Psyc 03_The Call of the Mild Read Online Free PDF Page B

an adorable mime.”
    “If such a thing exists,” Shawn said.
    “How long do you think that latch will hold out once the police bring the battering ram?” Gus said.
    “I’ve got six bullets in my gun,” the mime said. “Two for you, three for him, and one left over for myself. The latch will hold out long enough for that.”
    “How come I get three and he only gets two?” Shawn said.
    “Take off your clothes,” the mime said. “I won’t tell you again.”
    “What do we do?” Gus whispered to Shawn.
    Shawn stared at the mime. Then he lowered his gaze and pulled off his T-shirt.
    “You, too,” the mime snapped at Gus.
    It took Gus a lot longer to get down to his boxers than it did Shawn, who had apparently dressed with exactly this scenario in mind. Even his shoes were slip-ons, which he slipped off in less than a second. Everything Gus was wearing seemed to have more buttons than he remembered, and his fingers slipped and fumbled with every one. Somehow the laces on his standard brown dress shoes had been tied into triple knots, and it took what felt like hours for him to undo them. After a few more hours, Gus stood next to Shawn, dressed only in his boxer shorts, his bare feet adhering to the linoleum.
    “I didn’t say get ready to go swimming,” the mime said.
    “All your clothes.”
    Gus wanted to sneak a look at Shawn to see what he was going to do. But he didn’t dare. He was afraid he’d find courage in his friend’s eyes, and then he’d refuse to do what the mime was demanding, and then they’d both be dead. He bent down and quickly stripped off his shorts, covering himself with both hands as he straightened up.
    “Now kick them over here,” the mime commanded, and Gus did. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a blur of movement that must have been Shawn also following the order. The mime scooped up all the clothes with his free arm, then gestured with the gun. “Into the stall.”
    “Could we go into separate stalls?” Shawn said. “Because they’re really only meant for one person, and I don’t think we should be doing a lot of touching in our present condition.”
    The mime didn’t answer. He lowered the gun to where Shawn had strategically placed his hands.
    “You know, one stall sounds fine,” Shawn said. “It’ll be much warmer that way.”
    Shawn and Gus scurried into the middle stall and slammed the door shut behind them. Gus turned the latch firmly, locking them in.
    “Oh, yeah, that will do a lot of good,” Shawn said. “No one’s ever gotten through one of these before.”
    “You want me to leave it open?”
    Shawn didn’t. Each stood pressed against a stall wall, trying to pretend the cold metal wasn’t lowering their body temperatures with every passing second.
    “Are you almost done with our clothes out there?” Shawn finally called out.
    There was no answer.
    “Maybe you could finish up with our underwear first?” Shawn suggested hopefully.
    Still no answer came.
    “What do you think he’s doing out there?” Gus whispered.
    Shawn pressed his eye to the crack at the edge of the door and tried to peer out.
    “One of two things,” Shawn said. “Either he’s taken our clothes and woven them into a cloak of invisibility, or he’s gone.”
    Shawn pulled open the stall door and stuck his head out. The mime was gone. And so were their clothes. Shawn checked every stall and tore through all the trash cans, but the mime hadn’t left them so much as a sock.
    “What do we do now?” Gus said.
    “We’re taking him down.” Shawn bolted to the door.
    “You can’t go out there,” Gus said as Shawn reached for the door handle.
    “Watch me.”
    “It’s not me who’s going to be watching,” Gus said. “It’s all the moms out there with their little kids.”
    “So what do you suggest? That we just stay in here until everyone has gone home and we can slip out without anyone seeing us?”
    “That’s not a bad idea,” Gus said. “But my car keys were