Chapter Six
Larry was making his midnight rounds when he caught sight of Brunden, who was pacing in the Egyptian wing. "Hey, what's up?"
"You seen Tally lately?"
"She's in there, like she's been for the past two months."
"Well, I know that, but I wanna know if she's okay."
"I'm sure she'll be fine." A slight sound attracted Larry's attention, and for a second, he glimpsed Jedediah's hat. "Guess you really like the museum if you never leave."
"I've got something to do, and I haven't figured out what it is yet."
"Well, why are you staying here?"
"Because I think this is where I need to be."
"Okay, you've figured that much out, and that's good, that's really good. Now, do you know what to do?"
"Well, I had this dream, and Tally was in it."
"Oh, a dream. I had one one time about a fish named Billy who told me I would be president."
"I'm serious here."
"Hey, guys. There you are, Brunden," Tally said, walking out of the Egyptian room to join the two other guards. "So, anything interesting you two are talking about?"
"Just dreams we've been having," Larry said nonchalantly.
"Oh, really? That's cool, I guess."
"Yeah, it's cool, if they're not about those lying fish," Brunden snapped.
"Why're you so defensive now?"
"Defensive? I'm not defensive."
"That's being defensive."
"Okay, you two, that's enough." Larry stepped between Brunden and Tally before their confrontation could get ugly.
"Yeah, you're right. So, who feels like cocktails?"
Octavius turned to face Jedediah. "What can you make of this?" he whispered.
"Nothing doing. My mind's gone blank."
"That makes us both, where neither has a decent plan or even a hint of one."
"Maybe we gotta find out more."
Octavius took Jed's face in both his hands and kissed him. "Jedediah, this is the reason you are a leader of men."
"Uh, thanks."
Tally miraculously found the ingredients in the security office mini-fridge and mixed a pair of Famous Fredricks drinks, passing one to Larry and the other to Brunden. "So, what do you think?"
Larry took a sip before responding. "Wow, that's something."
"Family recipe. Cecil just made it better."
"Oh, really. Whatever happened to Cecil hating you?"
"He never hated me. There was just a drunk Cecil and and a sober one. He was a party animal when he wanted to be."
"Heh, sounds like him for some reason."
"Okay, how come I feel like I'm being left out of the conversation?" Brunden asked, threatening to slosh his drink all across the security office floor. "I'm a person, too, dammit."
"A very annoying one right now. If you'd have let me, I'd have come around to you."
"Okay, fine." Brunden downed his drink and slammed the glass on the table before storming out. Larry and Tally exchanged strange looks, but neither said a word.
"Okay, I'm definitely bringing all this stuff home with me," Tally finally said.
