The driver grinned and cut on the switch. “He's piped,” he said.
“What'd you hit that guy with?” Bender asked.
“A spring leaf,” the driver said. “I was mad and I guess I hit him too hard.”
“Yeah,” Bender said dryly. “I guess I owe you a dinner for that. Let's be rolling.”
The crowd gathered around the car. One man came in close, stuck his head under the top, saw the men in the back seat and said:
“Well, I'll be—! Looks like a cyclone hit 'em.”
“You said it, brother,” the driver clipped over his shoulder.
The car jerked away down the road, rolled a few hundred feet and pulled into a dirt road. The driver reversed it, turned around and started back.
A puff of smoke vomited from the Fishtail Club and a roll of flame pushed out and licked its way upward.
“—!” Patton cried. “The place is one fire! The place is on fire!”