“Get a little life into your limbs,” I said to her as I went. “We gotta get out of here quick.”
I gumshoed to the head of the stairs and looked over. There were two guys coming up. They must have heard me, because they snapped out their light quickly. I swung the .45 and fired one shot, making sure that I didn’t hit them.
The way those two fell downstairs to get out of the way made me laugh. I shouted down to them, “Don’t come up. I want to be alone.”
Then I beetled back to Blondie very quietly. She was standing up rubbing her wrists. Her mouth was set in a thin line. That dame didn’t look scared, she was just mad..
“Next floor,” I said briefly. “As quiet as you like.”
She took a few hobbling steps forward and then she stopped. She began to curse. I hastily grabbed her arm. “Pipe down,” I said. “What’s up? Are you hurt’?”
She tried to move forward again, but stopped once more. Her big white teeth chewed her lip. “I can’t make it,” she said jerkily.
I didn’t bother to argue, time was pressing. I gave her the fireman’s hoist and started up the other flight of stairs. Carrying a dame of Blondie’s build up thirty stairs is hard labour. Along with the feeling that some guy is going to open up with a popgun and perforate your pants it’s plain hell. By the time I got on to the next landing, I was sweating hard.
Once I got up there, I used my lamp. The landing was similar to the downstairs one. The same number of doors. I entered the back room and dumped Blondie down on the floor. “Try an’ snap out of it,” I said. “We ain’t home yet.”
I went out on to the landing again, leaving her the lamp. Then I leant over the rail and fired a shot down into the darkness. I thought maybe those guys down there wanted a little scare. I got one myself. A gun exploded out of the darkness and I felt the wind of the bullet close to my face. I jerked back, then shifting my position I fired once more, this time straight down the stairs.