No Rest for the Wicked: Part Eighteen

Sparrowhawk looked dubiously at the undergrowth, as she concealed herself in the undergrowth alongside Ms. Madison. The Green Man's secretary looked at the masked girl in leather and tried to smile encouragingly. Sparrowhawk did not smile back, only looking out at the desterted terrace, searching for a sign of movement.

"Why do you dress like that?" Ms. Madison spoke, trying to pass the time.

"I have my reasons," Sparrowhawk was curt.

"Oh." The blonde secretary sounded a little hurt. "Be that way, then..."

Sparrowhawk was quiet for a long time, looking down at the beaten earth, at the undergrowth and the rubble. She looked thoughtful, and not a little sad. There was, the English girl noted, something a little tragic about the little girl in leather. She looked away, feeling that she was looking at something very private.

"I'm sorry," she spoke at last, "but this place is really awful. I remember what they did to me in court, the way that every neurosis of mine was dragged out and paraded in front of the court. Look," she shook her head, "you must know that I'm not exactly normal, that I'm a messed up little thing. Being here brings back memories of a time when the life of a crime-fighter was an interlude between going in and out of private hospitals."

Ms. Madison shook her head, looking sympathetic. She reached out for the masked girl's arm, but she jerked it away.

"There'll be time for that later." She looked out at the fields around them, as dusk fell over the flat agricultural land. The Green Man stood a little way away from them, the wind blowing at his coat, looking down. Ms. Madison shuddered.

"I know," Sparrowhawk spoke soberly. Driven. I've been there and done that. Isn't he magnificent?"

"He's also got a girlfriend." Ms. Madison spoke sternly to the girl in leather.

"Yeah," Sparrowhawk shook her head. "But I'm a naughty girl. Still, after tonight, the Girl in Grey may not have a rival."

Ms. Madison knew not to challenge the masked maiden further. She shook her head, and went back to checking her gun.

The Green Man slipped from the building, leaving the two girls alone. He knew that they could look after themselves. Drawing his gun, he vanished into the undergrowth. A trace of movement revealed a rough looking man at a telephone box.

So the Green Man struck.