Rough and Ready (33 page)

dancing.

Jolene, who had been taking a nap, rapped on the door finally. Hilda went into the bedchamber with her and Lizzy, who had just come back from the food mart.

Serenity had returned to Spike after she'd deemed him suitably punished.

Hilda

explained why she was so upset with Torolf.

"I think I know what ball Torolf is going to," Lizzy said. She went out to the solar and came back with a large packet of parchments, called the El Lay Times.

She opened the parchments to a page that showed a picture of two men, with haircuts similar to Torolf's, wearing fancy uniforms, different than the ones she's seen on the SEALs. There were also women in lewd gunnas that left the shoulders and half their breasts bare.

Lizzy grinned at her.

"What?" she and Jolene both said. Jolene was a much happier person since she had gone to court this week and got her husband put in prison. A law person was working on a divorce for her. Plus, Geek had been calling her on his talking box.

"I know what this ball is for. It's a reception at the Hotel del Coronado for the U.S. and state commissioners of education, along with a lot of education big shots. Although the event is touted as a recognition by the military of all that schools do in recording military history, they probably want an in for recruiters to go into their schools."

Hilda didn't understand half of what Lizzy had said. "Why does that make you grin so?"

"Because, honey, I can get us into the ball. My best friend was named teacher of the year, and she has extra tickets."

"But how would we get out of here, and where would I get the proper clothing?"

"You take care of getting us out of here, without the gorillas finding out.

I'll

get us some clothes. Look, it's only noon. We have plenty of time, even if we leave here by four p.m. Meet me behind Serenity's trailer at four, okay?"

Hilda nodded, a mite worried over how they could accomplish this feat and, yea, she worried over what Torolf's reaction would be to her showing up uninvited.

Hah! He deserved a surprise… or two. The lout!

At four, Hilda went out to the solar and picked out various foods and beverages and carried them into the bedchamber.

"What are you doing?" Pete was the inside guard now, and Ralph was outside.

"Jolene and I are going to eat in my bedchamber, then watch some tea-vee and go to bed. Torolf should be here tomorrow." She batted her eyelashes at him with innocence, a trick Tissie had taught her.

Pete nodded. "And if Torolf calls for you again?"

"Tell him I am getting my beauty rest… for him." More eyelash-batting.

Hilda made Jolene go to the bathing chamber to relieve herself. She would not be able to leave the bedchamber till morn, if all went as planned. Then she locked the door from the inside, went over and unlocked the window. She waited till Ralph passed by on his periodic strolls around the trailer, shimmied herself out, and watched as Jolene relocked the window.

In a low crouch, hiding behind the various other trailhers as she ran, Hilda arrived at Serenity's trailher where Lizzy was waiting for her in a black horseless carriage. Her friend, Sarah, the teacher of the year, was in the backseat… both her and Lizzy grinning at her ingenuity in escaping her "prison."

"We'll change in a motel room I arranged near San Diego," Sarah told them.

"I brought you the hottest gown, Hilda." Lizzy practically jumped up and down on the leather seats. "My sister, an actress, wore it to the Academy Awards one year."

And all Hilda could think to say was, "Torolf is going to be so surprised."

Dick was trying his damnedest to be a dick… a private dick…

Meanwhile, Dick Phillips saw the alien—the first one that had been in the hospital—crawl out of the trailer window. He rushed to gather up his equipment and put it in his trunk.

The black Toyota Avalon was already out on Route 10 by the time he caught up.

He

pulled out his cell phone once he had the vehicle firmly in his sights, two car lengths ahead.

"Phillips here," he told his boss, Mr. Atkins. "I've got the target in front of me… away from the goons at the trailer park. She's with two other women… not sure who they are."

"I'll alert Dorney and Olsen. They'll meet you once your target stops. Don't do anything until they arrive." Dick could hear the excitement in Mr. Atkins's voice.

"Roger that," he said, having heard that expression in a spy movie one time.

"Good work so far, Dick."

He beamed with pride as he followed his prey.

The prince and his froggie pals headed off to the ball…

Torolf and six other single guys on his team approached the Hotel del Coronado grimly.

None of them enjoyed decking themselves out in ice cream man duds—better known as dress whites—and parading themselves around like meat on display. SEALs had come a long way from the days when they were mere frogmen in the Navy. A lot more was required of them now, besides fighting the good fight, like showing up for dipwad events like this one, where they would be required to dance with unattached females from ten to seventy, often stammering teenaged daughters of important people.

"Maybe there'll be some hot teachers here," Cage said hopefully, glancing up at the banner, which read, National Organization for Better Education, NOBO.

"I never had a hot teacher the whole sixteen years I was in school," Pretty Boy pointed out.

"These are more likely education bigwigs, the movers and shakers in making policy," Geek explained. When they all frowned at him, he added, "There might be a few teachers."

"If we have dry chicken again, I'm gonna puke," JAM said.

"Hey, the Del serves primo food," Torolf told JAM, who had never attended an event here before, somehow having been off base every time one came up.

And, really, the Del was a neat place. Sitting right on the ocean, it was a huge white building, complete with cupolas, dormer windows, a red tile roof, and a lot of history. It was here that Edward, Prince of Wales, supposedly met the infamous Wallis Simpson, then abdicated the throne. The Marilyn Monroe movie, Some Like It Hot, was filmed here. And it was considered the Western White House by some presidents, like Ronald Reagan. The food was usually good, too, though a bit fancy for Torolf's tastes. "I hope they don't serve that avocado soup again, the one with bits of caviar floating on top." Colorful food items like that were a killer for white-suited gentlemen, like themselves, to handle.

"Mon Dieu, more old fart dance music!" Cage complained as they entered the ballroom.

"Not a good-looking woman in sight," Pretty Boy observed.

"Oh, great! I don't see one black person here. I hate it when I'm the token homeboy." This was Sly, who was African American.

"I'm sticking around here for two hours. Then I'm outta here," Torolf declared, sticking a finger under his tight collar.

"Hilda expectin' you?" Cage asked.

"Hilda has been expecting me for two days."

"Pissed, is she?"

"Royally. But I have a little gift for her that I hope will cheer her up."

The

worried expression on his face must have alerted Cage.

"A ring! You bought Hilda an engagement ring!" he guessed, and all the guys stopped and stared at him, big ol' grins on their faces.

I should have known. Cage might be my best friend, but he's got the biggest mouth this side of the Mason-Dixon Line.

"When's the wedding, chèr? Can I be best man?"

Of course, you can be my best man… if there is a wedding.

"I get dibs on plannin' the bachelor party."

Oh, no! The last time Pretty Boy planned a bachelor party, there were lap dancers and cops involved.

"I hope you have the ceremony at your dad's vineyard. The one we went to there was so cool."

Yeah, that was cool. Ragnor and Alison. And, oh, shit, Dad is gonna kill me if I tell everyone else before him, and then Madrene will be ordering me around, telling me everything I should do, and Kirstin will be weeping because I'm getting married before her. It will be a godawful mess. "Really, guys, you're jumping the gun here. Hey, I haven't even asked her yet. She might say no. In fact, she might very well say no."

On and on his buddies went, ignoring his disclaimer, razzing him, but he didn't care. He loved her, she loved him, they were going to be together, somehow.

I hope.

After the buffet dinner, some agonizing speeches, and the start of the dancing, Torolf glanced at his watch. A half hour to go. To while the time away, he asked Mary Jane Potter, the eighteen-year-old daughter of a state board of education member, to dance. She was cute and bubbly and not Hilda.

Was Cinderella this nervous before the ball?…

Hilda, Lizzy, and Sarah were walking up the steps of the Hotel del Coronado, and she was shaking in her three-inch high-heeled shoes.

"Mayhap this was not such a good idea," she said, gazing with awe at the massive white building with its red roof. " 'Tis a castle. Even the Saxons do not have such splendor."

Lizzy and Sarah laughed at her, already getting accustomed to her strange ways.

It had taken more than two hours to prepare themselves in the lodging place.

They all looked wonderful, and Hilda felt like a veritable princess. A princess in a wanton red gunna. The gown was "strapless." That meant it bared the shoulders and arms. Who would have thought that her meager breasts could hold anything up? But it had a built-in device that not only held the gown up, but her breasts as well. The gown hugged her slender form down to the ankles, though it had a slit all the way up to the thigh, which exposed her leg in sheer hose.

And, on her feet were the red high-heeled shoes, which she had protested heartily, being overtall already, but they assured her the shoes made her look statuesque, though why anyone would want to resemble a statue, she had no idea.

Her hair was big and curly, as it had been at Spike's birthday feast, and her lips were painted bright red to match her gown.

They entered a huge hall where music was playing and people were dancing… a hundred or more, and all of them dressed in colorful gowns, some more scandalous than hers. Many of the men were dressed in white raiment. She could not wait to tell her women back at The Sanctuary about warriors in white. That thought made her gladsome and sad at the same time. Will I be going back?

Lizzy and Sarah took glasses of clear wine from a tray carried about the room by a man dressed all in black. No doubt another kind of uniform. She declined, just wanting to find Torolf. She walked among the dancers, being careful not to bump into any of them. Was that Ragnor Magnusson over there, dancing with a beautiful woman, also dressed in the white uniform? If it was, his jaw was hanging open with disbelief, gawking at her as if she were a ghost. Moving on, she saw Cage, dancing with an elderly lady with gray hair. He jolted back with surprise, then waved, pointing to his left.

And then she saw Torolf. And the lout was engaging in foresport—that slow dancing men in this country employed—with another woman. She was young and not nearly as tall as Hilda, with shiny black hair and honey-colored skin. She was lissome in all the ways that Hilda was not. And he was holding her close, laughing at a mirth-some thing she said to him.

A buzzing began in Hilda's ears as she stood stock-still, staring. The lout.

The

cruel, cruel lout. How could he do this to her? She waited, uncaring of the spectacle she was making, for the instant when he would see her.

And then he did.

Shock caused him to stop dancing and stare, eyes wide.

You should be shocked, you slimy maggot.

He looked at her, then he looked at the woman still in his arms, then he looked back at her, as if in apology.

That was answer enough for her.

When clueless men ask, "What? What have I done?"…

Torolf was stunned speechless. Like a slow-motion slide show, he registered that: • Hilda was here.

• Hilda looked screw-me-silly sexy in a strapless red gown with red screw-me-silly lipstick.

• Hilda's eyes looked happy, then so sad.

• Hilda thought he was with another woman.

• Hilda was gone.

I'll show you, bozo…

Hilda spun on her heel and walked proudly across the wide expanse of the dance floor till she got to the doors. Along the way, she ignored Cage's plea to stop and talk to him. To Lizzy, she said, "I'll meet you in the car. Do not leave on my account. Enjoy yourselves."

Once out the door, she began to run, which was difficult with the high-heeled shoes. So she stopped and took them off. Then she ran, tears streaming down her face.

I did not tell him of the baby. I will not now.

He is with another woman, even as he claims to love me. Why am I surprised?

He

is a man, like any other.

What a fool I have been! Never again!

When she reached the vehicle, she discovered something unfortunate. It was locked.

With a sob, she sank down to the ground, leaning against the cool metal. That is when a man with red hair walked up to her and asked, "Mzzz Berdottir? You don't know me, but I've been looking for you."

I'm sick of this frickin' hide-and-seek game…

Protocol was everything in the Navy. As quickly as he could, he apologized to the young lady he was dancing with whose name he could not remember. Then Cage, bless him, came over and asked her to dance.

Seeing his commander on the other side of the room, he walked up to him and stood stiff as a board until the captain recognized him. "Request permission to leave, sir."

The captain arched a bushy gray eyebrow at him.

"Emergency, sir."

The old guy must have noticed the tension in his body and said, "Excused, Lieutenant."

As quickly as he could manage, he was out the door. What a fool he was to think Hilda would have been just standing out here, waiting for him to get his shit together and invite her back inside to the ball.

For fifteen minutes, he searched the area. Then, for another fifteen minutes his buddies searched with him. The only sign of her was the red shoes on the hotel steps. Next, they found Lizzy and Sarah, who told him that Hilda said she was going to wait for them in the car. So they hiked over to the parking lot. No Hilda.