“You want my credentials or something?” Alfie went on. “I know you served in Korea. Me and Joe were over there, too, but before we went to war, we built up a little reputation for what I guess you’d callsecurity. Keeping people out of trouble— sometimes out of prison. Never any real devils. Me and Joe got standards.”
Malcolm smiled. Violet could see he liked Alfie, and despite the kinds of things she suspected he was alluding to, she liked him, too.
“I’m glad to hear it,” Violet said. “A man’s got to have standards.”
“Exactly what me and Joe always say.”
“Speaking of Joe, what happened there?” Malcolm asked. “I’ll admit, I was pretty relieved when I saw you get out of thatOldsmobile. But you left your Tucker behind, and then at the train station, you left Joe behind. I’m sure you’re good at what you do, but I guess two Hannigan brothers are better than one.”
“Can’t argue with that,” Alfie agreed, “but the asshole in the 88 put a hole in one of our tires and tried to keep us from getting to our car. Spur of the moment, we decided the best thing to do was borrow his. We were in kind of a hurry, since we were paid to be on this train with you.”
“But Joe’s not on the train,” Violet pointed out. “He stayed behind.”
“Any luck, he’ll catch up,” Alfie said. “But he figured the real job is making sure you get your mother’s body where it’s going, and that guy wanted to make sure that doesn’t happen. Joe went back to slow him down.”
Alfie gave them a shy smile that belied his age and the violence he’d alluded to in his life. “I guess I’d be lying if I didn’t add that he also went back to make sure nothing happened to the Tucker. Joe loves that car more than breathing.”
Violet took a calming puff on her cigarette, then dropped it to the floor and ground it out with her heel. The movement caught Alfie’s eye, and he studied her a moment. In her time as a nightclub performer, she had grown quite used to men’s eyes on her, but this felt different, almost as if he were trying to decide if he wanted her on his team. She slid off the crate and stood, wanting to measure up, somehow.
“I feel like there’s an important question we haven’t asked,” she said.
Malcolm nodded. “I agree. Pretty sure it’s the same one in my head.”
“Maggie thought Malcolm would need help getting her remains safely to Shediak,” Violet went on. “Maybe she didn’t know it would be the man in the bird mask—”
“I think of him as the raven,” Malcolm interrupted.
“He wore a mask last night,” Violet explained to Alfie. “Maybe she didn’t know it would be him, but she knew there’d be troublewhen we tried to move her remains. And she knew that wouldn’t be the end of it, or she wouldn’t have wanted you on this train.”
“Sounds about right,” Alfie said.
Malcolm put a hand on the edge of the crate. “Back to the question, then,” he said, more to his late mother, inside the crate, than to Alfie Hannigan. “Who is the raven? Why does he want to stop us? And what kind of trouble did Maggie think would catch up to us?”
“That’s three questions,” Alfie pointed out. “Though I guess they’re all one big answer, which is, I don’t know. All she told us was that they’d be strong, they weren’t afraid to get violent, and we had to be prepared to be just as violent. I think she used the wordvicious, because I remember my brother promising her we knew how to get vicious if necessary.”
Violet shuddered a bit at the calm in his face and voice as he spoke of his capacity for violence.
Alfie gave an apologetic shrug. “That’s about it. Now, Malcolm—I hope you don’t mind me calling you by your Christian name—I’ve got a lot of faith in you. I’ve seen your war record. You’re no slouch when it comes to a fight. Which means I guess we can all keep an eye out for trouble, and for my brother.”
“We’re to stay with the crate,” Malcolm said. “This isn’t my idea of a good time, but I made a promise.”
Alfie smiled. “You do that. But I hope you don’t think I’m gonna spend the whole trip in here when I could be in a proper seat, drinking whiskey. I’ll check on you here and there. And I won’t be far… just a car or two away.”
“No one’s going to begrudge you a whiskey, Mr. Hannigan,” Violet said, “but you’ve just told us of your vaunted reputation. I trust you didn’t acquire that reputation by getting drunk while the people and things you’re meant to look after were in danger.”
Alfie’s smile faded. She thought she could see the violence in him, now.
“No, ma’am,” he said. “I take comfort when I can, but I don’t take foolish risks.”
“Whatever the raven wanted,” Malcolm said, “we’ve left him behind, and your brother was there to deal with him. I suspect you can get comfortable. I feel like a damn fool making our nest in the baggage car. If not for it being my mother’s final wish, I’d join you for that whiskey.”
“On the ride back,” Alfie suggested. “Fine meals, luxury compartments.”
“That sounds wonderful,” Violet said. “When the time comes, I’ll certainly drink to it.”
9
The train had rocked Malcolm to sleep, but now it hit a rough bit of track that made his skull bounce off the floor of the baggage car.
