Free Elsinore Canyon by J. M. Page A

for the tip. I’ve got to get to my office in town for a few hours. Claudia, you want to see me off?” He tipped his face at the back of Polly’s head and winked.
    “Thanks,” she winked back. “I have a few more things for Polly.”
    His eyebrows went up in surprise. “Just thought I’d ask.”
    Polly stood up. “I’ll see you later, Garth.”
    “Right. And Polly, if I ever do express any reservations about Phil, don’t be too sensitive about it. It’s different with daughters, you know that.”
    “Well, that I do. I have a son and a daughter both, and I know how fathers feel about them both.”
    “Then you know there’s nothing that frightens me more than Dana trusting the wrong man.” He coughed politely. The words were out of his mouth before he remembered the latest about Laurie.
    Polly gave a stiff nod. “I’m sure Phil feels the same way. Does that help?”
    Mr. Hamlet grimaced. “What are fathers going to do? The world is full of targets for sons, and full of traps for daughters. The hell of it is, we send our sons out to hunt, and punish our daughters if they get caught. No hard feelings, Polly.”
    He was gone.
    Dr. Claudia opened a cigarette case and offered one to Polly. He shook his head, and Dr. Claudia fitted one for herself into a black-lacquered holder. Polly watched in mild fascination. “You’re the only one I’ve ever known besides Garth who uses those things.”
    Dr. Claudia answered with a little smile. How such a small movement brought out the facets in her eyes. “He’s the one who got me into it. He always enjoyed things more than anyone I know. Still does for the most part, but—” Her smile drained away. “You marry someone. Everything feels heavenly, and then it isn’t. All because of external factors. Goblins and gremlins, things that come out of nowhere and have nothing to do with your relationship. The sooner Dana gets over whatever it is that’s bothering her the better.”
    “It’s Phil, I’m sure—”
    “I know, I know, I really hope it is that. My point is, well, Garth’s world revolves around her, and mine revolves around him. You can imagine how things are…”
    “Spinning?”
    “Yes. I wasn’t that involved in Dana’s life until recently. I had no idea she was even capable of writing things like that. It’s strange, but I feel I need allies, in this campaign to make her happy again.”
    “Allies! Well, I’d like to see her happy, too.”
    “Polly, do you think she would hurt anyone?”
    “You, eh, mean…”
    “She’s not a helpless little girl. You know she got a bit of money after my sister passed away, and you know how she’s been spending it. What if she were to retaliate?”
    Polly held his breath. “Against whom?”
    “Against anyone who tries to help her. You know her mind still isn’t exactly right. She could misunderstand. I don’t know,” she concluded with a helpless flutter of her hands. “I just wanted to put it out there.”
    “Hm. Count the days.” He spoke with a conspiratorial glint in his eye.
    Dr. Claudia froze. This was one of these weird utterances of Polly’s that would open into a conversational funhouse of mirrors and slanted floors if she didn’t slam it shut now. She gave him a friendly smile. “I’ll leave it up to you.”
    Polly collected his materials and bowed out.
    As he went down the hall, he couldn’t help dancing his head a bit. Surely, Claudia was coming around to his side. Maybe he could draw the situation out, swell the emotions by delaying the solution, and at some point make a dramatic demonstration of his correctness. Thank goodness Phil was malleable, but Polly once again regretted the boy’s inscrutable simplicity.
    As he neared his office, he heard the slap-slap of bare feet coming down some steps. He paused. While Dana had been acting out with notorious brilliance beyond the confines of Elsinore Canyon these past weeks, a certain mysterious presence had been haunting the passages and