You’ve met the werewolf. Met him in his human form, I mean. He works for Wally, and I’d guess that Wally told him what to do before he became visible at your table. The man in the gray suit.”

Cassie sipped her wine, paused to think, and sipped again. “He works for Wally?”

“Correct. He’s an ex-cop and a private investigator, and our friend Wally owns the agency that employs him. Not as our friend. Another name. He was trying to find me, because our friend wanted to help me, as I’ve told you.”

“But he’s a werewolf.”

“If you mean our friend, no, he isn’t. If you mean the man in the gray suit — ”

“Yes. Him.”

“Correct. He is.”

“He told you?”

“He did not.” Gideon paused. “I hadn’t intended to get into this, but I will. There are several signs; when an individual exhibits two or more, it’s safe to assume lycanthropy. Hair on the palms of the hands is the classic indication, mentioned as far back as the Middle Ages. One almost never sees that today, because they shave it off. Luckily there are a number of others. The ring finger is often the longest on the hand. They’re sensitive to odors and insensitive to colors. There’s often a swift loping walk, even in women. It’s hard to describe, but once you see it you’ll remember it. They tend to dress in wolf shades: gray, black, and white. There are others, but those are the most common.”

“I changed.” She waited for him to speak; when he did not, she said, “Or you changed me.”

“You changed. I assisted you, and called upon others who assisted you, too. Going up is a lot harder than going down. I think I told you that once.”

“Yes, you did. I’m not a good student, Dr. Chase, but some things stick with me.”

“You learn your lines, and learn them very quickly from what I’ve heard.”

She ignored it. “How can you tell if someone is like me?”

“Again there are several signs, some of them seldom seen and rather obscure. Often, one sees spontaneous flashes of the higher form; and that was what I saw in your case. I attend the theater as much as I can when I’m not on campus, you understand. Call it a guilty pleasure.”

“You’d seen me onstage?”

Gideon nodded. “I had, in several productions. Nine-tenths of the time you seemed a very ordinary thirtyish actress, but there were flashes of something more — of an indescribable something that electrified me and, I believe, the whole audience. I marked you then.”

“But you weren’t going to help me?”

“On the contrary, I was going to help you as soon as I found reason to. That’s our food coming, I believe, so let me say before it arrives that another sign is desire. One sees that in werewolves, too. They want the wild and a liberation from human morality. People like you want to be the higher thing they cannot quite become. I tested you on that score, and you said that you’d walk barefoot all day and all night if it would make you a star. Remember?”

Slowly, Cassie nodded. “Two more questions?”

“Yes, but only two. What are they?”

“Why was the wolf so big? And — ”

The waiter was setting down his tray on an empty table.

“Why did Scott follow him like that? The wolf never said a word to him. Can they talk?”

“Sometimes,” Gideon told her, “and that’s three questions. The wolf was so big — thank you.”

Cassie had received the first covered dish. When she removed the cover the aroma made her mouth water in actual fact.

“The wolf was as big as he was,” Gideon said, “because Al is. He’s not fat, but he must stand at least six foot two. When his cells have repositioned, they make a large wolf. I told you about that, too, once.”

Cassie nodded, her mouth full.

“You can charm people. You know you can. You charmed our friend, for example. The wolf charmed Scott. That’s one way to put it.”

Cassie chewed and swallowed with great pleasure. “I try to charm you, too, but it doesn’t work. Is it because you saw me before I changed?”

“Quite the contrary. You do charm me. If you didn’t, I wouldn’t have written that twenty-thousand-dollar check; and you charm me all the more because I saw you before you changed.”