Faust Among Equals by Tom Holt Read Free Book Online

refracting light. A man in a bow tie and a black waistcoat hurried up, and took its order for coffee and a slice of cheesecake.
    How .
    â€˜Sheer bloody-mindedness, mostly,’ replied Lucky George. ‘And you?’
    Not so dusty , replied the shade of Sitting Bull. They’ve recently transferred me to a job in Administration .
    â€˜Administration?’ Lucky George raised an eyebrow. ‘Why was that, Bully?’
    Search me. The only reason I could come up with was that my name fitted. Like, you do a lot of sitting and—
    â€˜Quite so,’ Lucky George replied. ‘Anyway, to business. I seem to remember you owe me a favour, Bully.’
    The ectoplasm shook its head violently, causing a fortuitous rainbow.
    Don’t make me laugh, paleface. Your people stole our lands. They wiped out the buffalo. They raped our hunting-grounds with the telegraph and the iron horse. They massacred us when we tried to fight and drove us into reser vations. They destroyed our unique and vital cultural traditions and poisoned our youth with fire water and flame-grilled spicy bisonburgers. I don’t seem to recall owing any favours to anyone with skin that particularly revolting shade of pinky-apricot .
    Lucky George frowned. ‘Short memory you’ve got, Bully,’ he said. ‘I’m amazed you’ve forgotten who it was advised you to invest heavily in railroad bonds and Wells Fargo Unsecured Loan Stock back in the early 1870s. Maybe I’m thinking of somebody else.’
    The ectoplasm quivered slightly, like a fluorescent jelly.
    Point taken. All right, what do you want?
    Lucky George paused while the waiter brought the coffee. They shared the cheesecake.
    â€˜To tell you the truth, Bully,’ said Lucky George, ‘I find myself in a bit of a fix.’
    You don’t say.
    â€˜Leave heavy irony to the living, Bully, they’ve got a flair for it. The point is, I need a spot of help. From someone on the inside on the Other Side, if you follow me.’
    You want jam on it, you do.
    â€˜Do I?’ George replied mildly. He smiled at the remains of the cheesecake, rendering it inedible under two centimetres of damson preserve. ‘It’s not a lot to ask. Of course, if you want the entire Sioux nation to find out about your career in bond-washing . . .’
    All right, there’s no need to get nasty. They’ve called off all their agents, just like they said.
    George raised both eyebrows. ‘You surprise me, Bully, you really do.’
    Freelances, on the other hand, are not covered by the term ‘agent’. In contract law, as no doubt you recall, no contract of agency subsists in the case of a unilateral, open-ended contract (such as the offer of a public reward) until the contracting party signifies his acceptance of the offer by actually performing the contract. The leading authority on this point is the old case of Carlill versus the Carbolic Smoke Ball Company, in which— ’
    â€˜I beg your pardon?’
    I’m taking law at night school. No way I’m going to be just another dumb Injun all my life. I’m allergic to sun-dried buffalo and wampum gives me eczema.
    â€˜Good for you, Bully. Any particular freelance you have in mind?’
    The ectoplasm began to laugh; and laughed so violently that it shook its fragile manifestation out of existence and vanished, absent-mindedly taking the rest of the cheesecake with it. Lucky George sighed.
    â€˜Oh,’ he said. ‘ Him . I might have guessed.’
    Â 
    Ask any detective, and he’ll tell you that getting the initial lead is the difficult part. Once you’ve got something, however slight, to go on, it’s just a matter of inspired perseverance. The problem is getting that initial lucky break.
    Ask Kurt Lundqvist, and he’ll tell you that the only way to get a break is to hit something hard. Or someone.
    â€˜Now, then,’ he said, wrapping his belt round his