Free War for the Oaks by Emma Bull Page A

front of the oriental grocery. "Not as much as I could wish," Eddi heard him mutter, "but it will help." He tucked it jauntily over his ear. "And what," he said to Eddi, "are you staring at?"
    "What is that for?"
    He looked haughty. "Do you tell me everything?"
    She smiled a little and shook her head, and climbed into the passenger's seat.
    As they pulled out onto Cedar, Eddi spotted a police car cruising slowly toward them. "Get down!" she hissed at the phouka.
    "What?"
    Eddi reached back and pushed his head below the level of the windows. The car went past and pulled up in front of the Riverside.
    As she turned onto the freeway, Carla pointed out, "They wouldn't have stopped the car even if they saw him. Domestic violence, y'know."
    "Domestic, hell," Eddi sighed, slumping down in the seat. "For all I know, half the people in the Riverside are prepared to file an assault charge."
    They rode in silence until Carla reached the Hennepin-Lyndale exit. Then the phouka said, "Do you still want gainful employment?"
    "If I don't find some gainful something, I won't be eating in six weeks."
    "Hmm. And if I remain in your company, I will suffer a like fate. Something must be done." Eddi could hear the amusement in his voice. "You have to make money, and I have to stay by your side. Now, how can both imperatives be satisfied?"
    "You can rob liquor stores and take me along as a hostage."
    "Interesting. No, I have a better idea." He paused. "Why don't you start a band?"
    "Haven't I heard that before?" Carla said.
    "Oh, shit," said Eddi.

chapter 5
You Can't Always Get What You Want
    The boulevard trees moved restlessly overhead, strobing the streetlights across the windshield. The air smelled like ozone. "You want to come up?" Eddi asked Carla as they turned onto Oak Grove.
    "That's why I'm looking for a parking space."
    "Two of 'em, for the Queen Mary here."
    "Hemph," said Carla cheerfully, and swung into the curb near the creamy-gray front of the Loring Park Office Building.
    The phouka sprang onto the sidewalk before Carla turned the engine off, and stood brushing imaginary dust off his trousers. "I feel I ought to warn you," he said, "that it's going to rain. You'll have a long, wet walk back to your car if you leave it here."
    "Yeah, but the scenery makes it all worthwhile." Across the street, where Carla pointed, the undulating bowl of Loring Park was dotted with the orange globes of its post lamps, faceless jack o'lanterns that gleamed on the sidewalks and reflected in the ruffled pond. From somewhere beyond the footbridge, a dove called nervously and fell silent.
    "Yes," the phouka said softly, "I can see that it might." Then, as if to break the mood, he pulled the sprig of locust from the black curls behind his ear and presented it to Eddi with a flourish.
    At the door to her apartment, the phouka held out his hand for her keys. Eddi drew back and frowned at him. "Why?" she said.
    His smile was brilliant and dangerous. "I want to see if you've had uninvited guests. Don't you think I should, before I let you go in?"
    She pictured something gray and toothy in her living room, waiting. Carla put a hand on Eddi's shoulder and squeezed comfortingly; then she took the keys out of Eddi's hand and gave them to the phouka.
    He squatted and studied the lock before he put the key into it and turned it delicately. Then he stood up and rested his head against the door.

    Eddi began, "Is there—"
    He touched his finger to her lips and shook his head. Then he opened the door and slipped through it.
    "D'you get the feeling he's seen too many
Man from U.N.C.L.E
. reruns?" Carla whispered.
    "You're the one who gave him the keys."
    Carla shrugged. "Hey, if he wants to sneak around your apartment, it's no skin off our noses." Then she grinned. "Besides, I can empathize. I always wanted to be Emma Peel."
    "Emma Peel? In a
station wagon?"
    "You can't fit a whole drum kit in a Lotus Elan."
    "Poor thing." Eddi smiled. Then she looked at the closed door