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* * *
“What are you doing?” Lucille shouted at Leonard. He was still holding his gun in the air.
“I’m getting everyone out of here,” he said. “What do you think?”
She bit her bottom lip and blinked angrily at him. “Of all the silly, foolish things for you to do,” she said. “Firing a gun off like that for no reason.”
“No reason?” he shouted back, looking at her like she was mad.
“Um, Lucy,” said Betty, poking her in her ribs. “Look around.”
Lucille did look around, and slowly she realized that maybe Leonard’s crazy plan wasn’t quite so crazy after all. The entire crowd was running in droves to the back of the barbershop. It was pretty chaotic, with people running into each other and several other men drawing their guns as well, as though they wanted to be ready to shoot. That made Lucille nervous, but she had to admit Leonard’s plan seemed to be working.
Amos and Decker came running up to them. “What did you see?” Decker panted, a vein throbbing in his neck. It looked as if it was about to burst.
“I saw the bandits,” Leonard said at once.
“Are you sure it was them?” Decker asked.
“Sure I’m sure,” Leonard said. “Long blonde hair, guns at their sides.”
“I didn’t see anything,” said Amos, looking uncertain.
Leonard shrugged. “They were sticking to the side of the building. I saw them moving around to the back.”
“Which side of the building?” asked Decker.
Leonard hesitated. “Left side,” he said.
Decker nodded. “All right.” He turned to Amos. “You go around the right, I’ll take the left.” He looked back at Leonard. “You stay here in case they come around again. If you see them, just shoot. For the Lord’s sake don’t let them get away!”
“You can count on me,” said Leonard.
Decker and Amos took off. There were still people lingering around out front, though most of them had disappeared around the back as well.
“We’ve got to get Irene and Belle out of there,” said Lucille.
“Uh oh,” said Francis and nodded her head in the direction just behind them. Lucille turned and saw Belle’s sisters, Summer and Meadow, headed straight for them.
“What’s wrong?” asked Leonard.
Lucille looked at him. “Meadow and Summer don’t know anything about Belle’s involvement with the bandits, and Belle wants to keep it that way.” She hurried to the sisters, who were looking worried.
“What’s happening?” Meadow asked. “We heard in the sweet shop that the Beauty Bandits are inside Sidney’s shop.”
“They were,” said Lucille, “but they’ve gone around back now. Everyone’s gone after them.”
“Come on,” Francis said, grabbing Meadow’s hand and carting her off. Betty did the same with Summer.
“We don’t want them to get away,” Betty shouted as she pulled Summer along. The sisters looked momentarily confused then hurried around the back with the rest of the crowd.
Lucille and Leonard moved closer to the barbershop. It felt as though an eternity had passed since Leonard had fired his gun, though it was probably no more than a couple of minutes. There was no sign of Irene or Belle.
“They must not realize it’s safe to come out,” Lucille said. “I’ve got to get them.”
“You can’t go in there,” said Leonard.
“Why not?” she demanded, heading for the door.
“Because,” he said, but she saw in his eyes he could think of nothing to say.
“I only need a minute with them,” Lucille assured him. “I’ve got to move quickly before Decker and Amos come back around.” Without waiting for him to argue any further, she hurried towards the barbershop door.
Leonard watched her a moment looking horrified then ran several paces to the left and fired three more shots into the air. “That way!” he shouted, pointing straight down the middle of the street. Everyone who had remained lingering was looking in that direction.
“I see them!” someone shouted. “Three blonde women running!”
Lucille looked over and saw nothing except a trio of blonde-colored horses being led down the street by two men. The crowd that was left hurried after them, and Lucille turned the knob on the door. Luckily, it was unlocked.
She stepped into the barbershop, which looked empty from the front. “Hello?” she called. “Irene? Belle?”
The two women suddenly appeared from the back room. Irene’s eyes widened. “Lucille, what are you doing here? How did you get in?”
“The door was open,” she said.
Irene shoved Belle’s side. “I told you to lock it.”
“I’m sorry,” Belle said. “I thought I did.”
“No time to argue,” Lucille said, grabbing each of them by the arm and steering them towards the door. “We’ve got to go.”
“We can’t,” said Irene. “We’ll be seen. It’s a miracle we made it here without getting caught.” She smiled briefly. “Looks like our plan worked though. You’re out.”
“Yes, and Effie’s name is cleared as well, but you should never have done something so dangerous.” She didn’t have time to chastise them for their actions though. “Leonard got everyone away from the store. Decker and Amos are around the back, but they won’t be for long. Get rid of those wigs and coats. Hurry up.”
Irene and Belle did as she instructed, stuffing their articles into a bag filled with hair Sidney had swept up earlier this morning. Then they pushed through the door, Lucille going first. Leonard was standing by and gave her an all-clear signal. She stepped outside, and Irene and Belle hurried after her.
* * *
