Soothsayer by Mike Resnick Read Free Book Online Page B

the door slammed shut behind them, just as the large man reached the corner. The Mouse pulled her knife out and crouched in the shadows, waiting.
    "That won't work!” whispered Penelope.
    "It'd damn well better work!” said the Mouse.
    "It won't,” she repeated. “Follow me."
    She darted down the stairs, and the Mouse raced after her. When she reached the fifth floor, they could hear the large man coming down the stairs behind them.
    On the fifth floor, Penelope stopped and looked into the darkness behind the door for an instant, then reached into the shadows and grabbed a broom.
    "You go first,” she said.
    "Not a chance!” whispered the Mouse, tightening her grip on her knife.
    "You can't hurt him with a knife!” hissed Penelope. She held up the broom. “ This will stop him."
    The Mouse stared at her as the little girl placed the broom on the stairs, then ran down to the next landing.
    "Hurry!” urged Penelope, as the large man came into view.
    The Mouse raced down to the landing, then turned and prepared to do battle.
    The man had a sonic pistol in his hand, and as he surged down the stairs he was so intent upon his quarry that he didn't see the broom until he tripped over it. He careened off a wall, grunted in surprise, then fell heavily down the stairs, bellowing in pain. As he rolled onto to the landing, the Mouse crouched down and expertly slit his throat.
    Suddenly Penelope began crying, and wrapped her arms around the Mouse.
    "Won't they ever stop ?” she whimpered.
    The Mouse, breathing heavily, stroked Penelope's blonde hair for a moment, then stepped back and held the little girl's face between her hands.
    "Don't ever disobey my orders again,” she said. “I told you to keep me between you and him."
    "Now you're mad at me, too!” wept Penelope. “I thought we were friends."
    "We are friends,” said the Mouse. “That's why I'm mad at you. You might have been killed because you didn't obey me."
    "But your knife wouldn't have hurt him,” protested the little girl.
    "Hurt him? It killed him."
    "But you wouldn't have cut his neck. You would have stabbed his chest or his belly."
    "It would have killed him just as dead."
    Penelope shook her head. “It wouldn't have hurt him,” she repeated stubbornly.
    "Why do you keep saying that?” demanded the Mouse.
    "Look,” said Penelope, pointing to the dead man.
    The Mouse knelt down and examined him, then looked up, surprised.
    "He was wearing body armor!” she exclaimed.
    "That's what I was trying to tell you."
    "But it was hidden under his tunic,” continued the Mouse. “How did you know it was there?"
    "I didn't."
    "But you said you did."
    Penelope shook her head again. “I said I knew your knife wouldn't hurt him."
    The Mouse frowned. “But you didn't know why?"
    "No."
    "And how did you know there was a broom behind that door?"
    Penelope shrugged.
    "I thought we were friends,” said the Mouse. “Friends don't keep secrets from each other."
    "I saw it,” said Penelope.
    "You've never been in this stairwell."
    "I know."
    "Then how could you have seen it?” persisted the Mouse.
    "I saw it"—Penelope pointed to her head—"in here."
    [Back to Table of Contents]

5.
    "Let me get this straight,” said the Mouse. “Are you telling me that you can see the future?"
    "There are lots of futures,” said Penelope. “I don't see all of them."
    "What do you see?"
    "I see what's going to happen next ... sometimes."
    "But you were wrong,” said the Mouse. “You saw me stabbing the armored vest, and I didn't."
    "I try to make the best future happen,” said Penelope. She frowned. “But it doesn't always work. People still try to hurt me."
    "You mean you could see what would happen if I tried to stab him, and also what would happen if I didn't?"
    "It's not like reading a book,” explained the girl. “I could see that if you stabbed him, he'd kill us. So I ran, and when we came to the fifth floor, I saw that if I picked up the broom and placed it a certain