The Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp (Alfred Kropp 1)

Then from downstairs came the sound of Mike’s cell phone ringing. I knew it was Mike’s because the ringer played “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.”

“Ah,” he said. “At last. The call comes. Perhaps a good sign.”

“Am I a knight now?”

“There are no knights left, save one, and his reckoning is soon upon him.”

39

Mike knocked loudly on the door and stuck his head in. He was smacking gum and smiling.

“Great news, cowboys. We’re a go. Let’s load ’em up and move ’em out!”

He clapped his hands and clumped down the hall in those big hiking boots he wore.

“You want me to take up your sword,” I told him. “But I don’t even know how to use a sword.”

“There is no time to teach you, Kropp. However, I suspect the day will not be lost or won through swordsmanship.”

We went downstairs. Jeff had laid out sandwiches. He said Mike had given orders to eat before we left.

“Where are we going?” I asked Mike.

“That’s classified.”

Bennacio and I took our sandwiches i

nto the great room and ate by the fire. Abby was standing off by herself, talking quietly on a cell phone and checking her watch. Cabiri was there, and Natalia, of course, but neither of them ate anything. Cabiri was very quiet too, not his usual jokey self, and Natalia looked like she was about to cry.

Everybody gathered by the front door.

“Okay, here’s the game plan,” Mike announced. “Jeff, Paul, Bennacio, and moi head for the rendezvous point. Everybody else hangs here until we get back.” He was kind of smirking in Abby’s direction.

“I am going with Bennacio,” Cabiri said.

“No can do, pal,” Mike said cheerfully. His mood was a lot better now that the game was finally on. “You don’t have clearance.”

“I do not need your clearance,” Cabiri said. “I found you once . . .”

“You try to leave this château and I’ll have you shot in the back of the head,” Mike said with a smile. “I’ve already given the order.”

Cabiri turned his head and made a spitting motion.

“Cabiri,” Bennacio said. There was a faraway-ness in his voice and eyes, as if he were already at the rendezvous point, the Sword of Kings within his grasp. “Stay.”

“Jeez, this is heartwarming,” Mike said. “Parting, the sweet sorrow thing and all that, but we’re on a tight schedule here and we’ve got to get shaking.”

He opened the door and waved at Bennacio. I stepped forward with him.

“You’re staying here, Al,” Mike said.

“Kropp is coming,” Bennacio said. “He is my second.”

“Your second what?” Mike asked.

“He will take up my sword should I fall.”

“No offense, Benny,” Mike said. “But if it were me, I’d take Cabiri here.”