N01 1 <#FROWN:N01\>"That is him," P<*_>e-acute<*/>rez N01 2 said. "He wants to talk with you about a serious business N01 3 deal."

N01 4 Fenton laughed, then jumped into the conversation. "Now N01 5 ain't that too bad. That herd is already-"

N01 6 "Shut your mouth, Dan!" Zach barked.

N01 7 Fenton frowned. "What the hell's the matter with you, N01 8 Zach?"

N01 9 "You got a bad habit of talking first and thinking N01 10 second," Zach said. "That's how come I ramrod this N01 11 outfit."

N01 12 Fenton, embarrassed, shut up and treated himself to a drink. N01 13 "Sure, Zach."

N01 14 "So your boss is inter'sted in them cattle, N01 15 hey?" Zach asked P<*_>e-acute<*/>rez.

N01 16 "He has noted them and wants to find out more, that's N01 17 all," P<*_>e-acute<*/>rez said. " If things look N01 18 acceptable to him, he might make an offer." Like his N01 19 employer, he wanted as little to do with gringos as possible. N01 20 "I told him I didn't think it worth the effort." He N01 21 added the last statement to make the bargaining easier for his N01 22 boss.

N01 23 But Zach wasn't buying that. "Is that why he's come up N01 24 here all this way, dragging a big ol' tent and enough men to start N01 25 a revolution?" He toyed with his glass. "I got my N01 26 boys out keeping an eye on things, P<*_>e-acute<*/>rez."

N01 27 P<*_>e-acute<*/>rez's face remained stony. "Don Diego N01 28 Mendoza wants to talk to you."

N01 29 "He's waiting for me, is he?" Zach inquired as N01 30 he poured another drink.

N01 31 "He has instructed me to take you directly to N01 32 him," P<*_>e-acute<*/>rez said.

N01 33 "I reckon I could do that," Zach said. N01 34 "When does he want to see me?"

N01 35 "I can take you there now," P<*_>e-acute<*/>rez N01 36 said.

N01 37 "I never seen a Mexican in such an all-fire N01 38 hurry," Zach said grinning. "This must be real N01 39 important to him."

N01 40 "Don Diego don't like to be this close to the border N01 41 for long," P<*_>e-acute<*/>rez said. "He want to N01 42 talk with you, then go back to Rancho Cielo Mexicano."

N01 43 "I can't fault him that," Zach said getting up. N01 44 "I reckon if I had me a big ol' ranch with a grand house on N01 45 it, I'd want to stay close to home too. And I'll bet he's got a N01 46 perty woman to dally with and an ugly wife, like all them rich N01 47 Mexicans, huh, P<*_>e-acute<*/>rez?"

N01 48 P<*_>e-acute<*/>rez ignored the remark. "Let us N01 49 go."

N01 50 Zach pointed to Fenton. "Dan's coming with N01 51 me."

N01 52 "That's fine. But one man only with you," N01 53 P<*_>e-acute<*/>rez said.

N01 54 "That there Don Diego must be a nervous sort," N01 55 Zach said laughing.

N01 56 P<*_>e-acute<*/>rez didn't crack as much as a smile. N01 57 "He is a wise and careful man." He turned and N01 58 walked toward the door. "Come! We go there now."

N01 59 Zach and Fenton followed the Mexican out to the street where N01 60 all three mounted up. P<*_>e-acute<*/>rez led the way out of town, N01 61 taking them down the south road and past the Rancho Cielo Mexicano N01 62 guards who carefully watched Don Diego's camp. The short trip ended N01 63 in front of the large tent.

N01 64 "Wait here," P<*_>e-acute<*/>rez said. He went N01 65 inside the canvas domicile. After a couple of minutes he emerged. N01 66 "Come in." He pointed to Zach. "Only you. N01 67 Don Diego waits for you."

N01 68 "Keep an eye open, Dan," Zach said to Fenton. N01 69 Then he grinned. "O'course there ain't much you can do if N01 70 all these Mexicans decide to jump us, is there?"

N01 71 "I can do plenty," Fenton boasted.

N01 72 "Good," Zach said. "You just keep thinking that N01 73 way." He followed P<*_>e-acute<*/>rez inside the tent.

N01 74 P<*_>e-acute<*/>rez announced their names for each other. N01 75 "Don Diego Mendoza. Zach Medford." Then he walked N01 76 to a nearby chair and sat down.

N01 77 Don Diego Mendoza was a tall, gaunt man with a large gray N01 78 mustache, His skin was as white as any European's, making it easy N01 79 to see that the Mendoza family had bred the Indian out of their N01 80 bloodline. He sat at the table where a bottle of tequila, a bowl of N01 81 salt, and slices of lemon on a saucer had been set. "Sit N01 82 down," the wealthy rancher invited.

N01 83 "Sure, Don Diego," Zach said. "That's N01 84 right neighborly of you and I don't mind if'n I do."

N01 85 "Help yourself," Don Diego said gesturing to N01 86 the refreshments.

N01 87 "You rich Mexicans got style," Zach said. N01 88 "I'll say that for you." He poured himself a glass N01 89 of tequila, then licked the top of his left hand between the thumb N01 90 and forefinger. Taking some salt from the bowl, he sprinkled it on N01 91 the wet spot then licked it up. After downing the glass of tequila N01 92 in one quick swallow, he grabbed a hunk of lemon and sucked on N01 93 it.

N01 94 "You have some twenty-five head of cattle," Don N01 95 Diego said. "Are they for sale?"

N01 96 "They was," Zach said. "But I already N01 97 sold them."

N01 98 Don Diego smiled slightly knowing the kind of man he was N01 99 dealing with. "That is too bad. I was N01 100 interested."

N01 101 "How interested?"

N01 102 "I will give you two thousand dollars worth of silver N01 103 pesos," Don Diego said.

N01 104 "My buyer gimme three thousand in Yankee N01 105 dollars," Zach said.

N01 106 "I will give you two thousand dollars worth of silver N01 107 pesos," Don Diego repeated.

N01 108 "You're supposed to bargain up, not stay the N01 109 same," Zach said.

N01 110 Don Diego spoke bluntly. "I am not going to bargain. I N01 111 do not believe you were given three thousand dollars. Therefore, I N01 112 have made my offer. Do you take it?"

N01 113 Zach liked the idea of silver coins rather than the paper money N01 114 that Squint Tallislaw would pay him with. Particularly at double N01 115 the amount. "Sure." He looked around. "You got it N01 116 here?"

N01 117 "Don't worry about that," Don Diego said. N01 118 "If we make a bargain, I can get it."

N01 119 "I hope it's close," Zach said. "I'm in N01 120 a real hurry to wrap up this deal."

N01 121 "It is close enough," Don Diego said. N01 122 "What is the matter? Does the first buyer represent danger N01 123 to you?"

N01 124 "I can handle him, don't you worry none about N01 125 that," Zach said. "But it's important to know when N01 126 I got to make any necessary moves. The longer I dally around here N01 127 with that herd, the sooner the other feller is gonna find out N01 128 things."

N01 129 "I can take over the herd now, if you wish," N01 130 Don Diego said. "I have enough men."

N01 131 "You get them silver pesos to me first," Zach N01 132 said testily. "Then you and your boys can move them cattle. N01 133 And not a minute before."

N01 134 "Of course," Don Diego said. "I will N01 135 give you the full amount day after tomorrow."

N01 136 "Do you have some boys bringing it up from your N01 137 ranch?" Zach asked.

N01 138 "The method of transportation is no concern of N01 139 yours," Don Diego said coldly. "Nor the time of its N01 140 arrival. You need worry about nothing except the hour it will be N01 141 given you. P<*_>e-acute<*/>rez will fetch you when you are to be N01 142 paid."

N01 143 "Sure, Don Diego," Zach said. "That's N01 144 good enough for me." He stood up. "So we got a N01 145 deal. Shake on it?" He offered his hand.

N01 146 "I am sure you shook hands with the first N01 147 buyer," Don Diego said disdainfully. "That shows N01 148 the value of the trust that can be put into you. Do not trouble N01 149 yourself with me. I will not be impressed nor fooled by your N01 150 insincerity."

N01 151 Zach laughed. "By God, Don Diego! You're a caution. N01 152 You're the kind o' man I like to do business with."

N01 153 "Good day, N01 154 <}_><-|>s<*_>e-tilde<*/>nor<+|>se<*_>n-tilde<*/>or<}/> N01 155 Medford."

N01 156 Zach left the tent and joined Dan Fenton who had waited with N01 157 their horses. "Let's get back to town."

N01 158 As they rode out of the Mexican camp, Fenton's curiosity got N01 159 the better of him. "What went on in there? And how come N01 160 you're grinning like a shit-eating pig?"

N01 161 "We got a good deal for them cattle from that N01 162 Mexican," Zach said.

N01 163 "That's good, Zach!" Then suddenly Fenton N01 164 frowned in puzzlement. "But you already sold that herd to N01 165 Squint."

N01 166 "Well, I'm just gonna unsell it," N01 167 Zach said.

N01 168 "Squint ain't gonna be real happy about that," N01 169 Fenton warned him.

N01 170 "There ain't nobody with Squint but them two boys of N01 171 his, is there?" Zach said. "We'll get George out at N01 172 the herd to go with us. The three of us will let Squint know the N01 173 deal is off."

N01 174 "Squint don't do business that way."

N01 175 "Then we'll make sure he don't give us an N01 176 argument," Zach said "He won't even be able to bat N01 177 an eye over the situation."

N01 178 Fenton laughed. "He ain't got but one eye to bat, N01 179 Zach!" Zach chuckled. "That's pretty good, Dan. Did N01 180 you think o' that all by yourself?"

N01 181 "I did," Fenton said proudly. Then he became N01 182 serious again. "Them two pistoleros with Squint N01 183 is good. Maybe we should get Ed and Bill to come in N01 184 too."

N01 185 "Somebody's got to watch the cattle," Zach N01 186 said. "And don't worry. We ain't gonna engage Squint and N01 187 his boys in a lot o' conversation. When I give the word, you and N01 188 George get them two gunmen. I'll take care o' Squint."

N01 189 "That's like the last cards in seven-card stud - down N01 190 and dirty, Zach," Fenton said.

N01 191 "Yeah. It sure as hell is." He laughed. N01 192 "And we're gonna deal a hand to Squint where we know what N01 193 cards he's got."

N01 194 The two skirted Junto and went out to the west of the town to a N01 195 wide-open range. Hundreds of cattle, all stolen, grazed under the N01 196 eyes of various rustler gangs who jealously guarded their living, N01 197 breathing loot, while the rustler chiefs worked hard at making N01 198 deals in Junto. Many of their business associates were law-abiding N01 199 citizens up in Texas or over in Louisiana. But once in Mexico, they N01 200 left their moral standards behind them.

N01 201 Zach and Fenton rode over to their own herd. When they came to N01 202 a halt, the outlaw leader cast an appreciative eye over the N01 203 longhorns they'd murdered for. "Damn fine N01 204 cattle."

N01 205 George Capper, Ed Maring, and Bill Draper joined the two. N01 206 Capper gestured at the herd with a nod of his head. "We got N01 207 them cows sold yet? Me and the boys is tired o' playing nursemaid N01 208 to 'em."

N01 209 Ed Maring laughed. "Yeah. It's honest work. Something I N01 210 ain't real fond of."

N01 211 "We got a better price from a Mexican," Zach N01 212 said. "So we're taking that one."

N01 213 "What about Squint?" Capper asked.

N01 214 "You're going into town with me and Dan to take care o' N01 215 that matter," Zach said. "Squint and his gunmen N01 216 will be in the saloon by the time we get there."

N01 217 "How're we gonna do this, Zach?" Fenton N01 218 nervously asked.

N01 219 "Listen up. I'll go in first, then you two follow. As N01 220 soon as you're inside and ready, say something about the N01 221 weather."

N01 222 "What should we say, Zach?" Fenton asked.

N01 223 "Any goddamn thing you want to," Zach said. He N01 224 shook his head in exasperation."Just say that it looks like N01 225 rain."

N01 226 Fenton looked up at the sky. "It don't look like rain, N01 227 Zach."

N01 228 "That don't mean nothing, you dumb N01 229 sonofabitch!" Zach almost yelled out loud. "Just N01 230 say that. As soon as it's out of your mouth, we all draw and start N01 231 firing. I'll take Squint. Dan you take whatever pistolero is N01 232 on the left. George, get the feller on the right. Can you do N01 233 that?"

N01 234 "Sure," Capper said. "Don't worry none, N01 235 Zach."

N01 236 "Then let's ride on into Junto," Zach said. He N01 237 nodded to Ed Maring and Bill Draper. "You two keep an eye N01 238 on them cattle."

N01 239 "That's all we been doing anyhow," Maring N01 240 said.

N01 241 The three traveled the short distance into Junto. All were a N01 242 bit edgy about the double-dealing and killing they were about to N01 243 undertake. When they reached the saloon, Zach said, "Wait N01 244 here. I'll peek inside and see if Squint and his boys is N01 245 there." He walked up to the door and took a quick look. He N01 246 came back. "Yeah. They're at that back table. Now wait N01 247 a<&|>sic! half a minute before you come in behind me. Act casual, N01 248 but be ready to shoot fast when you get through saying it looks N01 249 like rain."

N01 250 "We're ready," Fenton said. There was a tone of N01 251 determination in his voice.

N01 252 "Yeah. Let's do it," Capper said, echoing the N01 253 feeling.

N01 254 Zach went back to the door, this time going inside. N01 255 "Howdy, Tom<*_>a-acute<*/>s," he said to the N01 256 bartender. Then he feigned surprise at seeing Squint Tallislaw and N01 257 his men. N01 258 N02 1 <#FROWN:N02\>"Get some boys and drag him to the jail. N02 2 Log him in for murder." N02 3 "You'll not get away with this, Tom," a BS rider N02 4 said. "Bull will not see no man of his on the N02 5 gallows." N02 6 Tom ignored that. "Van, Parley, take down the names of all N02 7 these men who witnessed the shooting in the saloon. After that's N02 8 done, you boys ride back to the Flyin' BS and stay the hell N02 9 there." He turned his back to them and faced the Carlin N02 10 House. "You men clear out. Right now. Get the hell to the N02 11 JC range and cool down." N02 12 "You murderin' scum!" a woman yelled from the N02 13 Carlin side of town. "Goddamn trash, all of you!" N02 14 Sam and Matt stared at the woman. Maybe twenty-one or so, and N02 15 definitely cute. But with a voice that would put a steam whistle to N02 16 shame. N02 17 "Petunia Carlin," a shopkeeper spoke from the door N02 18 of his business. "She's just getting wound up." N02 19 The young woman then started letting the invectives fly, shouting N02 20 the curses across the street. N02 21 "My word!" Sam said. N02 22 "I told you," the shopkeeper said. N02 23 "Petunia!" Tom Riley yelled. "Close that nasty N02 24 mouth of yours and get on back into the dress shop. Move, N02 25 girl!" N02 26 Petunia stared at the marshal, stamped her little foot in anger, N02 27 then gave Tom a very obscene gesture. She stomped back into the N02 28 shop. N02 29 A young man stepped away from the crowd and yelled, "You N02 30 don't talk to my sister like that, Riley!" N02 31 "Pete Carlin," the shopkeeper said. N02 32 "Petunia's twin brother. Crazy <}_><-|> mean <+|>man<}/>." N02 33 "Why are you talking to us?" Matt asked, twisting N02 34 on the bench to look at the man. "No one else in town N02 35 will." N02 36 "Shut up, Pete!" Tom told the young man. N02 37 "Before your butt overloads your mouth." N02 38 "Aw, I figure you boys is all right," the N02 39 shopkeeper said. "You just rode into a bad situation and N02 40 don't have the good sense to ride out." He turned and N02 41 walked back into the shop. N02 42 "There is some truth in his words," Sam said. N02 43 "You don't tell me what to do either, Tom," Pete N02 44 yelled. "My pa will skin you and nail your hide to the barn N02 45 door." N02 46 Petunia stuck her bonneted head out of the dress shop. N02 47 "Pete! Shut your damn mouth and get off the boardwalk. You N02 48 know what Pa said. Move." N02 49 Pete muttered something and stepped back into the Carlin House. N02 50 The body of the dead A.T. puncher was toted off, and the BS rider N02 51 was dragged off to jail. Matt and Sam had not left the bench during N02 52 the entire episode. Tom walked slowly over to them. N02 53 "That gunny who squatted down and talked to you boys, who N02 54 is he?" N02 55 "Bob Coody," Matt told him. "From Texas N02 56 way. He doesn't like me very much." N02 57 "Why?" N02 58 "He claims I killed a friend of his down along the N02 59 Pecos." N02 60 "Did you?" N02 61 Matt shrugged. "It's a possibility.'" N02 62 "The lid is going to blow off this boilin' pot N02 63 now," Tom said, removing his hat and wiping first his N02 64 forehead and then the inside band with a handkerchief. "I N02 65 expect to see the whole kit-and-caboodle of them come stormin' N02 66 in." N02 67 "Petunia appears to be a very nice young lady," Sam N02 68 said with a straight face. N02 69 Tom looked at him, astonished. Then he smiled. "Yes. Oh, N02 70 my, yes. Very feminine. And what you saw today was only the tip if N02 71 the iceberg, so to speak. Not that I've ever seen an iceberg. You N02 72 boys really are stayin' out of this mess, aren't you?" N02 73 "We would have backed you if anybody had made a N02 74 move," Sam told him. N02 75 "I appreciate that. See you boys." N02 76 The brothers sat and watched the BS and most of the JC riders leave N02 77 town, galloping their horses and yelling. Pete and Petunia and a N02 78 few of their hands remained. Matt and Sam sat and watched Petunia N02 79 and her brother meet on the boardwalk and start up toward the N02 80 hotel. They were going to pass right by the brothers. N02 81 "You know any of the hands with them?" Sam asked. N02 82 "Not a one. I think they're regular punchers, but just N02 83 remember they ride for the brand." N02 84 When the brother and sister and entourage got within hearing N02 85 distance, Pete and Petunia started whispering and giggling and N02 86 pointing at Matt and Sam. N02 87 "Lars," Petunia said. "Do something about removing N02 88 that greasy Injun from my sight, will you?" N02 89 "It'll be my pleasure, Miss Petunia," Lars said. N02 90 "Here we go," Sam spoke softly. N02 91 Lars swaggered up and said, "On your feet, Injun. Get off N02 92 the street so's decent women can pass." N02 93 "I'm very comfortable right where I am," Sam said, N02 94 and then kicked him right in the nuts with the point of a boot. N02 95 Lars sank to his knees, his face drained of color, his mouth N02 96 working open and closed without a sound coming out. Sam put a boot N02 97 on the man's chest and shoved him off the boardwalk. He landed with N02 98 a plop and a small cloud of dust. N02 99 "You may safely pass by, Miss Petunia," Sam said. N02 100 "I assure you, this Indian has never molested a white woman N02 101 nor taken a scalp in his life." N02 102 "Ooohhhh," Lars moaned. N02 103 "You trash!" Petunia hissed at Sam. N02 104 "This foul-mouthed wench is calling me trash," Sam N02 105 said to Matt. "Since you're my brother, I guess that tars N02 106 you with the same brush." N02 107 "Foul-mouthed wench!" Pete yelled. "Git up N02 108 on your feet, Injun, and take your lickin' like a white man. Dave, N02 109 Batty, watch Bodine." N02 110 Sam slowly stood up and then uncorked a right that knocked Pete N02 111 clean off the boardwalk and into the street. Matt left the bench in N02 112 a rush and slugged Dave hard, knocking the puncher back into Batty. N02 113 Batty fell off the high boardwalk and landed in a horse trough, his N02 114 head banging against the side of the trough. He sat there, addled, N02 115 water up to his neck, and with a stupid smile on his face. N02 116 "Why you son of a..." Dave never got to finish it. N02 117 Matt plowed in, both fists swinging. One punch caught Dave on the N02 118 nose, and the other slammed into his jaw. Matt followed in quickly, N02 119 with a left to the wind and an uppercut that clicked Dave's teeth N02 120 together and crossed his eyes. Matt measured the man and busted him N02 121 square on the side of the jaw. Dave wilted on the boardwalk. N02 122 Sam had punched Pete silly. The young man stood swaying in the N02 123 swirling dust of the street, blood leaking from his nose and mouth N02 124 and from a cut on his cheek. Matt checked Lars. Lars was in no N02 125 shape to do anything except moan. N02 126 "Finish him," Matt said. "Quit playin' N02 127 around, Sam." N02 128 "He's got a head like a rock!" Sam said. N02 129 "He won't go down." N02 130 Pete chose that time to smack Sam in the mouth and knock him N02 131 sprawling on his butt. Matt laughed and applauded. His laugh was N02 132 cut off short as Batty climbed out of the horse trough and slopped N02 133 over to him and hit him on the back of the head with a N02 134 work-hardened fist. Matt went to his knees and shook his head to N02 135 clear the birdies from it. N02 136 Matt rolled and came up to his boots, facing the big and angry N02 137 puncher. "I'm gonna tear your meathouse down, N02 138 Bodine," Batty said. N02 139 A large crowd had gathered, encircling the fighters. Even Tom Riley N02 140 was there with his deputies. They seemed to be enjoying the show. N02 141 "Knock his teeth down his damn throat, Sam!" a man N02 142 yelled. N02 143 "Who said that?" Pete shouted, looking around him. N02 144 Sam decked him, and the young man landed hard on his butt. N02 145 Batty swung, Matt ducked, and drove his right fist just as hard as N02 146 he could into the puncher's belly. Batty doubled over, gasping for N02 147 air, and Matt hit him with a left that caught the man directly on N02 148 the ear. Batty staggered to one side in time to catch a punch on N02 149 the other ear. Batty was in a temporary world of silence, except N02 150 for the roaring in his head. N02 151 "What happened?" he questioned. N02 152 Matt gave him a reply in the form of a fist to the mouth. Batty's N02 153 feet flew out from under him, and he hit the street and didn't move. N02 154 Sam had literally beaten Pete's face into a pulp, and still he N02 155 wouldn't go down. Sam finally spun him around, grabbed the young N02 156 man by the shirt collar and the seat of his britches and drove him N02 157 headfirst into a hitchrail post. Pete sighed and sank to the N02 158 ground, his head resting momentarily on a fresh pile of horse shit. N02 159 His face slowly sank out of sight. N02 160 "Hold that pose!" Ralph Masters hollered, running N02 161 up with all his cumbersome camera gear. N02 162 Sam and Matt leaned against a hitch rail and panted while Ralph got N02 163 several pictures of the scene, laughing and chuckling all the while. N02 164 Petunia stood on the boardwalk, her face white with anger and N02 165 shock. Nobody did this to a Carlin. Nobody. Ever. Not and get away N02 166 with it. N02 167 "You sons of bitches!" Petunia squalled, just as N02 168 Lars was sticking his head over the rim of the boardwalk. Petunia N02 169 reached into her purse and hauled out a short-barreled hogleg. She N02 170 jacked the hammer back just as the crowd began running in all N02 171 directions. N02 172 Her finger slipped off the hammer, and she blew Lars's hat off his N02 173 head. Lars fainted with a prayer on his lips, sure he was mortally N02 174 wounded. N02 175 Matt and Sam crawled under the high boardwalk just as Petunia N02 176 started letting the lead fly. Her mother had probably stood by her N02 177 husband's side, helping John fight off Indians and outlaws in the N02 178 early days, but Petunia was no hand with a pistol. She shot out one N02 179 window of the general store, fractured the striped pole outside the N02 180 barber shop, blew the saddle horn off of a hitched horse on the N02 181 other side of the street, sending the frightened animal racing up N02 182 the road, drilled a wooden Indian outside the tabacco and gun shop N02 183 right between the eyes, and sent the sixth shot rocketing toward N02 184 space. Dave was just getting to his feet when Petunia hurled the N02 185 empty gun in frustration. The pistol caught the back of his head N02 186 and sent him sprawling back into the street, out cold. N02 187 Tom and his deputies rushed out form cover, and he told a lady to N02 188 grab Petunia before she could get her hands on another gun. The N02 189 ample lady grabbed the girl, and Petunia tore away and socked her N02 190 on the jaw. The lady rared back and gave Petunia double what she N02 191 had received. Petunia went down on her bustle with a busted lip and N02 192 commenced to squalling at the top of her lungs. N02 193 Tom ran over and not-too-gently jerked Petunia up and marched her N02 194 toward the jail. "Thank you, Mrs. Jackson," he said N02 195 to the lady. N02 196 "You're sure welcome, Tom. It was worth a bruised N02 197 jaw." N02 198 Petunia stuck out her tongue at the woman and cussed her. N02 199 "Pitiful," Mrs. Jackson said, as Tom marched the young N02 200 woman up the boardwalk. N02 201 "Where the hell do you think you're taking me, you N02 202 jackass?" Petunia bellered. N02 203 "To jail, Petunia," Tom informed her. "And N02 204 you'd best shut that big mouth of yours before I forget that you're N02 205 a female and turn you over my knee, take off my belt, and give you N02 206 what your daddy should have given you years back." N02 207 "Unhand me, you brute!" N02 208 Van and Nate were dragging the unconscious Pete Carlin up the N02 209 center of the street. Ralph Masters was working frantically, taking N02 210 pictures of the event. N02 211 Lars opened his eyes and gingerly felt his head. "Am I N02 212 dead?" he asked. N02 213 "No," Parley told him. "Just under arrest." N02 214 "That ain't good, but it's better than dead," Lars N02 215 replied. N02 216 And a lone figure slipped out the back of the Carlin House, made N02 217 his way to the livery, and lit a shuck for home range. John Carlin N02 218 was going to hit the ceiling when he learned of this. N02 219 Matt and Sam crawled out from under the high boardwalk. N02 220 N03 1 <#FROWN:N03\>"Why, Mr. Chaney, everyone has to be N03 2 somewhere," Lily answered.

N03 3 "I agree," Buck said. "But that doesn't N03 4 sound like a Texas drawl to me. I'd say it was more Mississippi or N03 5 Alabama."

N03 6 For just an instant, the sparkle died in Lily's eyes, and N03 7 though the smile never left her face, Buck could see way down, deep N03 8 inside, and he regretted making the comment.

N03 9 "I'm sorry, ma'am, I've already said too much," N03 10 Buck apologized. "I reckon we all have things we'd as soon N03 11 not remember."

N03 12 Fred, who had been talking to the young girl at the end of the N03 13 bar, came back to speak to Lily.

N03 14 "It's Ann, Miss Lily. She says one of her customers is N03 15 getting a little rough with her. He sent her down for a bottle of N03 16 whiskey, but she's afraid to go back up."

N03 17 "He hit me, Miss Lily," Ann said, and Buck N03 18 noticed then that there was fresh red swelling on her cheek. N03 19 "Do I have go to back?"

N03 20 "No, of course you don't have to go back up," N03 21 Lily said. "How much did he pay you?"

N03 22 "He gave me a copper chit worth two dollars," N03 23 the girl answered in a soft voice.

N03 24 "Fred, give me two dollars from the till," Lily N03 25 ordered.

N03 26 Fred opened the cash drawer and gave Lily two dollars. She N03 27 clinked the coins together in her hand, then started for the N03 28 stairs. At about the time she reached the foot of the stairs a man, N03 29 wearing only trousers, appeared at the railing on the upper N03 30 balcony.

N03 31 "Hey, you girl!" he shouted down at Ann. N03 32 "I sent you down there to get me a bottle of whiskey, not N03 33 have a quilting bee. You've been down there long enough! Get back N03 34 up here!"

N03 35 "I'm not coming back," Ann said.

N03 36 "What? The hell you ain't. You better get back up here N03 37 now, if you know what's good for you."

N03 38 "I told her she doesn't have to come back up," N03 39 Lily said.

N03 40 "Say, isn't that -" Lance started, but Buck N03 41 answered before the question was even asked.

N03 42 "Yeah," he said. "That's Jack Wiggins, N03 43 the same son of a bitch I threw off the train."

N03 44 "He gets around, doesn't he?"

N03 45 "What do you mean she's not comin' back up?" N03 46 Wiggins demanded. "I paid for her, by God. She belongs to N03 47 me."

N03 48 "I have your money here," Lily said, holding up N03 49 the silver so he could see it. "I'll be happy to return it N03 50 to you as soon as you get dressed and leave."

N03 51 "By God, I ain't goin' nowhere!" Wiggins N03 52 shouted. It wasn't until that moment that anyone realized he was N03 53 holding a gun. He raised the pistol and pointed it toward Lily. N03 54 "Now, you tell that slut to get back up here," he N03 55 said menacingly. "Otherwise, I'm going to put a bullet in N03 56 that pretty face of yours."

N03 57 "Wiggins," Buck shouted up to him. "Put N03 58 the gun down."

N03 59 Wiggins looked toward Buck, then recognized him. His face N03 60 contorted with rage.

N03 61 "You!" he shouted. He swung his gun toward Buck and N03 62 fired. The bullet slammed into the bar between Buck and Lance. In N03 63 one motion, Buck had his own gun out and he fired back just as N03 64 Wiggins loosed a second shot.

N03 65 Wiggins's second shot smashed into the mirror behind the bar, N03 66 sending shards of glass all over the place but doing no further N03 67 damage. He never got a third, because Buck made his only shot N03 68 count.

N03 69 Wiggins dropped his gun over the rail and it fell to the bar N03 70 floor twelve feet below. He grabbed his neck and stood there, N03 71 stupidly, for a moment, clutching his throat as bright red blood N03 72 spilled between his fingers. Then his eyes rolled up in his head N03 73 and he crashed through the railing, turned over once in midair, and N03 74 landed heavily on his back alongside his dropped gun. He lay N03 75 motionless on the floor with open but sightless eyes staring toward N03 76 the ceiling. The saloon patrons who had scattered when the first N03 77 shot was fired, began to edge toward the body. Up on the second N03 78 floor landing a half-dozen girls and their customers, in various N03 79 stages of dress and undress, moved to the smashed railing to look N03 80 down on the scene.

N03 81 Gunsmoke from the three charges had merged by now, and it N03 82 formed a large, acrid-bitter cloud which drifted slowly toward the N03 83 door. Beams of sunlight became visible as they stabbed through the N03 84 cloud. There were rapid and heavy footfalls on the wooden sidewalk N03 85 outside as more people began coming in through the swinging doors. N03 86 One of the first ones in was a white-haired, heavyset man with a N03 87 tired, defeated look to his eyes. As he passed through the sun N03 88 bars, there was a flash of light from the star on his chest.

N03 89 "What's the trouble here?" he asked, looking N03 90 around the room.

N03 91 One of the eyewitnesses chuckled.

N03 92 "Ain't no trouble now, Marshal Chism. As usual, you're N03 93 about a day late and a dollar short. This here fellow done took N03 94 care of it."

N03 95 "You the one who did the shootin'?" the marshal N03 96 asked.

N03 97 "Yes," Buck answered easily.

N03 98 "Then you're under arrest, mister."

N03 99 "What? Marshal Chism, have you lost what few brains you N03 100 have? What are you arresting him for?"

N03 101 "For the murder of Jack Wiggins."

N03 102 "Hold on there, Marshal," Fred said. N03 103 "You're making an awful big mistake here. This man had no N03 104 choice. Wiggins commenced to shootin' first."

N03 105 That's the size of it, Marshal," one of the N03 106 others agreed. "Fact is, he shot twice before this fellow N03 107 shot once."

N03 108 "That's right," still another confirmed.

N03 109 "You arrest him, you're goin' to have every one of us N03 110 as witnesses for the defense," still another patron put N03 111 in.

N03 112 "They're telling the truth, Marshal," Lily N03 113 said.

N03 114 Marshal Chism sighed, then slipped his pistol back into his N03 115 holster. He looked down toward the body. "I don't N03 116 know," he said. "I'm not much lookin' forward to N03 117 tellin' the Colonel that one of his men got himself kilt, and I N03 118 didn't do nothin' about it."

N03 119 "Try telling him it was self-defense," Lily N03 120 suggested.

N03 121 "I'll try. I don't know that it'll do much good, but N03 122 I'll try." The marshal looked up at the crowd. A couple of N03 123 the more curious had even squatted beside Wiggins's body to get a N03 124 closer look at it.

N03 125 "Where you reckon all his silver is?" one of N03 126 them asked.

N03 127 "More than likely, up in the girl's room," N03 128 another said.

N03 129 "Marshal, I'll have Fred get his boots and belt buckle. N03 130 If he has any family anywhere, it ought to go to them."

N03 131 "All right," Chism said. He pointed to a couple N03 132 of the men. "You two, get him over to Peterson's hardware N03 133 store so Pete can get started on a coffin."

N03 134 "You know the first question Peterson's goin' to ask, N03 135 don't you, Marshal? He's goin' to want to know who's payin' for the N03 136 buryin'."

N03 137 "I'm goin' out to Gold Dust now. I reckon the Colonel N03 138 will take care of his buryin'."

N03 139 The two men Chism assigned to the job picked up the body, one N03 140 under the shoulders, the other at the feet. Wiggins sagged badly in N03 141 the middle and they had to struggle to carry him. A couple of the N03 142 other patrons held open the swinging doors while the two men N03 143 carried him out into the street.

N03 144 "Miss Lily, I ... I don't want to go back into my room N03 145 till all his things is gone," Ann said.

N03 146 "I'll get it taken care of," Lily offered. N03 147 "Why don't you go on up to my room and lie down for a N03 148 while?"

N03 149 "Thanks," Ann said.

N03 150 With the body gone, most of the customers returned to their own N03 151 tables to discuss the shooting. It was played and replayed a dozen N03 152 times over during the next few minutes, and though a couple of the N03 153 men made some small comment to Buck, most left him alone. For that N03 154 Buck was grateful. He had only Lance and Lily for company, and that N03 155 was the way he wanted it.

N03 156 A few minutes later Jess Langdon came into the saloon, and he N03 157 walked right up to the bar and shook Buck's hand.

N03 158 "I just heard what happened. You make quite an entrance N03 159 into town, young man," he said. He put out his hand toward N03 160 the bar without even looking, knowing that his drink would be there N03 161 and, indeed, Fred had begun pouring it the moment he saw Jess come N03 162 through the door. It was there, just as Fred knew it would be.

N03 163 "This isn't exactly the entrance I would have chosen to N03 164 make," Buck said. "But that fellow had a burr under N03 165 his saddle and there was just no getting rid of it."

N03 166 "It's just as well it happened the way it did," N03 167 Jess said. "Jack Wiggins is the kind who would've waylaid N03 168 you without so much as a second thought." Langdon saw that N03 169 they were standing with Lily. "I see you met my N03 170 Lily."

N03 171 "Your Lily?" Lance asked.

N03 172 "Yes," Jess said. He smiled and put his arm around her. N03 173 "She's like a daughter to me. But if I were thirty years N03 174 younger ... hell, even if I were ten years younger I might N03 175 ..." He let the sentence trail off. "Believe me, N03 176 the man who does lay claim to her will have to answer to me N03 177 first," he went on.

N03 178 "Don't worry, Jess," Lily laughed. N03 179 "I'll see to it that you approve."

N03 180 Jess smiled proudly, then looked back at the two brothers. N03 181 "Where will you fellows be staying?"

N03 182 "To be honest, we haven't given that much of a N03 183 thought," Lance answered.

N03 184 "Will you be looking for work?"

N03 185 "Yes."

N03 186 "Have you ever worked as a ranch hand?"

N03 187 "Of course."

N03 188 "Well, it's all settled then. You can work for me. Come N03 189 on out to the place today. I pay top dollar, I've got a really nice N03 190 bunkhouse for my hands and there's plenty of room. Besides, I want N03 191 you to come to a meeting tonight."

N03 192 "A meeting?" Lily asked. "Jess, what's N03 193 up?"

N03 194 "I think you can guess, Lily," Jess answered. N03 195 "I've invited all the other ranchers ... that is, the ones N03 196 who are still around ... to come over tonight to discuss what we N03 197 can do about Barlow. Seems he's just closed up another creek. N03 198 That'll about do in the Hayes' place."

N03 199 "We might be interested in coming to this meeting at N03 200 that," Buck said. "Is Barlow going to be N03 201 there?"

N03 202 Jess chuckled. "I hardly think so."

N03 203 "Too bad. I'm really anxious to meet that N03 204 fellow," Buck said.

N03 205 "Yes," Jess said. He rubbed the stubble on his cheek N03 206 and peered at Buck and Lance through narrowed eyes, as if trying to N03 207 size them up. "Now that I think of it, you two boys was N03 208 askin' questions about him in Brenham. You even described him. Do N03 209 you know him from somewhere?"

N03 210 "If his name really is Barlow, we don't know N03 211 him," Buck said.

N03 212 "You mean you don't think that's his name."

N03 213 "No."

N03 214 "Well, we aren't that particular about folks' names out N03 215 here," Jess explained. "Unless they give us reason N03 216 to be particular. And I must confess, Barlow is giving us more and N03 217 more reason to be curious."

N03 218 "Who do you think Barlow is?" Lily asked.

N03 219 "If he is who I think he might be, his name isn't N03 220 Barlow. It's Armstrong," Buck said. "Samuel N03 221 Armstrong."

N03 222 "Actually, it is Samuel Barlow Armstrong," Lily N03 223 said quietly.

N03 224 "What?" Langdon said, looking at Lily in surprise. N03 225 "See here, Lily. You mean you know this man? I mean, from N03 226 somewhere else?"

N03 227 "Yes," Lily said. "I knew him a long time N03 228 ago."

N03 229 "Why have you never said anything about it?"

N03 230 "He knows me, too," Lily said. "I guess N03 231 we both wanted to leave our past behind. Whatever he's done out N03 232 here, I didn't figure his past had anything to do with N03 233 it."

N03 234 Jess looked at Buck and Lance. "But his past has N03 235 something to do with what you want him for, right?"

N03 236 "You might say that," Lance said.

N03 237 "Wait a minute!" Jess suddenly said, holding up N03 238 his finger in sudden recognition of the name. "Armstrong, N03 239 you say? Samuel Armstrong? N03 240 N04 1 <#FROWN:N04\>"That's the way they are," O'Brien's N04 2 son replied on cue.

N04 3 "Does no one remember the Halahan family? Has their N04 4 murder been forgotten and unavenged? Bartender, give us another N04 5 round!"

N04 6 "Sure, we remember," the son answered N04 7 loudly.

N04 8 "Does no one remember poor widow Duncan asettin' in her N04 9 rockin' chair, and how they split her poor gray head just for a N04 10 handful of silver?"

N04 11 "Sure. She never hurt anybody."

N04 12 "And the Halahans, the poor young couple finally N04 13 finding freedom from the English tyrants only to see them coming N04 14 with their sabers and iron bars. Give them credit, they went down N04 15 fighting, but the wee babes, all the three of them, murdered in N04 16 their beds, God rest their sweet souls."

N04 17 "Who did it?" a puncher growled. "We N04 18 don't allow things like that where I come from."

N04 19 "The pair locked up in the jail did it. Can you believe N04 20 the sheriff would've turned them loose hadn't I made such a N04 21 fuss!"

N04 22 O'Brien was becoming so involved in his drama that he commenced N04 23 to make his story fit the way he felt no matter how far he strayed N04 24 from the truth.

N04 25 "There they were with the plunder, the horses, the N04 26 silver, and blood on their hands! And that sheriff said he had to N04 27 protect their rights!"

N04 28 "What about the rights of the widow Duncan!"

N04 29 "What about the rights of the Halahans!"

N04 30 "What about simple plain ordinary American N04 31 justice!"

N04 32 "Hurrah! Erin go bragh!" N04 33 O'Brien's son at the end of the bar roared.

N04 34 "I tell you, those babes' blood cries out for N04 35 justice!"

N04 36 "Git 'em!"

N04 37 "I've got the rope!" O'Brien yelled.

N04 38 "Up the rope they go!"

N04 39 "Necktie party! Bring the whiskey!"

N04 40 Lost in fury, the mob of punchers, townsmen, and drummers N04 41 poured out into the street.

N04 42 Led by the cock sparrow O'Brien, who cradled his two-bore N04 43 sawed-off goose gun in his left arm, and sided by his son, who wore N04 44 his six-gun low, they advanced to the jail, where they encountered N04 45 the old sheriff and a man wearing a strange badge on his vest.

N04 46 "Hold it there, O'Brien," the sheriff yelled, N04 47 raising up his old Dragoon, "you ain't taking my N04 48 prisoners."

N04 49 But the pressure of the mob was too much, and O'Brien was N04 50 pushed up close to the sheriff.

N04 51 "Give us the keys, Sheriff, and then you can take the N04 52 night off," O'Brien commanded.

N04 53 "I'm givin' you nothing, O'Brien, but I'm going to N04 54 arrest you when your mob strays away and sobers up."

N04 55 Inexorably the hooting and hollering lynch mob crowded N04 56 forward.

N04 57 "Stop it!" the man in the brown peaked hat N04 58 yelled, drawing his six-shooter. "I'm a U.S. marshal, and N04 59 I'll count three before I start shooting off the N04 60 leaders."

N04 61 Hardly had he spoken than young O'Brien blindsided him with the N04 62 barrel of his Colt, dropping him like a rock down a well.

N04 63 That was enough for Sheriff Cook.

N04 64 "Don't hurt me, boys, I'm just trying to do my N04 65 job," he whined.

N04 66 "The keys!"

N04 67 "On the nail behind the desk."

N04 68 In went the elder O'Brien with his son coming close behind.

N04 69 O'Brien took the key ring hanging on the wall and held it high. N04 70 "Let's go, boys!"

N04 71 Inside the cell, Thomas Lamb saw the choleric Irishman N04 72 advancing and said, "Maybe you better start shooting, N04 73 Sam."

N04 74 "I thought you was against killing."

N04 75 "That I am, especially when it comes to somebody N04 76 killing me."

N04 77 "We've got to get him close enough to get the N04 78 keys," Sam said.

N04 79 "You're always thinking ahead. Quite proper, N04 80 Sam."

N04 81 "Out you go, you murderin' scuts!" O'Brien N04 82 yelled, holding the goose gun in his right hand now, aimed at Sam's N04 83 head, the keys dangling in his left hand.

N04 84 "Put the gun down, O'Brien, or I'll kill you!" N04 85 Sam came back strongly.

N04 86 "Oh, what brave talk from the murderer of babes! I N04 87 might just blow your head off right now had I not promised the boys N04 88 a party."

N04 89 "I'm not playing party games, mister."

N04 90 "Then you're mine, and the boys can have the N04 91 Englishman." O'Brien grinned and slowly pressed the N04 92 trigger.

N04 93 "Down!" Sam snapped, and dropping to the floor, he N04 94 pulled the .45 and shot upward into the pigeon breast of the N04 95 red-eyed Irishman.

N04 96 He grunted like a pig kicked in the butt, his fiery eyes N04 97 bulging blankly. The goose gun rose and went off, sending its N04 98 charge into the ceiling. O'Brien fell in a tormented heap.

N04 99 "The keys!" Sam called to Thomas as he aimed N04 100 the revolver at the younger O'Brien, who, instead of going to the N04 101 aid of his father, was going for his gun.

N04 102 Sam shot him in the chest, the heavy lead ball slamming him N04 103 backward into the arms of the men behind.

N04 104 Thomas had the bloody keys in his hand and opened the iron N04 105 barred door without coming into Sam's line of fire.

N04 106 "Boys, you done made a big mistake, going against the N04 107 law,"Sam said levelly. "These two were wrong, N04 108 mule-headed wrong about us, and now they're damned dead wrong. You N04 109 all just back out of here and we'll join you in the Elephant for a N04 110 drink in a minute."

N04 111 The men in the hall spoke tersely to those behind them, and the N04 112 mob moved like a wave, backward instead of forward.

N04 113 In the street there was a scramble to get out of harm's way, N04 114 which panicked those in front, as they felt deserted and N04 115 betrayed.

N04 116 "Hey, wait!"

N04 117 "Where you goin?"

N04 118 Suddenly, it wasn't a retreat, it was a rout, as even those in N04 119 front had smelled the stench of fresh blood and knew they had no N04 120 business being where they were. At any moment another bullet might N04 121 come blasting out of that six-gun and the angel of death would N04 122 sweep up another cowboy caught in his own loop.

N04 123 They fell over themselves, scrambling to get out of the hall, N04 124 and in a moment the way was clear except for the two bodies lying N04 125 in a common puddle of blood already glazing over and turning N04 126 black.

N04 127 "Quick, friend," Sam said, grabbing from the N04 128 wall his gun belt with its Remington .44 still loaded, then moving N04 129 quietly to the back door.

N04 130 "Here goes," he said, feeling like he was in a N04 131 leaky boat ready to go over a waterfall.

N04 132 Slowly opening the door, he looked out into the gloom and saw N04 133 the steel-dust and the bay, fully rigged.

N04 134 Still expecting a trick or an ambush, Sam sidled outside, N04 135 keeping away from the light and watching for any movement.

N04 136 There was nothing. The steel-dust stamped impatiently.

N04 137 Sam swiftly mounted. In a second Thomas was beside him on the N04 138 bay.

N04 139 "We go slow," Sam whispered, holding up his N04 140 hand, putting the steel-dust into an easy trot.

N04 141 Staying in the alleys, they left the west side of town N04 142 undetected as the mob slowly returned, a man at a time, slightly N04 143 crestfallen or lying like jack mules that never stop braying.

N04 144 They'd not expected the prisoners to buy a drink in the Blue N04 145 Elephant, but it sounded like a good excuse to go on back there and N04 146 let things settle down.

N04 147 "Those damn O'Briens, always stirring up N04 148 trouble."

N04 149 "Finally paid for it."

N04 150 "Gutshot the old pouter pigeon."

N04 151 "Gave him a slimmin' lesson he won't N04 152 forget."

N04 153 "I popped a lot of caps, but them fellers had the N04 154 devil's own luck."

N04 155 "S'pose we ought to go after them?"

N04 156 The group stared at the speaker silently until he turned away N04 157 and said to the bartender, "I reckon I'll have N04 158 another."

N04 159 The sheriff had his hands full reviving the U.S. marshal N04 160 without worrying about the two bodies lying in his hallway.

N04 161 - Damned O'Briens, always carrying a chip on their shoulder. I N04 162 told 'em, told 'em, and told 'em, but no, they got to show the N04 163 world they're so tough. So tough they can take a ball in the belly N04 164 and spit it back. Oh yes, told 'em plenty times, don't mess in my N04 165 business, you goin' to get hurt.

N04 166 Frank Taylor, the marshal, groaned and felt the lump on his N04 167 head, looked at his fingers for a sign of blood, and nodded.

N04 168 "Hat broke the blow," the sheriff said, helping N04 169 the marshal to his feet.

N04 170 "I'll see that sonofabitch in a federal pen," N04 171 the stocky marshal rasped.

N04 172 "He's dead," the sheriff said. "His pa, N04 173 too. Somehow the cowboy got a gun." The sheriff eyed the N04 174 marshal's left holster, which was empty.

N04 175 "If he hadn't had the gun, two innocent men would have N04 176 been hanging, and the guilty ones would be back on their farms N04 177 bustin' sod."

N04 178 "I didn't say anything," the sheriff said. N04 179 "I just live a day at a time and try to stay out of harm's N04 180 way."

N04 181 The marshal strode to the back door of the jail and looked out N04 182 to see the horses gone.

N04 183 "They made it," he said.

N04 184 "You goin' after them? Want me to raise up a N04 185 posse?"

N04 186 "Better you clean up your mess and then play N04 187 mumblety-peg with yourself," the marshal rasped, and strode N04 188 out into the night.

N04 189 "We never got to the barbershop," Sam said, N04 190 scratching at the stubble on his jaw.

N04 191 "I'm just thankful we're free," Tomas said.

N04 192 "I reckon you're about as gritty as eggs rolled in N04 193 sand. Good having you along," Sam said.

N04 194 "British pluck!" Thomas Lamb laughed at himself N04 195 as he noticed he was feeling overly proud. "All I did was N04 196 fetch the key."

N04 197 "You coulda dropped it." Sam smiled in the N04 198 darkness and wondered if the sheriff was coming after them with a N04 199 posse.

N04 200 Didn't seem likely, the way the old man was washed out. Might N04 201 have been a hell driver once, but he'd started worrying about his N04 202 old age, and that had damped his powder. Better to just give your N04 203 best run, and if you starve to death or freeze to death when you N04 204 can't keep yourself no more, so much the better.

N04 205 Don't give me too long a life, he asked the stars, just enough N04 206 to keep me occupied and looking for more.

N04 207 Salina was dark when they passed through. A couple of dogs ran N04 208 out and challenged them, but they retreated once they'd said their N04 209 piece.

N04 210 "The prairie never stops," Thomas said, longing N04 211 for a soft bed.

N04 212 "We ought to come into Lincoln about dawn. We'll shake N04 213 down there."

N04 214 The trail west ran along the Kaw River, and an occasional small N04 215 settlement would be situated along its banks in the places where N04 216 the water could be directed into a mill wheel. Shady Bend, N04 217 Tranquillity, Luther's Mill, none of which showed a light, being N04 218 only lonely beginnings of dreams, and yet there was a sort of magic N04 219 about the dark, solid buildings where people slept and made love N04 220 and dreamed and died.

N04 221 It worked both ways, Sam knew. The solitary family on the N04 222 prairie could be exterminated by the dregs of humanity wandering N04 223 loose, or a traveler could ask for a room for the night, and he N04 224 would end up bashed in the head and et by the hogs with all N04 225 his valuables hid under a rock in the hearth.

N04 226 Such was the recent scandal of the Bender family down by N04 227 Coffeyville, who had rented their spare room to eight different N04 228 travelers before searchers found the remains of the bodies buried N04 229 in the orchard. It was said that Kate Bender, who did the killing, N04 230 was a believer in witchcraft. They all left before the law arrived N04 231 and were never caught.

N04 232 Travelers were both risky and at risk on the lawless N04 233 frontier.

N04 234 As they came up a low rise to a view of the Kaw valley in the N04 235 coolness of the dawn, they saw that Lincoln had its own Main Street N04 236 planted to alfalfa and a few buildings on either side.

N04 237 At the end of the street they found the Windsor Hotel, where N04 238 Mrs. Lewis, an early riser, greeted them, and seeing the grim marks N04 239 of exhaustion on their faces showed them to clean beds, where they N04 240 shucked their boots and hats and fell asleep before they hit the N04 241 blankets.

N04 242 When they awakened a little before noon, they discovered that N04 243 Mrs. Lewis had seen that their horses were fed and grained and that N04 244 she'd held off cooking dinner until the men first at their N04 245 breakfast of grits, fried bacon and eggs with ponhaus and fried N04 246 potatoes, and a piece of cream pie.

N04 247 N04 248 N05 1 <#FROWN:N05\>How could anyone believe that a bird would understand N05 2 a man's thoughts?

N05 3 Free lowered his arms and heeled his roan forward. I looked up N05 4 at the hawk, certain that the half-breed's behavior was madness. N05 5 The bird beat its powerful wings above us, then I heard a N05 6 fluttering sound as the hawk changed its direction, flying high N05 7 above the canyon floor on a westerly course.

N05 8 "Impossible," I told myself, watching the hawk lead us N05 9 down the canyon. "It would have flown that direction N05 10 anyway."

N05 11 We changed horses a mile farther into the canyon. I cinched my N05 12 saddle to the Palouse as Sam swung aboard his dun. Free was riding N05 13 the bay we'd taken from the cattle rustlers as he led us away from N05 14 the river, atop his high-withered blue roan. The hawk had gone on N05 15 without us, proving the spirits wanted nothing to do with our N05 16 advance upon the Comanche village. Evidently, Free's magic wasn't N05 17 strong enough to convince the hawk to help us.

N05 18 My untrained eye found no hoofprints, yet now and then Free N05 19 would drop off his horse to trace his finger over the rocks. Then, N05 20 without uttering a word, he would continue on as if he were sure of N05 21 our destination. I rode along in silence, sleeving sweat from my N05 22 eyes to see the canyon rim, wondering how long it would be before N05 23 we sighted the first Kwahadies and heard their shrill war cries. I N05 24 wondered, too, if I would survive my first month as Sam Ault's N05 25 deputy. I was beginning to understand why the other raw recruits at N05 26 Fort Smith wanted no part of the assignment in Indian Territory. N05 27 They had known something I hadn't about serving with Marshal N05 28 Ault.

N05 29 Rounding a bend in the river, my Palouse snorted, pricking its N05 30 ears forward. Free had already jerked his bay to a halt, standing N05 31 in his stirrups, shading his eyes.

N05 32 "Here they come," I said to myself, feeling my N05 33 heart pound inside my shirt. I couldn't see any Indians, but I knew N05 34 they were coming just the same.

N05 35 "Comanches," Sam said, looking over his shoulder at me. N05 36 "Remember what I told you before. Keep your hand away from N05 37 your gun."

N05 38 My hands had begun to shake, so I cupped them on my saddlehorn. N05 39 We still couldn't see Indians, but my horse sensed something, N05 40 pawing the ground with a forefoot. We waited in the eerie silence, N05 41 straining our ears to hear the sound of approaching hooves.

N05 42 A movement caught my eye on the rim above us. A Comanche stood N05 43 near the edge of the cliff, cradling a rifle. Free had seen him, N05 44 too. The half-breed spoke in sign language, with his face turned N05 45 toward the rim.

N05 46 The Indian gave some sort of answer, then Free turned to Sam. N05 47 "I go. You stay," he said.

N05 48 Sam shook his head. "Take the tintype. Show it to N05 49 Buffalo Hump and Quannah. Tell him to name his price."

N05 50 Free took the tintype that Sam dug from his saddlebags. I saw N05 51 them exchange glances, as if the looks had special meaning. Then N05 52 Free wheeled his bay and trotted off down the canyon.

N05 53 "Will he double-cross us?" I asked softly, N05 54 swallowing away the dryness in my throat.

N05 55 "Maybe," Sam replied, fidgeting in his saddle.

N05 56 Suddenly, half a mile down the river, I saw horsemen appear N05 57 around a bend. I counted them quickly, halting the count when I N05 58 noticed something unusual about them. I squinted to see them N05 59 clearly in the heat waves arising from the rocks blinking and N05 60 fingering the sweat from my eyes. The Indian who rode at the front N05 61 of the group resembled a buffalo. The Comanche wore a bulky N05 62 headdress fashioned from the skull of a buffalo. A pair of short N05 63 curved horns glistened from his furry skullcap, making him look as N05 64 if he were half man, half animal. He carried a long lance decorated N05 65 with feathers and other ornaments. A gust of wind rustled past him N05 66 and then I knew the ornaments dangling from his lance were human N05 67 scalps, tossed about by the wind.

N05 68 "Jesus," I whispered hoarsely. I was having difficulty N05 69 when I took my next breath. "Those are scalps."

N05 70 "Keep quiet," Sam warned as the warriors rode N05 71 closer.

N05 72 My insides had begun to dance. Several more of the Comanches N05 73 wore the strange buffalo skulls, giving them the same sinister N05 74 silhouettes as they rode toward us. I saw the gleam of rifles in N05 75 the sun, decorated with windblown eagle feathers. More feathers N05 76 hung form their ponies' foretops, dancing with the gait of the N05 77 animals. I took a deep breath and gripped my saddlehorn, awaiting N05 78 the first chilling scream.

N05 79 Free halted his horse when he reached the line of warriors. I N05 80 saw him begin sign language with the leader of the band. None of N05 81 the Comanches' rifles were aimed at Free ... for the moment. I N05 82 forced myself to sit still while the sign talk continued, listening N05 83 to the beat of my heart.

N05 84 The talk ended abruptly. Free wheeled his horse away and struck N05 85 a trot in our direction. Sam's sun-browned cheeks were pale as Free N05 86 advanced across the rocks.

N05 87 "Stay, Starman," Free grunted when his horse N05 88 stopped in front of us. "I make talk with Buffalo Hump. N05 89 Talk trade. Tosi Tivo woman maybeso here."

N05 90 Sam seemed to relax, but I didn't find it quite so easy. N05 91 "Tell Buffalo Hump we give many horses," Sam said, N05 92 accompanying his words with sign. "Tell him my words are N05 93 true words."

N05 94 Free rode off at a trot. I let out the breath I was holding and N05 95 turned to Sam.

N05 96 "Can you tell if Free intends to betray us?" I N05 97 asked.

N05 98 Sam watched the Comanches wheel their ponies before he gave me N05 99 an answer. "Not yet. Free stands to gain from the trade, so N05 100 he won't sell us out unless the bargain falls through. I reckon N05 101 we'll have to wait and see."

N05 102 "Why weren't we allowed to go along, so we can identify N05 103 Melissa Grumann?"

N05 104 Sam shook his head. "They're too smart to let us see N05 105 where they've hidden their village. We could lead a troop of N05 106 cavalry to 'em, and they're being careful. If they've got the right N05 107 girl, they'll show her to us if Buffalo Hump wants a trade. Horses N05 108 are the same as money to a Comanche. The price will be high, but N05 109 they'll prove to us that they have her."

N05 110 We watched the Comanches disappear around the bend. I looked up N05 111 at the rim where the Indian had been standing. Now there was only N05 112 barren rock. The warrior was gone.

N05 113 "What are we supposed to do?" I asked.

N05 114 "We wait for Free, and we keep our eyes open," N05 115 Sam explained, reining his dun toward a rock ledge beneath a cliff N05 116 on the north side of the river.

N05 117 We rode across the shallows, to a meager patch of grass where N05 118 Sam swung down.

N05 119 "Hobble the horses," he said, pulling the cinch N05 120 on his saddle as he studied the lay of things. "Build a N05 121 fire, so they can see our smoke."

N05 122 Sam uncorked a pint of whiskey and took a deep swallow, then he N05 123 offered the bottle. "You'll need it before this is N05 124 over," he remarked. " Steadies your nerves for the N05 125 waiting."

N05 126 I stripped the saddle off the Palouse and fitted the hobbles on N05 127 our spare horses. Sam laid his Winchester beside a rock. I put my N05 128 Sharps against the rock face, then I set out to build a fire. I N05 129 kept looking up the rim, watching for the lone Comanche to reappear N05 130 as I made coffee over the flames. Sam's whiskey was starting to N05 131 take effect by the time our coffee was done. I could feel my brains N05 132 swim.

N05 133 "I saw fish when we crossed the river," I said. N05 134 "With time on our hands, I suppose I could catch some for N05 135 our supper."

N05 136 Sam shrugged. "I ain't got much appetite just now, Mr. N05 137 Dudley, but if you've a hankering to catch fish, you might as well N05 138 give it a try."

N05 139 To pass some time, I dug a string and a hook from my gear that N05 140 I'd brought along from Mississippi. If I did anything better than I N05 141 could shoot, it was to catch fish, so I hunted down a grasshopper N05 142 and walked to the river. I tossed my line in the water and settled N05 143 against a rock, but to tell the truth, my mind wasn't on fishing N05 144 just then. I kept seeing Comanches at the far end of the canyon N05 145 when I stared at the shimmering heat waves.

N05 146 Dark was the worst time of all. I fried up the fish I'd caught, N05 147 but only nibbled around the edges. Sam drank whiskey until the N05 148 first bottle was empty, then he started on another.

N05 149 "Sure is quiet," I said, listening to a coyote N05 150 bark.

N05 151 Sam didn't answer me, he was staring up at the stars.

N05 152 "How long do you reckon it'll take to get our N05 153 answer?" I asked.

N05 154 "Hard to say," Sam sighed, fingering his N05 155 rifle.

N05 156 "It sure is quiet out here," I said again, N05 157 glancing up at the rim. The sky was filled with twinkling stars. A N05 158 pale half-moon hung above the horizon, lighting up the rocks around N05 159 us with its silvery glow.

N05 160 I wanted conversation, frightened as I was.

N05 161 "What's it like to be married to a woman?" I N05 162 asked, making small talk when my thoughts drifted to the girl. I N05 163 wasn't thinking about marrying Sue Hawkins, but I wondered what it N05 164 would be like to have a wife when I was ready for the idea.

N05 165 "I reckon it's like everything else, Mr. Dudley. N05 166 There's a good side and a bad. A woman has an opinion about most N05 167 anything a man does with himself, whether he wants to hear it of if N05 168 he don't. A married man gets tired of hearing opinions. Then N05 169 there's the good side: having the comfort of a soft woman in your N05 170 bed at night. And someone to talk to. It gets lonely bein' by N05 171 yourself. Having a woman helps with the loneliness."

N05 172 I considered Sam's answer, until he startled me with his next N05 173 remark. "You thinkin' about marrying the girl back at N05 174 Silverton?" he asked.

N05 175 "No. I was just askin', is all. I've been wondering N05 176 what it was like."

N05 177 Sam stared across the river. "I suppose it's better N05 178 than being alone," he said after some thought. He took a N05 179 sip of whiskey and handed me the pint. "I figure you've got N05 180 little Missy Hawkins on your mind," he said. N05 181 "This'll help. Right now you'd better think about stayin' N05 182 alive."

N05 183 I took a swallow of the bitter whiskey. I'd never developed a N05 184 taste for the stuff, but it helped when my nerves were on edge. N05 185 Soon I settled back against my saddle, trying to find a comfortable N05 186 spot. I watched Sam's face across the flames. His eyes darted from N05 187 one shadow to the next, and when a mesquite knot popped in the N05 188 fire, he flinched. The whiskey wasn't doing much to relax him. He N05 189 seemed more skittish than ever.

N05 190 "What is it about a Comanche that makes 'em worse than N05 191 another kind?" I asked, seeking an explanation for Sam's N05 192 fear. The marshal wasn't afraid of a saloon full of hardcases with N05 193 guns and knives, but when we entered the domain of the Kwahadies, N05 194 he was as jumpy as a sinner at a Sunday sermon.

N05 195 Sam closed his eyes briefly, as if he was remembering N05 196 something. "I've seen what they do to their N05 197 enemies," he said, talking in a strained voice. N05 198 "They take pride in the ways they've found to kill a man N05 199 slow. They carve up an enemy so he'll live for days, screamin' his N05 200 head off until the pain drives him mad. It ain't enough that they N05 201 kill him. It's the way they get it done."

N05 202 Just then I wished I hadn't asked. I reached for the pint and N05 203 took a bigger swallow. An owl hooted once, making my scalp crawl N05 204 inside my hat.

N05 205 10 N05 206 I spent the longest night of my life around that fire, jumping N05 207 at every sound, peering into the dark. N05 208 N06 1 <#FROWN:N06\>Unlike so many other Overland employees, he did not N06 2 hail from Texas or one of the slave states farther east. Pretty N06 3 thin ice to walk on, but Lonaker was short on option.

N06 4 The night dragged on endlessly. Lonaker endured two hours on N06 5 the bunk, and when he couldn't stand another minute, cat footed N06 6 into the common room.

N06 7 Sancho kept a pot of coffee on the stove at all times. The fire N06 8 in the woodburner's black iron belly had died down to a bed of N06 9 orange embers, but the coffee was still plenty warm. Lonaker poured N06 10 himself a cup, lit a cheroot, and took a seat a the long trestle N06 11 table, staring into the darkness.

N06 12 An hour later he stepped outside, rifle in hand, to find Huck N06 13 sitting with his back against the adobe wall of the station. The N06 14 moon was about to set. A glance at the stars told Lonaker it was N06 15 close to midnight. He turned to the brawny reinsman and nodded at N06 16 the station house door.

N06 17 "Get some shut-eye. I'll take over."

N06 18 Huck got to his feet, stretched, and growled at cramped, N06 19 complaining muscles. He looked like a grizzly bear getting up on N06 20 its hind legs, ready to attack. Lonaker felt another stab of keen N06 21 regret as he watched the ex-prizefighter. Huck had been a good N06 22 friend. The troubleshooter was sorry for the tribulation he knew N06 23 was going to descend on this man.

N06 24 "How's the arm?" asked Huck.

N06 25 "Hurts like hell."

N06 26 The reinsman stepped to the door, paused on the threshold, brow N06 27 furrowed.

N06 28 "The Overland's in big trouble, isn't it?"

N06 29 Lonaker nodded, his eyes probing the desert night.

N06 30 Huck slapped the bullwhip against his thigh. "Well, I N06 31 don't think they've invented the trouble we can't handle, Mr. N06 32 Lonaker."

N06 33 "Just watch your back," advised Lonaker. N06 34 "Remember, you can't trust anybody. He might be a N06 35 Copper-head."

N06 36 "You're not. I trust you. See you in the morning. I'm N06 37 going to get some of that sleep 'that knits up the raveled sleeve N06 38 of care.' Shakespeare."

N06 39 Lonaker turned slowly and watched Huck disappear into the black N06 40 womb of the station.

N06 41 He waited a half-hour before moving, silent as shadow, to the N06 42 open window of the sleeping room. Huck's distinctive, wall-shaking N06 43 snore was drowning out Coffman. Lonaker crossed the hardpack to the N06 44 Concord, retrieved the saddlebags filled with the Army payroll, and N06 45 headed for the corral.

N06 46 The Reno Kid's saddle and bridle were in a shed which served as N06 47 tack room. Lonaker draped the saddle and the saddlebags on the N06 48 corral's top pole and climbed over to move slowly through the N06 49 fourteen horses in the pen. He murmured sweet nothings to keep them N06 50 calm. He caught up the blazed sorrel without undue trouble, and N06 51 slipped the bridle over its head. The horse balked some accepting N06 52 the bit. Lonaker twisted its ear and kept matters under control.

N06 53 Leading the horse over to the saddle, he noticed Sancho N06 54 standing on the other side of the corral fence. The station agent N06 55 was watching him impassively.

N06 56 "Been expecting you," said the troubleshooter. N06 57 "You sleep light."

N06 58 "Si, Se<*_>n-tilde<*/>or N06 59 Lonaker." Sancho shrugged. "Pistoleros and Apache N06 60 broncos have been trying to sneak up on me all my life.

N06 61 Lonaker draped the saddle over the horse and cinched up.

N06 62 "What's the best way to fight an Apache, N06 63 Sancho?"

N06 64 Sancho was an authority on the subject. "Only one way, N06 65 if you want to live. You must think like an Apache. Move like an N06 66 Apache. Fight like an Apache. If you don't, you will surely N06 67 die."

N06 68 Lonaker nodded. "I'm not fighting Apaches this time. N06 69 But the men I'm up against are just as cunning. I figure my only N06 70 chance against them is to be more cunning than they are." N06 71 He tied off the latigo over the front rigging ring, dropped the N06 72 fender and turned to the station agent. "I have a big favor N06 73 to ask of you."

N06 74 "Anything."

N06 75 Lonaker gave him the letter addressed to Huck. "I want N06 76 you to make sure Huck gets this. But don't give it to him in the N06 77 morning. I reckon he'll go on to Yuma, with Coffman. Wait until the N06 78 next day, then ride after him."

N06 79 Sancho took the letter. "I will do as you N06 80 ask."

N06 81 "The kid can watch this place while you're gone. N06 82 Whatever you do, don't let anyone but Huck get that N06 83 letter." As he fitted boot to stirrup he had a thought. N06 84 "Wait. If you can't find Huck in town, try the army post. N06 85 If he's there, or if you can't find him, you can give up the letter N06 86 to Colonel Dahlgren."

N06 87 Sancho nodded. Lonaker swung into the saddle. The station agent N06 88 lowered the gate pole.

N06 89 "Buena suerte, Se<*_>n-tilde<*/>or N06 90 Lonaker."

N06 91 "Thanks," said Lonaker as he rode by. "I'll N06 92 need all the luck I can get."

N06 93 Sancho watched him go until the night swallowed him up.

N06 94 Chapter Thirteen

N06 95 The town of Yuma had grown to maturity under the protective N06 96 wing of the federal fort, where the mighty Colorado plunged out of N06 97 the mountains and twisted like a gigantic brown serpent through the N06 98 malpais on its way to the border.

N06 99 The fort, and orderly arrangement of stone and adobe buildings, N06 100 stood on high ground overlooking the settlement. Standing grim and N06 101 alone a mile out on the flat was the hulking eyesore of the N06 102 territorial prison.

N06 103 With the Army post, the prison and the Oxbow Route, Yuma N06 104 flourished. It was a rough and ready town, providing recreation for N06 105 soldiers, prison guards and the lusty men who worked the mining and N06 106 lumber camps in the mountains to the north.

N06 107 As he rode into town at the head of a five-man detail - one N06 108 sergeant and four troopers - Colonel Eric Dahlgren cast a jaundiced N06 109 <}><-|>eyed<+|>eye<}/> upon the place. Afternoon heat shimmered off N06 110 the hardpack of the wide street, deeply scored by wagon and N06 111 carreta wheels.

N06 112 A man could break both legs trying to walk across a Yuma N06 113 street, reflected Dahlgren. And on the infrequent occasions when it N06 114 rained, these same streets became treacherous quagmires of N06 115 rust-colored mud. A whiskey peddler, drunk on his own snakehead, N06 116 had drowned in that alley over there, one stormy night last N06 117 year.

N06 118 A perfect example of poetic justice, mused the colonel, a N06 119 career soldier who held civilians generally in low esteem. He was N06 120 willing to concede that there were a few worth their salt. But he N06 121 didn't think any of them resided in Yuma.

N06 122 Dahlgren fished a handkerchief out of a pocket of the white N06 123 linen duster he wore to protect his uniform, and mopped the sweat N06 124 off his face. His features were hawkish. His eyes, the cloudy green N06 125 color of the fjords in his native Scandinavia, could cut through a N06 126 man like a saber stroke.

N06 127 The colonel was a highly intelligent, impeccably honest, and N06 128 well-educated man. As a naive youth he had believed the poets and N06 129 philosophers when they waxed eloquent about mankind's limitless N06 130 potential for greatness. A lifetime of experience since then had N06 131 plucked the scales from his eyes. He couldn't abide rapacity or N06 132 stupidity in others. And Yuma was full to the brim with ignorant, N06 133 greedy people.

N06 134 He saw them now, in the open windows and doorways and in the N06 135 scant shade on both sides of the street. Cardsharps, prostitutes, N06 136 drummers, merchants. All of them preyed on his soldiers. Worse, N06 137 they held the Army in ill-disguised contempt. It was better to N06 138 receive a compliment rather than a curse from the thief who picked N06 139 your pocket.

N06 140 But these civilians scorned and slighted Dahlgren's soldiers. N06 141 Until there was danger - until the Apaches embarked on a bloody N06 142 raid, or bandit gangs started raising hell along the border, or N06 143 prisoners broke out of the prison. Then the civilians howled for N06 144 protection from the garrison.

N06 145 I may not have much of a garrison left, thought Dahlgren, when N06 146 my men learn that six months of pay in arrears has been stolen.

N06 147 But the Army got what it deserved, in his opinion, when it N06 148 placed its affairs in the hands of civilians.

N06 149 The colonel reined his horse around a corner at the N06 150 intersection of the garrison road with Yuma's main street. The N06 151 detail trailed along behind. Now Dahlgren could see the crowd N06 152 congregated in front of the adobe structure housing the Overland's N06 153 office - between twenty and thirty men, peeking through the front N06 154 windows, filling the boardwalk, spilling out into the street.

N06 155 They all seemed to be talking at once, and irritating babble, N06 156 but every man fell silent as Dahlgren steered his mount to a N06 157 tie-rail in front of the Overland office. They knew better than to N06 158 fire a lot of tiresome questions at the Fort Yuma commanding N06 159 officer. Dahlgren was better known for his temper than his N06 160 tolerance.

N06 161 Like the Red Sea parting, they made a path for him as he N06 162 crossed the boardwalk. At the door, he turned to peruse the crowd N06 163 with stern disfavor, then glanced at the sergeant who, with the N06 164 four troopers, was still mounted.

N06 165 "Macready."

N06 166 "Yes, sir."

N06 167 "Move them."

N06 168 "Yes, sir!"

N06 169 The three-striper dismounted with alacrity and bulled his way N06 170 through the throng with exuberance. The civilians tried to get out N06 171 of his way, but the burly Irish noncom would not be denied his fun. N06 172 He knocked one man aside with an elbow. "Excuse me, N06 173 sir," he said, smiling like a leprechaun. He sent a second N06 174 man staggering with another cheery apology.

N06 175 Gaining the boardwalk, Macready turned to block the door N06 176 through which the colonel had just passed. The sergeant planted big N06 177 fists on his hips and slowly scanned the crowd.

N06 178 "Now gentlemen," he said, rolling the words N06 179 with a thick brogue. "I know ye must have better things to N06 180 do than to be lollygaggin' out here in the hot sun. So I must ask N06 181 ye to be on your way."

N06 182 No one moved. Macready breathed a melodramatic sigh, whipped N06 183 the pistol out of the flap holster at his side, and fired a round N06 184 into the sky.

N06 185 The civilians scattered like quail.

N06 186 Macready watched their flight with profound gratification.

N06 187 "Flamin' rabble," he murmured.

N06 188 Dahlgren was met in the front room by a lanky, sandy-haired man N06 189 wearing a tin star on his vest.

N06 190 "Afternoon, Colonel. I sent word up to the fort soon as N06 191 ..."

N06 192 "Where are they, Sheriff?"

N06 193 "Back room."

N06 194 Dahlgren passed through the swinging gate of a counter, through N06 195 another door. Long benches lined the walls to left and right. N06 196 Across the room was a door leading outside. The doorway was filled N06 197 by the bulk of the town's deputy sheriff. He was tilted against the N06 198 frame, a shotgun cradled in his arms.

N06 199 Through a window in the rear wall Dahlgren could see the N06 200 Overland 'yard', encircled by a high adobe wall. Half of the yard N06 201 was a corral, where two dozen horses were bunched around a water N06 202 trough in the shade of an old oak. The only decent shade, mused the N06 203 colonel, for twenty square miles. In the other half of the yard N06 204 stood a mud wagon and, closer to the back door, a dust-covered N06 205 Concord coach.

N06 206 As Dahlgren entered, one of two men sitting on the bench to the N06 207 colonel's left jumped up.

N06 208 "Colonel, I'm Phil Coffman. I ..."

N06 209 "I know." Dahlgren spared him the merest glance N06 210 and turned to the other man. "You're Lonaker's driver, N06 211 aren't you?"

N06 212 Huck Odom sat leaning forward with his head down and hands N06 213 clasped between his knees. He didn't look up.

N06 214 "That's right. Huck Odom."

N06 215 "Where is he?"

N06 216 "I don't know."

N06 217 "I can't believe it," declared Coffman. N06 218 "I never thought John Lonaker would turn bad. Colonel, I N06 219 promise you the Overland will do everything in its power to N06 220 ..."

N06 221 Dahlgren impatiently raised a hand to cut Coffman short. N06 222 "Mr. Odom, am I to believe you were unaware of Lonaker's N06 223 intentions?"

N06 224 Tight-lipped, Huck slowly raised his head. He met Dahlgren's N06 225 steely gaze without flinching.

N06 226 "I'm still unaware of his intentions," said the N06 227 reinsman, his tone as flat as the bottom of a frying pan.

N06 228 "They should be obvious ot you. They certainly are to N06 229 me."

N06 230 Hand clasped behind his back, the colonel began to pace N06 231 restlessly, spurs ringing against the floor. He paused once to peer N06 232 curiously at the bullwhip looped over the deputy sheriff's N06 233 shoulder.

N06 234 N07 1 <#FROWN:N07\>That's in case you'd want to get down to the marshal's N07 2 office."

N07 3 "Yeah, thanks," Lance said.

N07 4 "'Course, bein' as you brought in a prisoner last N07 5 night, I don't reckon you'd really have to go."

N07 6 "I reckon not," Lance said. He strapped on his N07 7 gun belt, then reached for his hat.

N07 8 "But I figured you'd be wantin' to," Sam N07 9 added.

N07 10 "I reckon so," Lance said. He closed the door N07 11 to his room behind him, then followed Sam down the hall toward the N07 12 stairs.

N07 13 "Lance?"

N07 14 Lance turned toward the sound of the woman's voice and saw Lily N07 15 Montgomery standing in her door at the far end of the hall. Lily N07 16 owned the saloon.

N07 17 "'Morning, Lily," Lance said, touching the brim N07 18 of his hat.

N07 19 "What is it? What's all the commotion?"

N07 20 "The stage was held up, Miss Lily," Sam said, N07 21 answering before Lance could. "There was a shootin' too, N07 22 when the coach come in, the driver was layin' out on top an' the N07 23 shotgun guard, why, he was inside."

N07 24 "Oh, the poor men," Lily said. "Lance, N07 25 be careful."

N07 26 Lance smiled. "You know me, Lily," he said. N07 27 "Careful is my middle name."

N07 28 Lance left the saloon then hurried across the street toward the N07 29 gathering crowd. Nearly everyone in town had been drawn to the N07 30 stage by the curious nature of its arrival. By now the driver and N07 31 the guard had been taken from the coach and were stretched out on N07 32 the boardwalk in front of the marshal's office. Doc Presnell was N07 33 kneeling down beside the guard, feeling for a pulse in his neck. He N07 34 wasn't wasting his time with the driver. With his eyes open and N07 35 opaque, and a big, black hole in his cheek, it didn't require a N07 36 doctor to see that Andy McGinnis was very obviously dead.

N07 37 "'Mornin', Lance," Marshal Dan Efrem said. N07 38 "I see you found Lattimore. Good job."

N07 39 "It was easy enough, seeing as he was right where you N07 40 said he would be," Lance answered. "What do you N07 41 know about this?" he asked, indicating the two men Doctor N07 42 Presnell was working on.

N07 43 "Not much, I'm afraid," Dan said. "Like N07 44 you, I just got here." The marshal was standing just N07 45 outside his office with his arms folded across his chest, watching N07 46 the doctor at work.

N07 47 "Can I use your door, Dan?" Doc Presnell asked, N07 48 looking up at the marshal. "We've got to get Seth over to N07 49 my place and we're goin' to need something to carry him N07 50 on."

N07 51 "Yes, of course," Dan replied, and he nodded N07 52 toward two other men who, quickly, began to take the door to the N07 53 marshal's office off its hinges, so it could be used a as carrying N07 54 board. "Is Seth going to make it, Doc?"

N07 55 "I don't know," Doc Presnell said. N07 56 "He's got a chance. The bullet went through him high enough N07 57 that it missed all his vitals, but you never can tell with gunshot N07 58 wounds."

N07 59 "Let me know how he's doin', will you, Doc?" N07 60 Dan asked.

N07 61 "Sure thing, Marshal."

N07 62 Dan looked back at Lance.

N07 63 "What time did you get in with Lattimore?"

N07 64 "About five-thirty or six."

N07 65 "Pretty short night for you, wasn't it?"

N07 66 "I suppose so, but I'll be all right after a cup of N07 67 coffee."

N07 68 "There's a pot on the stove," Dan offered.

N07 69 "I'll get some directly," Lance replied. N07 70 "Soon as we get a handle on things."

N07 71 Dan looked over at the gambler. "Johnny, you want to N07 72 tell us what happened?"

N07 73 "It was Rufus Blanton," Johnny said.

N07 74 "Ruthless? Are you sure?" Dan asked.

N07 75 "Yeah, I'm sure. I've seen him a couple of times N07 76 before."

N07 77 "What about you two?" Dan asked. "You N07 78 go along with that?"

N07 79 "I've never seen him for real," the rancher N07 80 replied. "But I've seen dodgers on him and I'd say that's N07 81 who it was. Besides, I heard Seth call out his name, just before he N07 82 was shot."

N07 83 "It was him, all right," the clerk said. N07 84 "You've seen him before, have you?" Dan asked.

N07 85 "Well, uh, no," the clerk admitted. N07 86 "But I have heard him described. And this was him, all N07 87 right. I don't have the slightest doubt about it."

N07 88 The undertaker's wagon arrived. The driver halted the team and N07 89 set the brake, then looked over at Dan.

N07 90 "If you're through with the body, Marshal, I'll take it N07 91 now," the driver said. He was wearing a long, black coat N07 92 and a pair of striped pants.

N07 93 "Sure thing, Mr. Albritton, but maybe you'd better hold N07 94 off on doin' anything more with it 'til we hear from the N07 95 widow," Dan suggested. "I reckon Mrs. McGinnis will N07 96 be wantin' him brought back home."

N07 97 "I've no doubt that she will. I'll just get in touch N07 98 with my colleague over in Risco and keep him on ice until I get N07 99 further instructions," Albritton explained.

N07 100 Dan turned his attention back to the three passengers. N07 101 "I'll tell you folks what has me puzzled. What I don't N07 102 understand is, why someone like Rufus Blanton would want to hold up N07 103 the stage between Risco and Barlow in the first place. Why, there N07 104 couldn't have been more'n ten or fifteen dollars between everybody N07 105 on board, could there? I mean this stage doesn't even carry a N07 106 strongbox."

N07 107 "The money wasn't in a strongbox, it was in a N07 108 valise," Karpo said.

N07 109 "The money? What money?"

N07 110 "A little over three thousand dollars. This fella here, N07 111 was carrying it."

N07 112 "What were you doing with so much money?" Lance N07 113 asked.

N07 114 The bank clerk pulled himself up importantly. "My name N07 115 is C. D. Adams, Marshal," he explained. "I work for N07 116 the Bank of Risco and I was overseeing a species transfer to the N07 117 Bank of Barlow."

N07 118 "Damn," Lance said. "Someone slipped up N07 119 somewhere. Those transfers are supposed to be kept secret. I wonder N07 120 how Ruthless found out."

N07 121 "I ... I really don't know," Adams N07 122 stammered.

N07 123 "The hell you don't," Karpo replied. N07 124 "You were spoutin' it off all over the restaurant at supper N07 125 last night. Everybody heard you. They were talking about it down at N07 126 the saloon."

N07 127 "Yeah," Bates said. "I even heard about it down N07 128 at the feeder lot."

N07 129 "Is that true?"

N07 130 "I ... I suppose so," Adams replied.

N07 131 "What the hell? Why didn't you just take out an ad in N07 132 the newspapers?" Lance asked.

N07 133 "I ... I didn't think it would do any harm," N07 134 Adams insisted. "I was just trying to make an impression on N07 135 Miss Kirby."

N07 136 "Miss Kirby?"

N07 137 "She's the waitress at the City Pig Cafe," N07 138 Adams explained.

N07 139 "So, because you were trying to make an impression on a N07 140 waitress, you babbled all over the place that you would be carrying N07 141 a lot of money between banks," Dan said scornfully. N07 142 "And as a result, one man was killed and another may die. N07 143 In addition to that, you lost all your employer's N07 144 money."

N07 145 "I didn't know anything like this would N07 146 happen," Adams whined. "Honest I N07 147 didn't."

N07 148 "Yeah, well, I'm not the one you have to answer N07 149 to," Dan said. "If I were you I'd get myself down N07 150 to the bank and start making explanations there."

N07 151 "You need me anymore, Dan?" Karpo asked.

N07 152 "No, I guess not. You can go too, Bates," Dan N07 153 replied. "And thanks for bringing in the stage ... you did N07 154 a good job."

N07 155 "By the way, Lance, when is your brother going to get N07 156 back?" Karpo asked. "We've got a few more hands of N07 157 poker to play."

N07 158 "Your guess as to when Buck will get back is as good as N07 159 mine," Lance answered with a little laugh. "You N07 160 know how he is. There's always another town to see, another N07 161 hole-card to draw to, and another bar girl to spark."

N07 162 Karpo chuckled. "That's Buck, all right. It's sure hard N07 163 to pin him down. I swear, I never in my life saw any two brothers N07 164 as different as you two. To begin with, you don't even look alike; N07 165 you're three inches taller and fifty pounds heavier. You're dark, N07 166 he's light, you're settled, he's wild, the only thing alike is that N07 167 a man with good sense wouldn't want to get on the bad side of N07 168 either one of you. Anyway, next time you see Buck, tell him he owes N07 169 me a couple of games so I can get even."

N07 170 "I'll tell him," Lance promised.

N07 171 "Come on in, Lance," Dan invited. "You N07 172 can drink your coffee while I'm gettin' ready."

N07 173 "Getting ready? Getting ready for what?"

N07 174 "I'm goin' after him."

N07 175 "There's no call to do that, Dan," Lance said. N07 176 "The fact is, you don't really even have the authority to N07 177 go after him. The town council hired you to keep the peace here in N07 178 Barlow, not go running through the countryside chasing road N07 179 agents."

N07 180 "I know why I was hired, Lance. But I got a special N07 181 want for this fella," Dan replied. He looked over at Lance. N07 182 "You, of all people, should understand that."

N07 183 "Yeah," Lance replied as he took a swallow of coffee N07 184 and studied Dan over the rim of his cup. "Yeah, I guess I N07 185 do."

N07 186 The 'understanding' Dan mentioned, referred to the fact that N07 187 Lance Chaney and his brother Buck had arrived in Barlow, Texas a N07 188 little over a year earlier, hard on the trail of the men who had N07 189 raped and killed their sister. They had started on their quest from N07 190 opposite sides, for Lance had been a captain in the Union Army, N07 191 while Buck was a lieutenant in the Confederacy. However, their past N07 192 differences were put aside long enough for them to settle the score N07 193 with their sister's killers, though it ultimately took a range war N07 194 to get that accomplished.

N07 195 The range war was over now, but there were still enough N07 196 gunfighters, holdup men, gamblers, prospectors, cowboys and wild N07 197 women to keep the place jumping, and to keep the Chaney boys N07 198 interested. To the two brothers, Barlow meant two different things. N07 199 Buck, being younger, quicker-tempered, and faster with a gun, N07 200 rather enjoyed the excitement of the town. He hung around to take N07 201 maximum advantage of all the experiences a place like Barlow had to N07 202 offer, supporting himself by his wits ... gambling mostly, though N07 203 he had done a little bartending and had even hired himself out as a N07 204 shotgun guard on a few occasions. Buck was friendly with all the N07 205 women, but so far he had managed to avoid getting too close to any N07 206 woman in particular.

N07 207 Lance was the more settled of the two and he stayed around N07 208 Barlow because, as he said, "Everyone has to be N07 209 somewhere." There were those, however, who suggested that N07 210 Lance stayed in Barlow because of Lily Montgomery, the owner of the N07 211 Easy Pickin's saloon. Actually, there was a great deal of truth to N07 212 that suggestion. Lily was a beautiful woman and not at all like the N07 213 average sporting house madam.

N07 214 Lily could remember the days when she was the daughter of a N07 215 wealthy Mississippi planter and the 'Belle of the County.' She N07 216 still had the airs of a fine lady and cowboys who were visiting the N07 217 saloon for the first time and who knew nothing of Lily's N07 218 background, seemed to sense that, and react to it.

N07 219 Lance and Lily had an understanding of sorts, though the N07 220 parameters of that understanding had not been fully explored. Lance N07 221 certainly wasn't ready to discuss marriage and he didn't consider N07 222 himself engaged. Also, since their relationship had never actually N07 223 been articulated they were free, technically, to see others. It was N07 224 obvious to everyone, however, that while Lily ran a bar and N07 225 sporting house and served drinks and a smile to men, she was N07 226 interested only in Lance Chaney. It was just as obvious that Lance, N07 227 who had a polite smile for all the working girls of the Easy N07 228 Pickin's Saloon, was really interested in sharing his table and N07 229 drinks only with Lily.

N07 230 When the job was offered to him, Lance pinned on the star of N07 231 deputy marshal. The new marshal, Dan Efrem, needed a deputy, and N07 232 Lance Chaney needed work. What made the situation somewhat unusual N07 233 was that Lance was one of those responsible for getting Efrem to N07 234 come to Barlow in the first place.

N07 235 Dan Efrem was a well-known and highly-respected law officer, a N07 236 former Texas Ranger and United States Marshal. N07 237 N08 1 <#FROWN:N08\>The word had spread. When Pettigrew limped into N08 2 the Rosita Mercantile, pants leg bloody, needing a shave, he drew N08 3 stares from everyone in sight. But the store owner wasted no time N08 4 asking questions until after he'd measured a yard of muslin and N08 5 found a pair of the new Levi's pants, size thirty-three by N08 6 thirty-three. Pettigrew would have to turn up the cuffs. There were N08 7 four other customers in the store, but no one spoke. They only N08 8 stared.

N08 9 Then, "You're the one that rode in with that woman, N08 10 ain't you? Is she really the one that was kidnapped up at N08 11 Pueblo?"

N08 12 "Yeah," Pettigrew answered, wearily. "Got any N08 13 crackers or anything? Maybe some sardines?"

N08 14 "What happened?"

N08 15 "There was some shooting. She's all right N08 16 now."

N08 17 "Who got shot?"

N08 18 "Some hardcases. Listen, I don't remember when I ate N08 19 last or slept last. Got anything to eat?"

N08 20 Back in the hotel room, he rewrapped his wounds, made a meal of N08 21 sardines and crackers and flopped down on the narrow bed.

N08 22 Lem Pettigrew slept like a dead man himself, lying on the bed N08 23 wearing only his shirt, shorts and socks. His dreams were deep and N08 24 vague and kept shifting scenes. There was the doctor with no name N08 25 at Hardscrabble, Charles B. Atkinson, his old boss Sheriff Popejoy N08 26 at Johnson County in West Texas, his childhood in the small town of N08 27 Johnsonville, his work for the Pinkerton National Detective Agency, N08 28 and John 'Beans' Gipson. And there the dream dwelled for a time. It N08 29 was a disturbing dream.

N08 30 He'd been a deputy sheriff for four years, and resigned when N08 31 his boss completed his term and didn't run for re-election. It was N08 32 Sheriff Popejoy who suggested he work for the Pinkertons, and it N08 33 was the glowing recommendation from the sheriff that got him the N08 34 job. That, and the fact that he'd done enough work on the cow N08 35 outfits in West Texas that he could hold down a job as a cowboy. N08 36 Plus the fact that the JS Ranch in south Texas was losing cattle N08 37 and needed some undercover detective work done.

N08 38 Plus, the Pinkertons had no agent who looked at all like a N08 39 cowboy.

N08 40 It was an easy assignment. Once Lem Pettigrew got acquainted N08 41 with a good-looking young cowboy nick-named Beans it didn't take N08 42 long to figure out what was happening.

N08 43 Beans and an older man named Newt Waltham were stealing a few N08 44 cattle at a time and hazing them into a corral hidden in the N08 45 mesquites that grew along the Rio Grande. A crew of N08 46 vaqueros drove the cattle from there across the river, N08 47 delivering them to a Mexican rancher who had two hundred thousand N08 48 acres to hide them in. The ranchero paid Beans and Newt N08 49 about half the market price.

N08 50 Pettigrew got suspicious when Beans ran out of dollars in town N08 51 one day and couldn't talk a bartender into taking pesos. N08 52 "God damn Mex money won't buy a piece of ass this side of N08 53 the border," he'd complained. He shut up like a trap when N08 54 Pettigrew asked where he got the pesos. Then Newt suffered a broken N08 55 leg when a horse turned over on him, and Beans needed a new N08 56 partner. Pettigrew had let it be known that he wouldn't mind raking N08 57 in more than cowboy wages if he could do it without killing anyone. N08 58 Beans had found his new partner.

N08 59 One theft of twenty-five cows was all it took to gather enough N08 60 evidence. But Pettigrew's work wasn't done. The worst part was yet N08 61 to come. He had to testify in court.

N08 62 In his dreams Pettigrew often saw Beans' face when he said, N08 63 "I never believed you'd rat on me, Lem. I thought we was N08 64 friends. I never believed you'd -"

N08 65 It was a knocking on the door that woke him.

N08 66 "Huh," Pettigrew snorted, jerking upright on the bed. N08 67 For a long moment he couldn't remember where he was. The knocking N08 68 persisted. Finally, "Yeah? Who's there?"

N08 69 A muffled voice came through the door, "The proprietor, N08 70 Mr. Pettigrew. I've got a message."

N08 71 "All right, all right. Give me a minute." N08 72 Bedsprings squeaked when he got up. He pulled on his new pants and N08 73 went to the door in his sock feet. The clerk with the handlebar N08 74 moustache stood there.

N08 75 He said, "Mrs. Atkinson asked me to tell you that she N08 76 would like to meet you downstairs."

N08 77 "All right, thanks."

N08 78 He washed his face in cold water, ran his fingers through his N08 79 brown hair, and wished he had a comb. He knew his face bristled N08 80 with several days' growth of whiskers, but he had no razor with N08 81 him. His boots thumped on the stair steps.

N08 82 She looked some better, sitting in the lobby, although she N08 83 needed clean clothes. She even managed a small smile. Two young N08 84 faces were pressed against the window pane from outside, looking in N08 85 at her. The proprietor went to the open door and hollered, N08 86 "Now you kids get away from here."

N08 87 "I hope you got some rest, Mrs. Atkinson," N08 88 Pettigrew said as he sat in one of four wooden chairs in the N08 89 lobby.

N08 90 "Yes. I had a bath and a nap. I was wondering, Mr. N08 91 Pettigrew, whether you've talked to the officers of the law N08 92 here."

N08 93 "A deputy sheriff. He ought to be gone after the dead N08 94 bodies now."

N08 95 "Good. I'm sure he will want a statement of some kind N08 96 from me too. I'm so weary I hope we can get this over with so I can N08 97 get back to Pueblo."

N08 98 "I told him you have to get back as fast as possible. N08 99 He said a stage leaves every morning going east. I might have to N08 100 stay a day or two."

N08 101 "Oh, I hope not. I need your company."

N08 102 "I hope not too, but ..." He shrugged. N08 103 "I've been an officer of the law myself, and I know certain N08 104 matters have to be settled."

N08 105 "Do you suppose we could have dinner together? I feel N08 106 so ... so embarrassed all alone."

N08 107 "Sure. You bet. I'll buy a razor and try to make myself N08 108 fit to be seen with a lady."

N08 109 Seated at a table for four in the Home Cafe next door, they had N08 110 roast beef, mashed potatoes and brown gravy. She ate only half of N08 111 what was on her plate. Pettigrew cleaned his plate and ordered a N08 112 slab of pie made of dried apples. They ate silently. She seemed to N08 113 be deep in thought, and he didn't want to intrude.

N08 114 They went to their separate rooms after dinner. Pettigrew took N08 115 a 'whore's bath' out of the wash pan, and wished he'd had enough N08 116 money to buy some clean shorts and socks. With only a few dollars N08 117 in his wallet, he'd have to sell his bay horse to get stage and N08 118 train fare, but once he got back to Pueblo, he'd collect his reward N08 119 and be rich. Well, working-man rich.

N08 120 "Uh-oh," he said aloud when the thought hit him. What N08 121 if Charles B. Atkinson was dead? Would he get the reward he'd N08 122 earned? Surely, the widow would see that he did. Everybody in N08 123 Southern Colorado knew a reward had been promised. He sat on the N08 124 bed thinking. Yeah, sure. Of course I'll get the reward.

N08 125 Deputy Mulhay got back after dark. Pettigrew lit a coal oil N08 126 lamp, pulled on his pants and again went to the door in his sock N08 127 feet. His big toe on the right foot had worn a hole in the sock, N08 128 but, oh well, the deputy had seen holes in socks before.

N08 129 "We got 'em down and layed 'em out." Deputy N08 130 Mulhay said, "and I just talked to Mrs. Atkinson and got N08 131 her story. It checks exactly with what you said."

N08 132 "Uh-huh." Pettigrew sat on the bed and motioned the N08 133 deputy to the one chair.

N08 134 "What I need now," the deputy said, shifting N08 135 his gun-belt and sitting, "is to get a jury N08 136 together. Say, oh ... four or five good men that can read and N08 137 write, however many I can find, and tell 'em all about it. You'll N08 138 have to be there, but I told Mrs. Atkinson she could leave on the N08 139 stage in the mornin'."

N08 140 "I know she appreciates that."

N08 141 "Yeah, poor woman. She's had hell. I sure ain't gonna N08 142 give 'er no more trouble."

N08 143 "But I guess I'll have to stick around N08 144 tomorrow."

N08 145 "Yup. Can't be helped. What Mrs. Atkinson tells me is N08 146 you saved her life more'n once."

N08 147 Shrugging, Pettigrew said, "I wasn't trying to be a N08 148 hero. There's a reward."

N08 149 "Yup. I heered about that reward. What Mrs. Atkinson N08 150 tells me is you surely earned it."

N08 151 "When can you hold this inquest?"

N08 152 "Not 'til mornin'. Wish we had a telegraph here. The N08 153 sheriff's gone down to New Mexico Territory to eyeball a horse N08 154 thief they arrested down there, and I wish I could telegraph 'im to N08 155 get back up here. But we ain't and I cain't, so I'll do the best I N08 156 know how."

N08 157 Pettigrew almost told about having been a deputy sheriff N08 158 himself, but he decided he didn't want to get into a conversation N08 159 about that. Instead, he said, "Know where I can sell a good N08 160 horse? I don't care to ride back over those mountains."

N08 161 "Sammy buys and sells horses, mules, jackasses, wagons N08 162 and just about ever'thing else. How much he pays depends on how N08 163 hard up you are."

N08 164 Pettigrew managed a small grin. "I'll try to put on a N08 165 good act."

N08 166 He saw the stage off with Mrs. Atkinson and three other N08 167 passengers in it. The woman carried the saddlebags full of money. N08 168 It occurred to Pettigrew to ask for an advance against the reward, N08 169 but he didn't want to admit that he was broke. Sammy turned out to N08 170 be a short, wide man with a nearly new brown hat and baggy wool N08 171 pants. Pettigrew asked for forty dollars for the bay gelding, but N08 172 settled for thirty-five. That gave him plenty of money to get to N08 173 Pueblo, where he would collect his reward.

N08 174 The town of Rosita had no coroner, but Deputy Mulhay called the N08 175 gathering of five citizens a coroner's jury anyway. The hearing, in N08 176 the combination sheriff's office and one-cell jail should have been N08 177 short, but each juror had questions, mainly to satisfy their N08 178 private curiosities. They didn't even leave the room to reach a N08 179 verdict:

N08 180 The two unnamed men met their deaths at the hands of one N08 181 Lemual Pettigrew of Fremont County, state of Colorado. Mr. N08 182 Pettigrew shot them in the defense of a kidnap victim, one Mrs. N08 183 Cynthia Atkinson of Pueblo County. Therefore, it is the verdict of N08 184 this coroner's jury that Mr. Pettigrew violated no laws of the N08 185 state of Colorado.

N08 186 "You understand, Mr. Pettigrew," a well-dressed N08 187 juror said, "that this was not a trial, and if at some time N08 188 the sheriff or the prosecutor decides to file charges against you N08 189 it would not constitute double jeopardy."

N08 190 "I understand."

N08 191 "You're free to go on about your business."

N08 192 Pettigrew bought a new shirt to go with the new pants. The new N08 193 Levi's denim pants were cut full to allow for shrinkage, and they N08 194 were baggy and stiff. He wished he'd bought another kind. He had a N08 195 good breakfast under his belt, and a beer would have tasted good. N08 196 But he didn't want to have to answer questions about the woman and N08 197 her kidnappers, so he stayed out of the saloons. Now was the time N08 198 to follow the advice of the doctor with no name and give his sore N08 199 leg a rest.

N08 200 He was dozing lightly in his room when a knock on the door N08 201 brought him to his feet. "Who's there?"

N08 202 A barely audible voice came through the door, "The N08 203 sheriff."

N08 204 It wasn't the right answer. Pettigrew drew the Colt .45, and N08 205 when he opened the door he didn't stand in front of it. Instead, he N08 206 stepped back, partially behind it.

N08 207 The man who rushed in had a sixgun in his hand too, and he N08 208 wasn't Deputy Mulhay.

N08 209 Chapter Fifteen

N08 210 In an instant, Pettigrew recognized the man. He fired as the N08 211 man was turning toward him, then immediately dove for the floor, N08 212 rolled onto his back and fired at the second man in the doorway. N08 213 N09 1 <#FROWN:N09\>Listen to me, people. I know Smoke Jensen. He probably N09 2 don't remember me, but I damn sure remember him. Let me name N09 3 you some men who had the bad judgment to brace him. Slick Finger N09 4 Bob, Terry Smith, Tom Ritter, One-Eye Slim, Warner Frigo, Canning, N09 5 Felter, Kid Austin, Grisson and Clark, Curly Rodgers, Curt Holt, Ed N09 6 Malone, Boots Pierson, Harry Jennings, Blackjack Simpson. Richards, N09 7 Potter, Stratton. Smoke Jensen killed nineteen men by himself N09 8 in a ghost town over in Idaho. Then there's Greeny, Lebert, and N09 9 Augie. There was Dickerson, Brown, and Necker. Joiner and Wilson N09 10 and Casey. There was Jack Waters and his three brothers. Then there N09 11 was Lanny Ball and four of his friends. I think their names was N09 12 Woody, Dalton, Lodi, and Sutton. Dad Estes had himself and his N09 13 whole gang wiped out by Jensen. Cat Jennings and Barton and Mills N09 14 and no-'count George Victor. Utah slim - everybody's heard of N09 15 him - faced Smoke one day. That was the last thing he ever did. N09 16 Pig-Face Phillips and a gunhand named Carson called Jensen out. N09 17 They died in the dirt. You want me to name some more? Hell, I ain't N09 18 even scratched the surface yet!"

N09 19 Club Bowers walked the floor, eyeballing each man there. N09 20 "People, understand something: Smoke Jensen was raised by N09 21 mountain men. He don't fight like nobody you or me know. And when N09 22 you get Smoke Jensen riled - and I've seen him riled - he's like N09 23 ... well, a whole room full of grizzly bears. He's ..."

N09 24 Jack Biggers waved him silent. "You're lettin' your N09 25 imagination run away with you, Club. Jensen is a tough man. We all N09 26 saw that when he fought Mule. But he's still just a man. He ain't N09 27 got no supernatural powers."

N09 28 "Injuns say he does," Fat Fosburn said. N09 29 "I used to have some Injuns ridin' with me in my gang, both N09 30 breeds and full redskin. They were all scared slap to death of N09 31 Smoke Jensen. You see, Smoke was sort of raised up by a mountain N09 32 man called Preacher."

N09 33 That got everybody's attention.

N09 34 "Yeah," Fat said with a smile. "Preacher N09 35 hisself. The most famous mountain man of them all. Mean as a snake N09 36 and tough as an oak tree. And he brought Smoke Jensen up to be just N09 37 like him. And done a damn good job of it, too. Now you know why N09 38 he's so damn mean. Club's right about Jensen to some degree. What N09 39 we got to do, I'm thinkin', is get us a good back-shooter in N09 40 here."

N09 41 "You know one?" Major asked.

N09 42 Fat smiled. "I've already sent for him."

N09 43 The man Fat had contacted despised Smoke Jensen with a hatred N09 44 that bordered insanity. Preacher had killed his father with a knife N09 45 back in the mid-fifties, after he'd caught the man trying to steal N09 46 one of his horses. Peter Hankins had been a boy in his teens when N09 47 it had happened. A boy who was already an accomplished thief, liar, N09 48 pickpocket, murderer, and just about anything else evil he was big N09 49 enough to be. Trappers had brought the elder Hankins back to the N09 50 trading post and dumped him at Peter's feet, telling him what had N09 51 happened.

N09 52 "Out here, boy," a mountain man told him. N09 53 "You don't steal a man's horse. A lot of times, that's like N09 54 givin' a man the death sentence. Your pa got what he deserved. Let N09 55 it lie. You go after Preacher, and he'll kill you."

N09 56 Peter Hankins drifted East and joined the Union Army at the N09 57 start of the War Between the States. He had always been expert with N09 58 a rifle, and he was made a sniper. He loved it. He loved to kill N09 59 from a distance. He especially loved to kill Southerners. He'd won N09 60 medals for it. When the war ended, he drifted back West, joined a N09 61 gang of scum and ne'er-do-wells, and a few years later was caught N09 62 up in a completely unexpected fight with Preacher and a young man N09 63 named Smoke Jensen. Smoke got lead into him, although Peter doubted N09 64 the young man knew it at the time. His hip still bothered him N09 65 because of that fight. So after that, he shared his hatred of N09 66 Preacher with hatred of Smoke Jensen.

N09 67 Now he had a chance to kill him and make a couple thousand N09 68 dollars in the process. It was too good to pass up.

N09 69 As soon as he received the wire, he bought a train ticket and N09 70 was on his way, sleeping in the car with his horse and his Sharps N09 71 'English Model' 1877 .45-caliber rifle. Peter hand-loaded his own N09 72 ammunition (2.6-inch casing) and knew almost to the inch what N09 73 distance they would carry, and they would carry accurately for more N09 74 than fifteen hundred yards, providing the wind was not kicking N09 75 up.

N09 76 Peter would kill man, woman, or child. He made no distinction. N09 77 He was a man utterly without morals. And he was looking forward to N09 78 this job.

N09 79 Smoke stepped out of the house for a breath of night air after N09 80 another of Sally and Jenny's excellent suppers. The men had N09 81 staggered off to the bunkhouse, all of them full as ticks. Three N09 82 days after the fight, and his hands were no longer sore or swollen. N09 83 There had been no trouble from Biggers, Cosgrove, or Fat. Smoke was N09 84 not expecting any from Club Bowers. Scoundrel that he was, he was N09 85 also a man who had been around and could read signs. Smoke had him N09 86 a hunch that Club would pull out of this fight given just the N09 87 slightest opportunity.

N09 88 Van Horn walked up and stood silent for a moment, rolling a N09 89 cigarette. "When you figure they're gonna hit us, and how N09 90 do you figure it?"

N09 91 "Just as soon as they get everyone in here that's N09 92 coming in."

N09 93 "You know of a person name of Peter N09 94 Hankins?"

N09 95 "Peter Hankins?" Smoke mused. "Yes. I N09 96 do. He's a long-distance shooter. He uses a special made Sharps N09 97 .45. Sharps made the rifle for about a year, I think. Made it for N09 98 target shooters. It had something to do with English marksmanship N09 99 rules, I believe. I've never seen one. Hankins, huh? My mentor N09 100 killed Hankins' father. Preacher caught him stealing horses and N09 101 carved him up. That was years before I knew Preacher. I've known N09 102 for a long time that Hankins hates me."

N09 103 "How old a man would he be?"

N09 104 "Probably in his early to mid-forties. He was a N09 105 teenager when Preacher killed his father back in '55 or so. I have N09 106 no idea what he looks like or where he lives. He's a loner. He N09 107 comes in, bodies fall, he leaves. Usually without anyone ever N09 108 seeing him. How'd you find out about him coming in?"

N09 109 Van Horn smiled. "Oh, those sources of mine I told you N09 110 about."

N09 111 Smoke chuckled. "You mean the girls at the Golden N09 112 Cherry, don't you?"

N09 113 Van Horn laughed quietly. "Not much gets by you, does N09 114 it, Smoke?"

N09 115 "I can't afford to let much by me, Van. I have too many N09 116 people who want to see me dead."

N09 117 "I do know the feelin'," the old gunfighter N09 118 said. "But if they attack this ranch, they're gonna be in N09 119 for a tough fight of it. That's a salty bunch yonder in the N09 120 bunkhouse."

N09 121 "They'll attack. It's coming. That's why I sold off N09 122 most of the cattle, except for the good breeding stock, and had you N09 123 bunch the rest in that box. Will the girls tell you when Hankins N09 124 gets into town?"

N09 125 "Within the hour."

N09 126 "Let me know. Tomorrow we all work close to the ranch. N09 127 We've got to get ready for anything that might come our N09 128 way."

N09 129 "See you in the morning."

N09 130 Smoke was up before dawn, as usual, and with coffee in hand, N09 131 stepped outside to meet the dawning, about a half hour away. Wolf N09 132 Parcell had been waiting on him.

N09 133 "What's on your mind, Wolf?"

N09 134 "Let's take the fight to them. Kill them all," N09 135 the old mountain man said coldly and bluntly. "End it. Then N09 136 the girl-child can live in peace."

N09 137 Smoke smiled in the darkness. Mountain men were not known for N09 138 their gentle loving nature toward anyone who had openly declared N09 139 themselves an enemy. And for the most part, that philosophy was N09 140 shared by Smoke. But he had learned to temper his baser urgings ... N09 141 to a degree. "Those days are just about gone, Wolf. N09 142 Besides, we've got to keep public sentiment on our N09 143 side."

N09 144 The old man harrumped at that but said nothing in rebuttal N09 145 for the moment. He drained his coffee cup and stuffed a wad of N09 146 chewing tobacco into his mouth. He chomped and chewed and spat and N09 147 finally said, "Two Injun friends of mine come of the N09 148 bunkhouse last night. Told me a whole passel of gunslingers rode N09 149 into town 'bout ten o'clock."

N09 150 "I thought I heard something about one."

N09 151 "Figured you would. Injuns asked about you. I told 'em N09 152 you wasn't near 'bouts ugly as Preacher, and you was sizable bigger N09 153 and somewhat smarter."

N09 154 Smoke chuckled. And waited. He knew Wolf had more on his mind N09 155 and would get to it in his own good time.

N09 156 "Said they was a double handful of the N09 157 gunslingers," Wolf said, after he spat. "They N09 158 didn't know no names."

N09 159 "The odds are getting longer, aren't they?"

N09 160 "Yep. But we can handle them come the time. You'll cut N09 161 your puma loose soon enough I reckon. And we'll be right there with N09 162 you."

N09 163 "You're looking forward to this, aren't N09 164 you?"

N09 165 "I'd be lyin' if I said I wasn't. That's a good girl in N09 166 yonder. I like her. I ain't got no use for people who'd hurt a girl N09 167 like that. Riles me up considerable. I take it personal. Bad Dog N09 168 feels the same way. So's the rest of the fellers. When they come, N09 169 Smoke, I ain't offerin' no quarter to none of them. I just want you N09 170 to know that. I'm speakin' for me, Pasco, and Bad Dog. Cain't talk N09 171 for none of the others."

N09 172 "Try not to take scalps," Smoke said drily.

N09 173 "I'll think about it." The old mountain man got N09 174 up as silently as a stalking cat and moved into the darkness. He N09 175 stopped and turned around. Smoke could see the faint smile on his N09 176 lips. "You're a fine one to tell me not to take scalps, N09 177 Smoke."

N09 178 "That was a long time ago, Wolf."

N09 179 Wolf chuckled. "You ain't old enough for it to be that N09 180 long ago, boy. You got more of Preacher in you than you think. And N09 181 I think this here fight's gonna turn real interestin'. For a fact I N09 182 do."

N09 183 Fourteen N09 184 Smoke saddled up, secured his bedroll, and rode out alone, N09 185 taking a couple of sandwiches with him. He had told Sally, N09 186 "I'll be back."

N09 187 She did not question him. He might be back by noon, or he might N09 188 return the next day. He might be back in three or four days. Sally N09 189 knew they were in a fight to the death now, for her husband never N09 190 tried to shield her from the truth. Hired guns were riding in from N09 191 all over a three-state and territory area. By stage, by train, by N09 192 horse. They were coming to Red Light to accept the fighting wages N09 193 of Biggers, Fosburn, and Cosgrove. They were coming in to attempt N09 194 to kill Smoke Jensen.

N09 195 And this teenage girl, Sally added, cutting her eyes to the N09 196 young girl standing at the kitchen counter, kneading dough for N09 197 bread. They have no right to do that, Sally mused, her thoughts N09 198 turning savage. She has harmed no one. She has a right to live on N09 199 the ranch her mother left her, and to live in peace. Damn those men N09 200 who would harm a child ...

N09 201 "When you finish with that, Jenny," Sally said, N09 202 "get your guns. We're going to practice awhile."

N09 203 "Yes ma'am. Won't Uncle Smoke be alarmed at the N09 204 gunfire?"

N09 205 "No. I told him about it." Sally went to the N09 206 front door and looked for Van Horn. The old gunfighter was by the N09 207 corral, Wolf Parcell and Bad Dog with him. She walked down to him. N09 208 He turned at her approach, taking off his hat.

N09 209 N10 1 <#FROWN:N10\>30 N10 2 The Air France Concorde touched down at Dulles Airport and N10 3 taxied up to an unmarked U.S. government hangar near the cargo N10 4 terminals. The sky was overcast, but the runway was dry and showed N10 5 no sign of rain. Still clutching his backpack as if it was part of N10 6 him, Gunn exited the sleek aircraft almost immediately and hurried N10 7 down the mobile stairway to a waiting black Ford sedan driven by N10 8 uniformed capital police. With flashing lights and screaming siren, N10 9 he was whisked toward the NUMA headquarters building in the N10 10 nation's capital.

N10 11 Gunn felt like a captured felon, riding in the backseat of the N10 12 speeding police car. He noticed that the Potomac River looked N10 13 unusually green and leaden as they shot over the Rochambeau N10 14 Memorial Bridge. The blur of pedestrians was too immune to N10 15 revolving lights and sirens to bother looking up as the Ford shot N10 16 past.

N10 17 The driver did not pull up at the main entrance but swung N10 18 around the west corner of the NUMA building, tires squealing, and N10 19 flew down a ramp leading to a garage beneath the lobby floor. The N10 20 Ford came to an abrupt stop in front of an elevator. Two security N10 21 guards stepped forward, opened the door, and escorted Gunn into the N10 22 elevator and up to the agency's fourth floor. A short distance down N10 23 the hallway they stood back and opened the door to the NUMA's vast N10 24 conference room with its sophisticated visual displays.

N10 25 Several men and women were seated around a long mahogany table, N10 26 their attention focused on Dr. Chapman, who was lecturing in front N10 27 of a screen that depicted the middle Atlantic Ocean along the N10 28 equator off West Africa.

N10 29 The room abruptly hushed as Gunn walked in. Admiral Sandecker N10 30 rose out of his chair, rushed forward, and greeted Gunn like a N10 31 brother who had survived a liver transplant.

N10 32 "Thank God, you got through," he said with N10 33 unaccustomed emotion. "How was your flight from N10 34 Paris?"

N10 35 "Felt like an outcast sitting in a Concorde all by N10 36 myself."

N10 37 "No military planes were immediately available. N10 38 Chartering a Concorde was the only expedient means of getting you N10 39 here fast."

N10 40 "Nice, so long as the taxpayers don't find N10 41 out."

N10 42 "If they knew their very existence was at stake, I N10 43 doubt if they'd complain."

N10 44 Sandecker introduced Gunn around the conference table.

N10 45 "With three exceptions I think you know most everyone N10 46 here."

N10 47 Dr. Chapman and Hiram Yaeger came over and shook hands, showing N10 48 their obvious pleasure at seeing him. He was introduced to Dr. N10 49 Muriel Hoag, NUMA's director of marine biology, and Dr. Evan N10 50 Holland, the agency's environmental expert.

N10 51 Muriel Hoag was quite tall and built like a starving fashion N10 52 model. Her jet-black hair was brushed back in a neat bun and her N10 53 brown eyes peered through round spectacles. She wore no makeup, N10 54 which was just as well, Gunn thought. A complete makeover by N10 55 Beverly Hills' top beauty salon would have been a wasted effort.

N10 56 Evan Holland was an environmental chemist and looked like a N10 57 basset hound contemplating a frog in his dish. His ears were two N10 58 sizes too large for his head, and he had a long nose that rounded N10 59 at the tip. His eyes stared at the world as if they were soaked in N10 60 melancholy. Holland's appearance was deceiving. He was one of the N10 61 most astute pollution investigators in the business.

N10 62 The other two men, Chip Webster, satellite analyst for NUMA, N10 63 and Keith Hodge, the agency's chief oceanographer, Gunn already N10 64 knew.

N10 65 He turned to Sandecker. "Someone went to a lot of N10 66 trouble to evacuate me out of Mali,"

N10 67 "Hala Kamil personally gave her authorization to use a N10 68 UN tactical team."

N10 69 "The officer in charge of the operation, a Colonel N10 70 Levant, acted none too happy to greet me."

N10 71 "General Bock, his superior, and Colonel Levant both N10 72 took a bit of persuading," Sandecker admitted. "But N10 73 when they realized the urgency of your data they gave their full N10 74 cooperation."

N10 75 "They masterminded a very smooth operation," N10 76 Gunn said. "Incredible they could plan and carry it through N10 77 overnight."

N10 78 If Gunn thought Sandecker would fill him in on the details, he N10 79 was to be disappointed. Impatience was etched in every crease in N10 80 the Admiral's face. There was a tray with coffee and sweet rolls, N10 81 but he didn't offer Gunn any. He grabbed him by one arm and hustled N10 82 him to a chair at one end of the long conference table.

N10 83 "Let's get to it," the Admiral said brusquely. N10 84 "Everyone is anxious to hear about your discovery of the N10 85 compound causing the red tide explosion."

N10 86 Gunn sat down at the table, opened his knapsack, and began N10 87 retrieving the contents. Very carefully, he unwrapped the glass N10 88 vials of water samples and laid them on a cloth. Next he unpacked N10 89 the data disks and set them to one side. Then he looked up.

N10 90 "Here are the water samples and results as interpreted N10 91 by my on-board instruments and computers. Through a bit of luck I N10 92 was able to identify the stimulator of the red tide as a most N10 93 unusual organometallic compound, a combination of a synthetic amino N10 94 acid and cobalt. I also found traces of radiation in the water, but N10 95 I do not believe it has any direct relation to the contaminant's N10 96 impact on the red tide."

N10 97 "Considering the hardships and obstacles thrown in your N10 98 path by the West Africans," said Chapman, "it's a N10 99 miracle you were able to get a grip on the cause."

N10 100 "Fortunately, none of my instruments were damaged after N10 101 our run-in with the Benin navy."

N10 102 "I received an inquiry from the CIA," said N10 103 Sandecker with a tight smile, "asking if we knew anything N10 104 about a maverick operation in Mali after you destroyed half the N10 105 Benin navy and a helicopter."

N10 106 "What did you tell them?"

N10 107 "I lied. Please go on."

N10 108 "Fire from one Benin gunboat did, however, manage to N10 109 destroy our data transmission system," Gunn continued, N10 110 "making it impossible to telemeter my results to Hiram N10 111 Yaeger's computer network."

N10 112 "I'd like to retest your water samples while Hiram N10 113 verifies your analysis data," said Chapman.

N10 114 Yaeger stepped next to Gunn and tenderly picked up the computer N10 115 disks. "Not much I can contribute to this meeting, so I'll N10 116 get to work."

N10 117 As soon as the computer wizard had left the room, Gunn stared N10 118 at Chapman. "I double- and triple-checked my results. I'm N10 119 confident your lab and Hiram will confirm my findings."

N10 120 Chapman sensed the tension in Gunn's tone. "Believe me N10 121 when I say I don't question your procedures or data for a minute. N10 122 You, Pitt, and Giordino did one hell of a job. Thanks to your N10 123 efforts we now know what we're dealing with. Now the President can N10 124 use his clout to lean on Mali to shut off the contaminant at the N10 125 sourse. This will buy us time to formulate ways to neutralize its N10 126 effects and stop further expansion of the red tides."

N10 127 "Don't break out the cake and ice cream just N10 128 yet," Gunn warned seriously. "Though we tracked the N10 129 compound to its entry point into the river and identified its N10 130 properties, we were unable to discover the location of its N10 131 source."

N10 132 Sandecker drummed his fingers on the table. "Pitt gave N10 133 me the bad news before he was cut off. I apologize for not passing N10 134 along the information, but I was counting on a satellite survey to N10 135 fill in the missing piece."

N10 136 Muriel Hoag looked directly into Gunn's eyes. "I don't N10 137 understand how you successfully pursued the compound through 1000 N10 138 kilometers of water and then lost it on land."

N10 139 "It was easy," Gunn shrugged wearily. N10 140 "After we sailed beyond the point of highest concentration, N10 141 our contaminant readings dropped off and the instruments began N10 142 showing water with commonly known pollutants. We made several runs N10 143 back and forth to confirm. We also took visual sightings in every N10 144 direction. No hazardous waste dump site, no chemical storage or N10 145 manufacturing facilities were visible along the river or inland. No N10 146 buildings or construction, nothing. Only barren desert."

N10 147 "Could a dump site have been buried over at some time N10 148 in the past?" suggested Holland.

N10 149 "We observed no evidence of excavation," N10 150 replied Gunn.

N10 151 "Any chance the toxin was brewed by mother N10 152 nature?" asked Chip Webster.

N10 153 Muriel Hoag smiled. "If tests bear out Mr. Gunn's N10 154 analysis of a synthetic amino acid, it must have been produced by a N10 155 biotech laboratory. Not mother nature. And somewhere, somehow, it N10 156 was discarded along with chemicals containing cobalt. Not the first N10 157 time accidental integration of chemicals produced a previously N10 158 unknown compound."

N10 159 "How in God's name could such an exotic compound N10 160 suddenly appear in the middle of the Sahara?" wondered Chip N10 161 Webster.

N10 162 "And reach the ocean where it acts as steroids to N10 163 dinoflagellates," added Holland.

N10 164 Sandecker looked at Keith Hodge. "What's the latest N10 165 report on the spread of the red tide?"

N10 166 The oceanographer was in his sixties. Unblinking dark brown N10 167 eyes gazed from a continually fixed expression on a lean, N10 168 high-cheekboned face. With the correctly dated clothing he could N10 169 have stepped from an eighteenth-century portrait.

N10 170 "The spread has increased 30 percent in the past four N10 171 days. I fear the growth rate is exceeding our most dire N10 172 projections."

N10 173 "But if Dr. Chapman can develop a compound to N10 174 neutralize the contamination, and we find and cut it off at the N10 175 source, can't we then control the tide's expansion?"

N10 176 "Better make it soon," answered Hodge. N10 177 "At the rate it's proliferating, another month and we N10 178 should see the first evidence of it beginning to feed off itself N10 179 without stimulation flowing from the Niger."

N10 180 "That's three months early!" Muriel Hoag said N10 181 sharply.

N10 182 Hodge gave a helpless shrug. "When you're dealing with N10 183 an unknown the only sure commodity is uncertainty."

N10 184 Sandecker swung sideways in his chair and gazed at the blown-up N10 185 satellite photo of Mali projected on one wall. "Where does N10 186 the compound enter the river?" he asked Gunn.

N10 187 Gunn stood and walked over to the enlarged photo. He picked up N10 188 a grease pencil and circled a small area of the Niger River above N10 189 Gao on the white backdrop reflecting the projection. "Right N10 190 about here, off an old riverbed that once flowed into the N10 191 Niger."

N10 192 Chip Webster pressed the buttons of a small console sitting on N10 193 the table, and enlarged the area around Gunn's marking. "No N10 194 structures visible. No indication of population. Nor do I make out N10 195 any sign of excavated dirt or a mound that would have to be in N10 196 evidence if any type of trench was dug to bury hazardous N10 197 materials."

N10 198 "This is an enigma, all right," muttered N10 199 Chapman. "Where in the devil can the rotten stuff come N10 200 from?"

N10 201 "Pitt and Giordino are still out there searching for N10 202 it," Gunn reminded them.

N10 203 "Any late word of their condition or N10 204 whereabouts?" asked Hodge.

N10 205 "Nothing since Pitt's call aboard Yves Massarde's N10 206 boat," replied Sandecker.

N10 207 Hodge looked up from his notepad. "Yves Massarde? God, N10 208 not that pond slime."

N10 209 "You know him?"

N10 210 Hodge nodded. "I crossed paths with him after a bad N10 211 chemical spill in the Med off Spain four years ago. One of his N10 212 ships that was carrying waste carcinogenic chemicals known as PCBs N10 213 for disposal in Algeria broke up and sank in a storm. I personally N10 214 think the ship was scuttled in a combination insurance scam and N10 215 illegal dump. As it turned out, Algerian officials never had any N10 216 intention of accepting the waste for disposal. Then Massarde lied N10 217 and cheated and pulled every legal dodge on the books to evade N10 218 responsibility for cleaning up the mess. You shake hands with that N10 219 guy and you better count your fingers when you walk N10 220 away."

N10 221 Gunn turned to Webster, "Intelligence-gathering N10 222 satellites can read newspapers from space. Why can't we orbit one N10 223 over the desert north of Gao in search of Pitt and N10 224 Giordino?"

N10 225 Webster shook his head. "Negaitve. My contacts at the N10 226 National Security Agency have their best eyes in the sky keeping N10 227 tabs on the new Chinese rocket firings, the civil war going on in N10 228 the Uraine, and the border slashes with Syria and Iraq. They're not N10 229 about to spare us time from their intelligence scans to find N10 230 civilians in the Sahara Desert. I can go with the latest-model N10 231 GeoSat. But it's questionable whether it can distinguis human forms N10 232 against the uneven terrain of a desert like the Sahara."

N10 233 N11 1 <#FROWN:N11\>VII

N11 2 (ONE)

N11 3 FERDINAND SIX

N11 4 BUKA, SOLOMON ISLANDS

N11 5 0605 HOURS 7 SEPTEMBER 1942

N11 6 Sergeant Steven M. Koffler, USMC, woke suddenly and sat up, N11 7 frightened. His guts were knotted and he had a clammy sweat.

N11 8 It was from a nightmare, he concluded after a moment, although N11 9 he couldn't remember any of it.

N11 10 The feeling of foreboding did not go away. Something was wrong. N11 11 There was enough light in the hut for him to see that Patience was N11 12 gone. That was not unusual. Since she had moved in with him, she N11 13 habitually rose before he did and was out of the hut before he N11 14 woke.

N11 15 But then, slowly, it came to him, what was wrong. He heard no N11 16 noise. There was always noise, the squealing of pigs, the crying of N11 17 children, the crackling of a fire, even hymn singing.

N11 18 That image sent his mind wandering. They don't sing hymns N11 19 here, like in church. It has nothing to do with God. It's just that N11 20 'Rock of Ages' and 'Faith of Our Fathers' and 'God Save the King' N11 21 and 'Onward Christian Soldiers' and the other ones are the only N11 22 music these people have ever heard. He corrected himself: N11 23 Plus the Marine Hymn, which of course me and Lieutenant Howard N11 24 taught them.

N11 25 Why can't I hear anything?

N11 26 He felt another wave of fear and reached for the Thompson. He N11 27 checked the action and then stuck his feet in his boondockers and N11 28 stood up.

N11 29 He went to the door of the hut and looked out. No one was in N11 30 sight.

N11 31 Where the fuck is everybody?

N11 32 With his finger on the Thompson's trigger, he left the hut, N11 33 took one quick look to confirm that no one was visible, then ran N11 34 into the jungle behind the hut. He moved ten feet inside it, enough N11 35 for concealment, and then he moved laterally until he found a N11 36 position where he could observe the other huts.

N11 37 There was no one there. The fires had gone out.

N11 38 Even the fucking pigs are gone!

N11 39 The sonsofbitches ran off on me!

N11 40 Well, what the hell do you expect? he asked himself. N11 41 If I wasn't here, they're just a bunch of fucking cannibals; N11 42 the Japs don't give a shit about cannibals unless they're causing N11 43 trouble. The worst thing the Japs would do would be to put them to N11 44 work.

N11 45 With me here, they're the fucking enemy. The Japs would kill N11 46 them, slowly, to show they're pissed off. And they'll do it so it N11 47 hurts, to teach the other cannibals it's not smart to help the N11 48 White Man. Like cutting off their arms and legs, not just their N11 49 heads, and leaving the parts laying around.

N11 50 A chill replaced the clammy sweat.

N11 51 What the fuck am I going to do now?

N11 52 He was suddenly, without warning, sick to his stomach. When N11 53 that passed, he had an equally irresistible urge to move his N11 54 bowels.

N11 55 He moved another fifteen yards through the jungle and watched N11 56 the camp for another five minutes. Finally he walked out of the N11 57 jungle and started looking in the huts.

N11 58 The radio was still there.

N11 59 Why not? What the hell would they do with the N11 60 radio?

N11 61 And he found some baked sweet potatoes, or whatever the hell N11 62 they were, and some of the smoked pig.

N11 63 A farewell present? Merry Christmas, Sergeant Koffler? How N11 64 the fuck long are those sweet potatoes and five, ten pounds of N11 65 smoked pig going to last me?

N11 66 Oh, shit!

N11 67 There came the sound of aircraft engines, a dull roar far N11 68 off.

N11 69 Fuck 'em! What the fuck do I care if the whole Japanese N11 70 Air Corps is headed for Guadalcanal?

N11 71 He walked to the tree house. They'd left him the knotted rope, N11 72 he found to his surprise. He used it to walk up the trunk.

N11 73 "Good morning, Steven," Patience Witherspoon N11 74 said. She was sitting on the floor of the platform, wearing an N11 75 expression that said she expected to be kicked.

N11 76 Ian Bruce was leaning against the trunk.

N11 77 "You heard the engines, Sergeant Koffler?"

N11 78 "Fuck the engines, where the hell is N11 79 everybody?"

N11 80 "The men went to seek Lieutenant Reeves," Ian N11 81 said. "The women have gone away from here."

N11 82 "Gone where?"

N11 83 "You would not know where they have gone," Ian N11 84 said with irrefutable logic. "Away."

N11 85 "Why?"

N11 86 "If it has not gone well with Lieutenant Reeves, the N11 87 Japanese will come looking for us. If they find this place, with N11 88 the radio, they may believe there were no other white men. You will N11 89 come with us to where the women are making a camp. We may be able N11 90 to hide you."

N11 91 "You think something fucked up, went wrong, don't N11 92 you?"

N11 93 "I think something has fucked up. Otherwise Lieutenant N11 94 Reeves would have returned when he said he would N11 95 return."

N11 96 "Why wasn't I told?"

N11 97 "Because I knew you would forbid it," Ian Bruce N11 98 said. "Lieutenant Reeves left you in charge; he told me I N11 99 was to take your orders as if they had come from him."

N11 100 "What are you doing up here, then?" Steve N11 101 asked.

N11 102 "Watching for the Japanese aircraft," Ian said. N11 103 "We will need the binoculars."

N11 104 "They're in my hut," Steve replied N11 105 automatically.

N11 106 "I will get them," Patience said, and quickly N11 107 got to her feet and started down the knotted rope.

N11 108 "If we're going to hide in the goddamned N11 109 jungle," Steve asked, "why are be bothering with N11 110 this shit, anyway?"

N11 111 "Because," Ian Bruce said, again with irrefutable N11 112 logic, "we do not know that Lieutenant Reeves is dead. We N11 113 only believe he is. Until we know for sure, or until the Japanese N11 114 come, we will do what he wishes us to do."

N11 115 "Semper Fi, right?"

N11 116 "I do not understand."

N11 117 "Yeah, you do," Steve said.

N11 118 "Is that English?"

N11 119 "It's Marine," Steve said. "It means N11 120 ... you do what you're expected to do, I guess. Or try, N11 121 anyway."

N11 122 "I see," Ian Bruce said solemnly.

N11 123 (TWO)

N11 124 USMC REPLACEMENT DEPOT

N11 125 PARRIS ISLAND, SOUTH CAROLINA

N11 126 2250 HOURS 7 SEPTEMBER 1942

N11 127 Because he was on a routine check of the guard posts, the N11 128 officer of the day happened to be at the main gate when the 1939 N11 129 LaSalle convertible pulled up to the guard and stopped. It had been N11 130 a long and dull evening and showed little prospect of getting more N11 131 interesting.

N11 132 "Hold it a minute," the OD said to his jeep N11 133 driver.

N11 134 "Aye, aye, Sir," the driver said and stopped N11 135 the jeep.

N11 136 The OD got out and walked toward the LaSalle. The driver was N11 137 apparently showing his orders to the guard, for the beam of the N11 138 guard's flashlight illuminated the interior. The OD saw that the N11 139 car held two lieutenants, neither of whom was wearing his cover.

N11 140 But what the hell, it's almost eleven o'clock.

N11 141 "Welcome to sand flea heaven," the OD said. N11 142 "Reporting in?"

N11 143 "Just visiting," McCoy replied.

N11 144 He was a first lieutenant, the OD saw, not any older than he N11 145 himself was. But he was wearing a double row of ribbons, including N11 146 the Bronze Star and what looked like the Purple Heart with two N11 147 clusters on it. The other one was a second lieutenant, and he too N11 148 was wearing ribbons signifying that he had been wounded and N11 149 decorated for valor.

N11 150 Am I being a suspicious prick, or just doing my job? N11 151 the OD wondered as he reached to take the orders from the guard.

N11 152 The orders were obviously genuine. They were issued by N11 153 Headquarters, USMC, and ordered First Lieutenant K. R. McCoy to N11 154 proceed by military or civilian road, rail, or air transportation, N11 155 or at his election, by privately owned vehicle, to Philadelphia, N11 156 Penna., Parris Island, S.C., and such other destinations as he N11 157 deemed necessary in the carrying out of his mission for the USMC N11 158 Office of Management Analysis.

N11 159 What the hell is the Office of Management N11 160 Analysis?

N11 161 "Well, as I said," the OD said, smiling, N11 162 "welcome to sand flea heaven."

N11 163 "I know all about the sand fleas," McCoy said, N11 164 smiling. "But how do I find the BOQ?"

N11 165 "How do you know about the sand fleas and not the N11 166 BOQ?" the OD asked, and immediately felt like a fool as the N11 167 answer came to him: This guy was a Mustang. He had gone through N11 168 Parris Island as an enlisted man before getting a commission. He N11 169 knew about sand fleas. But marine boots do not know where bachelor N11 170 officers rest their weary heads.

N11 171 "Follow the signs to the Officer's Club," the N11 172 OD said. "Drive past it. Look to your right. Two-story N11 173 frame building on your right."

N11 174 "Thank you," McCoy said.

N11 175 The guard saluted. McCoy returned it. McCoy drove past the N11 176 barrier.

N11 177 "Interesting," the OD said to the guard. "Did N11 178 you see the ribbons on those officers?"

N11 179 "Yes, Sir. And one of them had a cane, too."

N11 180 "I wonder what the hell the Office of Management N11 181 Analysis is?" the OD asked, not expecting an answer.

N11 182 "I'll tell you something else interesting, N11 183 Sir," the guard said. "The sergeant major is N11 184 looking for them. At least for Lieutenant McCoy. He passed the word N11 185 through the sergeant of the guard we was to call him, no matter N11 186 when he came aboard."

N11 187 "Him? Not the OD? Or the General's aide?"

N11 188 "Him, Sir."

N11 189 "Well, in that case, Corporal, I would suggest you get N11 190 on the horn to the sergeant major. Hell hath no fury, as you might N11 191 have heard."

N11 192 "Aye, aye, Sir."

N11 193 "Does this place fill you with fond memories?" N11 194 McCoy asked as they drove through the Main Post, an area of brick N11 195 buildings looking not unlike the campus of a small college.

N11 196 "I would rather go back to Guadalcanal than go through N11 197 here again," Moore said.

N11 198 "How's your legs?"

N11 199 "I won't mind lying down."

N11 200 "Well, you wanted to come."

N11 201 "And I'm grateful that you brought me. I was going stir N11 202 crazy in the hospital."

N11 203 "I think what you need, pal, is a piece of ass. I also N11 204 think you're out of luck here."

N11 205 "Says he, the Croesus of Carnal Wealth," Moore N11 206 replied.

N11 207 "What?"

N11 208 "Says he, who doesn't have that problem."

N11 209 "What Ernie and I have is something special," N11 210 McCoy said coldly.

N11 211 "Hell, I realized that the first time I saw you two N11 212 looking at each other in San Diego," Moore said. N11 213 "My reaction then, and now, is profound admiration, coupled N11 214 with enormous jealousy."

N11 215 "Your lady really did a job on you, huh?"

N11 216 "When I got her letter, in Melbourne, I was fantasizing N11 217 about getting to be an officer and marching into the N11 218 Bellvue-Stratford in my officer's uniform with her on my arm ... N11 219 'Dear John,' the letter said."

N11 220 "Hell, your name is John," McCoy said. N11 221 "And you have your officer's uniform, three sets of khakis, N11 222 anyway ..."

N11 223 "And thank you for that, too. I wouldn't have known N11 224 where to go to buy them."

N11 225 "Horstmann Uniform has been selling uniforms to The N11 226 Corps since Christ was a corporal," McCoy said. N11 227 "And as I was saying, your Dear John letter lady is not the N11 228 only female in the world."

N11 229 "So I keep telling myself," Moore said.

N11 230 "Well, there's the club, and it looks like it's still N11 231 open. Would you like a drink?"

N11 232 "I'll pass, thank you," Moore said. N11 233 "But go ahead if you want to."

N11 234 "I've got a couple of pints in my bag," McCoy N11 235 said. "I didn't really want to go in there anyway." N11 236 A moment later he said, "That must be it."

N11 237 Moore looked up and saw a two-story frame building. McCoy drove N11 238 around behind it and parked the car. Since he'd packed Moore's two N11 239 spare khaki uniforms in his own bag, there was only one to N11 240 carry.

N11 241 A corporal was on duty in the lobby of the Bachelor Officer's N11 242 Quarters.

N11 243 McCoy told him they were transients and needed rooms; and the N11 244 corporal gave them a register to sign, then handed each of them a N11 245 key.

N11 246 "End of the corridor to the right, Sir. Number N11 247 twelve."

N11 248 "Thank you," McCoy said and walked up the N11 249 stairs.

N11 250 Halfway down the corridor he swore bitterly: "Shit! N11 251 Sonofabitch!"

N11 252 Moore saw the source of his anger. A neatly lettered sign was N11 253 thumb-tacked to one of the doors. It read, RESERVED FOR KILLER N11 254 MCCOY.

N11 255 He walked quickly to the sign and ripped it down. He started to N11 256 put his key to the lock in the door, but it opened before he could N11 257 reach it.

N11 258 N12 1 <#FROWN:N12\>EIGHT N12 2 FOR DILLON in the Mini-Cooper, the run from London went easily N12 3 enough. Although there was a light covering of snow on the fields N12 4 and hedgerows, the roads were perfectly clear and not particularly N12 5 busy. He was in Dorking within half an hour. He passed straight N12 6 through and continued toward Horsham, finally pulling into a petrol N12 7 station about five miles outside.

N12 8 As the attendant was topping up the tank Dillon got his road N12 9 map out. "Place called Doxley, you know it?"

N12 10 "Half a mile up the road on your right a signpost says N12 11 Grimethorpe. That's the airfield, but before you get there you'll N12 12 see a sign to Doxley."

N12 13 "So it's not far from here?"

N12 14 "Three miles maybe, but it might as well be the end of N12 15 the world." The attendant chuckled as he took the notes N12 16 Dillon gave him. "Not much there, mister."

N12 17 "Thought I'd take a look. Friend told me there might be N12 18 a weekend cottage going."

N12 19 "If there is, I haven't heard of it."

N12 20 Dillon drove away, came to the Grimethorpe sign within a few N12 21 minutes, followed the narrow road and found the Doxley sign as the N12 22 garage man had indicated. The road was even narrower, high banks N12 23 blocking the view until he came to the brow of a small hill and N12 24 looked across a desolate landscape, powdered with snow. There was N12 25 the occasional small wood, a scattering of hedged fields and then N12 26 flat marshland drifting toward a river, which had to be the Arun. N12 27 Beside it, perhaps a mile away, he saw houses twelve or fifteen, N12 28 with red pantiled roofs, and there was a small church, obviously N12 29 Doxley. He started down the hill to the wooded valley below and as N12 30 he came to it, saw a five-barred gate standing open and a decaying N12 31 wooden sign with the legend Cadge End Farm.

N12 32 The track led through the wood and brought him almost at once N12 33 to a farm complex. There were a few chickens running here and N12 34 there, a house and two large barns linked to it so that the whole N12 35 enclosed a courtyard. It looked incredibly run down, as if nothing N12 36 had been done to it for years, but then, as Dillon knew, many N12 37 country people preferred to live like that. He got out of the Mini N12 38 and crossed to the front door, knocked and tried to open it. It was N12 39 locked. He turned and went to the first barn. Its old wooden doors N12 40 stood open. There was a Morris van in there and a Ford car jacked N12 41 up on bricks, no wheels, agricultural implements all over the N12 42 place.

N12 43 Dillon took out a cigarette. As he lit it in cupped hands, a N12 44 voice behind said, "Who are you? What do you N12 45 want?"

N12 46 He turned and found a girl in the doorway. She wore baggy N12 47 trousers tucked into a pair of rubber boots, a heavy roll-neck N12 48 sweater under an old anorak and a knitted beret like a Tam N12 49 o'Shanter, the kind of thing you found in fishing villages on the N12 50 West Coast of Ireland. She was holding a double-barreled shotgun N12 51 threateningly. As he took a step toward her, she thumbed back the N12 52 hammer.

N12 53 "You stay there." The Irish accent was very N12 54 pronounced.

N12 55 "You'll be the one they call Angel Fahy?" he N12 56 said.

N12 57 "Angela, if it's any of your business."

N12 58 Tania's man had been right. She did look like a little peasant. N12 59 Broad cheekbone, upturned nose and a kind of fierceness there. N12 60 "Would you really shoot with that thing?"

N12 61 "If I had to."

N12 62 "A pity that, and me only wanting to meet my father's N12 63 cousin, once removed, Danny Fahy."

N12 64 She frowned. "And who in the hell might you be, N12 65 mister?"

N12 66 "Dillon's the name. Sean Dillon."

N12 67 She laughed harshly. "That's a damn lie. You're not N12 68 even Irish and Sean Dillon is dead, everyone knows N12 69 that."

N12 70 Dillon dropped into the hard distinctive accent of Belfast. N12 71 "To steal a great man's line, girl dear, all I can say is, N12 72 reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated."

N12 73 The gun went slack in her hands. "Mother Mary, are you N12 74 Sean Dillon?"

N12 75 "As ever was. Appearances can be deceiving."

N12 76 "Oh, God," she said. "Uncle Danny talks N12 77 about you all the time, but it was always like stories, nothing N12 78 real to it at all and here you are."

N12 79 "Where is he?"

N12 80 "He did a repair on a car for the landlord of the local N12 81 pub, took it down there an hour ago. Said he'd walk back, but he'll N12 82 be there a while yet drinking, I shouldn't wonder."

N12 83 "At this time? Isn't the pub closed until evening?

N12 84 "That might be the law, Mr. Dillon, but not in Doxley. N12 85 They never close."

N12 86 "Let's go and get him, then."

N12 87 She left the shot gun on a bench and got into the Mini beside N12 88 him. As they drove away, he said, "What's your story N12 89 then?"

N12 90 "I was raised on a farm in Galway. My da was Danny's N12 91 nephew, Michael. He died six years ago when I was fourteen. After a N12 92 year, my mother married again."

N12 93 "Let me guess," Dillon said. "You N12 94 didn't like your stepfather and he didn't like you?"

N12 95 "Something like that. Uncle Danny came over for my N12 96 father's funeral, so I'd met him and liked him. When things got too N12 97 heavy, I left home and came here. He was great about it. Wrote to N12 98 my mother and she agreed I could stay. Glad to get rid of N12 99 me."

N12 100 There was no self-pity at all and Dillon warmed to her. N12 101 "They always say some good comes out of N12 102 everything."

N12 103 "I've been working it out," she said. N12 104 "If you're Danny's second cousin and I'm his great-niece, N12 105 then you and I are blood related, isn't that a fact?"

N12 106 Dillon laughed. "In a manner of speaking."

N12 107 She looked ecstatic as she leaned back. "Me, Angel N12 108 Fahy, related to the greatest gunman the Provisional IRA ever N12 109 had."

N12 110 "Well, now, there would be some who would argue about N12 111 that," he said as they reached the village and pulled up N12 112 outside the pub.

N12 113 It was a small, desolate sort of place, no more than fifteen N12 114 rather dilapidated cottages and a Norman church with a tower and an N12 115 overgrown graveyard. The pub was called the Green Man and N12 116 even Dillon had to duck to enter the door. The ceiling was very low N12 117 and beamed. The floor was constructed of heavy stone flags worn N12 118 with the years, the walls were whitewashed. The man behind the bar N12 119 in his shirt sleeves was at least eighty.

N12 120 He glanced up and Angel said, "Is he here, Mr. N12 121 Dalton?"

N12 122 "By the fire, having a beer," the old man N12 123 said.

N12 124 A fire burned in a wide stone hearth and there was a wooden N12 125 bench and a table in front of it. Danny Fahy sat there reading the N12 126 paper, a glass in front of him. He was sixty-five, with an untidy, N12 127 grizzled beard, and wore a cloth cap and an old Harris Tweed N12 128 suit.

N12 129 Angel said, "I've brought someone to see you, Uncle N12 130 Danny."

N12 131 He looked up at her and then at Dillon, puzzlement on his face. N12 132 "And what can I do for you, sir?"

N12 133 "Dillon removed his glasses. "God bless all N12 134 here!" he said in his Belfast accent. "And N12 135 particularly you, you old bastard."

N12 136 Fahy turned very pale, the shock was so intense. "God N12 137 save us, is that you, Sean, and me thinking you were in your box N12 138 long ago?"

N12 139 "Well, I'm not and I'm here." Dillon took a N12 140 five-pound note from his wallet and gave it to Angel. "A N12 141 couple of whiskys, Irish for preference."

N12 142 She went back to the bar and Dillon turned. Danny Fahy actually N12 143 had tears in his eyes and he flung his arms around him. N12 144 "Dear God, Sean, but I can't tell you how good it is to see N12 145 you."

N12 146 The sitting room at the farm was untidy and cluttered, the N12 147 furniture very old. Dillon sat on a sofa while Fahy built up the N12 148 fire. Angel was in the kitchen cooking a meal. It was open to the N12 149 sitting room and Dillon could see her moving around.

N12 150 "And how's life been treating you, Sean?" Fahy N12 151 stuffed a pipe and lit it. "Ten years since you raised Cain N12 152 in London town. By God, boy, you gave the Brits something to think N12 153 about."

N12 154 "I couldn't have done it without you, N12 155 Danny."

N12 156 "Great days. And what happened after?"

N12 157 "Europe, the Middle East. I kept on the move. Did a lot N12 158 for the PLO. Even learned to fly."

N12 159 "Is that a fact?"

N12 160 Angel came and put plates of bacon and eggs on the table. N12 161 "Get it while it's hot." She turned with a tray N12 162 laden with teapot and milk, three mugs and a plate piled high with N12 163 bread and butter. "I'm sorry there's nothing fancier, but N12 164 we weren't expecting company."

N12 165 "It looks good to me," Dillon told her and N12 166 tucked in.

N12 167 "So now you're here, Sean, and dressed like an English N12 168 gentleman." Fahy turned to Angel. "Didn't I tell N12 169 you the actor this man was? They never could put a glove on him in N12 170 all these years, not once."

N12 171 She nodded eagerly, smiling at Dillon, and her personality had N12 172 changed with the excitement. "Are you on a job now, Mr. N12 173 Dillon, for the IRA, I mean?"

N12 174 "It would be a cold day in hell before I put myself on N12 175 the line for that bunch of old washer women," Dillon N12 176 said.

N12 177 "But you are working on something, Sean?" Fahy N12 178 said. "I can tell. Come on, let's in on it."

N12 179 Dillon lit a cigarette. "What if I told you I was N12 180 working for the Arabs, Danny, for Saddam Hussein N12 181 himself?"

N12 182 "Jesus, Sean, and why not? And what is it he wants you N12 183 to do?"

N12 184 "He wants something now - a coup. Something big. N12 185 America's too far away. That leaves the Brits."

N12 186 "What could be better?" Fahy's eyes were N12 187 gleaming.

N12 188 "Thatcher was in France the other day seeing Mitterand. N12 189 I had plans for her on the way to her plane. Perfect set-up, quiet N12 190 country road and then someone I trusted let me down."

N12 191 "And isn't that always the way?" Fahy said. N12 192 "So you're looking for another target? Who, N12 193 Sean?"

N12 194 "I was thinking of John Major."

N12 195 "The new Prime Minister?" Angel said in awe. N12 196 "You wouldn't dare."

N12 197 "Sure and why wouldn't he? Didn't the boys nearly get N12 198 the whole bloody British Government at Brighton?" Danny N12 199 Fahy told her. "Go on, Sean, what's your plan?"

N12 200 "I haven't got one, Danny, that's the trouble, but N12 201 there would be a pay day for this like you wouldn't N12 202 believe."

N12 203 "And that's as good a reason to make it work as any. So N12 204 you've come to Uncle Danny looking for help?" Fahy went to N12 205 a cupboard, came back with a bottle of Bushmills and two glasses N12 206 and filled them. "Have you any ideas at all?"

N12 207 "Not yet, Danny. Do you still work for the N12 208 movement?"

N12 209 "Stay in deep cover, that was the order from Belfast so N12 210 many years ago I've forgotten. Since then not a word and me bored N12 211 out of my socks, so I moved down here. It suits me. I like the N12 212 countryside here, I like the people. They keep to themselves. I've N12 213 built up a fair business repairing agricultural machinery and I run N12 214 a few sheep. We're happy here, Angel and me."

N12 215 "And still bored out of your socks. Do you remember N12 216 Martin Brosnan, by the way?"

N12 217 "I do so. You were bad friends with that N12 218 one."

N12 219 "I had a run-in with him in Paris recently. He'll N12 220 probably turn up in London looking for me. He'll be working for N12 221 Brit intelligence."

N12 222 "The bastard." Fahy frowned as he refilled his N12 223 pipe. "Didn't I hear some fanciful talk of how Brosnan got N12 224 into Ten Downing Street as a waiter years ago and didn't do N12 225 anything about it?"

N12 226 "I heard that story too. A flight of fancy and no one N12 227 would get in these days as a waiter or anything else. You know N12 228 they've blocked the street off? The place is a fortress. No way in N12 229 there, Danny."

N12 230 "Oh, there's always a way, Sean. I was reading in a N12 231 magazine the other day how a lot of French Resistance people in the N12 232 Second World War were held at some Gestapo headquarters. N12 233 N13 1 <#FROWN:N13\>When I was a boy we had in our home a clay figure of N13 2 the earth goddess, and she was a delightful fat little woman N13 3 smiling and making the land fruitful with her blessing. Whenever we N13 4 looked at her we felt good, and I can think of no primitive gods N13 5 that were gentler than those of Toledo. I know of few civilizations N13 6 that came so close to providing an ideal life for their people.

N13 7 Carved hieroglyphics have been recovered outlining Ixmiq's code N13 8 of laws, and although it is likely that we are misreading some of N13 9 them, it is not conceivable that we have misunderstood them all. In N13 10 Toledo, in the year 650, a woman whose husband had died leaving her N13 11 with children not yet old enough to work was given a share of the N13 12 produce of land owned by families with grown sons. On the other N13 13 hand, a woman who committed adultery once was publicly shamed; on N13 14 the second offense she was killed. It was conspicuous in the law of N13 15 Ixmiq that priests had nothing to do with the execution of N13 16 criminals; this was carried out by civil officials. In fact, in the N13 17 entire history of these six centuries there is no record of priests N13 18 being other than the spiritual heads of the community. They lived N13 19 intimately with the gods and advised the populace of decisions made N13 20 in heaven.

N13 21 We have one old stone, dug out of the pyramid in the 1950s, N13 22 which shows a dignified leader who might have been Ixmiq. He is N13 23 depicted as a stocky man with a long, straight nose, high N13 24 cheekbones, Oriental eyes and powerful arms. He wore a towering N13 25 headdress, probably ornamented in gold and silver, that must have N13 26 stood about two feet high and that had feathers and flowers N13 27 streaming from it in profusion. He carried a scepter topped by an N13 28 animal's head, a ceremonial robe of cotton and feathers, and a N13 29 bunch of flowers. He was naked to the waist, but wore a kind of N13 30 sarong and sandals.

N13 31 Ixmiq certainly was in touch with the Mayas to the far south N13 32 and with the nondescript tribes that flourished to the southeast N13 33 around what is now Mexico City, for he had a zoo in which he kept N13 34 animals from distant areas and in it were birds from the seacoast N13 35 areas controlled by the Mayas. But he seems to have been ignorant N13 36 of the dreadful Altomec and Aztec tribes that were gathering N13 37 strength in their caves to the north.

N13 38 It is impossible to guess how large City-of-the-Pyramid was in N13 39 those early days, but my father once estimated that it would have N13 40 required no fewer than fifteen hundred men to work constantly for N13 41 forty years to build the first pyramid, and he guessed that each N13 42 man would have to be served by three others who quarried and N13 43 transported the building blocks. This would mean about six thousand N13 44 men, or a total population of somewhere around twenty thousand N13 45 people. We know from excavations undertaken at the time of the N13 46 building of the cathedral and the aqueduct that these people, N13 47 whatever their number, lived in a sprawling Indian city built of N13 48 mud and wood and located around the plaza that now serves as the N13 49 center of modern Toledo.

N13 50 I stress these matters because throughout my adult life I have N13 51 been irritated by people who glibly suppose that Spaniards brought N13 52 civilization to Mexican people who had previously been barbarians, N13 53 when this was clearly not the case.

N13 54 In the year 600 the civilizations of Spain and Mexico were N13 55 roughly comparable, except for the fact that the former had N13 56 profited from the invention of the wheel, the development of the N13 57 alphabet and the knowledge of how to smelt hard metals. In any N13 58 event I choose to measure advances in civilization by noting such N13 59 things as soundness in the organization of the state, the N13 60 humaneness of the religion, the care given to the indigent, the N13 61 protection of trade, the advances in sciences such as astronomy, N13 62 and the cultivation of music, dancing, poetry and other arts. In N13 63 these vital respects my ancestors in City-of-the-Pyramid were just N13 64 about even with my ancestors in Spain and infinitely far ahead of N13 65 all who shivered in caves in what would become Virginia.

N13 66 In the matter of astronomy, Ixmiq was incredible. He calculated N13 67 the orbits of the planets and based his century on the movements of N13 68 Venus, whose behavior he had calculated within an error of only a N13 69 few days. Unaided, so far as we know, by a single hint from Europe N13 70 or Asia, Ixmiq solved most of the major problems of keeping time N13 71 and had even discovered that in the year of 365 days that he had N13 72 devised, even if he added four days every thirteen years, at the N13 73 end of his fifty-two-year cycle he would still be one day short of N13 74 the world's exact movement, so for that time he added an extra day. N13 75 It is possible that he may have borrowed his major concepts from N13 76 the Mayas, but everything he took he perfected.

N13 77 I have mentioned the portrait believed to be that of Ixmiq; N13 78 there is another - but some argue that it is not Ixmiq - which N13 79 shows a man as I like to think he must have been. He is seated in N13 80 the center of a huge stone carving and about him are flutes, N13 81 trumpets, drums made of snakeskin, and shell horns; pitch pine from N13 82 the forest serves as a torch. The ground seems to be covered with N13 83 woven mats and ambassadors are waiting to talk with him.

N13 84 Ixmiq had fifteen or twenty wives and from one of these sprang N13 85 the line that ruled City-of-the-Pyramid for nearly half a N13 86 millennium. Around the year 900 one of these descendants known as N13 87 Nopiltz<*_>i-acute<*/>n inherited the kingdom, which was now N13 88 somewhat changed from the days of Ixmiq. For one thing, the pyramid N13 89 had been rebuilt twice in the interim and was now approaching its N13 90 present size. The enlargements had been accomplished by the simple N13 91 process of resurfacing the entire structure with two or three N13 92 layers of new rocks quarried from the original site. Just when N13 93 these resurfacings took place we do not know, but each probably N13 94 occupied the community for fifteen or twenty years, for with any N13 95 enlargement the number of blocks required to cover the structure N13 96 increased considerably. Thus in 900, when Nopiltz<*_>i-acute<*/>n N13 97 took command, each side of the huge edifice was five hundred feet N13 98 long with a height of about two hundred feet, producing an enormous N13 99 flat top for the various wooden temples that now crowded the N13 100 platform.

N13 101 The effectiveness of the pyramid as a religious edifice had N13 102 also been enhanced by a simple improvement. Ixmiq's original N13 103 structure had resembled an Egyptian pyramid, with straight, N13 104 unbroken edges running from the ground to the platform above, but N13 105 in subsequent rebuildings four huge setbacks had been constructed, N13 106 yielding four spacious terraces on which religious celebrations N13 107 could be held. Furthermore, to provide a series of terraces, the N13 108 angle of incline between the various terraces varied sharply, with N13 109 the result that a worshiper standing at the base of the pyramid and N13 110 looking upward could see only so far as the edge of the first N13 111 terrace; the great temples at the top were no longer visible and N13 112 the pyramid seemed to soar into the clouds.

N13 113 Up the southern face led a steep flight of steps, which paused N13 114 four times at the terraces, and it must have been one of the most N13 115 exciting experiences in Mexico to climb these steps, not knowing N13 116 what one was to find at the topmost level; at the apex one came N13 117 upon a broad platform, now larger than in the days of Ixmiq, N13 118 containing four temples to the rain god, the gods of earth and sun, N13 119 and the mysterious serpent god that protected all things of beauty. N13 120 There had still, in the days of Nopiltz<*_>i-acute<*/>n, been no N13 121 man sacrificed to these gods, although turkeys, flowers, musical N13 122 instruments and cakes were regularly offered at the four altars.

N13 123 It is difficult for me to write of what happened next, because N13 124 it shows my Indians in a poor light, and this provides fuel for N13 125 Christian apologists who preach that when Hern<*_>a-acute<*/>n N13 126 Cort<*_>e-acute<*/>s invaded Mexico in 1519 he found it occupied by N13 127 barbarians to whom he brought both civilization and Christianity. N13 128 Even in 900 Nopiltz<*_>i-acute<*/>n's people were not barbarians, N13 129 but they became so lax in guarding their marvelous civilization N13 130 that they allowed real barbarians to overrun them.

N13 131 The events I am about to discuss are genuinely historic, for N13 132 they derive from records uncovered by archaeologists. Such records, N13 133 of course, were written in hieroglyphics and not in words, for our N13 134 Indians had no alphabet, but they are at least as substantial as N13 135 many related to Europe's Middle Ages. But in the reign of N13 136 Nopiltz<*_>i-acute<*/>n, when the building of pyramids had long N13 137 since stopped, the civilization of the high valley fell into a N13 138 curious state of apathy. When wars ceased there was nothing to N13 139 excite the passions of the citizens; when building halted, there N13 140 was nothing to engage their energies.

N13 141 Some years ago I helped excavate an ancient quarry site that N13 142 proved, by carbon dating, that no significant activity had occurred N13 143 there for a period of three hundred years. How did the team of N13 144 which I was the reporter know this? Because at the site we N13 145 unearthed much pottery from the early Ixmiq age and each subsequent N13 146 period down to 900. Then for three hundred years, through the N13 147 1100s, we found no local pottery of any kind, and when I asked the N13 148 leader of our dig what this signified he explained: "We N13 149 often see this phenomenon in Near East digs. It means the locals N13 150 had acquired enough wealth that they could stop making things for N13 151 themselves and import them from other regions in which workmen N13 152 remained at their kilns." But at the upper edge of this N13 153 dead period comes a flood of Altomec pottery that can be positively N13 154 dated to about 1200. The record was as clear to us as if work N13 155 sheets had been kept at the site.

N13 156 Worship of the old gods seems also to have diminished and a N13 157 tradition arose that the flowered serpent had left the area to N13 158 return at some future date. Because the high valley was not plagued N13 159 by droughts, the god of rain was taken more or less for granted. N13 160 The sun god lost his fury, and the goddess of earth grew prettier N13 161 and less motherly in her pottery representations. Peaceful trade N13 162 relations to the east, south and west had reached their maximum N13 163 advantage, and practically every good thing known to Mexico at N13 164 large was now available in City-of-the-Pyramid.

N13 165 In the year 900, during the reign of Nopiltz<*_>i-acute<*/>n, N13 166 life was probably as good in the high valley as it was anywhere on N13 167 earth, but some of the older priests, led by their superior, N13 168 Ixbalanque, eighty years old and clothed with wisdom and power, N13 169 questioned the status quo. Their view was ably voiced by a fiery N13 170 younger prelate: "Our citizens are growing soft. They pay N13 171 no attention to the old virtues. The king ought to launch some N13 172 significant project to enlist his people's energies." When N13 173 his companions agreed, it fell to High Priest Ixbalanque to present N13 174 their concern to the king.

N13 175 It's not easy, at this distance from the year 900, to define N13 176 the relationship between the old priest Ixbalanque and the young N13 177 king Nopiltz<*_>i-acute<*/>n, but it is possible to gain some idea N13 178 of the story from what the old murals show and what the N13 179 archaeologists have been able to uncover. Power and responsibility N13 180 among the Builders was cunningly divided: the king controlled N13 181 short-term decisions, the high priest those of which the long-term N13 182 welfare of the people depended. The king could declare war and N13 183 prosecute it; the high priest determined the terms of peace, but N13 184 since no wars occurred for long periods, these powers remained in N13 185 limbo. The king could collect taxes, but the priest decided how the N13 186 money should be spent for the welfare of the people. N13 187 N14 1 <#FROWN:N14\>There hadn't been any mention in the dream of what it N14 2 was that Wren's presence was supposed to accomplish. Maybe it would N14 3 take another vision to find out.

N14 4 She grinned at her own impudence and was pulling on her boots N14 5 when the grin abruptly faded.

N14 6 What if the importance of her return was that she carried with N14 7 her the Elfstones? What if she was expected to use the Stones as a N14 8 weapon against the demons?

N14 9 She went cold with the thought, remembering anew how she had N14 10 been forced to use them twice now despite her reluctance to do so, N14 11 remembering the feeling of power as the magic coursed through her, N14 12 liquid fire that burned and exhilarated at the same time. She was N14 13 aware of their addictive effect on her, of the bonding that took N14 14 place each time they were employed, and of how they seemed so much N14 15 a part of her. She kept saying she would not use them, then found N14 16 herself forced to do so anyway - or persuaded, perhaps. She shook N14 17 her head. The choice of words didn't matter; the results were the N14 18 same. Each time she used the magic, she drifted a little farther N14 19 from who and what she was and a little closer to being someone she N14 20 didn't know. She lost power over herself by using the power of the N14 21 magic.

N14 22 She jammed her feet into the boots and stood up. Her thinking N14 23 was wrong. It couldn't be the Elfstones that were important. N14 24 Otherwise, why hadn't Ellenroh simply kept them here instead of N14 25 giving them to Alleyne? Why hadn't the Stones been used against the N14 26 demons long ago if they could really make a difference?

N14 27 She hesitated, then reached over to her sleeping gown and N14 28 extracted the Elfstones from the pocket in which she had placed N14 29 them the night before. They lay glittering in her hand, their magic N14 30 dormant, harmless, and invisible. She studied them intently, N14 31 wondering at the circumstances that had placed them in her care, N14 32 wishing anew that Ellenroh had agreed last night to take them back. N14 33 The she brushed aside the bad feelings that thinking of the N14 34 Elfstones conjured up and shoved the troublesome talismans deep N14 35 into her tunic pocket. After slipping a long knife into her belt, N14 36 she straightened confidently and walked from the room.

N14 37 An Elven Hunter had been posted outside her door, and after N14 38 pausing to summon Garth, the sentry escorted them downstairs to the N14 39 dining hall and breakfast. They ate alone at a long, polished oak N14 40 table covered in white linen and decorated with flowers, seated in N14 41 a cavernous room with an arched ceiling and stained-glass windows N14 42 that filtered the sunlight in prismatic colors. A serving girl N14 43 stood ready to wait upon them, making the self-sufficient Wren feel N14 44 more than a little uncomfortable. She ate in silence, Garth seated N14 45 across from her, wondering what she was supposed to do when she was N14 46 finished.

N14 47 There was no sign of the queen.

N14 48 Nevertheless, as the meal was being completed, the Owl N14 49 appeared. Aurin Striate looked as gaunt and faded now as he had in N14 50 the shadows and darkness of the lava fields without, his angular N14 51 body loose and disjointed as he moved, nothing working quite as it N14 52 should. He was wearing clean clothes and the stocking cap was gone, N14 53 but he still managed to look somewhat creased and rumpled - it N14 54 seemed that was normal for him. He came up to the dining table and N14 55 took a seat, slouching forward comfortably.

N14 56 "You look a whole lot better than you did last N14 57 night," he ventured with a half smile. "Clean N14 58 clothes and a bath make you a pretty girl indeed, Wren. Rest well, N14 59 did you?"

N14 60 She smiled back at him. She liked the Owl. "Well N14 61 enough, thanks. And thanks again for getting us safely inside. We N14 62 wouldn't have made it without you."

N14 63 The Owl pursed his lips, glanced meaningfully at Garth, and N14 64 shrugged. "Maybe so. But we both know that you were the one N14 65 who really saved us." He paused, stopped short of N14 66 mentioning the Elfstones, and settled back in his chair. His aging N14 67 Elven features narrowed puckishly. "Want to take a look N14 68 around when you're done? See a little of what's out there? Your N14 69 grandmother has put me at your disposal for a time."

N14 70 Minutes later, they left the palace grounds, passing through N14 71 the front gates this time, and went down into the city. The palace N14 72 was settled on a knoll at the center of Arborlon, deep in the N14 73 sheltering forests, with the cottages and shops of the city all N14 74 around. The city was alive in daylight, the Elves busy at their N14 75 work, the streets bustling with activity. As the three edged their N14 76 way through the crowds, glances were directed toward them from N14 77 every quarter - not at the Owl or Wren, but at Garth, who was much N14 78 bigger than the Elves and clearly not one of them. Garth, in N14 79 typical fashion, seemed oblivious. Wren craned her neck to see N14 80 everything. Sunlight brightened the greens of the trees and N14 81 grasses, the colors of the buildings, and the flowers that N14 82 bordered the walkways; it was as if the vog and fire without the N14 83 walls did not exist. There was a trace of ash and sulfur in the N14 84 air, and the shadow of Killeshan was a dark smudge against the sky N14 85 east where the city backed into the mountain, but the magic kept N14 86 the world within sheltered and protected. The Elves were going N14 87 about their business as if everything were normal, as if nothing N14 88 threatened, and as if Morrowindl outside the city might be exactly N14 89 the same as within.

N14 90 After a time they passed through the screen of the forest and N14 91 came in sight of the outer wall. In daylight, the wall looked N14 92 different. The glow of the magic had subsided to a faint glimmer N14 93 that turned the world beyond to a soft, hazy watercolor washed of N14 94 its brightness. Morrowindl - its mountains, Killeshan's maw, the N14 95 mix of lava rock and stunted forest, the fissures in the earth with N14 96 their geysers of ash and steam - was misted almost to the point of N14 97 invisibility. Elven soldiers patroled the ramparts, but there were N14 98 not battles being fought now, the demons having slipped away to N14 99 rest until nightfall. The world outside had gone sullen and empty, N14 100 and the only audible sounds came from the voices and movement of N14 101 the people within.

N14 102 As they neared the closest bridgehead, Wren turned to the Owl N14 103 and asked, "Why is there a moat inside the N14 104 wall?"

N14 105 The Owl glanced over at her, then away again. "It N14 106 separates the city from the Keel. Do you know about the N14 107 Keel?"

N14 108 He gestured toward the wall. Wren remembered the name now. N14 109 Stresa had been the first to use it, saying that the Elves were in N14 110 trouble because its magic was weakening.

N14 111 "It was built of the magic in the time of Ellenroh's N14 112 father, when the demons first came into being. It protects against N14 113 them, keeps the city just as it has always been. Everything is the N14 114 same as it was when Arborlon was brought to Morrowindl over a N14 115 hundred years ago."

N14 116 Wren was still mulling over what Stresa had said about the N14 117 magic growing weaker. She was about to ask Aurin Striate if it was N14 118 so when she realized what he had just said.

N14 119 "Owl, did you say when Arborlon was brought to N14 120 Morrowindl? You mean when it was built, don't you?

N14 121 "I mean what I said."

N14 122 "That the buildings were brought? Or are you talking N14 123 about the Ellcrys? The Ellcrys is here, isn't it, inside the N14 124 city?"

N14 125 "Back there." He gestured vaguely, his seamed N14 126 face clouded. "Behind the palace."

N14 127 "So you mean -"

N14 128 The Owl cut her short. "The city, Wren. The whole of it N14 129 and all of the Elves that live in it. That's what I N14 130 mean."

N14 131 Wren stared. "But ... It was rebuilt, you mean from N14 132 timbers the Elves ferried here ..."

N14 133 He was shaking his head. "Wren, has no one told you of N14 134 the Loden? Didn't the queen tell you how the Elves came to N14 135 Morrowindl?"

N14 136 He was leaning close to her now, his sharp eyes fixed on her. N14 137 She hesitated, saying finally, "She said that it was N14 138 decided to migrate out of the Westland because the Federation N14 139 -"

N14 140 "No," he cut her short once more. "That's not N14 141 what I mean."

N14 142 He looked away a moment, then took her by the arm and walked N14 143 her to a stone abutment at the foot of the bridge where they could N14 144 sit. Garth trailed after them, his dark face expressionless, taking N14 145 up a position across from them where he could see them speak.

N14 146 "This isn't something I had planned on having to tell N14 147 you, girl," the Owl began when they were settled. N14 148 "Others could do the job better. But we won't have much to N14 149 talk about if I don't explain. And besides, if you're Ellenroh N14 150 Elessedil's grandchild and the one she's been waiting for, the one N14 151 in Eowen Cerise's vision, then you have a right to N14 152 know."

N14 153 He folded his angular arms comfortably. "But you're not N14 154 going to believe it. I'm not sure I do."

N14 155 Wren smiled, a trifle uncomfortable with the prospect. N14 156 "Tell me anyway, Owl."

N14 157 Aurin Striate nodded. "This is what I've been told, N14 158 then - not what I necessarily know. The Elves recovered some part N14 159 of their faerie magic more than a hundred years back, before N14 160 Morrowindl, while they were still living in the Westland. I don't N14 161 know how they did it; I don't really suppose I care. What's N14 162 important to know is that when they made the decision to migrate, N14 163 they supposedly channeled what there was of the magic into an N14 164 Elfstone called the Loden. The Loden, I think, had always been N14 165 there, hidden away, kept secret for the time when it would be N14 166 needed. That time didn't come for hundreds of years - not in all N14 167 the time that passed after the Great Wars. But the Elessedils had N14 168 it put away, or they found it again, or something, and when the N14 169 decision was made to migrate, they put it to use."

N14 170 He took a steadying breath and tightened his lips. N14 171 "This Elfstone, like all of them, I'm told, draws its N14 172 strength from the user. Except in this case, there wasn't just a N14 173 single user but an entire race. The whole of the strength of the N14 174 Elven nation went into invoking the Loden's magic." He N14 175 cleared his throat. "When it was done, all of Arborlon had N14 176 been picked up like ... like a scoop of earth, shrunk down to N14 177 nothing, and sealed within the Stone. And that's what I mean when I N14 178 say Arborlon was brought to Morrowindl. It was sealed inside the N14 179 Loden along with most of its people and carried by just a handful N14 180 of caretakers to this island. Once a site for the city was found, N14 181 the process was reversed and Arborlon was restored. Men, women, N14 182 children, dogs, cats, birds, animals, houses and shops, trees, N14 183 flowers, grass - everything. The Ellcrys, too. All of N14 184 it."

N14 185 He sat back and the sharp eyes narrowed. "So now what N14 186 do you say?"

N14 187 Wren was stunned. "I say you're right, Owl. I don't N14 188 believe it. I can't conceive of how the Elves were able to recover N14 189 something that had been lost for thousands of years that fast. N14 190 Where did it come from? They hadn't any magic at all in the time of N14 191 Brin and Jair Ohmsford - only their healing powers!"

N14 192 The Owl shrugged. "I don't pretend to know how they did N14 193 any of it, Wren. It was long before my time. The queen might know - N14 194 but she's never said a word about it to me. I only know what I was N14 195 told, and I'm not sure if I believe that. The city and its people N14 196 were carried here in Loden. That's the story. And that's how the N14 197 keel was built, too. Well, it was actually constructed of stone by N14 198 hand labor first, but the magic that protects it came out of the N14 199 Loden. I was a boy then, but I remember the old king using the Ruhk N14 200 Staff. N14 201 N15 1 <#FROWN:N15\>"I'm going to fight," he told Sara N15 2 the following Sunday. He had been nervous all day about telling N15 3 her, and as he stood next to her while she prepared a salad he N15 4 suddenly blurted out the news.

N15 5 She paused and looked at him. "You're going to N15 6 box?"

N15 7 "Yes. In a few weeks."

N15 8 "But why?"

N15 9 He told her about Dominic's offer. She listened, but in the end N15 10 shook her head. "I feel like Lucinda," she said, N15 11 "I just don't like it. Isn't there another way? Maybe I N15 12 could go to Mr. Johnson -"

N15 13 "No, Mam<*_>a-acute<*/>! I don't want you to have to N15 14 beg from that man. If he knows, he won't say anything. Look, it's N15 15 just one fight."

N15 16 She knew how much he had suffered when Junior died, and how N15 17 hard it was for him to go back into the ring, and it was natural N15 18 for him to want to know his father. But she didn't like his being N15 19 mixed up with the attorney who was so rich and always in the N15 20 papers. Being mixed up with the rich could only bring trouble. She N15 21 didn't like it, but for her son she would bear it without N15 22 complaint.

N15 23 "Go and get Lucinda, I'll finish here," she N15 24 said calmly. He handed her the vegetables he had cut, and washed N15 25 his hands.

N15 26 "It's going to be all right, jefita. It's N15 27 something I have to do." He kissed her.

N15 28 "I know, I know," she answered. "Go on, N15 29 the enchiladas will be ready when you return."

N15 30 He drove to Lucinda's. She was radiant in a white summer dress. N15 31 She kissed him and whispered, "T<*_>u-acute<*/> N15 32 eres t<*_>u-acute<*/>. You're all I want."

N15 33 Sara had prepared red chile enchiladas, beans, and tortillas. N15 34 For dessert she served sopa, a sweet bread pudding topped with N15 35 melted cheese. It felt good to have Lucinda in her home. This was N15 36 what Abr<*_>a-acute<*/>n needed, not the boxing and not the running N15 37 around and making deals with the big-shot lawyer.

N15 38 Time was the most valuable ingredient in life, and for Sara it N15 39 was to be enjoyed with family and friends. She sipped wine and N15 40 enjoyed the warmth of their company as they ate. Lucinda talked N15 41 about her life in the mountain village of C<*_>o-acute<*/>rdova. N15 42 Sara had asked her about her family. <*_>initial question N15 43 mark<*/>Qui<*_>e-acute<*/>n es tu familia? was one of the N15 44 first questions that was always asked. One was known by one's N15 45 family.

N15 46 Lucinda told about her father and how he came to be a N15 47 santero, and she told them about her mother and many of N15 48 the old customs in the isolated villages of the Sangre de Cristo. N15 49 She wanted Abr<*_>a-acute<*/>n to visit her family, she said with a N15 50 glance at Sara. "That would be good for N15 51 Abr<*_>a-acute<*/>n," Sara agreed. "He's a city N15 52 boy. He needs to see the villages."

N15 53 "How about the training?" Lucinda asked.

N15 54 "I can jog up and down the mountain," N15 55 Abr<*_>a-acute<*/>n said. "We'll go on Good Friday, come N15 56 back after Easter. The doctor gave me a physical, and I'm in great N15 57 shape."

N15 58 "I knew that," Lucinda teased him.

N15 59 "He is in good shape," Sara said as she cleaned N15 60 up the dishes. "He runs every day, he doesn't smoke, but he N15 61 drinks beer," she said with a mock frown. N15 62 "Bueno, let's go in the living room. Lucinda, N15 63 help me get the coffee and sopa. Then I want Abr<*_>a-acute<*/>n to N15 64 read the beautiful story Cynthia wrote. She was not only an artist, N15 65 she could write like a poet."

N15 66 They gathered in the front room for dessert. N15 67 Abr<*_>a-acute<*/>n flipped through Cynthia's diary. "This N15 68 is an old entry, and it's as close as she comes to describing my N15 69 father. They went to a matanza in the South Valley, near Los N15 70 Padillas. It was the day they discovered the bower where we buried N15 71 her ashes. She never mentions his name. She refers to him only as N15 72 'mi <*_>a-acute<*/>rabe.'"

N15 73 "So he is dark," Sara said. A dark and handsome N15 74 Mexicano was her son's father, an indio like Ramiro, a dark, N15 75 curly-haired <*_>a-acute<*/>rabe. She looked at her son and admired N15 76 him. Yes, he would find his father, it was best to believe that. He N15 77 had been bound by destiny long enough, now he had to break those N15 78 old ropes and create his own future.

N15 79 Abr<*_>a-acute<*/>n smiled at his mother. "Yes. N15 80 Bueno, aqu<*_>i-acute<*/> N15 81 'st<*_>a-acute<*/>."

N15 82 He read Cynthia's 'la matanza,' the entry N15 83 that described the killing of the hogs for winter meat:

N15 84 It was in the fiestas of the people that I discovered the N15 85 essence of my people, the Mexican heritage of my mother. Other N15 86 painters had concentrated on the Indians; I went to the small, N15 87 out-of-the-way family fiestas of the Mexicanos. There is a N15 88 chronicle of life in the fiestas, beginning with baptism. N15 89 La fiesta de bautismo. I painted the N15 90 padrinos at church as they held the baby over the font N15 91 for the priest to bless el ni<*_>n-tilde<*/>o N15 92 with holy water. In the faces of the padrino and N15 93 madrina I saw and understood the godparents' role. The N15 94 padrinos would become the child's second parents, and the N15 95 familial kinship in the village or in the barrio would be extended. N15 96 La familia would grow. I painted a scene where the baby was N15 97 returned from church by the padrinos, the joy of the N15 98 parents, the song of entriego, the return of the child, N15 99 the food and drink, the hopeful, gay faces of family and N15 100 neighbors.

N15 101 And I painted wedding scenes. Gloria has my favorite. She has N15 102 the painting that captures the moment when two of the groom's N15 103 friends grab the bride and stand ready to spirit her away. The N15 104 bridegroom is caught off-guard, someone is pouring him a glass of N15 105 champagne. The fiddler is leaning low, playing away, his eyes N15 106 laughing. The other m<*_>u-acute<*/>sicos join N15 107 in the polka, drawing attention away from the traditional 'stealing N15 108 of the bride.'

N15 109 Fiestas, I loved the fiestas. There is a series: 'Spring N15 110 Planting,' 'Cleaning the Acequias,' 'Misa del N15 111 Gallo,' 'Los Matachines.' I did the N15 112 Bernalillo Matachines, although my favorite were the N15 113 J<*_>e-acute<*/>mez Pueblo Matachines. I painted N15 114 los hermanos penitentes on Good Friday, the N15 115 holy communion of Easter Sunday, the little-known dances of Los N15 116 Abuelos and Los Comanches. I painted a triptych of Los Pastores at N15 117 the Trampas church one Christmas. And the Christmas Posadas. All N15 118 the fiestas of life that might die as the viejitos N15 119 die.

N15 120 I painted the fiestas of the R<*_>i-acute<*/>o Grande, the N15 121 fiestas of your people, mi amor, the fiestas my N15 122 mother used to tell me about when I was a child, because if life N15 123 had not been so cruel, we would have shared these fiestas.

N15 124 Do you remember la Matanza in Los Padillas, mi N15 125 <*_>a-acute<*/>rabe moreno? We were invited by your N15 126 friend Isidro. His family was having a matanza. We had N15 127 fallen in love that summer, and suddenly it was October, a more N15 128 brilliant October I never saw again. The entire river was golden, N15 129 the <*_>a-acute<*/>lamos had turned the color of fire. N15 130 Long strings of geese flew south and filled the valley with their N15 131 call, and we, too, drove south along Isleta. Farmers lined the N15 132 road, their trucks filled with bushels of green chile, red chile N15 133 ristras, corn and pumpkins, apples. It was autumn, and N15 134 the fiesta of the harvest drew people together.

N15 135 It was my first trip into the South Valley. I was a N15 136 gringita from the Country Club; I had been protected from N15 137 the world. But the valley was to become my valley. I would visit N15 138 the villages of the R<*_>i-acute<*/>o Grande again and again, until N15 139 the old residents got to know well the sunburned gringa N15 140 who tramped around with easel, paint, and brushes. I earned their N15 141 respect. They invited me into their homes, and later they invited N15 142 me to their fiestas. Their acceptance kept me alive.

N15 143 The night had been cold, and the thin ice of morning cracked N15 144 like a fresh apple bitten. The sun rising over Tijeras Canyon N15 145 melted the frost. Gloria helped, as usual. She picked me up. I told N15 146 my parents I was spending the day with her. Without her help we N15 147 could never have had time together. Why did she marry F? What a N15 148 pity.

N15 149 The colors of autumn were like a bright colcha, a N15 150 warm and timeless beauty covering the earth. The sounds carried in N15 151 the morning air, and all was vibrant with life before the cold of N15 152 winter. Oh, if we had only known that the wrath of parents can N15 153 kill!

N15 154 The matanza was beginning when we arrived. Cars and N15 155 trucks filled the gravel driveway. Family, friends, and neighbors N15 156 filled the backyards of the old adobe home. Isidro greeted us.

N15 157 "Just in time," he said and we followed him to N15 158 the back where the women were serving breakfast. They had set a N15 159 board over barrels to use as a table, and on it rested the steaming N15 160 plates of eggs, bacon, potatoes, chile stew, hot tortillas, and N15 161 coffee. The men were stuffing down the food. Somebody had already N15 162 called for the first pig to be brought out of the pen. Whiskey N15 163 bottles were passed around; those who had gotten up early to help N15 164 the women start the fires and heat the huge vats of lye-water had N15 165 been drinking for hours.

N15 166 A very handsome, but very troubled, young man held a rifle in N15 167 one hand and a bottle of whiskey in the other. Remember Marcos? I N15 168 will never forget him; he learned a lesson that day. We all did. At N15 169 the pigpen the frightened sow was being roped and wrestled out.

N15 170 The women watched; they goaded the men. My mother was a woman N15 171 of great strength, I always knew, and I saw that same strength in N15 172 those women of the valley.

N15 173 "Ya no pueden," they teased N15 174 the men wrestling with the sow. The worst thing to tell a macho, N15 175 especially when he's drinking and doing the 'bringing the meat N15 176 home' business. But it was a fiesta, and the teasing was part of N15 177 it.

N15 178 "<*_>initial exclamation mark<*/>Andale! N15 179 <*_>initial exclamation mark<*/>Con ganas!"

N15 180 "<*_>initial exclamation mark<*/>Qu<*_>e-acute<*/> N15 181 ganas, con huevos! "

N15 182 They laughed; the men cursed and grunted as they lassoed the N15 183 pig.

N15 184 "Don't shoot yourself, Marcos!"

N15 185 "Don't stab yourself, Jerry!" they said to the N15 186 young man who held the knife.

N15 187 Isidro told us that Marcos was an attorney in town and Jerry N15 188 was a computer man at Sandia Labs. Like other young men who had N15 189 left the valley for a middle-class life in the city, they only N15 190 returned once in a while to visit the parents and grandparents. Or N15 191 they returned for the fiestas. They had almost forgotten the old N15 192 ways, and so the older aunts teased them.

N15 193 Who remembered the old ways? The old men standing along the N15 194 adobe wall warming themselves in the morning sun. With them stood N15 195 don Pedro, Isidro's grandfather, the old patriarch of the clan. N15 196 These were the vecinos, the neighbors who had worked N15 197 together all their lives. Men from Los Padillas and Pajarito and N15 198 Isleta Pueblo. Now they were too old to kill the pigs, so they had N15 199 handed over the task to their grandsons. They warmed their bones in N15 200 the morning sun and watched as the young men drank and strutted N15 201 about in their new shirts and Levi's. Those old men knew the old N15 202 ways. Maybe it was that day that I vowed to paint them, to preserve N15 203 their faces and their way of life for posterity. They would all die N15 204 soon.

N15 205 'Hispano Gothic,' I called the painting I did of those old men. N15 206 The last patriarchs of the valley. And their women, las N15 207 viejitas, las jefitas of the large families, stood next N15 208 to their men and watched. These old men and women remembered the N15 209 proper way of the fiestas, and so they watched with great patience N15 210 as their uprooted grandsons struggled to prove their manhood. What N15 211 a chorus of wisdom and strength shone in their eyes. What will N15 212 happen to our people when those viejitos are gone? Will N15 213 our ceremonies disappear from the face of the earth? Is that what N15 214 drives me to paint them with such urgency?

N15 215 Time has been like a wind swirling around me, my love, since I N15 216 last touched you. N15 217 N16 1 <#FROWN:N16\>I

N16 2 San Francisco, December 1895

N16 3 "What do you mean you won't come to my Christmas N16 4 dinner?" Rosebay Ware fixed a piercing blue gaze on her N16 5 employer. "I've had it all planned for a month N16 6 now." Her lower lip quivered. "It was goin' to be N16 7 so nice." A trace of her Appalachian accent, a remnant of N16 8 her girlhood, could be detected under the more refined San N16 9 Francisco overlay.

N16 10 Tim Holt cast around for some explanation. "I have to N16 11 take my grandmother to Washington for the holidays. She's much too N16 12 old to travel alone."

N16 13 "Stuff." Rosebay pulled off her eyeshade and slapped it N16 14 down on her desk, whapping<&|>sic! it solidly on a stack of N16 15 ledgers. "Peter's going east, and she's his granny, too. N16 16 There's not one reason why you have to go."

N16 17 "Well, my family's all there."

N16 18 "And you should've thought of that a month ago when you N16 19 told me you'd come. Hugo's been counting on it."

N16 20 Tim cast an apprehensive glance down the Clarion's hallway N16 21 toward the newsroom. Rosebay's husband, Hugo, was supposedly out on N16 22 assignment, but you never knew. "Rosebay, I just couldn't N16 23 face it," he said desperately.

N16 24 "Well, you just got to," Rosebay said. N16 25 "We made our bed, Tim, and we're going to have to lie in N16 26 it."

N16 27 Tim winced. It was too appropriate an expression, but N16 28 Rosebay would not appreciate his pointing that out. She was a N16 29 literal-minded soul; puns left her puzzled. She had used the N16 30 expression in its usual sense. Any reference to the bed that the N16 31 two of them had once made - or unmade - together would not be a N16 32 good idea.

N16 33 Tim looked at her despairingly. Rosebay was a little thing, N16 34 pale and graceful with a lily-stalk slenderness that he knew N16 35 covered an interior as tough as gristle. Her hair was so blond it N16 36 was nearly white, and it framed her beautiful face in a pale N16 37 aureole that not even a green eyeshade could make ugly. Rosebay N16 38 Ware was self-taught, and she had a natural gift for mathematics. N16 39 In a fit of inspiration, Tim's cousin Peter Blake had installed her N16 40 as the Clarion's business manager. She had the Clarion in N16 41 the black now, and Tim was fiercely proud of her, particularly in N16 42 the face of predictions of disaster from the rival Chronicle's N16 43 accounting office. If the unconventionality of a female accountant N16 44 was all that troubled him about Rosebay Ware he would be a happy N16 45 man. Tim hunched his muscular shoulders and dug his fists into the N16 46 pockets of his frock coat.

N16 47 "Don't do that," Rosebay said. "It N16 48 makes you look like a tough. And it'll spoil your coat."

N16 49 Tim took his fists out of his pockets and ran his fingers N16 50 through his thick sandy hair, then over his face. In accordance N16 51 with prevailing fashion, he had recently shaved off his handlebar N16 52 mustache and couldn't rid himself of feeling that he had lost some N16 53 privacy. He stuck his hands back in his pockets, but he didn't ball N16 54 them into fists.

N16 55 "It's my coat," he said mildly. N16 56 "Rosebay, I can't come to dinner. I can't stand it. We N16 57 agreed we'd have to go on as if nothing had happened between us, N16 58 but seeing you across Hugo's table, carving up Hugo's turkey, is N16 59 more than I can take."

N16 60 When Hugo had proposed to Rosebay, Tim, totally unaware that N16 61 she was in love with him, had cheered her on to marry Hugo. N16 62 Only after it was too late to do either of them any good had Tim N16 63 managed to fall in love with her.

N16 64 "You're going to spoil my table," Rosebay said. N16 65 "Now I'm going to be one man short."

N16 66 "Then you'll have to find her another dinner N16 67 partner," Tim said. "I can't take any more of that, N16 68 either."

N16 69 "Tim Holt, I've never done anything but introduce you N16 70 to nice girls when one happens to be staying with me." N16 71 Tears filled her eyes. "I was just trying to N16 72 help."

N16 73 Rosebay took in boarders in the big old house she and Hugo N16 74 owned at the foot of Telegraph Hill. Altruistically, she introduced N16 75 Tim to the pretty ones.

N16 76 "That isn't going to help," Tim said. N16 77 "Just take my word for it. I'm sorry to bow out so late, N16 78 but I've got to. Gran's expecting me." Thank God for N16 79 Gran, he thought.

N16 80 "What about Peter?"

N16 81 "Peter's going direct from here. He's got two big N16 82 buyers for his motorcars lined up within a week of each other - one N16 83 here and one in Washington. He hasn't got time to detour through N16 84 Oregon and pick up Gran."

N16 85 Rosebay snorted. It was a ladylike snort, but it indicated N16 86 derision and disbelief.

N16 87 "I can handle being your boss in the office." N16 88 Tim said with finality, "but don't expect me to socialize N16 89 or try to be pals."

N16 90 "I thought we were pals," Rosebay said N16 91 sadly. "It hurts too much to be pals!" Tim N16 92 discovered he was yelling and lowered his voice. He came closer to N16 93 the desk and leaned over her. "Being friends works fine for N16 94 you. You've got Hugo, who worships you, and you've got me on a N16 95 string, too, to see whenever you feel like it. But it doesn't work N16 96 out so well for me. I haven't even got what you might call half a N16 97 loaf."

N16 98 "What about Hugo?" Rosebay demanded. N16 99 "You going to disappoint him, too?"

N16 100 "He's just going to have to stand up to it," N16 101 Tim said sarcastically. He snatched up his hat - he had N16 102 deliberately chosen to confront Rosebay on his way out of the N16 103 Clarion building. That way he knew he could cut and run as N16 104 soon as it was over. "Rosebay, I am not going to be your N16 105 tame beau forever, and I am not coming to Christmas N16 106 dinner!"

N16 107 He jammed the tall hat down on his head and marched out, N16 108 avoiding both the newsroom and his own office, where some N16 109 unfortunate soul might have his head bitten off for the crime of N16 110 needing to talk with the boss.

N16 111 Outside the weather was cold and dank - one of those gray, N16 112 miserable San Francisco days when the cold saltwater seemed to come N16 113 out of the bay and wrap itself around buildings and citizens until N16 114 everyone felt chilled to the bone and pickled in brine. Even the N16 115 gargoyle above the Clarion's main door on Kearny Street looked N16 116 cold and disgruntled. A pigeon landed on the pencil behind the N16 117 gargoyle's ear and, after fluffing its feathers for warmth, turned N16 118 itself into a ball. Tim wound his muffler around his throat. There N16 119 were days when he hated to leave San Francisco. This wasn't one of N16 120 them.

N16 121 Maryland N16 122 "Sir!" Tim's cousin Frank Blake, aged seventeen, N16 123 saluted General Wallace (Retired), commanding officer of Hargreaves N16 124 Academy. Frank's polished boot heels were aligned precisely in the N16 125 center of the general's carpet, his spine was ramrod straight, and N16 126 his right arm was cocked at precisely the proper angle. His blue N16 127 uniform jacket, without a bulge or a crease, was buttoned to the N16 128 chin.

N16 129 "At ease, Blake." The general's gruff N16 130 expression would have struck terror into a stranger, but Frank N16 131 recognized it as the general's smile. "So you're going home N16 132 to Alexandria for the holidays."

N16 133 "Yes, sir. My bags are waiting outside for the station N16 134 hack."

N16 135 "Be certain to give my regards to your father. A fine N16 136 man. You do him credit. I've seen your mid-year N16 137 marks."

N16 138 "Thank you, sir." Frank was immensely proud of N16 139 those midyear marks.

N16 140 "You might be pleased to know, Blake, that they are not N16 141 only the highest of any cadet's this year, they are the highest in N16 142 the past twenty-six years of the school's history. I have a letter, N16 143 which I wish you to deliver to Colonel Blake, apprising him of the N16 144 fact."

N16 145 "Thank you, sir."

N16 146 The general's gray marble eyes were steely and unblinking N16 147 beneath a hedgerow of bushy eyebrows. "Have you made any N16 148 decision about your future, Blake?"

N16 149 "Yes, sir, I'm hoping to go to West Point if they'll N16 150 have me."

N16 151 "They'll have you," the general said. N16 152 "An excellent choice. Your father will be pleased. Did I N16 153 ever tell you, I knew your grandfather?"

N16 154 "I believe you mentioned it, sir."

N16 155 Frank's grandfather, General Leland Blake, had been a soldier N16 156 of distinction all his life. Frank's father, Henry, was acquiring N16 157 much the same reputation. The general viewed Frank with relief. It N16 158 was gratifying to be able to present to Colonel Henry Blake a son N16 159 who was so obviously qualified to wear the family mantle - N16 160 particularly since Frank's elder half brother, Peter, had been N16 161 asked politely to withdraw from Hargreaves.

N16 162 The general managed to smile. Francis Leland Blake was the N16 163 perfect cadet. Even at his young age he had his father's height and N16 164 bulk - tall, dashing, muscular, and handsome. He cut an imposing N16 165 figure, from his thick sandy hair, close-cropped now in a N16 166 proper military cut, to the size-twelve boots, which this N16 167 year had looked more in proportion with the rest of his frame. In N16 168 the past he had looked like a huge-footed puppy.

N16 169 The general presented him with the letter, and Frank snapped a N16 170 salute.

N16 171 "Go along now, Blake. Rest and enjoy yourself. Dance N16 172 with all the girls. We've work to do in January."

N16 173 "Yes, sir!" Frank saluted again, pivoted in the N16 174 prescribed patterns, then marched through the general's oiled N16 175 mahogany door. Outside in the corridor he let out a whoop and threw N16 176 his cap in the air.

N16 177 Alexandria, Virginia

N16 178 Tim found himself lulled by the warmth of the room into a kind N16 179 of somnolent watchfulness as he observed the workings of his clan's N16 180 interlocking family machinery. It seemed to him that the farther N16 181 away the children moved and the older they got, the more their N16 182 parents yearned to collect them all in one place on holidays. His N16 183 aunt, Cindy Blake, looked with vast contentment down the length of N16 184 her dining table and with a kind of happy wriggle settled deeper in N16 185 her chair. The servants had put all three extension leaves in the N16 186 table, so that it stretched the length of the dining room and into N16 187 the entrance foyer.

N16 188 Tim looked through the window. Outside it was snowing, which it N16 189 so rarely did at Christmas in Alexandria that everyone considered N16 190 it a present. The old cobbled streets were covered with snow, and N16 191 it muted the sound of harness bells and the shrieking of children N16 192 turned loose from Christmas dinner.

N16 193 The Blakes and the Holts were still feasting, halfway into a N16 194 pair of roasted geese and a Virginia ham. Between Cindy and her N16 195 husband, Henry, at opposite ends of the table, were Tim's parents, N16 196 Toby and Alexandra, who had driven across the river from their N16 197 house in the District; Toby and Cindy's mother, Eulalia, dutifully N16 198 delivered from Oregon by Tim; and all the children. Tim's brother, N16 199 Mike, and his new wife, Eden, and Tim's sister Janessa, and her N16 200 husband, Charley Lawrence, had all come from New York, the N16 201 Lawrences with twins to show off.

N16 202 Peter had arrived from San Francisco, as had Frank, looking N16 203 proud and grown-up in his dress uniform. The table was rounded out N16 204 by Cindy's Midge and Toby's Sally, trying to look grown-up, too, N16 205 but, being ten and twelve years old respectively, lapsing into N16 206 Christmas silliness and the giggles.

N16 207 When was the last time they had all been together? Tim N16 208 wondered. Probably Grandpa Lee Blake's funeral - not a happy N16 209 occasion. Eulalia, twice widowed, seemed increasingly frail to Tim, N16 210 although she had withstood the railway trip well, all the way from N16 211 Madrona, the Holt home ranch in Oregon. Cindy and Toby, and then N16 212 Toby's children, had all grown up on that ranch but were firmly N16 213 rooted elsewhere now. Selling it was unthinkable, and the family N16 214 joke that Sally had to grow up and marry an Oregon boy wasn't very N16 215 far from the truth. Toby or Cindy might go back to the Madrona one N16 216 day, but not so long as Henry was with the army and Toby was in the N16 217 State Department.

N16 218 Tim eyed his father, aware that that appointment could change N16 219 with the next presidential election, only a year away. Grover N16 220 Cleveland wouldn't run again, Tim mused. N16 221 N17 1 <#FROWN:N17\>ONE

N17 2 Virginia

N17 3 October 1864

N17 4 The pain had come to life again.

N17 5 The seed planted in torn flesh spread its roots and thrust N17 6 tendrils of thorns through the leg of the tall, gaunt man who N17 7 limped along the dusty road at the edge of the battered column of N17 8 Confederate prisoners.

N17 9 Isom Prentice Olive, First Texas Volunteers, Hood's Brigade, N17 10 Confederate States of America, tried to ignore the pain along with N17 11 the bite of autumn wind through the remnants of faded butternut N17 12 cloth that once had been a uniform. The rough material scraped N17 13 against ridged scars on his right shoulder and upper back, the N17 14 legacy of a canister shell in the desperate battle for the place N17 15 called Gettysburg. The musket ball that seeded the pain in his left N17 16 thigh was a souvenir of The Wilderness.

N17 17 It was getting to the point, he thought, where a man could N17 18 follow the course of the war just by counting the scars on Print N17 19 Olive's body. At least, by God, he told himself, we N17 20 dealt out more than we took and we took a hell of a lot; the First N17 21 Texas never quit a fight -

N17 22 A sudden stab of new pain shattered the thought.

N17 23 Print spun to face the Union soldier who had jabbed his rifle N17 24 muzzle into Print's still-sore shoulder. "Move along, N17 25 Reb." The guard's thumb rested on the hammer of the N17 26 Springfield. His thin mouth twisted in a sneer. A flare of rage N17 27 pushed away Print's pain. He lunged forward, slapped away the N17 28 muzzle of the rifle and cocked a clubbed fist. A hand clamped onto N17 29 his arm before he could swing.

N17 30 "Easy, Print," Deacon Scrugg's voice near his N17 31 ear said, "don't give the blueleg an excuse. We've been N17 32 through too much together to get killed now."

N17 33 The Union guard stumbled back a step, shaken by the unexpected N17 34 attack.

N17 35 "You Yankee sonofabitch." Print's voice was N17 36 low, hard and cold. "You come at me again and I'll stick N17 37 that rifle up your ass and pull the trigger."

N17 38 The guard recovered from the shock, sputtered in outrage and N17 39 thumbed back the hammer of the rifle. A Union sergeant sprinted to N17 40 the guard and shoved the rifle aside. "Back off, Private! N17 41 Show these men the respect they deserve! We're here to swap N17 42 prisoners, not to shoot them!"

N17 43 Deacon's grip was still firm on Print's arm. "Let it N17 44 go, Print. It's not worth it."

N17 45 The Union sergeant turned to Print. "Your friend's N17 46 right, soldier," he said. "This war's nearly over. N17 47 There's no sense in getting killed now, for nothing."

N17 48 Print willed his muscles to relax. His anger was checked more N17 49 by weakness and exhaustion than by reason. Thirty months of war, N17 50 almost constant hunger, cold and heat, two wounds, and half a year N17 51 in a Union prison camp had taken the edge from his body, if not his N17 52 temper. He fixed a steady glare on the young private. "The N17 53 next time we meet I'll kill you," he said. "And if N17 54 it's not in this war, by God, you have my personal invitation to N17 55 come to Williamson County, Texas, to settle up. Just ask for Print N17 56 Olive whenever you get tired of living."

N17 57 The restraining hand fell away from Print's arm. "Come N17 58 on, Print, let it slide."

N17 59 Print sighed, turned from the Union soldier and let Deacon N17 60 Scruggs set the pace as they rejoined the ranks of Confederate N17 61 prisoners. Deacon was almost a head shorter than Print but packed a N17 62 lot of muscle into a short frame. He had the powerful arms and N17 63 hands of a blacksmith, a barrel chest and legs that seemed stubby N17 64 beneath his massive trunk. A bandage crusted with dried blood N17 65 covered his left eye.

N17 66 Deacon twisted his head to look at Print with his remaining N17 67 eye. "I reckon that sergeant's right, Print," he N17 68 said. There was sadness in his words. "The Yankees are N17 69 likely gonna win this war. But we give'em a helluva scrap along the N17 70 way."

N17 71 Print grunted an agreement, still struggling to contain his N17 72 anger, and walked in silence for a hundred yards. Then he glanced N17 73 at his companion. "Deacon," he said, "I'm tired, N17 74 I'm hungry, and I'm hurting. But I'll promise you this right now. N17 75 No man is ever again going to tell me when I'm whipped. I've been N17 76 pushed around and ordered around for the last time. And they'll N17 77 have to kill me before they take my guns away again."

N17 78 TWO

N17 79 Williamson County, Texas

N17 80 August 1865

N17 81 A gentle southwest breeze flattened the gray-white smoke from N17 82 the open charcoal pits where slabs of beef, quartered pigs and N17 83 whole chickens dripped juices onto the smoldering embers below. The N17 84 scent set Jim Olive's mouth watering as he looked over the growing N17 85 crowd.

N17 86 Jim sometimes had trouble accepting the idea that more than N17 87 twenty years had passed since he, his wife Julia and their two N17 88 children, Elizabeth and Print, had settled at the Lawrence Chapel N17 89 community on Brushy Creek. It just doesn't seem that time can N17 90 get away from a man that fast, he thought. But it had.

N17 91 Overall, it had been a good twenty years, Jim had to admit. The N17 92 store he had founded in Lawrence Chapel was doing well. His N17 93 holdings in land and cattle were sufficient to feed his wife and N17 94 their nine children. In fact, Jim Olive was a wealthy man, at least N17 95 in cash-strapped Texas terms. The land and the store were paid for, N17 96 free and clear, and he had hard cash in the bank. Not a lot, but N17 97 enough. And enough was a lot more than most of the state's N17 98 merchants and farmers had.

N17 99 Now, Print, the eldest son, was twenty-five and a grown man, N17 100 home safe from the war. He had almost recovered from his wounds and N17 101 his six-foot frame had fleshed out to its normal hundred-ninety N17 102 solid pounds. This gathering served a twofold purpose, both on N17 103 Print's behalf; to celebrate his return and to welcome his bride, N17 104 Louise, into the family.

N17 105 Jim's gaze drifted over the crowd. As was usual with a N17 106 gathering hosted by the Olives, almost half the Williamson County N17 107 populace was on hand. Not all of them were friends or even N17 108 acquaintances. Some came just for the food and drink. Jim didn't N17 109 mind feeding a hungry stranger and his family once in a while.

N17 110 No one would have any trouble picking the Olive boys out in the N17 111 crowd, he thought. Print, Jay, Marion and even young Bob carried N17 112 their mother's stamp. Julia Ann Brashear Olive couldn't deny them. N17 113 They all favored the dark-skinned, dark-eyed and handsome N17 114 part Cherokee woman who had helped Jim Olive build a comfortable N17 115 living from the loamy soil, thick brush and timber of central N17 116 Texas. If I never did anything else right in my life, Jim N17 117 thought, at least I picked the best woman any man could want N17 118 to share a life with.

N17 119 He wasn't so sure about Print's new wife. His eyes narrowed as N17 120 he watched Print and Louise greet the latest arrivals. Louise was N17 121 barely five feet tall, slender, delicate almost to the point of N17 122 appearing frail. She looked as though she might break in a sudden N17 123 gust of wind. Her eyes frequently held the look of a frightened N17 124 doe. Jim knew her life hadn't been an easy one. Orphaned as a young N17 125 girl and raised by her widower grandfather on a N17 126 hard-scrabble farm a few miles from town, Louise had known N17 127 little but want during her young life. If dowries still mattered, N17 128 Jim thought, she would have been out of luck. A couple of N17 129 home-made housedresses and one Sunday church outfit N17 130 wouldn't buy a girl much of a man. Now she had her man. But Jim N17 131 wasn't sure she was strong enough to survive Print Olive.

N17 132 Print had always been wild, even as a young boy. Print's quick N17 133 temper and a stubborn streak wider than Brushy Creek in the rainy N17 134 season had landed him more than a few stroppings behind the N17 135 woodpile. There should have been more trips to that N17 136 woodpile, Jim thought; maybe I could have beaten some N17 137 sense into Print if I'd set my mind to it. Even as the thought N17 138 formed, Jim Olive dismissed it. He'd done the best he could, what N17 139 with Julia always taking up for Print, trying to keep the boy's N17 140 misdeeds hidden from Jim as much as possible. Print had always been N17 141 her favorite. In the mother's eyes her eldest son could do no N17 142 wrong. "He has spirit," was her dismissal for N17 143 Print's transgressions.

N17 144 That spirit had led Print, at age ten, to beat a boy two years N17 145 older and fifteen pounds heavier to a bleeding wreck in the dust of N17 146 the churchyard over some insult. The older boy never fully regained N17 147 the sight in one eye. Jim had thrashed Print, more for fighting on N17 148 the Lord's land than for the fight itself. Eventually, Jim came to N17 149 realize that punishment seemed only to make the boy more headstrong N17 150 and moody. He gave up on the trips to the woodpile.

N17 151 Jim had hoped the passing years would tone down Print's temper. N17 152 They hadn't. Neither had the war. If anything, the War Between the N17 153 States had sharpened that temper to a razor edge. A man did well N17 154 these days to walk soft around Print Olive.

N17 155 Most young men returning from battle bought a new pair of boots N17 156 or a new hat as soon as they hit Texas soil. Print's first purchase N17 157 had been a Remington New Model Army forty-four handgun, the second N17 158 a Henry repeating rifle and the third a bottle of whiskey. It was N17 159 not, Jim knew, a good sign.

N17 160 "God give you strength, Louise Olive," Jim N17 161 whispered toward the small auburn-haired woman standing beside N17 162 Print, "because I fear you're going to need it with my N17 163 son."

N17 164 The clanging of the cook's triangle put an end to Jim Olive's N17 165 musings. The crowd surged toward the cooking pits and nearby tables N17 166 covered with fresh vegetables, steaming bread, pies, cakes and N17 167 fruit. Jim rejoined his guests, pausing frequently to shake the N17 168 hand of a new arrival. For now it was enough to enjoy good company N17 169 and good food. Tomorrow would be soon enough for a talk with Print N17 170 ...

N17 171 Isom Prentice Olive leaned against the corral gate, his gaze N17 172 drifting over the handful of saddle horses as they squealed, bit N17 173 and kicked at each other over grain in the feed troughs. He glanced N17 174 up and nodded a greeting as Jim Olive stepped alongside and propped N17 175 a foot on the lower rail of the gate.

N17 176 The two men stood in silence for a moment, watching the horses N17 177 sort out the pecking order for feeding time. It was a ritual that N17 178 had been followed through the ages since the first domestication of N17 179 the animal. Print dug a tobacco pouch from a shirt pocket, rolled a N17 180 cigarette and fired it with a match scratched across a fence rail. N17 181 "You wanted to talk, Pa?" he said.

N17 182 "Yes, son. I'd like to know what your plans are now N17 183 that you've a wife to look after."

N17 184 Print turned to his father, squinting through the cigarette N17 185 smoke. "Simple enough, Pa. I'm going to get N17 186 rich."

N17 187 Jim stared at his son for a moment, startled by the simple N17 188 declaration. There was no sign of excitement or indecision in N17 189 Print's black eyes, just a calm, deep confidence.

N17 190 "Well, Print," Jim said, "I always have N17 191 admired ambition in a man. But we've got plenty-"

N17 192 "Pa," Print interrupted, "you may be satisfied N17 193 with what we've got. Satisfied with a good farm, a half section of N17 194 grass, and trading flour and sugar for pennies. It's not enough for N17 195 me. I want to see the day come that when Print Olive talks, people N17 196 listen."

N17 197 Jim Olive reached for his battered pipe. "I suppose N17 198 you've got this all worked out? Getting rich doesn't just happen to N17 199 a man, you know."

N17 200 Print stubbed his cigarette butt against a corner post. N17 201 "Cattle," he said. "I've talked some with Dudley N17 202 and J. W. Snyder. They know cattle. They trailed many a beef from N17 203 Williamson County to the Confederacy during the war."

N17 204 N17 205 N18 1 <#FROWN:N18\>ONE N18 2 The two men presented an unlikely appearance: a Catholic priest N18 3 on his first trip into the West and an Unkpapa Sioux man, returning N18 4 to his home for the first time in seventeen years. They stood in N18 5 the aisle of a New Year's Day train running west from Council N18 6 Bluffs, Iowa, each insisting the other have the privilege of the N18 7 window seat.

N18 8 They stood nearly the same medium height, both slim, yet N18 9 sturdily built. The priest's deep blue eyes and reddish-blond hair N18 10 contrasted sharply with his black Jesuit cassock. The conductor N18 11 called "All aboard!" for the last time, and the N18 12 train lurched into motion. The Sioux man sat down in the aisle N18 13 seat, and the priest sat down next to the window.

N18 14 The train was filled with westbound passengers eager to view N18 15 the solar eclipse expected later in the morning. Although the Sioux N18 16 man was dressed neatly, no one had wanted to sit next to him. The N18 17 priest, being the last aboard, had found the aisle seat next to the N18 18 Sioux the only seat left unoccupied. The Sioux man had risen to N18 19 offer his choice seat out of respect.

N18 20 Startled by the articulate insistence from one in braids and N18 21 buckskin, the priest stared at the Sioux man. "I'll be able N18 22 to see the eclipse just fine," he said. "Is that N18 23 why you're being so kind?"

N18 24 "You don't want to look at the eclipse," the N18 25 Sioux man said. "It will make you blind."

N18 26 "Yes, I suppose you are right," the priest N18 27 acknowledged with a laugh. "So why were you so N18 28 persistent?"

N18 29 "I felt that if I were kind to you, maybe they wouldn't N18 30 make me ride back in the luggage car."

N18 31 "Oh, I see," the priest said.

N18 32 "Yes they do that," the Sioux man continued. N18 33 "When they crossed our lands, the railroad said we could N18 34 ride the Iron Horse for free. They just didn't tell us where we N18 35 would be put."

N18 36 "That isn't quite fair, is it?"

N18 37 "Not many things in life are fair", the Sioux N18 38 said. "But now I won't have to worry about my N18 39 death." He looked at the priest, a smile beaming from his N18 40 dark eyes. "I've heard that those who are good and follow N18 41 the Black Robes' medicine are to be favored in the next N18 42 life."

N18 43 The priest raised an eyebrow. "I've never heard it put N18 44 that way before."

N18 45 "Isn't that the idea, though?"

N18 46 "Is that what you believe?"

N18 47 "That's why I gave you the seat."

N18 48 The priest laughed and extended his hand in introduction. N18 49 "My name is Father Mark Thomas. I'll do what I can for you, N18 50 but don't expect any miracles."

N18 51 "I am Shining Horse, and I've received my share of N18 52 miracles already," the Sioux man said. "So I won't N18 53 expect you to perform any in my behalf. But for my people ... well, N18 54 that's another matter."

N18 55 "What do you mean?" Father Thomas asked.

N18 56 "It's going to take a great many miracles to keep my N18 57 people from losing everything they have," Shining Horse N18 58 said. "It is a very trying time. Everything is changing, N18 59 and not for the better. So maybe you're right. Maybe you haven't N18 60 got the right connections to be of much help to my people. I'm not N18 61 certain that the white man's god cares that much."

N18 62 "There is only one God," Father Thomas said. N18 63 "He represents all races."

N18 64 "I noticed you said represents and not N18 65 serves," Shining Horse said. "I am of the N18 66 opinion that the white race pushes into line first, and if there's N18 67 anything left, everyone else must fight for it."

N18 68 Father Thomas studied him without comment.

N18 69 "Are you shocked by my words?" Shining Horse N18 70 asked. "Does it surprise you that I can tell you these N18 71 things so well in your own tongue?"

N18 72 "I would be lying if I said otherwise," Father N18 73 Thomas admitted. "I have no doubt that you are well N18 74 educated."

N18 75 "I was taken when I was eight and sent to school at N18 76 Carlisle. I didn't know anything about Pennsylvania or any of the N18 77 lands east of my home. A rich family wanted to make me into a N18 78 Wasichu, a white man, and decided I should be James N18 79 Williams. I was James Williams while I lived back there and went to N18 80 their schools. Now I'm Shining Horse once again, and on my way back N18 81 home to my people."

N18 82 "You are very articulate, Shining Horse. What made you N18 83 decide to come back out here?"

N18 84 "No matter how well I speak the Wasichu N18 85 tongue, I will always be of red skin. The two worlds are very N18 86 different. I don't know if they will ever be one. Certainly not in N18 87 my lifetime."

N18 88 "Won't coming back be a bigger change for you than when N18 89 you left as a child?"

N18 90 "It might be so," Shining Horse acknowledged. N18 91 "I just hope I can remember my own tongue. You don't speak N18 92 Lakota, do you?"

N18 93 Father Thomas chuckled. "I must admit that I know very N18 94 little about your race. But that is all going to change. Very N18 95 soon."

N18 96 "I would bet that you're being sent to a N18 97 mission."

N18 98 "Yes, as a matter of fact," Father Thomas said, N18 99 "I'm going to St. Francis Mission on the Rosebud to learn N18 100 from the priests already there." He pulled a letter from N18 101 his pocket. "I have orders from my new Provincial, in St. N18 102 Louis, to bring the word of God to your people."

N18 103 "I know it is an honor among Black Robes to go on N18 104 missions," Shining Horse said, "but do you really N18 105 know what you are in for?"

N18 106 "What do you mean?"

N18 107 "My people already know about the Black Robes. They N18 108 have seen your kind and heard your words. Those who have not N18 109 welcomed you never will."

N18 110 "Yes, but that is why I wanted to come out N18 111 here," Father Thomas said. "I believe I can reach N18 112 those among your people who have shunned others." He opened N18 113 the letter. "In fact, my orders state that I am 'to bring N18 114 the word of Jesus Christ to those on the Sioux reservation who are N18 115 the farthest away from God.'"

N18 116 "There are many who will not embrace the N18 117 Wasichu god," Shining Horse said. "A N18 118 great many."

N18 119 "Where are they living?" Father Thomas N18 120 asked.

N18 121 Shining Horse shrugged. "All over the N18 122 reservation."

N18 123 "But who are the farthest from God?"

N18 124 "Maybe the Minneconjou on Cheyenne River. Yes, Kicking N18 125 Bear and his people on Cherry Creek do not have a mission. Sitanka, N18 126 the one they call Big Foot, he asked for a mission. But Kicking N18 127 Bear does not want anything to do with the Wasichu N18 128 god."

N18 129 "It sounds to me like your people are divided," N18 130 Father Thomas said. "They don't all hold the same N18 131 views?"

N18 132 "There is a lot of bitterness among my people N18 133 now," Shining Horse replied. "Your government has N18 134 decided to pick the men among our leaders who best suit its needs N18 135 and to give them the power to speak and sign papers for the entire N18 136 Lakota nation. That does not sit well with the older leaders. They N18 137 are the ones who are keeping the old ways alive. This has caused N18 138 infighting among my people."

N18 139 "But that is not the fault of spiritual people, such as N18 140 myself," Father Thomas said.

N18 141 Shining Horse chuckled. "They don't tell you much N18 142 before you come out here, do they? You men of the Wasichu N18 143 god have your own wars."

N18 144 "What do you mean?" Father Thomas asked N18 145 again.

N18 146 "The Catholics and the Episcopals have a war going N18 147 between themselves," Shining Horse said. "They both N18 148 want the exclusive rights to force the Wasichu god on my N18 149 people. I know about that. Too many different speakers for the same N18 150 white man's god."

N18 151 "How do you know so much about what's going on out N18 152 here?" Father Thomas asked. "I thought you told me N18 153 you haven't been back since you were a child."

N18 154 "I made it a point to talk to the delegations who have N18 155 traveled to the eastern lands over the years," Shining N18 156 Horse explained. "There have been a number of them, from N18 157 many different tribes. They come to try to settle some legal N18 158 dispute, usually a treaty that has been broken. I know what's N18 159 happening out here."

N18 160 "I'm afraid I don't know enough about the N18 161 situation," Father Thomas said. "With God's help, I N18 162 will do as much good as I can."

N18 163 "You had better have your god teach you the ways of a N18 164 warrior," Shining Horse told him. "You won't do any N18 165 good at Cheyenne River unless you learn how my people N18 166 think."

N18 167 "I'm sure I'll be learning more of what you've talked N18 168 about," Father Thomas said. "I will be given a lot N18 169 of instruction at St. Francis."

N18 170 Both men looked out the window as a long shadow began moving N18 171 across the landscape. Slowly the shadow grew longer as the moon's N18 172 path took it closer to the sun. Everyone on the train began talking N18 173 excitedly. Everyone except Shining Horse.

N18 174 "The eclipse has begun," Father Thomas said. N18 175 "Aren't you interested in things scientific?"

N18 176 "I have already seen a great many things N18 177 scientific," Shining Horse replied. "Including the N18 178 Iron Horse, which destroyed the buffalo hunting grounds. I do not N18 179 feel that this event we are now watching should be classified as N18 180 scientific."

N18 181 "You are a hard man to please," Father Thomas N18 182 said. "Very hard, indeed."

N18 183 "You will see that I am pretty open-minded compared to N18 184 the others," Shining Horse said. "When you reach N18 185 Cherry Creek, you ask Kicking Bear and his people what they thought N18 186 of the sun turning black. I'm certain they will not call it a N18 187 scientific event. They will call it a bad time, a time when the sun N18 188 deserted them. Some will be angry, some will be sad. All of them N18 189 will be changed, and that is what you will have to deal N18 190 with."

N18 191 Mako sica, the Badlands, locked in frozen N18 192 white, showed no signs of life but for a lone Minneconjou Sioux N18 193 woman riding horseback through the lower reaches of Big White N18 194 River. Those who knew Fawn-That-Goes-Dancing were not surprised at N18 195 her taking off alone in the dead of winter, having no fear of N18 196 either the elements or the prospect of not eating until she reached N18 197 her destination. But many found surprise in the reason for her N18 198 journey.

N18 199 Fawn was torn. She had received a letter from the Holy Rosary N18 200 Mission at Pine Ridge, written and signed by a Black Robe, N18 201 announcing that her mother, along with another woman, was to be N18 202 married on the third day of January in front of the N18 203 Wasichu god. Fawn had spent a day in the hills shedding N18 204 bitter tears. It had been hard enough to see her mother leave the N18 205 summer before to live with an Oglala man at Pine Ridge; but Fawn N18 206 had never dreamed that Sees-the-Bull-Rolling would make her mother N18 207 travel the White Man's Road.

N18 208 Fawn dismounted at a small spring, her face turned against a N18 209 sharp northerly breeze. She rubbed her hands together briskly, N18 210 working the circulation through numbed fingers. After dislodging a N18 211 large, pointed rock from the hillside, she slammed it through the N18 212 brittle ice at the mouth of the spring, then stepped back while N18 213 Jumper, her red pinto pony, sucked noisily from the thin flow, his N18 214 nostrils flaring in the cold.

N18 215 Fawn pulled the remnants of a tattered woolen blanket closer N18 216 around her shoulders. Underneath, she wore an old, loosely fitted N18 217 deerskin dress given to her by her mother on the eve of her first N18 218 marriage. Her legs and feet were covered with cowhide leggins and N18 219 moccasins, her feet wrapped in rags for added measure against the N18 220 cold.

N18 221 Maybe she was getting too old for this. Maybe she should have N18 222 stayed back in the village at Cherry Creek and not risked the trek N18 223 across Mako sica alone. Her younger brother, N18 224 Catches Lance, had said he would ride with her and bring his N18 225 closest friend, a warrior of mixed Sioux and Negro blood named N18 226 Tangled Hair. Though Tangled Hair had argued they should go, N18 227 Catches Lance had changed his mind and unsaddled his pony at the N18 228 last minute.

N18 229 Nothing, aside from death itself, would have stopped Fawn from N18 230 going to Pine Ridge. She did not want her mother to think she no N18 231 longer cared for her, even though her mother had decided to travel N18 232 the White Man's Road and leave her old customs behind. N18 233 N18 234 N19 1 <#FROWN:N19\>NORMAN MANEA

N19 2 Proust's Tea

N19 3 The people crowding outside the big, heavy, wooden doors, N19 4 curious about the spectacle, were perhaps themselves travelers, or N19 5 their companions, or loiterers of the sort often found in train N19 6 stations, but on that afternoon not one of them was allowed into N19 7 the waiting room. Nor could they see what was going on inside. The N19 8 windows were too high, the rectangular glass panes in the doors too N19 9 dirty and clouded with steam.

N19 10 The waiting room was immense; it was hard to imagine anything N19 11 bringing it to life; everything got lost, swallowed up in it. N19 12 Crouched over their bundles, people in rags were huddling one on N19 13 top of the other in clusters from the walls all the way to the N19 14 center, filling up the room. The din was unending.

N19 15 Shrill and desperate voices, hoarse voices, sometimes deep N19 16 moans, grew suddenly louder when the nurses came by. The white N19 17 uniforms barely managed to squeeze through the tangle of legs and N19 18 bodies. Hands rose up all around to grab hold of the hems, the N19 19 sleeves, even the shoulders, necks, and arms of these fine ladies. N19 20 People were screaming, begging, groaning, cursing. Some were N19 21 crying, especially those who were too far away and had lost all N19 22 hope of getting a packet of food and a cup.

N19 23 Those crowded on the other side of the wood and thick glass N19 24 doors would have tried in vain to guess ages and sexes from the N19 25 faces on the mass of skeletons, dressed in rags tied with string, N19 26 that crammed into the waiting room. The women all looked like old, N19 27 wretched convicts, and children with oversized skulls popped up all N19 28 around them like apocalyptic men, compressed, stunted, as if an N19 29 instrument of torture had shrunk them all.

N19 30 The nurses knew, of course, that there were no men in the N19 31 waiting room, nor young women. Had they understood the cries and N19 32 the wailing around them, they would have realized that it was this N19 33 very absence that aggravated the panic: the rescued did not N19 34 understand, nor did they want to accept, that they had been saved. N19 35 They suspected that this was a new ruse, even more diabolical, that N19 36 would undoubtedly lead to new tortures, perhaps even to the end. N19 37 Why else had the men and able-bodied young women been left behind? N19 38 To bring them here later, on another train? Because there hadn't N19 39 been enough room? Perhaps someone had objected to piling them on N19 40 top of one another?

N19 41 They could have done without those big, luxurious railway cars N19 42 that swayed like imperial barges... They wouldn't have mined N19 43 traveling in carts, walking for miles and miles, so long as they'd N19 44 been allowed to stay together, husbands, wives, sisters, sons and N19 45 daughters, the old and the children, all of them.

N19 46 Shorn like the others, her head covered by some sort of burlap N19 47 hood, the woman before whom the nurse had stopped was ageless like N19 48 the rest. She made no sound. She had not said a word when the N19 49 person next to her had taken from her hands a piece of blanket and N19 50 covered herself with it. She didn't flinch when the old woman on N19 51 her left, sensing in her silence a confirmation of her own N19 52 foreboding, became excited, raising her arms to the sky. Finally N19 53 she lifted her head: a face shrunken, withered, old, like a N19 54 Phoenician mask. But she didn't move, not even when the nurse N19 55 passed by. She just kept watching, intense, like the midget resting N19 56 its small yellowish head on her bare shoulder.

N19 57 The air in the room quivered with heat. The continuous pulsing N19 58 rumble of the mass lowered the ceiling and pulled the walls in N19 59 closer. The hall had shrunk. Everything was happening close to the N19 60 ground, at the height of the crowd. Only when you threw your head N19 61 back and looked up did the ceiling recede, like a soaring, ever N19 62 more unreachable sky. From the heights, the noise lagged, distant, N19 63 weak, somewhere down below. Those who remained on the ground were N19 64 deafened by it, drained by fear, oblivious to everything.

N19 65 She, too, couldn't stop thinking about what might be happening N19 66 on the train that never arrived. She couldn't have been allowed on N19 67 board, she knew all too well that she looked like an old woman, no N19 68 one would have believed that she was not yet thirty. But then she N19 69 would have had no reason to want to be on the train for men and N19 70 young women. Surely she too had seen how they had clung to each N19 71 other without shame- my father and my cousin- the moment they left N19 72 the lineup. She did not look at them, but without a doubt she had N19 73 seen everything. Disciplined, she had joined her column, holding in N19 74 her limp hand the hand of the midget trailing behind her. She N19 75 didn't even yank at his arm as she helped him climb the high steps N19 76 onto the train. She saw that the child, when he reached the top of N19 77 the steps, had turned his wrinkled face toward the two who were N19 78 left on the platform, sitting on the bench too close to each other. N19 79 But the woman had not said a word; she sat down on the seat in the N19 80 train and closed her eyes, exhausted.

N19 81 Perhaps the commotion of so many confused voices coming from N19 82 down below overwhelmed her, allowed her to forget, but suddenly she N19 83 had turned around, pushing against the little midget's scrawny neck N19 84 and dislodging him from his nest. In any event, her bony, dampish N19 85 shoulder could not replace, even in the child's memory or dreams, N19 86 the plump, fresh cheeks of the pillow he craved.

N19 87 The hands that touched the neck and the matchstick arms of the N19 88 little savage were those of the lady in the white uniform. The lady N19 89 was smiling at the little midget, bending over him, the red cross N19 90 on her forehead shining, coming nearer. She held out the bag of N19 91 biscuits and the tin cup.

N19 92 The cup was hot. The little beast's cheeks bent over the N19 93 yellowish, liquid circle, into the fragrant steam. A pleasure that N19 94 could not last; a pleasure one should not dare prolong, no matter N19 95 what happiness one felt. An impossible pleasure, but real, because N19 96 the hall was real too, and buzzing, and he heard the bag being N19 97 ripped open over his head, and his hand filled with biscuits.

N19 98 The boy sipped, numb with pleasure, frightened. He understood N19 99 that everything was real and, therefore, that it would end; it was N19 100 he, giddy with delight, who impatiently hastened its end. The cup N19 101 was half emptied. He stopped drinking and looked at the stubby, fat N19 102 biscuits in the palm of his hand. He began to nibble, patiently, on N19 103 one of the grainy, sweet, scallop-edged shells. Only then did he N19 104 feel hunger. He grabbed the bag with one hand. In the other he held N19 105 the cup. He shoved a fistful of biscuits into his mouth. A little N19 106 midget who inspired tenderness however ghastly he looked, and so N19 107 the lady put an extra bag in his mother's hand.

N19 108 "Drink the tea also. Drink, while it's still N19 109 hot."

N19 110 Perhaps the souls of those we've lost do indeed take refuge in N19 111 inanimate objects. They remain absent until the moment they feel N19 112 our presence nearby and call out to us for recognition, to free N19 113 them from death. Perhaps, indeed, the past cannot be brought back N19 114 on command, but is resurrected only by that strange, spontaneous N19 115 sensation we feel when unexpectedly we come across the smell, the N19 116 taste, the flavor of some inert accessory from the past.

N19 117 But the aroma of that heavenly drink could not be reminiscent N19 118 of anything; he had never experienced such pleasure. This magic N19 119 potion could not, by any stretch of the imagination, be called N19 120 'tea.'

N19 121 So it was necessary to look up toward the sky of dirty stone, N19 122 where black clouds of flies swarmed, and where he expected N19 123 Grandfather to appear, the only person who would have had an N19 124 answer.

N19 125 They had gathered, as usual, around him, everyone was holding N19 126 his hot cup of greenish water infused with local herbs picked in N19 127 those alien places, to which Grandfather would add, whenever he N19 128 found them, acacia blossoms.

N19 129 High up on the arched ceiling of the waiting room, where the N19 130 light bulbs attracted billows of insects, Grandfather appeared as N19 131 if on a round screen, and Grandmother, and his parents, and his N19 132 aunt. They were warming their hands on the steaming cups, all of N19 133 them staring at the same point high above, in front of them. Anda N19 134 was there, too, of course. She took part, humble, submissive, but N19 135 shameless enough, nevertheless, not to miss the tea ritual to which N19 136 Grandfather summoned everybody, sometimes looking at each person a N19 137 long time, letting them know that he knew everything about N19 138 everybody, even about his son-in-law and this beautiful and guilty N19 139 granddaughter.

N19 140 Grandfather did not take his eyes off the little white cube of N19 141 sugar that hung, as usual, from the ceiling lamp. They all had to N19 142 stare at it intensely for some minutes before sipping the hot N19 143 water. Those who remembered the taste of sugar, those, that is, who N19 144 had the time, before the disaster, to accustom their palates to the N19 145 sweetness of the little white lumps, gradually felt their lips N19 146 become wet and sticky. The brackish green drink became sweet, good, N19 147 'real tea,' as Grandfather would say.

N19 148 The ceremony was repeated almost every afternoon, presided over N19 149 sternly yet not without a touch of humor by the old man, his N19 150 unkempt beard mottled in black. He was convinced that he would N19 151 return home, and he conserved as a symbol of that world, and for N19 152 that world, a dirty sugar cube. While the boiling water was being N19 153 poured, no one was allowed to look anywhere but in his own cup, and N19 154 one waited to hear the water splash and bubble in the neighboring N19 155 cup, until one by one all of them were filled. Then everyone raised N19 156 his eyes toward the lamp from which a tiny parallelepiped of almost N19 157 white sugar hung on a string. They had to stare at it patiently for N19 158 a long time, and had to sip the tea slowly, until everyone felt his N19 159 lips, tongue, mouth, his entire being refreshed, mellowed by the N19 160 memory of a world they must not give up, because, Grandfather N19 161 firmly believed, it had not given them up and could not do without N19 162 them. The tea steamed in the cups; everyone was silent, all N19 163 concentrating, as they had been told to, on a small, dirty cube of N19 164 sugar that Grandfather had had the idea to save and hang up in N19 165 front of them every day.

N19 166 Up there, above the din in which the poor wretches tried, N19 167 uselessly, to return to another life, up there, in an open space, N19 168 isolated from the huge waiting room, Grandfather, confident in a N19 169 return that would not come pass, could have assured them that the N19 170 magic potion was indeed proof that the world had welcomed them N19 171 back. But even this strange drink did not remotely resemble 'real N19 172 tea.'

N19 173 "Dunk the biscuits in the tea. Drink it while it's N19 174 hot."

N19 175 "Drink while it's hot," repeated now one woman, N19 176 now another.

N19 177 Dunked in the tea, the plump, round biscuits had the very N19 178 flavor of happiness- had there been time for surrender, utter N19 179 abandon, a dizzying fullness of feeling, the priceless gifts that N19 180 only a chosen few can hope to deserve, and that some day must be N19 181 returned in a miraculous exchange.

N19 182 The biscuits tasted like soap, mud, rust, burnt skin, snow, N19 183 leaves, rain, bones, sand, mold, wet wool, sponges, mice, rotting N19 184 wood, fish, the unique flavor of hunger.

N19 185 There are, then, certain gifts whose only quality and only flaw N19 186 is that they cannot be exchanged for anything else. Such gifts N19 187 cannot, at some later time, be recalled, repossessed, or N19 188 returned.

N19 189 If, later, I lost anything, it was precisely the cruelty of N19 190 indifference. But only later, and with difficulty. Because, much N19 191 later, I became what is called... a feeling being.

N19 192 N20 1 <#FROWN:N20\>The Strange Affair of the Spirit Cats

N20 2 Douglas Kaufman

N20 3 It was a gloomy night in Khartoum. The Pharaoh's artificial sun N20 4 had set over an hour ago. The faint glimmer of evening stars was N20 5 obscured behind an ominous layer of black clouds.

N20 6 In the alleyway, three shapes floated like ghosts through the N20 7 darkness and evening mist. Given the state of Earth since the N20 8 invasion of realities, the chance that they were in fact ghosts N20 9 could not be dismissed lightly. One of the larger shapes, thinking N20 10 upon just that likelihood, harrumphed and fumbled about in its N20 11 waistcoat pocket, as if looking for a lost bit of change.

N20 12 "G'dam," it muttered. "Jacques, did I give you N20 13 that Pharaoh's Curse Lucky Charm? What have I done with N20 14 it?" As he spoke, the third shape approached the other two N20 15 ... slowly ... ominously. The large shape now turned out his N20 16 pockets in measured, slightly frantic, haste.

N20 17 "Ex - excuse me," trilled a pretty, young voice N20 18 from out of the darkness. "I can't see you very well, but - N20 19 you wouldn't by some chance be the man known as Lord N20 20 Cunningham?"

N20 21 "Goodness!" exclaimed the large waistcoated shape. N20 22 "Either you're not supernatural or my reputation is such N20 23 that even the spectres know me!"

N20 24 "Am I a spectre, then?" A flame was struck from N20 25 a match, held in the hand of the owner of the pretty young voice. N20 26 It was, in the vernacular, a Pretty Young Thing who held the match N20 27 in a white-gloved hand. A small hat stood atop an exquisitely N20 28 formed face piled high with auburn hair, and green eyes glowed N20 29 faintly in the red firelight. The small pouting lips, also shining N20 30 in the match light, held an expression of mock insult. She regarded N20 31 the waistcoated man steadily, as the match burned down nearly to N20 32 her fingertips.

N20 33 Behind Lord Cunningham, the third shape growled low in his N20 34 throat.

N20 35 "Jacques reminds us that in this part of town, it's N20 36 best not to call attention to oneself," said Cunningham, N20 37 revealed in the matchglow as an immensely fat man with a huge white N20 38 mustache. He was dressed in the height of fashion and was N20 39 impeccably groomed - except for an egg stain on the left side of N20 40 the coat covering his amazing paunch. "There's a dear; just N20 41 put out the flame and we'll make our way to the club. I assume you N20 42 are here for the club dinner?" He adjusted the monocle he N20 43 wore as he spoke, as if to get a better view of the lady.

N20 44 "Yes indeed," she said from out the dark, but N20 45 the flush on her cheeks was audible. "The Explorer's Club N20 46 dinner! How thrilling!"

N20 47 "Quite," drawled Cunnigham. "Have you an N20 48 invitation?" There was a rustle of paper, and something N20 49 passed from white-gloved to meaty hand.

N20 50 "Can't very well read it here, can I?" muttered N20 51 Cunningham. "Know I had a light of my own somewhere about N20 52 here ... damn pockets ... like the Caves of Orion ... Oh, N20 53 fine," he said aloud. "Come along. I'm sure N20 54 everything's in order." And without further ado he took her N20 55 arm unerringly in the dark, and whisked her toward a blank wall. N20 56 The one called Jacques followed, vigilantly scanning the darkness N20 57 behind them for signs of unwanted intruders.

N20 58 At the wall, Cunningham rapped lightly on the third brick up, N20 59 fifth brick over from the left, and called softly, "Remmy, N20 60 Moxis, Attun!" The wall slid back and to the side, N20 61 accompanied by the sound of sandpaper on stone.

N20 62 "Oh!" exclaimed the lady.

N20 63 The three passed within, and wall slid shut behind them. The N20 64 darkness was then disturbed only by the plaintive meowing of a N20 65 small alley cat.

N20 66 ***

N20 67 "And now for a proper introduction," said the N20 68 huge man. In the light of the gas lamps within the club, his girth, N20 69 florid face, and mustache made him look like nothing so much as a N20 70 surprised walrus rearing up on its hind flippers. He doffed a pith N20 71 helmet, graciously took the lady's hat, and handed both to a nearby N20 72 servant.

N20 73 "I," he announced as the servant moved silently away, N20 74 "am Lord Cunningham, one of the founding members of the N20 75 Explorer's Club. We are a band of adventurers, dedicated to the N20 76 overthrow of the Pharaoh, otherwise known to us as ..."

N20 77 "Mobius," she whispered, eyes wide. There was a moment N20 78 of silent fear as she pronounced the name of their greatest enemy N20 79 out loud. A hush fell over the club. Several heartbeats passed. N20 80 Then the hum of conversation resumed within the dark oak and N20 81 mahogany confines of the room.

N20 82 "We'll not rest," said Cunningham, obviously N20 83 quoting something or someone, "until the scourge of Mobius N20 84 is lifted from the land. And who do I have the pleasure of N20 85 addressing, my dear?"

N20 86 "I am the Lady Tria," the pretty young thing N20 87 replied, giving a slight curtsey. "I was invited by Mr. N20 88 William Quest, who unfortunately could not be here N20 89 tonight."

N20 90 "Old Billy-Q?" roared Cunningham. "That N20 91 goat! Where did he come across such a treasure as you?"

N20 92 "I am his niece," she replied, a little N20 93 uncertain, but still smiling.

N20 94 "Oh. Quite." Cunningham blew out on his N20 95 mustache, nonplussed. "And that invitation? Perhaps I N20 96 should look at it now?"

N20 97 "I gave it to you, Lord Cunningham," she said. N20 98 "Outside, in the alley," she added helpfully.

N20 99 "Oh?" He fumbled again at various pockets. "I N20 100 seem to have dropped it or misplaced - Jacques! Have you seen Lady N20 101 Tria's paper?"

N20 102 The one called Jacques, mostly hidden behind Cunningham's great N20 103 bulk, made no reply. Lady Tria moved slightly to her left, to try N20 104 to get a little better look at the silent man.

N20 105 "Ah, well," sighed Cunningham, making a last N20 106 ineffectual pat at his sides. "You obviously belong here. N20 107 Come, you may sit at my table this evening."

N20 108 "Thank you," she replied daintily. "I - N20 109 oh!"

N20 110 At that moment she rounded Cunningham's prodigious left hip, N20 111 and stared full into the eyes of the man called Jacques - and was N20 112 instantly lost within the dark confines of his eyes.

N20 113 The square jaw, dark hair, dark skin, perfect nose, devilish N20 114 brows and perfect teeth all smiled at her, knowingly. She sighed N20 115 for all the lost years of her life. "Hello, sir," N20 116 she managed, squeaking slightly on the upstroke. The faint N20 117 glistening of a teardrop was visible in one eye.

N20 118 "My dear, let me present my good friend N20 119 Jacques," said Cunningham, seemingly oblivious to the N20 120 smoldering looks that were passing between the two younger people. N20 121 "Jacques is an apprentice member of the Club, and N20 122 accompanies me on many of my adventures."

N20 123 "What an exciting wife - er, life," Lady Tria N20 124 said. From somewhere she produced a feathered fan and began N20 125 vigorously cooling herself, staring all the while into the molten N20 126 pools of Jacques' eyes.

N20 127 "It is a bit warm, isn't it?" said Cunningham. N20 128 "Shall I get you a drink?" Without waiting for a N20 129 reply, he bustled off, leaving a swirl of displaced air in his N20 130 considerable wake. The lady breathed silent thanks and lowered her N20 131 eyes, raising them coquettishly to meet a fiery look from N20 132 Jacques.

N20 133 Neither spoke for a long time. Finally, impatience winning over N20 134 social grace, Lady Tria said, "Sir ... Jacques ... I'm N20 135 afraid I don't know your full name. I trust that, as you are a N20 136 member here, I will meet you again in the near future, when my N20 137 patron Mr. Quest brings me again to visit. I look forward to N20 138 it." She held her breath in anticipation of his reply.

N20 139 Jacques bowed, then opened his mouth as if to speak. Time N20 140 seemed to stand still. Various tunes and marches played within the N20 141 lady's mind.

N20 142 "Here we are!" bellowed Cunningham, bustling N20 143 between them like a bull in stampede. "And how are you two N20 144 getting along?" He handed the lady an unwanted drink.

N20 145 "Quite well, thank you," the lady replied N20 146 icily. Jacques said nothing, the merest hint of an amused smile on N20 147 his lips the only indication of his feelings. The lady continued, N20 148 "Jacques is -"

N20 149 "Certainly a mysterious fellow, isn't he?" N20 150 Cunningham said jovially, throwing a thick arm around Jacques' N20 151 perfectly shaped shoulders. "Doesn't need to say N20 152 much!"

N20 153 "Oh, I don't know," Lady Tria said. She mounted N20 154 a new attack, trying to sidestep Cunningham and get back next to N20 155 the man of her dreams. "Do you mean to tell me, Jacques, N20 156 that you have a reputation for being the strong, silent N20 157 type?"

N20 158 "He certainly does," cried Cunningham, before N20 159 Jacques' lips could even part for a reply. "By Jove, I N20 160 remember Jacques facing down a horde of villainous minions of N20 161 Mobius. They taunted him until their faces turned blue, but he N20 162 never said a word. Never lost that slight, sardonic smile of his. N20 163 Eh, Jacques?" Jacques smiled sardonically, and said N20 164 nothing.

N20 165 "Minions of Mobius! Dear me!" The lady fanned N20 166 herself prettily. "And Jacques, how did you come to be N20 167 facing a horde of Mobius' minions?"

N20 168 Jacques drew in a breath (as did the lady Tria).

N20 169 "By god, that's our mission here in the Explorer's N20 170 Club!" cried Cunningham. "We dedicate ourselves to N20 171 the overthrow of Mobius. We have chosen to oppose him by denying N20 172 access to the artifacts he so craves. You've heard of Natatiri, his N20 173 minion in Khartoum? And you heard the rumors a while back, of a N20 174 mind-transfer device that she was using? Well, the fact N20 175 that you've heard no stories recently is solely due to the N20 176 efforts of the Explorer's Club. Without them, that device might N20 177 still be terrorizing innocent citizens." Cunningham held N20 178 his own drink in both hands, warming both to the brandy and to his N20 179 subject.

N20 180 "The Explorers are all archaeologists N20 181 extraordinaire," he said. "Adventurers of the N20 182 highest caliber, men who are not afraid to venture into the unknown N20 183 and face unspeakable dangers, implacable foes, and nearly N20 184 unbeatable odds!" Cunningham was getting positively red in N20 185 the face as he went on. "Jacques," he finished N20 186 breathlessly, "is one such man."

N20 187 "I see," the lady said impatiently. N20 188 "And Jacques." She emphasized the word N20 189 strongly, to make sure there could be no misunderstanding N20 190 concerning to whom she was talking. "Is your line N20 191 archaeology?"

N20 192 "He's actually more of an explorer," Cunningham N20 193 interrupted, and Lady Tria made a low growling sound very far down N20 194 in her throat. "He's strong and brave, and has protected me N20 195 from harm on many of our adventures."

N20 196 There was no way around the man, literally or figuratively. The N20 197 lady sighed forlornly. It was either be socially unspeakable, or N20 198 speak with Cunningham. As an absent member's guest, she couldn't N20 199 afford to be rude without taking a chance on being thrown out.

N20 200 "Lord Cunningham," she said, almost hoping that N20 201 if directly addressed he would not answer. "..." She had a N20 202 sudden brainstorm. "How is it that you and Jacques N20 203 met?"

N20 204 "Ah, now there's a tale!" Cunningham N20 205 bellowed.

N20 206 ***

N20 207 Said Cunningham: On a mission, I was, for the Explorer's Club. N20 208 Well nigh unto eight months ago, in the very depths of this N20 209 benighted continent. I was posing as a big-game hunter, hot on the N20 210 trail of a mysterious talisman said to possess the power to bind N20 211 spirits and ghosts to the will of the wielder. Well, given the N20 212 prevalence of sundered spirits, as well as ghosts and other N20 213 supernatural entities all over the planet, it was deemed High N20 214 Priority that Mobius not recover this item.

N20 215 So there I was, Cunningham the 'great white hunter', with my N20 216 squad of Askaris (that's soldiers to you, my dear), guides and N20 217 bearers, following an ancient map, recently discovered, whose N20 218 mystic runes I had deciphered myself.

N20 219 We were on the veldt, nearing the entrance to an area where, N20 220 according to the map, the talisman lay resting in a lost temple N20 221 deep within the jungle. My group was getting edgy, but I knew we N20 222 had to press on. It was on a day just like all the others - hot, N20 223 uncomfortable, and fly-ridden - that a maddened rhino suddenly N20 224 attacked the camp! A rare black rhino, it was, and to this day I N20 225 suspect that black magic was what made it charge us.

N20 226 At any rate, I picked up my rifle and calmly shot the beast N20 227 once in the shoulder - but astoundingly, it barely faltered in its N20 228 strides as it bore down on us like a runaway freight train. N20 229 N21 1 <#FROWN:N21\>DevilÕs Highway

N21 2 Cross should have filled the water bottle at the liquor store N21 3 in Clifton, just across the line in Arizona, but a dazed-looking N21 4 Indian slammed through the door and stood muttering behind him N21 5 while he paid for the bourbon. He left quickly and went to the pay N21 6 phone in the parking lot. He called his wife to tell her he would N21 7 not be near a telephone that night. No way heÕd stay in that town. N21 8 She replied with words of sympathy, almost sounding like she meant N21 9 them.

N21 10 It was accepted between them that she became angry when he N21 11 traveled. He was free on the road; she was trapped at home. He N21 12 hadnÕt the kids to care for, no drudgery of laundry and dishes, no N21 13 whining over every snack and meal. For him, space and time were N21 14 open: his schedule was his own. He failed to convince her that N21 15 travel wore him down, that the motels were bad and the food worse, N21 16 that like it or not, the days on the road were part of his job and N21 17 paid the bills.

N21 18 A tractor rig roared by, gears clashing. He shouted into the N21 19 phone: "There's an old rancher I've got to see in Show Low N21 20 tomorrow. Probably I'll camp up the road a ways and get there in N21 21 the afternoon." Her faint good-bye had just a trace of N21 22 edge.

N21 23 By then it was dark. From Clifton the road rose to Morenci, N21 24 then climbed beside the rim of the Phelps Dodge pit, where a N21 25 mountain of copper once stood. He drove for miles, the pit gaping N21 26 beside him. There were no other cars. He pulled off the road three N21 27 times to gaze into the void. Far below, the lights of heavy N21 28 equipment flickered through clouds of dust, and the growl of N21 29 engines gusted with the wind.

N21 30 There was a hole like that in his dream. He slept in the back N21 31 of the Bronco with the seat folded down and dreamt of falling into N21 32 a void. The empty darkness pulled him and he wanted to surrender to N21 33 it, but a cyclone fence, like the fence around the Phelps Dodge N21 34 pit, held him back. In his dream he searched for a hole in the N21 35 wire, so that he could be pulled through and fall forever. But the N21 36 seamless fence held firm, and he found no passage to the welcoming, N21 37 irresistible abyss.

N21 38 Awaking from the dream, he felt his wifeÕs anger like a N21 39 presence beside him. He knew one day she would do something extreme N21 40 - go crazy or just go away - he wasnÕt sure what. He feared for the N21 41 boy and the girl, whose guileless affection still surprised him. N21 42 Would she take them or leave them behind?

N21 43 It was cold. The whiskey heÕd drunk before turning in had made N21 44 him thirsty, but he didnÕt want to stir from his cocoon. He pulled N21 45 the purple sleeping bag around him and gazed at stars through the N21 46 window of the Bronco. He wondered if his wife ever wakened in the N21 47 night, sick with worry for him.

N21 48 He awoke again at first light, with a headache from the N21 49 bourbon. He was in an empty Forest Service campground where N21 50 slick-barked trees arched above concrete tables. One cup of coffee N21 51 would make him well. Two cups, and he would write up his notes from N21 52 yesterday and take his time getting on the road. He fetched the N21 53 Nescaf<*_>e-acute<*/> and campstove from his provisions, then went N21 54 to fill the bottle. He found spigots but no water. The campground N21 55 was still shut down for winter.

N21 56 He had to pin his hopes on finding a cafe in Alpine, by the map N21 57 no more than forty miles away. He stuffed the sleeping bag in its N21 58 sack and stowed it with his other gear. Then he put the Bronco on N21 59 the two-lane headed north.

N21 60 The road cut into a mountainside of bare rock, prickly pear, N21 61 and scrub. It rose and fell without rhythm, twisting in hairpins. N21 62 He never touched fourth gear and kept downshifting into second. On N21 63 his right was the mountain. On his left, the land fell away in N21 64 cliffs. Canyons and mesas, which the map said belonged to the San N21 65 Carlos Apaches, stretched to the horizon. He stopped and got out N21 66 once to take in the view, but a cold wind drove him back to the N21 67 truck and soon he drove on.

N21 68 Coffee might have smoothed the rough edges and eased the N21 69 headache. Without it, he felt disassembled, as though parts of him N21 70 had elected to go separately through the day and refused to merge. N21 71 Distractedly he talked to himself as he drove and heard himself N21 72 repeat his own name, ÒGeorge Cross, George Cross,Ó N21 73 in the tone of someone trying to remember an acquaintance.

N21 74 He surveyed the infinity of canyons stretching westward and N21 75 heard himself speak again. ÒYou couldnÕt justify fifty an N21 76 acre for that. No timber to cut, too rough to graze without losing N21 77 cows, too remote for recreation. All you pay for,Ó this was N21 78 PearceÕs favorite line, Òis to keep hell from shining N21 79 through.Ó

N21 80 As an appraiser for the Bureau of Land Management, Cross saw a N21 81 lot of property like that. Working for the government and valuing N21 82 land for exchanges and rights-of-way wasnÕt the stuff of high N21 83 drama, least of all by his wifeÕs standards, but he earned a fair N21 84 living and, as Pearce his supervisor put it, ÒWeÕre the N21 85 ones who deal with whatÕs real - with actual values, not with N21 86 expectation.Ó

N21 87 After half an hour, Cross had driven a dozen miles, no more. He N21 88 was rounding a hairpin, climbing slowly in second, when two N21 89 grizzled men leaped in front of his truck.

N21 90 ÓBandits!Ó he thought. He had to stop or hit them.

N21 91 Then: ÒNot bandits. Apaches.Ó He was almost N21 92 stopped. ÒMaybe prospectorsÓ - they had a weathered N21 93 look.

N21 94 The men waved their arms. Grins - or grimaces, it was hard to N21 95 tell - split their ragged beards. They were brown and very small, N21 96 their skin sun-baked, the original color indeterminable. Their N21 97 dingy coats hid layers of shirts that puffed them out, making their N21 98 arms look as useless as a tickÕs.

N21 99 When Cross stopped, the men hurried to the side of the road and N21 100 scooped up a clutch of day packs and plastic shopping bags. Then N21 101 one came running to the truck; the other shuffled behind.

N21 102 Cross realized with fear and disappointment he would have to N21 103 pick them up. The road was empty. They were needy. They were dark N21 104 enough to be Apache, and hard luck enough as well. He prayed they N21 105 were as harmless as they looked.

N21 106 Cross got out and unlocked the back of the Bronco. N21 107 ÒThank you, man,Ó said the one who had run. N21 108 ÒGracias,Ó said the other, out of breath, and Cross N21 109 realized they were not Apache, but Hispano. ÒThis is one N21 110 bad deserted road, man. We could of waited here N21 111 forever.Ò

N21 112 The two wizened men, each a foot shorter than he, climbed into N21 113 the space that last night served as a camper. He told them to make N21 114 room for themselves, and they shoved aside his duffel, the cooler, N21 115 the shovel he carried for off-road trouble, and the cardboard box N21 116 that held his sleeping bag and other gear.

N21 117 Cross closed the cargo door. As he climbed back in the driverÕs N21 118 seat, the reek of unwashed clothes and bodies assaulted him. It was N21 119 the smell of crowded rooms and shantytowns, and it made him think, N21 120 ÒA person who is desperate will do anything.Ó Again N21 121 he felt a surge of fear.

N21 122 He wondered if they could smell him too, apprehensive as he N21 123 was. Did they have a gun in one of those bags or the pocket of an N21 124 overcoat? Stealing glances in the rearview mirror, he put the truck N21 125 in gear and resumed the slalom of the highway.

N21 126 He could see one but not the other. The one who had run now sat N21 127 directly behind him, out of view, but the other, leaning against N21 128 the cargo box, coughed some, then seemed to drop into a trance, N21 129 eyes unfocused, face impassive. He was too weathered for Cross to N21 130 tell his age. He could have been seventy and young-looking. N21 131 He could have been thirty and old before his time.

N21 132 ÓWhere are you headed?Ó asked Cross.

N21 133 ÓSpringerville,Ó came the voice behind him. The one who N21 134 had run. He pronounced it Sprin-ger-ville, with the g N21 135 hard. It was not an accent Cross could place but seemed oddly N21 136 familiar just the same.

N21 137 ÓI can take you as far as Alpine.Ó

N21 138 ÓOkay, thatÕs good. Thank you very much.Ó

N21 139 ÓYouÕre on a lonely road.Ó

N21 140 ÓYah, we could of freezed last night.Ó

N21 141 ÓYou slept out?Ó

N21 142 ÓYah, we had a ride to Morenci yesterday. Then we N21 143 walked up the mountain from there. Musta been twenty miles. ThatÕs N21 144 a steep mountain too, we had to rest every coupla miles. When it N21 145 was dark, we just made a fire and laid down. But I was afraid it N21 146 was gonna rain, and we could of freezed if it did.Ó

N21 147 Cross looked in the mirror. The other rider smiled, and coughed N21 148 again.

N21 149 ÓSee?Ó said the voice behind him. ÒMy partnerÕs N21 150 sick. ItÕs too hard for him to travel like this. He was already N21 151 sick when we left Ju<*_>a-acute<*/>rez. That was April nine. What N21 152 day is it now?Ó

N21 153 ÓThe twenty-third,Ó Cross said, and added, N21 154 ÒI think.Ó But he knew very well it was the N21 155 twenty-third. The I think was about his growing N21 156 uncertainty. They were wetbacks. He shouldnÕt be transporting N21 157 wetbacks. And what about their story? All that time to come as far N21 158 as most people would drive in a day? And sleeping on the cold N21 159 ground in the mountains in April - just lying down?

N21 160 ÓSee? That makes two weeks from Jua<*_>unch<*/>ez to N21 161 here, no?Ó

N21 162 ÓYeah, I guess,Ó Cross agreed.

N21 163 ÓAnd he been sick all along. He has to get home to N21 164 Cortez in Colorado. He has a wife there, see? But he had to go down N21 165 to Zacatecas, where he was born, to get some certain papers. N21 166 Certificates from the church and things like that. They donÕt give N21 167 a green card without those papers.Ó

N21 168 ÓDid he get them?Ó

N21 169 ÓOh, sure.Ó Cross heard the crackle of flimsy N21 170 plastic as the man dug around among the bags theyÕd brought. Then a N21 171 white K mart sack was thrust forward. It didnÕt seem to contain N21 172 much. ÒWith these papers in here,Ó the man N21 173 continued. ÒJes<*_>u-acute<*/>s can stay legal as long as N21 174 he wants. They got an amnesty goin now, see. All you got to do is N21 175 show your papers by the deadline.Ó

N21 176 ÓThatÕs good,Ó said Cross. HeÕd heard about the N21 177 amnesty program. The newspapers said lawyers everywhere were making N21 178 bundles with the filings. ÒHow about you? Are you from down N21 179 in Mexico too?Ó

N21 180 ÓNo, I come from Espa<*_>n-tilde<*/>ola. Over there in N21 181 New Mexico.Ó

N21 182 ÓYeah?Ó Now Cross recognized the accent. N21 183 Espa<*_>n-tilde<*/>ola was practically next door. He said, N21 184 ÒI live in Santa Fe.Ó

N21 185 ÓI got an uncle, I think he been working at the capitol N21 186 for many years. Albert Moya, you know him?Ó

N21 187 Cross thought a moment to show politeness. He knew some people N21 188 at the capitol but surely not a relative of this man. ÒNo, N21 189 I guess not. WhatÕs he do?Ó

N21 190 ÓI donno. Maybe just sweeping up. I ainÕt been back N21 191 there in a long time. Probably heÕs dead now.Ó

N21 192 Cross adjusted the mirror so he could see the nephew of Albert N21 193 Moya. ÓIs your name Moya, too?Ó

N21 194 ÓNo, Trujillo. Antonio Trujillo. Call me Tony.Ó N21 195 Tony TrujilloÕs eyebrows were black and bushy, his beard gray. He N21 196 wore a baseball cap that said ÒMontevista Feeds.Ó N21 197 Tony Trujillo stretched out a thin brown hand. Cross reached back N21 198 over his shoulder and shook it. It was as dry as a leaf.

N21 199 ÓIÕm George Cross.Ó

N21 200 ÓAnd my partner here is Jes<*_>u-acutes Zuniga. He N21 201 donÕt speak English.Ó Then another brown hand appeared over N21 202 his shoulder. It too felt leaflike, but warm, a leaf in the sun.

N21 203 Cross said, ÒMucho gusto,Ó N21 204 which was about all the Spanish he knew.

N21 205 Jes<*_>u-acute<*/>s Zuniga answered in Spanish, going on for a N21 206 minute or more. N21 207 N22 1 <#FROWN:N22\>Bees Bees Bees

N22 2 Joanna Scott

N22 3 Francis is fifteen years old, ill with a fever. He is N22 4 asleep, dreaming, and in his dream he is crawling on hands and N22 5 knees across a narrow bridge. When he reaches the middle of the N22 6 bridge he stops and pokes his head over the side, expecting to see N22 7 his own shadow floating on the creek below. Instead he sees a man's N22 8 hand and part of the arm stretching toward him - the rest of the N22 9 body is a formless white mass in the murky water. As the hand N22 10 glides beneath the bridge the boy is suddenly afraid that it will N22 11 rise up from the other side and pull him off the bridge and drown N22 12 him. He squeezes his eyes shut, waiting for the worst. Nothing N22 13 happens. After a minute or so he blinks and peeks out at the water, N22 14 only to discover that he is back in his own bed, his nurse Nanette N22 15 is mumbling to herself, and the sky outside the window is the flat N22 16 gray of another November afternoon.

N22 17 Just then, to his delight, the gray fills with snow, as though N22 18 someone standing below the window had broken open seedpods and N22 19 tossed up fistfuls of white puffs. It is snowing. He is not going N22 20 to drown. It is snowing in swirls and waves. When he closes his N22 21 eyes again he sees the snow in his mind. When he opens his eyes a N22 22 second later he sees nothing.

N22 23 Bees are the souls of the dead. They are the tears of Christ. N22 24 They are the offspring of the nymph Melissa, who was transformed by N22 25 Zeus into a queen bee. If a bee brushes against an infant's lips he N22 26 will grow up with the gift of song. Bees are spontaneously N22 27 generated in a bull-calf's crooked horn. Bees are good luck. Bees N22 28 are bad luck. Bees were sent straight from Paradise by God to N22 29 provide the wax for church candles. During the winter bees neither N22 30 hibernate nor die - they fly to Barbary and sing the captured Moors N22 31 to sleep.

N22 32 "Francis, where are you, Francis? Nanette is not N22 33 amused. Not in the least is Nanette amused. Come out now, Nanette N22 34 has something for you. Aha! You wicked boy, you thought you could N22 35 hide from your old nurse, such a foolish child. You think Nanette N22 36 can't see you crouching beneath that chair? Sweet pig, here's a N22 37 pinch for all the trouble you put me through, here's a pinch for N22 38 mussing your clothes, and here's a good sharp pinch as a N22 39 warning.

N22 40 "Oh, darling pipkin, don't cry. Nanette doesn't like to see you N22 41 cry. Here, Francis, here's a special treat for you today, so wipe N22 42 the tears from your face and be a soldier like your papa. My little N22 43 rabbit, there's so much you don't know yet, including how ugly your N22 44 Nanette is growing as she grows old, a good thing you're still a N22 45 baby and too young to care. You won't despise me when you're a man, N22 46 you won't ever despise me, will you, Francis? A five-year-old boy N22 47 can do as he pleases but Nanette will never have a choice, no, N22 48 Nanette is first and foremost your loyal servant, she's born with N22 49 an instinct and will never waver, for better or worse, all her life N22 50 long. Now there's a prince, no more sobs, and Nanette will give you N22 51 a reward. Close your eyes, go on, now open your mouth, open wide, N22 52 and prepare to taste a miracle.

N22 53 "Well? You can't tell me you've ever tasted anything so N22 54 marvelous. Do you want another taste? You don't even have to say N22 55 please, your smile says enough. For such a smile you will have N22 56 another taste, and another, two more splendid tastes! Ah, you'd N22 57 finish the whole jar if you had your way. But Nanette is in charge, N22 58 she decides how much is good for you, and three spoonfuls, she N22 59 declares, is quite enough.

N22 60 "But you are confused. How could you know what you've tasted if N22 61 you've never tasted anything like it before? You, dear Francis, N22 62 have just tasted the nectar of bees. You'll never forget the taste, N22 63 will you? I'm sorry to say this first taste will never be matched, N22 64 no matter how wonderful it tastes in the future. My unfortunate N22 65 boy. From now on you'll want more and more, yet no matter how much N22 66 you get you'll never have enough. Like the taste of woman. Just N22 67 like the taste of woman. You can blame old Nanette for the N22 68 introduction!"

N22 69 Francis Huber was born in Switzerland in 1750. When he was N22 70 fifteen years old he suffered from an infection of the eye, which N22 71 left him blind. When he was seventeen his parents moved permanently N22 72 to their country estate outside Lausanne and hired a tutor to N22 73 instruct him in various subjects that might be useful later in N22 74 life: philosophy, theology, Latin. The tutor found the boy rather N22 75 an indifferent student and soon grew bored with their daily N22 76 lessons. For amusement he went fishing for trout at night.

N22 77 One night Francis secretly followed the tutor. Even though he N22 78 had been totally blind for two years, he had spent every summer of N22 79 his life at the estate and knew the countryside intimately. He felt N22 80 his way along a path about thirty yards behind the tutor, trailing N22 81 after him up the rocky slope of a hill and back down into a creek N22 82 bed. He hid behind a boulder while the tutor slipped off his N22 83 buckled shoes and walked straight into the icy torrent.

N22 84 A few days later the tutor told him to recite in Latin. N22 85 "What should I recite?" Francis asked. N22 86 "Anything," the tutor said. "Make up a N22 87 story." So Francis began a story in Latin about a man who N22 88 went fishing at night with a lantern and club, but after a few N22 89 words he slipped back into French. The tutor didn't correct him. He N22 90 described the round globe attached to a tube of metal three feet N22 91 long, explained with remarkable precision how the man placed a N22 92 candle inside the sealed globe and used the lantern to illuminate N22 93 the river bottom. The trout, fascinated by the light, followed the N22 94 globe when the man submerged it in the water and rose as he lifted N22 95 the lantern. When the trout appeared at the surface the man struck N22 96 them with the club.

N22 97 All the names and purposes of things Francis knew from his N22 98 nurse Nanette. She was an inexhaustible source. But his tutor N22 99 concluded that he was either a seventeen-year-old charlatan who had N22 100 been feigning blindness, or a genius. After much probing and N22 101 testing, he decided that Francis was a genius and for the next few N22 102 years he served as an important ally, convincing the boy's parents, N22 103 despite Nanette's warnings, to indulge him in whatever he N22 104 wished.

N22 105 When Francis was eighteen he was given his first strawkeep of N22 106 bees. By the following summer he had three separate colonies. After N22 107 long years of patient study he became an expert, and with the help N22 108 of a servant named Burnens he carried out a series of experiments N22 109 that laid the foundations of our scientific knowledge of the life N22 110 history of the honeybee.

N22 111 His nurse Nanette grew senile before his reputation was widely N22 112 established. He was sorry for that. She had been, however N22 113 unintentionally, his inspiration through his youth. It was Nanette N22 114 who had nurtured his curiosity in the world - he had her to thank N22 115 for his expertise.

N22 116 If a girl leads her lover past a beehive and the bees rush out N22 117 to sting him, she knows that he has been unfaithful. If a man N22 118 carries the bill of a woodpecker in his pocket he will never be N22 119 stung. When a swarm passes a front door it means a stranger will N22 120 arrive the next day. If a swarm lands on the house, the owner will N22 121 become rich. If a swarm lands on a rotten branch, it will bring N22 122 misfortune. And if a man cuts down a tree filled with bees, there N22 123 will be a death in the family.

N22 124 Honeybees are skilled in astronomy and long anticipated N22 125 Copernicus's diagrams in the patterns of their dances. Honeybees N22 126 can predict rain. Honeybees can even suck their young, completely N22 127 formed, from flowers.

N22 128 In general, the eighteenth century had been a dull century for N22 129 science so far, in Francis Huber's opinion. In the face of the N22 130 controversy over the source of life, van Leeuwenhoek's compound N22 131 microscope was consulted with increasing determination, and now N22 132 that minute structures could be observed directly, scientists set N22 133 out to describe the particular functions of individual organs, N22 134 believing that the microscope, in time, would expose the true N22 135 nature of life. So science was concerned primarily with descriptive N22 136 work, and the question of a special vital animating spirit was left N22 137 hanging, like the conclusion of a novel. Vitalists and mechanists N22 138 alike simply kept on reading and charting the world - they'd find N22 139 the answer eventually, if they were patient and persistent.

N22 140 While other men made taffeta pants for toads to collect N22 141 specimens of toad semen, Francis Huber was exploring the complex N22 142 system inside the beehive. From the beginning of history, honeybees N22 143 had been a rich source of metaphorical illumination, used by N22 144 writers to reveal fundamental aspects of human nature. Francis N22 145 Huber decided that if philosophers could make so many useful and N22 146 expansive comparisons, he could do the same under the guise of N22 147 science - eventually his research would be used to heal the human N22 148 body, as truth is used to heal the soul.

N22 149 He had learned from his nurse Nanette the importance of N22 150 developing his five senses when he was a young boy. She had taught N22 151 him how to roll a chestnut between the sole of his shoe and the N22 152 ground and then to peel it with a penknife. She had fed him honey, N22 153 chocolate, and milk laced with kirschwasser. She had pinched and N22 154 petted and bathed him and combed his hair until it was as smooth as N22 155 silk. Thanks to her, Francis was more alive - if life is measured N22 156 by awareness - than most of us, even after he'd lost the faculty of N22 157 sight. Each new sensation of touch, taste, sound, and smell had its N22 158 analogue in a memory that he was quick to retrieve; each new N22 159 experience evoked a vivid d<*_>e-acute<*/>j<*_>a-grave<*/> vu, and N22 160 often he felt as though he were repeating his life. Because he N22 161 seemed able to remember whatever he'd experienced, Francis N22 162 convinced those around him that he knew everything about N22 163 everything. His grandeur grew as his experiences accumulated - his N22 164 parents, his servant, and later his wife considered him the genius N22 165 that his tutor had announced him to be when he was seventeen years N22 166 old.

N22 167 With such sensitivity to sensation, it was natural that he N22 168 cultivated the parallel faculty: imagination. With remarkable N22 169 accuracy he could imagine the experiences of others; he had watched N22 170 attentively for fifteen years, and now with a few sensory clues he N22 171 could follow people in his mind almost as though he were observing N22 172 them. The cook seasoning stew, the gardener pulling weeds, children N22 173 ice-skating, his parents sipping wine - he experienced these in the N22 174 richest detail. Perhaps empathy rather than imagination would N22 175 more accurately describe this skill. But whatever it might be N22 176 called, it was a skill that turned this ordinary man into an N22 177 extraordinary scientist. His knowledge of bees, tested and N22 178 confirmed by his servant's observations, went unsurpassed for N22 179 decades.

N22 180 A genius? No, he was too steady to be a genius, too content, N22 181 too appreciative. He had no capacity for a genius's agony. Each N22 182 little discovery delighted him, sometimes even made him laugh N22 183 aloud, and opened up possibilities of new discoveries. He spent his N22 184 days imagining the life of bees and with the help of Burnens N22 185 comparing his imagination with the facts, facts that were like N22 186 sweet tastes, like spoonfuls of honey, satisfying and enticing. N22 187 Somewhere deep inside him was buried a sorrow, perhaps with a tinge N22 188 of bitterness, over the great loss of his sight. But life to him N22 189 was too full of pleasant surprises to dwell on what he'd lost. N22 190 N23 1 Crocodilopolis

N23 2 Matt Forbeck

N23 3 There I was, nursing my lunch at a corner table in Rick's N23 4 American Cafe and wondering - amongst other things - how I could N23 5 talk Afif into shutting off the elevator music streaming out of his N23 6 damned juke-box, when all hell broke loose. The front door N23 7 of the joint suddenly smashed flat down on the floor. It narrowly N23 8 missed crushing the bouncer sitting on the bar stool beside the now N23 9 empty doorway.

N23 10 Now, I've never been overly fond of that man - I mean the N23 11 bouncer, whose name I can never seem to remember - but I winced N23 12 when the first of Wu Han's shocktroopers stomped into the saloon N23 13 and shot what's-his-name down in cold blood. Immediately after N23 14 which, of course, I grabbed my beer, turned over the table in front N23 15 of me and sat down behind it.

N23 16 I was scrabbled around behind the table. I set down my beer and N23 17 drew my gun, making sure it was loaded. The rest of the Pharaoh's N23 18 boys in bronze skin tones waltzed into the place and gunned down N23 19 everything that was standing. Luckily, the rest of Rick's patrons N23 20 had taken their cue from the falling door and had quickly found N23 21 shelter from the hail of lead falling in their general directions. N23 22 No one else died.

N23 23 Old joke: Why is Mobius so desperate for cash? So he can afford N23 24 to buy shirts for his soldiers. Okay, so I only heard it a few N23 25 weeks ago, but I've been told it's been around for a while.

N23 26 The bullets hit other things, though. The bottles lining the N23 27 back wall of the bar burst into sparkling shards of alcohol-covered N23 28 glass. Light fixtures shattered, half-finished meals spattered off N23 29 tables and holes pocked the walls. Providentially, a bullet shot N23 30 right <}_><-|>though<+|>through<}/> the front of the jukebox and N23 31 cut short 'The Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company B' in the middle N23 32 of its twenty-second playing of the day. Long live rock and N23 33 roll.

N23 34 No matter what you may read in your favorite pulp magazine, N23 35 discretion is the better part of valor. I didn't see any sense N23 36 in wasting my precious hide by capping one of the uninvented guests N23 37 with my Peacemaker just to be repaid by being knocked six feet N23 38 under by a burst from a KK81. So I just sat back, sipped the head N23 39 off of my beer and wondered where the hell those so-called Mystery N23 40 Men were when you needed them? The old radio-show Shadow might N23 41 know, but these real-life downs couldn't find their own shoelaces N23 42 without directions. Eventually, the racket let up.

N23 43 Then I heard a voice shout out something in Arabic. Although I N23 44 never admit it in public, I do have a rudimentary grasp of the N23 45 language. It comes in handy in my line of work. People say the N23 46 damnedest things right in front of you when they think you can't N23 47 understand them. But this was Terran Arabic, Mobius' language, the N23 48 Arabic of the invaders, and it still gives me problems from time to N23 49 time. But I did catch the man dropping my name.

N23 50 Nobody had to tell me that when a squad of shocktroopers beats N23 51 down the door of your favorite speakeasy and starts slinging lead N23 52 before even asking your name, it's time to skedaddle. There was a N23 53 back door near my table. No coincidence - I had planned it that N23 54 way. Before the guys in the white skirts and way out-of-style N23 55 headgear could punctuate their question with another round of N23 56 gunplay, I was gone, lost in the winding, narrow streets and N23 57 alleyways of Cairo.

N23 58 This was not the Cairo I had visited in the more carefree days N23 59 of my youth. It had been changed with the coming of the invaders N23 60 and now resembled something more out of an Indiana Jones flick than N23 61 any city ever seen on this earth. Even stranger, the Pharaoh's N23 62 artificial sun burned overhead, perpetually in the high noon N23 63 position, adding its heat to the already sweltering Egyptian day. N23 64 Still, one sun or two, I knew where I was going and how to get N23 65 there, and I arrived soon enough.

N23 66 Omar had given me a key to his bar in case of just such a N23 67 situation as this one. Rumrunners weren't exactly popular with Wu N23 68 Han right now, and you never knew when you were going to need a N23 69 safe place to hide. At that point in my life, I was thankful to N23 70 have a safehouse to run to.

N23 71 Particularly since smuggling liquor was just a cover for what I N23 72 was actually doing. I mean, sure, I brought booze into the Nile N23 73 Empire, but that was only to help pay the bills. It was what I N23 74 bought out of the country that was important: guns.

N23 75 To all people in Egypt, I was nothing more than a small time N23 76 rumrunner. To Omar, my contact with the Egyptian resistance N23 77 movement, and Pilar, my contact with the Israeli-NATO forces, I was N23 78 a godsend. The weapons Omar and his people supplied me with went N23 79 straight to Pilar and her people, who distributed them to the N23 80 multinational armed forces stationed in Israel.

N23 81 The soldiers were able to use the Terran weapons throughout the N23 82 Nile Empire, where their own armament was useless. Thus, Omar, N23 83 Pilar and myself were able to do some good for our own version of N23 84 reality and turn a tidy profit for our efforts. Not that any of us N23 85 cared about the money, though. This had to do with honor. We'd have N23 86 done the same for nothing at all.

N23 87 Omar's was virtually empty when I sneaked into it through the N23 88 back door. The place was in the same state as Rick's had been when N23 89 I'd left it. The joint's owner and namesake was busily sweeping up N23 90 when I walked out of the back room and into the saloon. He was the N23 91 only one there - unless you counted the odd body or two on the N23 92 floor.

N23 93 Omar looked up and dropped his broom when I entered. A look of N23 94 surprise crossed his dark-bearded face, then a smile. N23 95 "Angel, my friend! I'm so happy to see that you are not N23 96 dead." We embraced quickly, and then I asked him what had N23 97 happened.

N23 98 "You old Spaniard, are your ears stuffed with wax? Wu N23 99 Han has declared war on illegal liquor, the kind that you bring N23 100 into this fair city. My establishment is simply the latest casualty N23 101 in this battle." The burly Egyptian picked up his broom and N23 102 resumed sweeping.

N23 103 I checked the faces on the bodies. One of them belonged to N23 104 Basaam, a bartender who had always served me liberally strong N23 105 drinks. The others were not familiar. As I stood over the N23 106 bartender, staring at him, Omar stopped sweeping for a moment and N23 107 said with great intent, "My friend, they were looking for N23 108 you."

N23 109 I stopped feeling sorry for the dead and decided to concentrate N23 110 on the living instead. "They asked for me by N23 111 name?"

N23 112 "Yes, just before they shot Basaam. You look N23 113 troubled." Concern showed clearly on Omar's N23 114 well-tanned face.

N23 115 I explained to him that a similar thing had just happened to me N23 116 in Rick's Cafe just minutes ago while I'd been waiting to meet N23 117 Pilar. Omar's concerned look turned suddenly to one of surprise N23 118 mixed with fear. "Then she is not with you?"

N23 119 "What? No, I told you I was waiting to meet her. N23 120 Why?"

N23 121 "The shocktroopers, my friend, they left you a message, N23 122 one I did not believe could be true."

N23 123 Omar was scaring me now. I grabbed him by the shoulders and N23 124 held him firmly at arm's length, staring hard into his saddened N23 125 eyes. "What message? What did they say?"

N23 126 "The leader, he told me that they have her captive. N23 127 That they are now holding Pilar, but that they want you. If you do N23 128 not come forward soon, she will die."

N23 129 I pushed Omar away and tried to absorb what he had said. N23 130 Failing that, I dashed out through the front door of the cool, dark N23 131 saloon and into the hot, sunlit street. I leaped over a grey-haired N23 132 old drunk in filthy robes who was lying outside the doorway.

N23 133 By the time I made it to my apartment, my heart was pounding N23 134 against my rib cage like it wanted out. I was almost out of breath. N23 135 Shouting Pilar's name, I burst into the loft over the corner N23 136 grocery store, only to trip over a small stool that had been tossed N23 137 in front of the doorway. Even as I was falling and grumbling to N23 138 myself about someone's poor choice in rearranging the furniture, N23 139 shots rang out, and two bullets pierced the air where my head had N23 140 been.

N23 141 Lucky.

N23 142 As I hit the floor, I rolled to my left and took cover behind a N23 143 high-backed couch that was there. Then I pulled out my gun and took N23 144 a deep breath. The shots had come from near the window on the other N23 145 side of the room.

N23 146 I counted three and then popped up on my knees, saw two N23 147 soldiers looking in my direction and drew a bead on the man holding N23 148 the smoking gun. After pumping three bullets into the N23 149 shocktrooper's bare chest, I realized that I probably should've N23 150 shot his pal first. He had the Tommy gun.

N23 151 I ducked back down, hugged the floor and wormed my way N23 152 underneath the seat of the couch while a burst from the submachine N23 153 gun stitched a deadly design across its back. Using the barrel of N23 154 my revolver to poke aside the fringe that hung from the couch to N23 155 the floor, I saw the soldier glaring nervously at his handiwork. He N23 156 was probably wondering whether or not it was safe to look behind N23 157 it.

N23 158 My first shot tagged him in his right arm, and he dropped his N23 159 gun. Then he turned and ran for the balcony. I started to crawl out N23 160 from under the couch, but halfway out I realized that he'd be long N23 161 gone before I'd make it.

N23 162 Just as the shocktrooper made it outside, my second shot caught N23 163 him in his right shoulder-blade, spinning him around against the N23 164 railing. Pain and fear warred across his face. My last shot pierced N23 165 his forehead and knocked off his headdress, sending him crashing to N23 166 the street below.

N23 167 Crawling out from beneath the couch, I ran to the balcony and N23 168 looked down. A crowd was already beginning to form around the N23 169 fallen soldier. More of Wu Han's men would be here soon.

N23 170 The apartment had been ransacked, torn to pieces, presumably by N23 171 the two recently deceased men. Could they have been looking for a N23 172 clue as to the location of Abdul's warehouse? Did these idiots N23 173 think I'd leave a map to the place lying around?

N23 174 I kept the location to that place secret, even the fact that I N23 175 knew where it was. That kind of knowledge can be dangerous to its N23 176 possessors. As such, I had told nobody that I knew where it was, N23 177 not even Pilar. In fact, I don't think even Abdul himself was aware N23 178 of my knowledge, and I wasn't about to tell him.

N23 179 The man who'd let me in on the whereabouts of Abdul's hideout N23 180 had apparently been a bit too free with that information for his N23 181 own good. My favorite English drinking companion, old George Howe, N23 182 the independently wealthy ex-actor, had stumbled onto the place N23 183 during one of his infamous binges. Within the week, his body was N23 184 found in a Chinatown alley. His tongue was missing.

N23 185 He'd been crawling over the moonlit rooftops of the city in an N23 186 effort to evade the soldiers that had chased him out of King Tut's, N23 187 where he'd started a brawl with one of Mobius' men over how silly N23 188 he thought grown men looked in skirts. A quick fist fight and a N23 189 dash up a back stairwell later, George found himself leaping from N23 190 one Cairo rooftop to another, leaving his pursuers vainly hunting N23 191 for him in the labyrinth of alleyways behind the bar. It was during N23 192 his escape that George made the discovery that would change his N23 193 life and mine.

N23 194 As he was strolling along across one particularly large N23 195 rooftop, George noticed a patch of brightness streaming out through N23 196 a skylight before him. N23 197 N24 1 <#FROWN:N24\>VERY OLD BONES

N24 2 fire and brimstone so tortured peter phelan that he had to N24 3 paint them to get rid of them

N24 4 fiction

N24 5 By WILLIAM KENNEDY

N24 6 IN EARLY childhood Peter Phelan had heard the Malachi events N24 7 spoken of in cryptic bits by his mother, later heard more from his N24 8 brother Francis, who was seven when it happened, and in time heard N24 9 it garbled by street-corner wags who repeated the mocking rhyme:

N24 10 If you happen to be a Neighbor,

N24 11 If you happen to be a witch.

N24 12 Stay the hell away from Malachi,

N24 13 That loony son of a bitch.

N24 14 When the story took him over, Peter moved out of portrait N24 15 sketching into scenes of dynamic action and surreal drama that in N24 16 their early stages emerged as homage to Goya's Caprichos, N24 17 Disparates and Los desastres de la guerra. But in N24 18 his extended revelation of the Malachi and Lizzie tragedy (and N24 19 mindful of Goya's credo that the painter selected from the universe N24 20 whatever seemed appropriate, that he chose features from many N24 21 individuals and their acts, and combined them so ingeniously that N24 22 he earned the title of inventor and not servile copyist), Peter N24 23 imposed his own original vision on scandalous history, creating a N24 24 body of work that owed only an invisible inspiration to Goya.

N24 25 He reconstituted the faces and corpora of Lizzie and Malachi N24 26 and others, the principal room and hearth of the McIlhenny N24 27 three-room cottage, the rushing waters of the Staatskill that N24 28 flowed past it, the dark foreboding of the sycamore grove where N24 29 dwelled the Good Neighbors, as Crip Devlin arcanely called those N24 30 binate creatures whose diabolical myths brought on that terrible N24 31 night in June of 1887.

N24 32 His first completed painting, The Dance, was of N24 33 Lizzie by the sycamores, her bare legs and feet visible to N24 34 mid-thigh in a forward step, or leap or kick, her left hand hiking N24 35 the hem of her skirt to free her legs for the dance. But is it a N24 36 dance? In the background of the painting is the stand of trees that N24 37 played such a major role in Lizzie's life, and to the left of her N24 38 looms a shadow of a man, or perhaps it is a half-visible tree in N24 39 the dusky light. If it is a tree, it is beckoning to Lizzie. If it N24 40 is a man, perhaps he is about to dance with her.

N24 41 But is that a dance she is doing, or is it, as one who saw her N24 42 there said of it, an invitation to her thighs?

N24 43 In the painting, it is a dance, and it is an invitation.

N24 44 Why would Lizzie McIlhenny, a plain beauty of divine form and N24 45 pale brown hair to the middle of her back, choose to dance with a N24 46 tree, or a shadow, or a man (if man it ever was or could be) at the N24 47 edge of a meadow, just as a summer night began its starry course? N24 48 Aged 26, married ten years to Malachi McIlhenny, a man of N24 49 formidable girth whose chief skill was his strength, a man of ill N24 50 luck and no prospects, Lizzie (nee Elizabeth Cronin) had within her N24 51 the spirit of a sensuous bird.

N24 52 Malachi imposed no limits of space on their marriage, and so N24 53 she came and went like a woman without a husband, dutiful to their N24 54 childless home, ever faithful to Malachi and, when the bad luck N24 55 came to him, his canny helpmate: first trapping yellow birds in the N24 56 meadow and selling them to friends for 50 cents each, but leaving N24 57 that when she found that fashioning rag birds out of colored cloth, N24 58 yarn, thread, feathers and quills was far more profitable; that she N24 59 could sell them for a dollar, or two, depending on their size and N24 60 beauty, to the John G. Myers dry-goods and fancy-goods store which, N24 61 in turn, would sell them for four and five dollars as fast as N24 62 Lizzie could make them.

N24 63 At the end of a week in early June, she made and sold 16 birds, N24 64 all of a different hue, and earned 27 dollars, more money than N24 65 Malachi had ever earned from wages in any two weeks, sometimes N24 66 three. The money so excited Lizzie that, when crossing the meadow N24 67 on her way home from the store, she kicked off her shoes, threw N24 68 herself into the air and into the wind, danced until breath left N24 69 her, and then collapsed into the tall grass at the edge of the N24 70 sycamore grove, a breathless victim of jubilation.

N24 71 When she regained her breath and sat up, brushing bits of grass N24 72 from her eyelashes, she thought she saw a man's form in the shadowy N24 73 interior of the grove, saw him reach his hand toward her, as if to N24 74 help her stand. Perhaps it was only the rustling of the leaves or N24 75 the sibilance of the night wind, but Lizzie thought she heard the N24 76 words "the force of a gray horse," or so it was N24 77 later said of her. Then, when she pulled herself erect, she was N24 78 gripping not the hand of a man but the low-growing branch N24 79 of a sycamore.

N24 80 Malachi's troubles crystallized in a new way when he lost his N24 81 only cow to a Swedish cardsharp named Lindqvist, a recently arrived N24 82 lumber handler who joined the regular stud poker game at Black Jack N24 83 McCall's Lumber District Saloon, and who bested Malachi in a game N24 84 that saw jacks fall before kings. Lindqvist came to the cow shed N24 85 behind Malachi's cottage and, with notable lack of regret, led N24 86 Malachi's only cow into a territorial future beyond the reach of N24 87 all McIlhennys.

N24 88 The lost cow seemed to confirm to Malachi that his life would N24 89 always be a tissue of misfortune. At the urging of his older N24 90 brother, Matty, who had come to Albany in 1868 and found work on a N24 91 lumber barge, Malachi, at the age of 17, had sold all that the N24 92 family owned and left Ireland in 1870, along with his ten-year-old N24 93 sister, Kathryn, and their ailing father, Eamon, who anticipated N24 94 good health and prosperity in the new world. In Albany the three N24 95 penniless greenhorns settled in with Matty at his Tivoli Hollow N24 96 shanty on the edge of Arbor Hill. Within six months Matty was in N24 97 jail on a seven-year sentence for beating a man to death in a N24 98 saloon fight. Within a year he was dead himself, cause officially N24 99 unknown, the unofficial word being that a guard, brother of the man N24 100 Matty killed, broke Matty's head with an iron pipe when the N24 101 opportunity arose; and then, within two years, Eamon McIlhenny was N24 102 dead at 59 of ruined lungs. These dreadful events, coming so soon N24 103 after the family's arrival in the land of promise and plenty, N24 104 seemed to <}_><-|>forbode<+|>forebode<}/> a dark baggage, a burden N24 105 as fateful as the one the McIlhennys tried to leave behind in N24 106 County Monaghan.

N24 107 Malachi did not yield to any fate. He labored ferociously and N24 108 saved his money. And, as he approached marriage, he bought a small N24 109 plot of country land on Staats Lane, a narrow and little-used road N24 110 that formed a northern boundary of the vast Fitzgibbon (formerly N24 111 Staats) estate, and built on it, with his own hands, the three-room N24 112 cottage that measured seven long paced deep by nine long paces N24 113 wide, the size of a devil's matchbox. In 1882 Malachi moved into N24 114 the cottage with his bride, the sweet and fair Lizzie Cronin, a N24 115 first-generational child of Albany.

N24 116 After five years the marriage was still childless, and Lizzie N24 117 slowly taught herself to be a seamstress as a way of occupying her N24 118 time, making clothing for herself and Malachi. But, with so few N24 119 neighbors, she found other sewing work scarce and her days remained N24 120 half empty, with Malachi working long and erratic hours. And so N24 121 Lizzie looked for her pleasure to the birds, the trees, the meadows N24 122 of the Fitzgibbon estate and the Staatskill, a creek with a N24 123 panoramic cascade, churning waters and placid pools. Malachi saw N24 124 his wife developing into a fey creature of the open air, an elfin N24 125 figure given to the sudden eruption off her tongue of melodies that N24 126 Malachi did not recognize. She began to seem like an otherworldly N24 127 being to Malachi.

N24 128 In the spring of 1887, two days after Malachi lost his cow, the N24 129 waters of the Hudson River, as usual, spilled over their banks and N24 130 rose into the lumber mills, storage sheds and piles of logs that N24 131 were the elemental architecture of Sage's lumberyard, where Malachi N24 132 worked as a handler. One log slipped its berth in the rising N24 133 waters, knocked Malachi down, and pinned his left shoulder against N24 134 a pile of lumber, paralyzing his left arm and reducing the strength N24 135 in his torso by half, perhaps more. So weakened was he that he N24 136 could no longer work as a handler, that useless left arm an N24 137 enduring enemy.

N24 138 He found work one-handedly sickling field grass on the N24 139 Fitzgibbon land, work that provided none of the fellowship that N24 140 prevailed among the lumber handlers. He worked alone, came home N24 141 alone, brooded alone until the arrival of his wife, who grew more N24 142 peculiar with every moment of Malachi's increasing solitude. He N24 143 topped her at morning, again at evening after she returned from her N24 144 communion with the birds of the field, and he failed to create N24 145 either new life in Lizzie or invincible erectness in himself.

N24 146 To test himself against nature, he sought out the woman known N24 147 to the canallers and lumber handlers as the Whore of Limerick, her N24 148 reputation as an overused fuckboat appealing to Malachi's N24 149 free-floating concupiscence. After several iniquitous successes N24 150 that proved the problem existed wholly in Lizzie, Malachi abandoned N24 151 the fuckboat and sought solace again in Lizzie's embrace, which N24 152 cuddled his passion and put it to sleep. He entered heavily into N24 153 the drink then, not only the ale that so relieved and enlivened N24 154 him, but also the potsheen that Crip Devlin brewed in his shed.

N24 155 Drink in such quantity, a departure for Malachi, moved him to N24 156 exotic behavior. He lay on his marriage bed and contemplated the N24 157 encunted life. Cunt was life, he decided. Lizzie came to him N24 158 as he entered into a spermatic frenzy, naked before her and God, N24 159 ready to ride forever into the moist black depths of venery, indeed N24 160 even now riding the newly arrived body of a woman he had never N24 161 seen, whose cunt changed color and shape with every nuance of the N24 162 light, whose lewd postures brimmed his vessel. Ah love, ah fuckery, N24 163 how you enhance the imperial power of sin! When he was done with N24 164 her, she begged for another ride, and he rode her with new frenzy; N24 165 and when he was done again, she begged again and he did her again, N24 166 and then a fourth ride and a fifth; and, as he gave her all the N24 167 lift and pull that was left to him, his member grew bloody in his N24 168 hand. When the woman saw this, she vanished, and Lizzie wept.

N24 169 The following morning when he awoke, Malachi found not only his N24 170 wife already gone from the house, he also found himself bereft of N24 171 his privities, all facets of them, the groin of his stomach and N24 172 thighs as hairless, seamless and flat as those groins on the N24 173 heavenly angels that adorned the walls of Sacred Heart church. Here N24 174 was a curse on a man, if ever a curse was. God was down on Malachi N24 175 - God or the Devil, one.

N24 176 Malachi clothed himself, drained half a jug of potsheen, all he N24 177 had, then pulled the bedcovers over his head. He would hide himself N24 178 while he considered what manner of force would deprive a man not N24 179 only of his blood kin, his strength, his labor and his cow, but N24 180 now, also, his only privities. He would hide himself and N24 181 contemplate how a man was to about living without privities; more N24 182 important, he would think about ways of launching a counterattack N24 183 on God, or the Devil, or whoever had taken them, and he would fight N24 184 that thief of life with all his strength to put those privities N24 185 back where they belonged.

N24 186 In the painting he called The Conspiracy, Malachi's N24 187 nephew, Peter Phelan, created the faces of Malachi and Crip Devlin N24 188 as they sat in Malachi's primitive kitchen with their noses a foot N24 189 apart, the condiments and implements of their plan on the table in N24 190 front of them, or on the floor, or hanging over the fireplace. N24 191 N25 1 <#FROWN:N25\>The Land Below

N25 2 Stewart Wieck

N25 3 Field Report #083

N25 4 To: Overgovernor Red Hand

N25 5 Message Origin: The Land of the Dead

N25 6 After almost three months of searching and reporting, Field N25 7 Major Hopten-Ra is confident that we are in the correct region of N25 8 the Land of the Dead. Soon we embark upon the mission you wisely N25 9 bade us to pursue. Hopten-Ra has declared a two day stop to rest N25 10 and prepare for the fantastic journey that is before us.

N25 11 It is almost humorous where this search has brought us. N25 12 Following everyone's expectations, we began looking in remote N25 13 regions of the Land of the Dead, as cited in my earlier reports. It N25 14 seems that the prize has been under our noses for quite some time. N25 15 We will begin our descent from a region almost overflowing with N25 16 mining operations.

N25 17 When we referred to the diagrams and cross-sectional maps N25 18 provided by the Operations Office, we immediately noticed a handful N25 19 of unexplored caverns. Finally, only this morning, a search partly N25 20 led by Dr. Nasca Belar returned with news of a perpendicular tunnel N25 21 the scientist feels is our answer. While I questioned your N25 22 appointment of a scientist such as Nasca Belar to this mission, N25 23 your wisdom, as always, has been borne out. My magic suggests Nasca N25 24 Belar's hypothesis is well-founded and thus Hopten-Ra's decision to N25 25 descend.

N25 26 Unless this is not the tunnel we are searching for, this will N25 27 be my last report until we return. I anticipate news of a wondrous N25 28 discovery that may well allow Pharaoh Mobius to gain an edge over N25 29 the other High Lords.

N25 30 Your Loyal Servant,

N25 31 Engineer Takken Soth

N25 32 ***

N25 33 Kord stood tensed in the center of the small clearing, his N25 34 powerful, tall frame ready to respond the slightest signal of N25 35 danger. The sabertooth tiger stalking him was somewhere in the N25 36 overgrown brush at the edge of the clearing, but the animal was too N25 37 quiet to be heard. Too crafty for Kord to see it. So Kord spun N25 38 every few seconds in a short arc in a random direction. Left. Left. N25 39 Right. Left. Right.

N25 40 Then Kord realized that he was simply tiring himself as the big N25 41 cat waited patiently somewhere nearby. So he tried a strategy he N25 42 had taught himself in the months past. Still tensed for action, N25 43 Kord fixed his stance and kept his eyes forward. He flexed his N25 44 nostrils to make a show of searching for a scent, but he couldn't N25 45 sniff out the well-groomed and clean tiger.

N25 46 If he remained poised like this for long enough, the tiger N25 47 could try a surprise assault from behind, even if he suspected a N25 48 trap. It was a trap, and a good one.

N25 49 The slightly luminous glow emitted from the south that N25 50 illuminated the world was at Kord's back. Kord carefully scanned N25 51 the ground in front of him.

N25 52 There it was. A four-legged shadow flashed onto the ground and N25 53 hurtled toward Kord's own shadow. The almost naked man quickly N25 54 dropped to a prone position. A well muscled, giant tiger sailed N25 55 over Kord. The beast's tawny hide was taut over working muscles. A N25 56 paw raked down at Kord, but the man evaded the tiger.

N25 57 Snarling, the tiger landed gracefully, the muscles of his N25 58 forelegs bunching to absorb the impact of the large frame.

N25 59 Kord couldn't match such a foe, but all he needed to do was N25 60 evade the beast. Kord did a quick backward somersault. He made N25 61 ready to dash into the underbrush, but a growl from the tiger N25 62 brought him short. The sabertooth had already spun around and was N25 63 facing Kord. If Kord turned his back to flee, the tiger could sink N25 64 his long curving canines deeply into white, hairless flesh.

N25 65 Kord smiled as he settled into a ready-stance and prepared for N25 66 the next assault.

N25 67 The tiger did not wait long. He sprang and slashed out with a N25 68 huge paw. Kord sidestepped the blow with reflexes born of survival N25 69 instinct. The blow went wide.

N25 70 Already unbalanced from the poor strike, the tiger quickly N25 71 tried to recover. However, Kord didn't give the animal the chance. N25 72 He swept a foot at the tiger's other front leg and kicked it from N25 73 the ground. Now unbalanced, the tiger fell to his side with the N25 74 help a hard nudge from Kord.

N25 75 The surprised tiger twisted his body to complete the roll and N25 76 came up on his feet, but the clearing was empty. Only a slight N25 77 wavering in the heavy brush told the tiger where Kord had broken N25 78 through.

N25 79 The tiger exploded into a run. The same brush which once gave N25 80 the tiger the advantage of cover, now hindered him more than the N25 81 long-legged and acrobatic man who bounced and hopped quickly over N25 82 any large obstructions. The tiger's body was built for ambushing, N25 83 not high-speed chases.

N25 84 Kord didn't dare glance over his shoulder. The temptation was N25 85 tremendous, but when the tiger drew close enough to pounce then he N25 86 would be able to hear the crashing of the animal's movements.

N25 87 Moments later, when Kord was halfway to the falls, he knew that N25 88 he had won. He had escaped. Or so he thought. Ahead, Kord spied the N25 89 shadow of long, curving teeth. A few steps more, before he had time N25 90 to slow, Kord was able to make out the animal entirely. He chuckled N25 91 to himself. It was only Sharsa.

N25 92 The female sabertooth continued to rest on the jungle floor as N25 93 she watched Kord flip through the air over her. Kord landed on the N25 94 run and left a soft 'mew' floating in the air behind him.

N25 95 Kord wished he could see the reproaching look Sharsa was sure N25 96 to give the pursuing Shakart. The strong male tiger would be N25 97 embarrassed for some time over the incident. After all, Sharsa was N25 98 a young female yet without a mate.

N25 99 Soon, Kord reached the falls. Where the water dropped off the N25 100 river was only as wide as three times his own height, but that was N25 101 too dangerous and probably too far for the bulky sabertooth to N25 102 leap. Kord could make it easily with the help of a vine that N25 103 conveniently hung over the center of the precipice.

N25 104 Expecting the vine to be there, Kord did not slacken his pace. N25 105 As he drew near he succumbed and glanced over his shoulder to see N25 106 if Shakart would witness his triumphant escape. The tiger was N25 107 within sight for the foliage became less thick near the falls.

N25 108 When Kord redirected his attention on the nearby falls, he N25 109 startled in surprise. His vine was gone! It was too late to stop. N25 110 He would slide over the edge and plummet into the churning waters N25 111 below if he tried. When his toes lipped over the edge of the earth, N25 112 Kord leaped with all his might. His arms spun in circles in mid-air N25 113 and he crash landed on the other side.

N25 114 Kord sprang to his feet, enraged. Shakart growled with N25 115 pleasure, the vine dangling from a crooked paw. Kord couldn't help N25 116 but smile too. Kord may have won the game, but the sabertooth tiger N25 117 had earned the last word.

N25 118 "Very good, my friend," chuckled Kord. With N25 119 quick motions of his hands he told the cat the trick was a bit too N25 120 dangerous.

N25 121 ***

N25 122 A bare-chested, muscular man kicked sand onto the backs of the N25 123 sleeping soldiers. "Up, swine," he commanded. N25 124 "It is time to serve your master, Pharaoh N25 125 Mobius."

N25 126 The squad of ten Egyptian soldiers roused themselves amidst N25 127 mutters of how well they had served during the past three months of N25 128 tromping through jungles and deserts. Field Major Hopten-Ra N25 129 returned to his own tent to prepare for the day's descent.

N25 130 "Get your equipment together, Nasca Belar. I will not N25 131 suffer delay because you cannot find an all-important N25 132 transducer," Hopten-Ra continued.

N25 133 Hopten-Ra hurled the command in the direction of a wizened N25 134 crone. She sat hunched in the sand over a pile of wires, metal N25 135 bits, and other seemingly useless equipment. Nasca Belar looked up N25 136 and squinted into the rising sun. She could make out the confident N25 137 stride of Hopten-Ra, one of Red Hand's most able commanders and N25 138 therefore the perfect commission for this quest. Besides, he had N25 139 helped Pharaoh Mobius conquer several worlds before this one called N25 140 Earth. Her deft hands continued their work of collecting the pile N25 141 of supplies even when her attention was diverted. Those hands could N25 142 perform scientific miracles, so such a simple task was taken for N25 143 granted.

N25 144 Nasca Belar watched as Engineer Takken Soth hurried to the N25 145 entrance of Hopten-Ra's tent. The scientist knew that Takken Soth N25 146 distrusted her. She did not desire for the attention or N25 147 appreciation of such an obsequious beast, especially one that was N25 148 an engineer. But the honor that Red Hand had bestowed upon her, N25 149 with instructions from Mobius himself, was certainly reason enough N25 150 to endure the young man's unending genuflecting.

N25 151 Takken Soth's long robes flowed around him as he stopped at the N25 152 tent. "Hopten-Ra, I am ready to depart. We must begin our N25 153 journey at once."

N25 154 "I knew you were ready, Takken Soth. That's why I did N25 155 not command you to prepare," came the harsh reply from N25 156 inside the tent.

N25 157 Nasca Belar smiled at Hopten-Ra's quick response. The Field N25 158 Major was impressed by kowtowing. She liked that in him. If she N25 159 served Mobius well and was rewarded by permission to draw energy N25 160 from the Pharaoh's Idol, his Darkness Device. She would youthen her N25 161 tired, old body and let the Major know just how much she N25 162 appreciated him.

N25 163 Hopten-Ra stepped out of the tent, now fully dressed in his N25 164 officer's regalia: a gold-plated headdress, a large medallion of Ra N25 165 on a thong around his neck, a revolver in a holster strapped to his N25 166 chest, and a strong steel saber at his waist. He shouted to the N25 167 soldiers, "Break this tent down." Hopten-Ra's N25 168 spiked beard stuck angrily in the direction of the still waking N25 169 soldiers.

N25 170 However, three of the soldiers were quick to respond. Their N25 171 headdresses swirled about their faces as they made quick work of N25 172 the simple task. They packed the tent into separate bundles, N25 173 strapping them to the backs of two soldiers who did not move N25 174 quickly enough to help break the tent down. The two soldiers had to N25 175 carry these packs plus the climbing gear that already burdened N25 176 them.

N25 177 The first gust of wind of the new day blew the sand into the N25 178 faces of the Egyptians as they began the short trip to the nearby N25 179 slave mines. Hopten-Ra had insisted that he spend his last night N25 180 above ground in sight of the glorious heavens. Takken Soth, of N25 181 course, commended him for such dedication, but Nasca Belar knew the N25 182 Major simply wanted fresh air.

N25 183 Ten minutes later, the group arrived at the entrance to the N25 184 gold mines. Slaves, taken mostly from the nearby Israeli front, N25 185 worked the mines in shift. Most of those who entered the mines N25 186 spent their lives inside. Only the ones charged with the favored N25 187 job of pushing carts laden with ore-filled rocks had the pleasure N25 188 of ever seeing the brilliant golden disk of the sun. They had to N25 189 shield their eyes whenever they left the mines. The guards told N25 190 them that it was the forgiving eye of Pharaoh Mobius watching over N25 191 them, though they knew it was the god Ra watching over everyone.

N25 192 Hopten-Ra despised the additional delay. The rigid command N25 193 structure of the Tenth Empire demanded that he deal with Chufu, the N25 194 bureaucrat in charge of the slave mines. Unfortunately, Chufu was N25 195 waiting for him, as scheduled, near the mouth of the mine. N25 196 Hopten-Ra would rather have honored the agreement by stopping, but N25 197 not waiting for the fat, underworked man to arrive.

N25 198 "Field Major," Chufu shouted gleefully, N25 199 clapping his hands in greeting. A half dozen soldiers stood behind N25 200 where they restrained two Israeli men.

N25 201 "We are departing, Chufu," Hopten-Ra explained. N25 202 "Please accept this as your official notification of our N25 203 departure time."

N25 204 "Yes, of course. I understand that your mission is of N25 205 great importance. I hear it even has the approval of the Pharaoh N25 206 himself." Chufu winked at Hopten-Ra for some sort of N25 207 verification of the last bit of news, but the Field Major did not N25 208 bite.

N25 209 N25 210 N25 211 N26 1 <#FROWN:N26\>No Pardon For McAlester's "Mad N26 2 Artist"

N26 3 By GLENN SHIRLEY

N26 4 Conrad Maas was one of the strangest, if not the most N26 5 unfriendly, characters on the Oklahoma Territory frontier. He was N26 6 contemptuous of others, taciturn, square-jawed, beak-nosed, N26 7 and had dark blue, brooding eyes and a long bushy beard. Maas was N26 8 thirty years old in 1897 when he came from his native Germany to N26 9 Blaine County - a part of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Indian N26 10 reservation opened to homestead settlement by the land run of April N26 11 19, 1892.

N26 12 Though sparsely settled, the county was blessed with fertile, N26 13 sandy loam soil, scenic beauty, and plenty of water - bounded on N26 14 the northeast by the Cimarron River, traversed in the center by the N26 15 North Canadian, and bound on the south by the South Canadian. It N26 16 boasted immense crops of wheat, corn, and cotton, and prospects for N26 17 the next year's crops could not have been better when Conrad Maas N26 18 appeared in the county seat of Watonga with considerable money and N26 19 his eighteen-year-old wife, Martha, a buxom blonde woman with N26 20 sparkling eyes.

N26 21 The couple took a claim in the most remote of the rural N26 22 districts, four miles west of Bridgeport - a crossing on the South N26 23 Canadian to the Wichita-Caddo reservation where cattlemen still N26 24 grazed large herds under lease agreements with the Indians. In the N26 25 side of a hill, Maas constructed and furnished a two-room dugout, N26 26 roofed and lined it with split logs, and equipped it with a N26 27 fireplace for winter. The following spring, he planted corn and N26 28 grain sorghums.

N26 29 Maas worked hard in his primitive surroundings but had N26 30 difficulty adjusting to the democratic ways of his scattered N26 31 neighbors. He was especially hostile to the Indians and cowboys N26 32 south of the river. When he did speak it was with a guttural, N26 33 almost unintelligible accent that carried a haughty insolence. His N26 34 saving graces were his unflagging industry and obvious love for his N26 35 pretty wife. They were often seen in the fields together and walked N26 36 hand-in-hand on the streets when shopping in Watonga.

N26 37 Martha adored her husband, and his attitude toward others N26 38 seemed not to embarrass her. She spoke English better than Maas, N26 39 and laughed and chatted with the townswomen. She invited some of N26 40 them to her dugout home to see the heirlooms and artifacts her N26 41 husband had brought from Europe, but few accepted. Maas's N26 42 ill-tempered glances made it clear he did not care for visitors.

N26 43 Many thought he just wanted to keep his young bride to himself; N26 44 that he liked the country but wanted no truck with the people who N26 45 lived there. They reckoned he had a right to be left alone.

N26 46 Watonga's early frame buildings were being replaced by stone N26 47 and brick structures, and Maas occasionally worked in town as a N26 48 bricklayer. On the job he squabbled with fellow workers and ate N26 49 away from them. At night he walked the streets restlessly. He N26 50 carried himself strictly erect, with squared shoulders and a N26 51 precise tread that led many to believe he had served in the German N26 52 army before coming to America.

N26 53 Such speculation gained credence when he began receiving N26 54 letters from the old country. Some of them, as Watonga's postmaster N26 55 revealed, bore return addresses of a Count von Maas and a Count von N26 56 Hohenstein. One bore the imperial stamp of the Kaiser in Berlin. A N26 57 German storekeeper in Watonga suggested quietly that Conrad Maas N26 58 was a high-born member of the Hohenzollerns, Prussia's ruling N26 59 dynasty.

N26 60 Maas remained tight-lipped, and Blaine County citizens asked no N26 61 questions.

N26 62 As the months passed, Maas grew sullen and brooding. Simple N26 63 farm life became more and more distateful. He quit his brick-laying N26 64 job and only appeared in Watonga to make some minor purchase. N26 65 Martha Maas no longer accompanied him. She complained to Bridgeport N26 66 neighbor Nancy Banks that her husband spent all of his time N26 67 examining his old military papers and relics. He was to be restored N26 68 to the command of his battalion in the German army, which angered N26 69 her - she had deserted her home and country for love of him and did N26 70 not wish to return. They quarreled frequently.

N26 71 On a bitterly cold day - Monday, December 5, 1898 - Maas drove N26 72 into a Watonga livery stable, saying he would like to board his N26 73 team while away on urgent business. He carried a suitcase and N26 74 seemed anxious to catch the train for Kansas City.

N26 75 Asked about his wife, Maas said, "It iss<&|>sic! not N26 76 possible for her to go -" He hesitated, then confided to N26 77 the surprised attendant, "She iss<&|>sic! going to 'ave a N26 78 baby. I didn't vant<&|>sic! to burden her with care of the animals. N26 79 But I am vorried<&|>sic! about her safety in this country N26 80 vile<&|>sic! I am gone."

N26 81 "Can she use a gun?" the attendant inquired.

N26 82 "Martha has a shotgun and iss<&|>sic! a good N26 83 marksman," Maas replied.

N26 84 "She'll be all right then, if you won't be gone N26 85 long," the attendant assured him.

N26 86 "I vill<&|>sic! be gone a veek<&|>sic! - maybe N26 87 longer," Maas said.

N26 88 Word soon spread of the German's departure and his wife's N26 89 delicate condition. Snow began falling that evening and continued N26 90 two days. When the weather broke the morning of December 8, Nancy N26 91 Banks decided to look in on the woman, and drove to the Maas N26 92 farm.

N26 93 The place seemed deserted. No smoke came from the chimney and N26 94 there were no tracks in the snow that had drifted across the N26 95 doorstep. Mrs. Banks pounded on the locked door but got no answer. N26 96 Puzzled and alarmed, she returned to her buggy and made a hard N26 97 drive to Sheriff J.K. Kenney's office at Watonga.

N26 98 Sheriff Kenney and Deputy J.D. Marion rode to the dugout at N26 99 once. Unable to rouse anyone, they broke in and found a scene of N26 100 horror.

N26 101 It appeared that Martha Maas had just finished breakfast when N26 102 an intruder surprised her. She had attempted to defend herself with N26 103 a double-barreled shotgun, which the attacker seized, emptying both N26 104 barrels at her. The weapon lay in a pool of dried blood under the N26 105 table. The woman had left a trail of gore from the kitchen into the N26 106 bedroom, where her body lay on the floor, "clothing badly N26 107 torn and a large gunshot wound in the left side." The N26 108 second blast had "blown her head almost entirely N26 109 off." Stray pellets were imbedded in the kitchen ceiling N26 110 and walls. Portions of her flesh were "distributed about N26 111 both rooms, having been torn away and mutilated by N26 112 rats."

N26 113 The dugout had not been pilfered, and the lawmen discounted N26 114 robbery as a motive. The killer had locked the door as he fled, the N26 115 officers theorized, to discourage early discovery of his crime by a N26 116 passerby.

N26 117 While Kenney proceeded with the investigation, Marion N26 118 hightailed back to town for the undertaker and coroner. By N26 119 nightfall, the coroner had made a cursory examination, and the body N26 120 was removed to Watonga. More than a score of angry citizens joined N26 121 Kenney and Marion during the night in an effort to pick up the N26 122 killer's trail or a clue to his identity.

N26 123 "It is a case of cold, cowardly murder," N26 124 observed the Watonga Republican. "The demon who N26 125 committed it should be punished to the full extent of the N26 126 law."

N26 127 The hunters, like Kenney and Marion, directed their suspicions N26 128 first toward the enemies of the dead woman's husband. Maas had made N26 129 many Blaine County people hate him, but most thought it a dirty N26 130 shame that someone had taken it out on his wife. A few mentioned N26 131 the trouble he'd had with the Wichita-Caddo reservation cowboys N26 132 passing through the farm looking for stray cattle; some pointed to N26 133 the "bad" Indians that hung out drunk in the South Canadian N26 134 bottoms, none of whom were beyond attacking a lone woman when full N26 135 of forbidden "firewater."

N26 136 There was also concern for the introverted German himself. The N26 137 death of his beloved Martha would only aggravate his sullenness.

N26 138 The investigation might have gone off on a dozen tangents, N26 139 except for two things. A final examination of the woman's body N26 140 revealed she was not pregnant, and that she was already dead N26 141 the day Maas left town.

N26 142 Kenney and Marion made another search of the dugout. They N26 143 discovered that Maas had taken his military relics and nearly all N26 144 his clothes, indicating he had no intention of returning. What he N26 145 did leave were several letters he had received from Germany. He had N26 146 cached them behind a loose stone in the fireplace and apparently N26 147 forgotten them in the haste of departure.

N26 148 The officers took the letters to the German storekeeper in N26 149 Watonga. "Can you tell us what they say?" asked N26 150 Kenney.

N26 151 The grocer scanned the writings and his brow knitted.

N26 152 "Maas was in the army, all right," he said. N26 153 "Held the rank of major. He's a high-born member of the N26 154 Hohenzollerns, the ruling dynasty - a friend of young Wilhelm N26 155 himself, who is head of the Order of Eagles, a secret N26 156 society sworn to uphold and protect one another. His brother-in-law N26 157 is Supreme Judge Reiss of Berlin. Count von Maas is a brother and N26 158 Count von Hohenstein an uncle. They are urging him to return to his N26 159 homeland. Wilhelm has even agreed to restore his commission if he N26 160 gives up Martha Muller."

N26 161 "Who's Martha Muller?" the sheriff asked.

N26 162 "Must have been his wife's maiden name. Seems he gave N26 163 up his army career to marry a commoner." The storekeeper N26 164 flipped a page. "Here it is - this passage, 'When this N26 165 ridiculous fascination has passed, you will find yourself in need N26 166 of your own country and your own kind. You understand, of course, N26 167 that the girl will never be allowed to re-enter Germany.'

N26 168 "Seems Martha Muller was the root of his trouble - caused him N26 169 to resign his commisssion and elope with her to America," N26 170 the storekeeper continued. "Seems your next step, sheriff, N26 171 is to find Conrad Maas."

N26 172 The Watonga railroad agent looked surprised when the officers N26 173 questioned him. "Why, Maas didn't go to Kansas City at N26 174 all," the agent said. "He took a train east. By now N26 175 he's probably in some East Coast seaport trying to board a ship for N26 176 Germany."

N26 177 Kenney vowed to keep Maas from sailing if he had to N26 178 "call every port from New Orleans to Boston."

N26 179 On authority of a murder warrant, issued December 9 by Blaine N26 180 County Attorney J.H. Campbell, the officers were compiling a list N26 181 of embarkation points when a telegram from Canadian County Sheriff N26 182 Cosby at El Reno informed Kenney, "I think we have your N26 183 man."

N26 184 Kenney and Marion hurried to El Reno, and heard a startling N26 185 tale. According to the sheriff, Maas had wandered into his office N26 186 late Monday night, claiming to be a well-to-do farmer living in N26 187 Custer County, four miles west of Weatherford. "He stated N26 188 that his wife had been murdered, and that he had come here to N26 189 escape a mob," the sheriff said. "I telegraphed N26 190 Weatherford, but officers there had never heard of Maas and could N26 191 not establish that any woman had been found dead."

N26 192 "Maas wrote telegrams to the German consul in St. N26 193 Louis, which we neither sent nor could understand. Next day he said N26 194 he didn't know whether his wife had been killed or not, but N26 195 believed she had been kidnapped about Thanks-giving time. N26 196 He acted like an insane man, and we kept him in jail. We were N26 197 starting proceedings to send him to the asylum at Norman when N26 198 newspapers here picked up the murder story in the Watonga N26 199 Republican."

N26 200 The prisoner refused to accompany Kenney and Marion back to N26 201 Blaine County, and they were forced to put him in handcuffs and N26 202 chains. County Attorney Campbell accused Maas, saying, "You N26 203 were threatened with disinheritance and exile if you didn't give up N26 204 Martha Muller. Visions of your former wealth and splendor kept N26 205 recurring in your mind until it became the ruling passion of your N26 206 life, and you knew you could never gratify it unless you returned N26 207 to your homeland alone. You blamed Martha Muller for your N26 208 predicament and made up your mind that she would have to N26 209 die."

N26 210 Maas staunchly denied that he had murdered his wife. However, N26 211 confronted with demands for explanations of his claim of his wife's N26 212 pregnancy to the Watonga livery stable attendant, of his sudden N26 213 attempted departure from the country, and of the statements he made N26 214 to the Canadian County sheriff, he became confused and N26 215 stammering.

N26 216 N27 1 <#FROWN:N27\>What did he mean? Down at the lower level of his N27 2 new headquarters? Well, The Penguin supposed since he had made the N27 3 deal, he had to put up with Max. He never realized how much it N27 4 would interfere with his work here.

N27 5 "Plans," he repeated halfheartedly, "Swell. N27 6 Later."

N27 7 He slammed down the phone. He'd deal with Max at the proper N27 8 time. For now, he had to finish off the phone books and his N27 9 list.

N27 10 It was a lot of work, but because of this, his final revenge N27 11 would be that much sweeter. He returned to matching addresses with N27 12 every single name.

N27 13 After all, all play and no work made a dull Penguin.

N27 14 CHAPTER

N27 15 Eighteen

N27 16 It was time to prowl.

N27 17 She could no longer stay in her den, even after it had been N27 18 transformed. Cats were meant to roam the night.

N27 19 So she roamed.

N27 20 What did we have here?

N27 21 The dirty streets of Gotham seemed to have coughed up some more N27 22 of their scum. And who is it today? Just your average, N27 23 garden-variety mugger, who had grabbed a pretty young woman and N27 24 dragged her back into an alley.

N27 25 "Help, Batma -" the woman began.

N27 26 Batman? Is that all the woman could think of?

N27 27 "Now, now," the mugger smirked, "pretty N27 28 young thing, nice and easy -"

N27 29 The victim cowered and held out her purse. "Please. N27 30 Don't hurt me. I'll do anything -"

N27 31 The other woman had had quite enough of this.

N27 32 She leapt from the fire escape, landing squarely on the N27 33 mugger's back. He flew forward to the ground.

N27 34 "I just love a big strong man who's not afraid to show N27 35 it," she mentioned as he rolled beneath her, "with N27 36 someone half her size."

N27 37 The mugger had managed to roll onto his back. He stared up at N27 38 her in astonishment. "Who the -" he began.

N27 39 "Be gentle," she replied. "It's my N27 40 first time."

N27 41 Apparently he wasn't listening, because he leapt up with a N27 42 growl, intent on grabbing her.

N27 43 She darted out of the way, and gave him a savage kick. All the N27 44 breath left him as he staggered back.

N27 45 Hey, not bad, she thought. But before he could recover, it was N27 46 time for the talons.

N27 47 She jumped forward and set to work scratching up his face.

N27 48 The mugger screamed and fell to the asphalt.

N27 49 "Tic-tac-toe," she murmured in triumph.

N27 50 The victim rushed up to her side.

N27 51 "Thank you," she gushed, "thank you. I N27 52 was so scared -"

N27 53 Her defender had had enough of this, too. She pushed the victim N27 54 back against the wall with one of her claws.

N27 55 "You make it so easy, don't you?" she asked in N27 56 disgust. "You pretty, pathetic young thing? Always waiting N27 57 for some Batman to save you."

N27 58 The victim cringed again, quaking, expecting something even N27 59 worse.

N27 60 She leaned forward to whisper in the victim's ear: "I N27 61 am Catwoman. Hear me roar."

N27 62 And with that, Catwoman leapt away, cartwheeling out of the N27 63 alley to disappear into the night.

N27 64 CHAPTER

N27 65 Nineteen

N27 66 With all these interruptions, The Penguin would never N27 67 finish!

N27 68 He looked up to see Max Shreck stepping between the members of N27 69 the Red Triangle Circus, past the <}_><-|>Tatooed<+|>Tattooed<}/> N27 70 Strongman, rippling those belly dancers he had tattooed on his N27 71 biceps, stopping to let one of the acrobats walk past on his hands. N27 72 Max grinned at The Penguin. Somehow, he seemed much too cheerful N27 73 for a businessman.

N27 74 Max nodded at all the performers around them.

N27 75 "Ah," he remarked, "your - extended N27 76 family."

N27 77 The Penguin sighed. Max was leading up to something. His lists N27 78 would have to wait for the minute.

N27 79 "Come on downstairs, Oswald," Max urged. N27 80 "I have a - surprise."

N27 81 The Penguin scowled. "I don't like surprises." N27 82 Sometimes, The Penguin still thought it was a mistake to come out N27 83 of those sewers.

N27 84 But Max was insistent. He waved The Penguin away from his desk N27 85 and toward a spiral stairs.

N27 86 Hesitantly, The Penguin walked forward. So far, Max had more N27 87 than held up his part of the bargain. And the businessman certainly N27 88 knew, should anything happen to The Penguin, his circus friends N27 89 were very good at revenge.

N27 90 So this had to be something good.

N27 91 Still, The Penguin thought of icy waters.

N27 92 "Don't want to spoil it!" Max explained as he N27 93 tried to put his hands over the Penguin's eyes.

N27 94 The Penguin growled. Trusting people was one thing, but N27 95 certain people were asking for it. Max quickly pulled his N27 96 hands away.

N27 97 "Then close your eyes," Max insisted.

N27 98 Oh, all right. The Penguin dutifully closed his eyes almost all N27 99 the way as Max led him down the stairs. This had better be N27 100 good, or he'd let the circus gang practice on Max even earlier than N27 101 he had planned.

N27 102 He opened his eyes when they went from stairs to concrete.

N27 103 "Ta-da!" Max announced.

N27 104 The Penguin looked around the storefront. It had been N27 105 transformed from an old drugstore into something bustling and N27 106 cheerful, full of brand-new desks and state-of-the-art computers N27 107 and smiling college kids. The place had gotten a bright white coat N27 108 of paint, too, after which the walls had been covered with red, N27 109 white, and blue bunting. But the most astonishing things here were N27 110 the signs and posters, the biggest of which read COBBLEPOT FOR N27 111 MAYOR.

N27 112 As if this wasn't enough, there were posters taped all around, N27 113 and every one had The Penguin's picture on it, along with the words N27 114 OZZIE VS. THE INSIDERS!

N27 115 Everyone cheered and applauded. Max's grin got even bigger.

N27 116 The Penguin was flabbergasted.

N27 117 "But -" he began. "What -" he added. "I N27 118 - I mean -" he tried.

N27 119 He didn't know what he meant.

N27 120 What was going on here?

N27 121 "Yes," Max said effusively, "adulation is a N27 122 cross to bear. God knows I know. But someone's got to supplant our N27 123 standing-in-the-way-of-progress mayor, and don't deny it, Mr. N27 124 Cobblepot, your charisma is bigger than both of us!"

N27 125 "Mayor?" The Penguin replied.

N27 126 Max smiled and grinned. "Mayor."

N27 127 But this didn't make any sense, even to somebody who had lived N27 128 most of his life in the sewers.

N27 129 "Max," he pointed out, "elections happen in N27 130 November. Is this not late December?"

N27 131 Max waved a well-dressed pair forward; so well-dressed that N27 132 they smelled of money, and success, and power. One man and one N27 133 woman, both wearing appropriately dark-colored suits, both N27 134 smiling perfectly gleaming white smiles.

N27 135 They made The Penguin nervous.

N27 136 The man stared critically at The Penguin before his smile N27 137 returned.

N27 138 "Keep the umbrella!" he announced. N27 139 "Works for you! I'm Josh. Here!" he shoved N27 140 something in The Penguin's mouth. "Reclaim your N27 141 birthright!"

N27 142 The Penguin glared down at the new object between his lips. It N27 143 was a jet-black cigarette holder. The woman was circling him now. N27 144 The Penguin wished he were back upstairs with his yellow N27 145 notepads.

N27 146 "I'm Jen," she announced as she grabbed his N27 147 sleeve. "Stand still for a second while I slip on these N27 148 little glove thingies -"

N27 149 Glove thingies? The Penguin glanced over at her handiwork. She N27 150 was rather attractive under that suit. And he would certainly like N27 151 to get under that suit. Her smile turned to a grimace as she N27 152 touched his flippers. It was, The Penguin guessed, just that N27 153 special way he had with women.

N27 154 "Our research tells us that voters like N27 155 fingers," Jen explained as she slipped on the deep black N27 156 material.

N27 157 The Penguin frowned at his new gloves. Still, if women liked N27 158 fingers rather than flippers -

N27 159 That Josh person, in the meantime, was fingering The Penguin's N27 160 coat. Now what was this guy's problem? Sure The Penguin's clothes N27 161 were worn, certainly they were tattered, and perhaps the fabric had N27 162 stood so much use that it had turned a bit shiny, but as far as The N27 163 Penguin was concerned, these clothes were a part of him.

N27 164 "Not a lot of reflective surfaces down in that sewer, N27 165 huh?" Josh remarked.

N27 166 Reflective surfaces? Oh, he meant mirrors. Jen laughed. The N27 167 Penguin liked the way she laughed. He laughed, too. All the people N27 168 around them started to laugh as well.

N27 169 "Still," The Penguin remarked, "it could be N27 170 worse. My nose could be gushing blood."

N27 171 Josh frowned at that. "Your nose could? What do you N27 172 mean?"

N27 173 So The Penguin bit him, quickly, viciously, right on the nose. N27 174 Make fun of him, would they? Well, the penguins who had raised him N27 175 had shown him a trick or two!

N27 176 "Enough!" Max called, pulling the two combatants apart. N27 177 "Everyone -"

N27 178 He waved them all back to work as Josh fainted to the floor. N27 179 The fellow had no stamina at all. Max would have to get a better N27 180 grade of consultant than that to keep up with The Penguin!

N27 181 Max led the short man in black over to a quiet corner.

N27 182 "You're right," Max admitted when they could N27 183 not be overheard. "We missed the regularly scheduled N27 184 election. But elected officials can be recalled, impeached, given N27 185 the boot! Think of Nixon, Meachem, Barry -" he paused, and N27 186 pointed to the great banner overhead. "Then think of you, N27 187 Oswald Cobblepot, filling the void."

N27 188 But Oswald Cobblepot was still watching Jen. "I'd like N27 189 to fill her void," he murmured.

N27 190 "We need signatures," Max insisted. "To N27 191 overturn the ballot. I can supply those, Oswald."

N27 192 "Teach her my 'French flipper' trick," The N27 193 Penguin continued. It was amazing, the wonderful things you could N27 194 learn while working for the circus.

N27 195 "Oswald," Max persevered. "We need one more N27 196 thing."

N27 197 The Penguin blinked. Oh, yes. The Mayor's office; that's what N27 198 they were talking about, wasn't it?

N27 199 "A platform?" he suggested. "Let me N27 200 see. 'Stop Global Warming! Start Global Cooling!' Make the world a N27 201 giant icebox -"

N27 202 "That's fine, Oswald," Max agreed all too N27 203 readily. "But to get the mayor recalled, we still need a N27 204 catalyst, a trigger, an incident."

N27 205 Yeah, The Penguin thought, mayor. Now that he had gotten N27 206 used to the idea, he really liked it. He could hear them now.

N27 207 "You're doing great. Mayor Cobblepot," he said N27 208 aloud. Yeah. He liked the sound of that. And more than that. N27 209 "Your table is ready, Mayor Cobblepot," And how N27 210 about women? Women like Jen? Hey, once he was a mayor, he would N27 211 have his pick of women! "I need you, Oswald. I need you N27 212 now. That's the biggest parasol I've ever -"

N27 213 "Like the Reichstag fire," Max continued N27 214 urgently. "The Gulf of Tonkin."

N27 215 What was Max saying? Perhaps that The Penguin wasn't mayor N27 216 quite yet. Okay, he would accept that. After all, he used to do N27 217 twelve shows a day; he could handle anything.

N27 218 But there was work to do. Dirty work. And The Penguin knew just N27 219 who could do it.

N27 220 "Ah," he suggested. "You want my old friends N27 221 upstairs to drive the mayor into a foaming frenzy."

N27 222 Max grinned at that.

N27 223 "Precisely," he agreed. "But they must always N27 224 come and go via the plumbing ducts that I've provided."

N27 225 Then Max was suggesting secret sabotage?

N27 226 "Sounds like fun," The Penguin agreed. N27 227 "But I -"

N27 228 He hesitated. This was all happening so fast, he had almost N27 229 forgotten his true purpose.

N27 230 Max looked at him questioningly.

N27 231 "I mustn't get sidetracked," The Penguin N27 232 explained. "I've got my own -"

N27 233 "Sidetracked?" Max interrupted. He threw open his arms N27 234 to include not only their surroundings but all of Gotham City. N27 235 "Oswald, this is your chance to fulfill a destiny that your N27 236 parents carelessly discarded -"

N27 237 Hey. Max had a point there. What was it that obnoxious N27 238 pantywaist Josh had said? Oh, yeah.

N27 239 "Reclaim my birthright, you mean?" The Penguin N27 240 asked. Now that he thought of it, it sounded pretty good.

N27 241 Max nodded, arms still opened wide. "Imagine." He N27 242 closed one fist. "As mayor you'll have the ear of the N27 243 media." He closed the other fist. "Access to N27 244 captains of industry." He opened both hands and cupped them N27 245 before him. "Unlimited poontang!"

N27 246 The Penguin was impressed. "You drive a hard bargain, N27 247 Max." He paused only long enough to realize he had made up N27 248 his mind. "All right. I'll be the mayor."

N27 249 He turned away from the businessman, and walked over to the N27 250 windows of the storefront, which were hidden behind a heavy set of N27 251 blinds. Thrusting his new glove between the slats, he looked out at N27 252 Gotham City at night; a city that would soon be his. He could have N27 253 it all - the mayor's office first, and then, with the whole city at N27 254 his feet, he'd complete his sweet revenge.

N27 255 N27 256 N28 1 <#FROWN:N28\>The Chekhov Strain

N28 2 Christopher Kubasik

N28 3 Wu Han's thoughts raced with the manic energy of a Core Earth N28 4 kid high on cotton candy. He was a happy man: insidious, N28 5 villainous, cunning, and malicious. He was an overgovernor of the N28 6 Empire of the Nile, an evil subordinate to the despot Dr. Mobius N28 7 and he was good at his job. He awoke each morning and leaped out of N28 8 bed knowing he would accomplish countless activities that day. He N28 9 felt himself a part of the universe, a force as strong as a N28 10 hurricane. He needed nothing and no one, for he was a part of N28 11 everything.

N28 12 He loved his life.

N28 13 He stalked up the length of his council chamber. The scarlet N28 14 dragon on the back of his silk robe danced happily as he N28 15 gesticulated wildly with his long-nailed hands. His long Fu-Manchu N28 16 mustache tightly framed his inscrutable smile. White teeth gleamed N28 17 against his golden flesh.

N28 18 "I need a plan!" he exclaimed and whirled N28 19 around at the head of the council chamber's large table. He spoke N28 20 in precise English, but his speech was marred by an Oriental accent N28 21 that had more to do with Western stereotyping than China.

N28 22 His lieutenants, thugs and thieves from countless ethnic N28 23 backgrounds, grunted and nodded their heads in approval from their N28 24 chairs around the table. When Wu Han wanted a plan, life filled N28 25 with action.

N28 26 "Duuh, what are yuh thinking about boss?" asked N28 27 Scourge. Scourge had a quizzical face resembling a bulldog from a N28 28 Warner Brother's cartoon that had just been smashed by a frying N28 29 pan.

N28 30 "Something very large, I believe!" Han N28 31 exclaimed. A thrill ran through the hearts of his minions, for N28 32 never had they seen the insidious Oriental master criminal so full N28 33 of life. The invasion of Earth was going well. Han was inspired.

N28 34 Han's thoughts now moved like a movie projected at four times N28 35 normal speed. He began contemplating information he had learned N28 36 about Core Earth during his journeys into the native lands of the N28 37 planet. (Just a note: the thought of Wu Han actually taking the N28 38 time to contemplate was not necessarily an oxymoron, but certainly N28 39 stretched Han to the limits of his mind. He thought like a gymnast N28 40 moved, each thought flipping into the next trick in the routine. If N28 41 there was ever a moment's pause, he did it only to balance himself N28 42 for the next mental leap. He felt uncomfortable if he paused to N28 43 consider something for too long. The rhythm of the pulp reality N28 44 demanded constant motion, physical and mental, from its heroes and N28 45 villains. Han was happy to oblige.)

N28 46 "Another Death Maze?" asked Achmed D'uarb, an N28 47 Arab assassin whose every other tooth gleamed gold.

N28 48 "Another search deep into the Egyptian desert for an N28 49 eternity shard?" whispered Scar, whose ruined throat hinted N28 50 of the long ago splash of acid.

N28 51 "Another stelae to be planted out in Earth?" N28 52 put forth Mr. Hoggs, whose immense flesh jostled as he spoke.

N28 53 "Kill another Storm Knight?"

N28 54 "Try to betray Mobius again?"

N28 55 "Agitate tribal wars in Afghanistan so we can run N28 56 guns?"

N28 57 "Make another stab at the diamond mines under Mrs. N28 58 McReady's farmlands?"

N28 59 "No" whispered Wu Han, curling his long fingers before N28 60 him. "I need something unique."

N28 61 A hush fell over the room, a silence created by thrill and ... N28 62 fear. It was not every day that a pulp villain wanted change. The N28 63 results could be very profitable ... or completely disastrous and N28 64 unknown.

N28 65 "I want something so large, so devastating to the N28 66 people of Earth, that my reward from Dr. Mobius would compare even N28 67 with the riches of the ancient pharaohs." The villain N28 68 smiled a cruel smile. It had worked. He had applied himself to N28 69 coming up with a fantastic and daring plan, and it had happened. N28 70 Possibility energy infused Wu Han's thoughts, to the villain's N28 71 advantage. Events tended to go his way.

N28 72 "I will poison the earth," he said levelly.

N28 73 "The water supply?"

N28 74 "Their food?"

N28 75 "No! You insufferable buffoons! I do not desire to kill N28 76 them! We need them alive so we might steal their possibility N28 77 energy! No, I need a creative way to poison them ... Poison their N28 78 behavior, make them easier to defeat ..."

N28 79 "Perhaps we could create some sort of toxic radio wave N28 80 transmitter?" suggested Scar.

N28 81 "Shut up," said Wu Han quietly. A deep chill N28 82 ran through the room as his evilness permeated the souls of his N28 83 henchmen. Han infused them with the desire and strength to do harm. N28 84 "I have an idea even more absurd. Something only someone as N28 85 insidious as myself could ever have come up with. N28 86 Gentlemen," he said, resting his hands on the table, N28 87 leering at them, "prepare yourself<&|>sic. We make history N28 88 in the course of the Possibility Wars."

N28 89 He walked down the length of the chamber, ignoring the men in N28 90 the room completely. Then, suddenly, he placed his bony hand on N28 91 Scar's shoulder. Scar flinched.

N28 92 "Scar. Arrange the following. I need a library. I N28 93 require a library containing books and stories from the beginning N28 94 of this world's Western civilization."

N28 95 "Books?"

N28 96 "That's right. Books."

N28 97 "You mean like Earth's pulp stories?"

N28 98 "Well, yes, some of them, of course. A sampling of N28 99 everything. Their religious allegories, their tawdry parlour N28 100 dramas, their snail-paced English murder mysteries, their N28 101 existential essays disguised as novels. A whole pastiche of their N28 102 boring civilization. Begin."

N28 103 The sound of chairs sliding on stone filled the room as the N28 104 thugs sprang into action. If Wu Han wanted books, then books it N28 105 would be, no matter how useless the request seemed.

N28 106 As the men rushed out of the room, Wu Han smiled. His eyes were N28 107 distant. If he was thinking about the future outcome of the orders N28 108 he had just given, there was no way to tell. He was like that. He'd N28 109 be plotting one moment, and then plotting something else the N28 110 next.

N28 111 ***

N28 112 Los Angeles had been deserted when the Living Land invaded. The N28 113 city had been reclaimed during the Miracle of California. Now it N28 114 struggled against the hideous reality of Tharkold. The city still N28 115 struggled to live. Many who stayed behind were actors and directors N28 116 and technicians and craftsmen of theater and film. They kept N28 117 working, and beleaguered citizens came to see the shows.

N28 118 A production of Anton Chekhov's The Seagull had just N28 119 opened at the Mark Tapper Forum. A rapt audience filled the large N28 120 theater. The play, like most of Chekhov's work, dealt with loss, N28 121 and the desire to keep living in the face of adversity. This N28 122 audience lived in a country at war with invaders who ripped reality N28 123 away from the conquered. The play cast a spell of truth.

N28 124 The first act of The Seagull takes place beside a N28 125 lake. The set of the Mark Tapper Forum's production showed a N28 126 beautiful sunset that slowly faded as the act progressed. On the N28 127 left side of the stage, in front of the false lake, was a stage N28 128 for, as it said in the play's stage notes, 'private theatricals.' N28 129 It was a stage on the stage. The curtain on the stage upon the N28 130 stage was drawn shut. It would remain shut until Konstantin, the N28 131 young writer in The Seagull, opened the curtain. He would N28 132 present a play he had written to his friends and family. It would N28 133 be a play within a play.

N28 134 Wu Han hid behind the curtain of the smaller stage, waiting for N28 135 the moment Konstantin revealed him to the audience and the actors. N28 136 Han would take them completely by surprise.

N28 137 Wu Han was bored, bored, bored.

N28 138 He had hidden himself behind the smaller stage before The N28 139 Seagull had begun. He so far had endured nearly twenty minutes N28 140 of the production. He could not believe that Core Earthers N28 141 considered such naturalist drivel entertaining. He exerted more N28 142 energy going to sleep than all the characters in the play used up N28 143 during the whole show.

N28 144 The play revolved around a dozen characters living on an estate N28 145 in Russia at the turn of the century. Most of them were out on the N28 146 stage at the moment, waiting for the play Konstantin had written to N28 147 begin. Some of the characters were servants, some writers, some N28 148 actors. Some were related by blood, some by marriage, some by love. N28 149 Each wanted something from another character in the play. As it was N28 150 a Chekhov play, they never got what they wanted.

N28 151 Konstantin told Nina, the aspiring actress and his young N28 152 girlfriend, to get ready to perform his play. She started toward N28 153 her position behind the drawn curtain of the small stage.

N28 154 Wu Han drew his K08 pistol out of his golden sleeves. Heather N28 155 Davis, the actress playing Nina, came around the small stage and N28 156 took two steps up the small ladder to the platform.

N28 157 She looked up and saw Wu Han, smiling patiently, pointing his N28 158 pistol at her face.

N28 159 She froze in fear.

N28 160 She was young, no more than 20, with pale skin, and straight, N28 161 thick black hair, a gift of her Native American ancestry. She was N28 162 at once vulnerable due to her small frame, but, in her eyes, owner N28 163 of a certain toughness. Wu Han found her charming.

N28 164 For a moment she considered turning and running. Wu Han shook N28 165 his head. Then, with his empty hand, he crooked his finger, N28 166 gesturing for her to approach.

N28 167 She finished walking up the steps. Han put his hand on her N28 168 shoulder and forced her to sit. He then placed the tip of his gun N28 169 against her head.

N28 170 He then stood quietly. He listened to the dialogue of the play N28 171 he had read and re-read in Egypt come to life.

N28 172 On the other side of the small stage's curtain, Arkadina, the N28 173 famous Russian actress, played by the actress Elaine Sanders, asked N28 174 her son, "When are you going to begin, dear?" N28 175 Already, only listening to her for about a quarter of an hour, Han N28 176 had discovered he was fond of the character's manipulative manner, N28 177 but could not stomach her petty aspirations. A woman of her skills N28 178 could easily rule a nation if she applied herself.

N28 179 "In a minute, Mother," replied the boy. N28 180 "Please be patient." Konstantin, Wu Han thought, N28 181 was a useless pup, more pathetic than Han had even expected in his N28 182 reading of the script. The boy craved his mother's approval on N28 183 everything. He could not simply write just to write, act for N28 184 action's sake, for the thrill of simply doing what he wanted. He N28 185 needed everyone around him to tell him that he was of value. He N28 186 craved Arkadina's affirmation that what he wanted to do he should N28 187 do.

N28 188 Konstantin would last no more than three minutes in the Empire N28 189 of the Nile.

N28 190 But that behavior, that despairing inaction, was the core of N28 191 what Han sought for his disease. It was so perfect he almost let N28 192 loose an evil laugh.

N28 193 "'Oh, Hamlet,'" Arkadina began, quoting N28 194 Shakespeare's Ophelia, "'Speak no more; Thou turn'st mine N28 195 eyes into my very soul; And there I see such black and grained N28 196 spots as will not leave their tinct.'"

N28 197 Konstantin countered,"'Nay, but to live in the rank N28 198 sweat of an enseamed bed, stewed in corruption, honeying and making N28 199 love over the nasty sty - '" the sound of a horn cut him N28 200 off. He turned to his audience: his mother, her friend Trigoran, N28 201 family members, servants, and hangers on. They sat on wooden N28 202 benches by a lake, looking toward a small stage. Konstantin stood N28 203 by the stage, looking back at the assembled group and said, N28 204 "Ladies and gentlemen, the play is about to begin. Quiet, N28 205 please, quiet! I begin."

N28 206 The boy tapped a stick against the ground three times and N28 207 raised his voice. "O, ye venerable old shades that hover N28 208 over this lake at nighttime, send us to sleep and let us dream of N28 209 what will be in two hundred thousand years."

N28 210 Sorin, Arkadina's brother, said with complete coolness, N28 211 "There'll be nothing in two hundred thousand N28 212 years." Han smiled. So weak. All they could contemplate was N28 213 the final demise of their world, cities, their entire race. Dr. N28 214 Mobius and the inhabitants of the Nile made plans for an empire N28 215 that would last for eternity. He fingered the trigger of the pistol N28 216 in his right hand and looked down at the girl. N28 217 N29 1 <#FROWN:N29\>2 N29 2 The President of the United States, his jaw firm, his angry N29 3 eyes steady and penetrating, accelerated his pace along the N29 4 steel-gray corridor in the underground complex of the White House. N29 5 In seconds, he had outdistanced his entourage, his tall, lean frame N29 6 angled forward as if bucking a torrential wind, an impatient figure N29 7 wanting only to reach the storm-tossed battlements and survey the N29 8 bloody costs of war so as to devise a strategy and repel the N29 9 invading hordes assaulting his realm. He was John of Arc, his N29 10 racing mind building a counterattack at Orleans, a Harry Five who N29 11 knew the decisive Agincourt was in the immediate picture.

N29 12 At the moment, however, his immediate objective was the N29 13 anxiety-prone Situation Room, buried in the lowest levels N29 14 of the White House. He reached a door, yanked it open, and strode N29 15 inside as his subordinates, now trotting and breathless, followed N29 16 in unison.

N29 17 "All right, fellas!" he roared. "Let's N29 18 skull!"

N29 19 A brief silence ensued, broken by the tremulous, high-pitched N29 20 voice of a female aide. "I don't think in here, Mr. N29 21 President."

N29 22 "What? Why?"

N29 23 "This is the men's room, sir."

N29 24 "Oh? ... What are you doing here?"

N29 25 "Following you, sir."

N29 26 "Golly gee. Wrong turn. Sorry about that. Let's go! N29 27 Out!"

N29 28 The large round table in the Situation Room glistened under the N29 29 wash of the indirect lighting, reflecting the shadows of the bodies N29 30 seated around it. These blocks of shadow on the polished wood, like N29 31 the bodies themselves, remained immobile as the stunned faces N29 32 attached to those bodies stared in astonishment at the gaunt, N29 33 bespectacled man who stood behind the President in front of a N29 34 portable blackboard, on which he had drawn numerous diagrams in N29 35 four different colors of chalk. The visual aids were somewhat less N29 36 than effective as two of the crisis management team were N29 37 color-blind. The bewildered expression on the youthful N29 38 Vice-President's face was nothing new and therefore dismissible, N29 39 but the growing agitation on the part of the chairman of the Joint N29 40 Chiefs of Staff was not so easily dismissed.

N29 41 "Goddamn it, Washbum, I don't -"

N29 42 "That's Washburn, General."

N29 43 "That's nice. I don't follow the legal N29 44 line."

N29 45 "It's the orange one, sir."

N29 46 "Which one is that?"

N29 47 "I just explained, the orange chalk."

N29 48 "Point it out."

N29 49 Heads turned; the President spoke. "Gee whiz, Zack, N29 50 can't you tell?"

N29 51 "It's dark in here, Mr. President."

N29 52 "Not that dark, Zack. I can see it N29 53 clearly."

N29 54 "Well, I've got a minor visual problem," said N29 55 the general, abruptly lowering his voice, N29 56 "...distinguishing certain colors."

N29 57 "What, Zack?"

N29 58 "I heard him," exclaimed the towheaded N29 59 Vice-President, seated next to the J.C. chairman. "He's N29 60 color-blind."

N29 61 "Golly, Zack, but you're a soldier!"

N29 62 "Came on late, Mr. President."

N29 63 "It came on early with me," continued the N29 64 excitable heir to the Oval Office. "Actually, it's what N29 65 kept me out of the real army. I would have given anything N29 66 to correct the problem!"

N29 67 "Close it up, gumball," said the N29 68 swarthy-skinned director of the Central Intelligence Agency, his N29 69 voice low but his half-lidded, dark eyes ominous. "The N29 70 friggin' campaign's over."

N29 71 "Now, really, Vincent, there's no cause for that N29 72 language," intruded the President. "There's a lady N29 73 present."

N29 74 "That judgment's up for grabs, Prez. The lady in N29 75 question is not unfamiliar with the lingua franca, as it N29 76 were." The DCI smiled grimly at the glaring female aide and N29 77 returned to the man named Washburn at the portable blackboard. N29 78 "You, our legal expert here, what kind of ... creek are we N29 79 up?"

N29 80 "That's better, Vinnie," added the N29 81 President. "I appreciate it."

N29 82 "You're welcome ... Go on, Mr. Lawyer. What kind of N29 83 deep ca-ca are we really into?"

N29 84 "Very nice, Vinnie."

N29 85 "Please, Big Man, we're all a little stressed N29 86 here." The director leaned forward, his apprehensive eyes N29 87 on the White House legal aide. "You," he continued, N29 88 "put away the chalk and let's have the news. And do me a N29 89 favor, don't spend a week getting there, okay?"

N29 90 "As you wish, Mr. Mangecavallo," said the White N29 91 House attorney, placing the colored chalk on the blackboard ledge. N29 92 "I was merely trying to diagram the historical precedents N29 93 relative to the altered laws where the Indian nations were N29 94 concerned."

N29 95 "What nations?" asked the Vice-President, N29 96 in his voice a trace of arrogance. "They're tribes, not N29 97 countries."

N29 98 "Go on," interrupted the director. N29 99 "He's not here."

N29 100 "Well, I'm sure you all recall the information our mole N29 101 at the Supreme Court gave us about an obscure, impoverished Indian N29 102 tribe petitioning the Court over a supposed treaty with the N29 103 federal government that was allegedly lost or stolen by federal N29 104 agents. A treaty that if ever found would restore their rights to N29 105 certain territories currently housing vital military N29 106 installations."

N29 107 "Oh, yes," said the President. "We had N29 108 quite a laugh over that. They even sent an extremely long brief to N29 109 the Court that nobody wanted to read."

N29 110 "Some poor people will do anything but get a N29 111 job!" joined in the Veep. "That is a N29 112 laugh."

N29 113 "Our lawyer isn't laughing," observed the N29 114 director.

N29 115 "No, I'm not, sir. Our mole sends word that there've N29 116 been some quiet rumors which may mean absolutely nothing, of N29 117 course, but apparently five or six justices of the Court were so N29 118 impressed by the brief that they've actually debated its merits in N29 119 chambers. Several feel that the lost Treaty of 1878, negotiated N29 120 with the Wopotami tribe and the Forty-ninth Congress, may N29 121 ultimately be legally binding upon the government of the United N29 122 States."

N29 123 "You gotta be outta your lemon tree!" N29 124 roared Mangecavallo. "They can't do that!"

N29 125 "Totally unacceptable," snapped the pinstriped, N29 126 acerbic Secretay of State. "Those judicial fruitcakes will N29 127 never survive the polls!"

N29 128 "I don't think they have to, Warren." The N29 129 President shook his head slowly. "But I see what you mean. N29 130 As the great communicator frequently told me, 'Those mothers N29 131 couldn't get parts as extras in Ben-Hur, not even in the N29 132 Colosseum scenes.'"

N29 133 "Profound," said the Vice-President, nodding his head. N29 134 "That really says it. Who's Benjamin Hurr?"

N29 135 "Forget it," replied the balding, portly N29 136 Attorney General, still breathing heavily from the swift journey N29 137 through the underground corridors. "The point is they don't N29 138 need outside employment. They're set for life, and there's nothing N29 139 we can do about it."

N29 140 "Unless they're all impeached," offered the N29 141 nasal-toned Secretary of State, Warren Pease, his thin-lipped smile N29 142 devoid of bonhomie.

N29 143 "Forget that, too," rebutted the Attorney N29 144 General. "They're pristine white and immaculate black, even N29 145 the skirt. I checked the whole spectrum when those pointy-heads N29 146 shoved that negative poll tax decision down our N29 147 throats."

N29 148 "That was simply grotesque!" cried the N29 149 Vice-President, his wide eyes searching for approval. N29 150 "What's five hundred dollars for the right to N29 151 vote?"

N29 152 "Too true," agreed the occupant of the Oval N29 153 Office. "The good people could have written it off on their N29 154 capital gains. For instance, there was an article by a fine N29 155 economist, an alumnus of ours, as a matter of fact, in The N29 156 Bank Street Journal, explaining that by converting one's N29 157 assets in subsection C to the line item projected losses in N29 158 -"

N29 159 "Prez, please?" interrupted the director of N29 160 the Central Intelligence Agency gently. "That bum's doing N29 161 time, six to ten years for fraud, actually ... A lid, please, Big N29 162 Man, okay?"

N29 163 "Certainly, Vincent ... Is he really?"

N29 164 "Just remember, none of us remember him," N29 165 replied the DCI, barely above a whisper. "You forgot his N29 166 line item procedures when we had him at Treasury? He put half of N29 167 Defense into Education, but nobody got no schools."

N29 168 "It was great PR -"

N29 169 "Stow it, gumball -"

N29 170 "'Stow it,' Vincent? Were you in the navy? 'Stow it' is N29 171 a navy term."

N29 172 "Let's say I've been on a lot of small, fast boats, N29 173 Prez. Caribbean theater of operations, okay?"

N29 174 "Ships, Vincent? They're always 'ships.' Were you N29 175 by the way of Annapolis?"

N29 176 "There was a Greek runner from the Aegean who could N29 177 smell a patrol boat in pitch dark."

N29 178 "Ship, Vincent. Ship ... Or maybe not when applied N29 179 to patrols -"

N29 180 "Please, Big Man." Director Mangecavallo stared N29 181 at the Attorney General. "Maybe you didn't look good enough N29 182 into that dirtbag character spectrum of yours, huh? On those N29 183 judicial fruitcakes, as our high-toned Secretary of State called N29 184 'em. Maybe there were omissions, right?"

N29 185 "I used the entire resources of the Federal N29 186 Bureau," replied the obese Attorney General, adjusting his N29 187 bulk in the inadequate chair while wiping his forehead with a N29 188 soiled handkerchief. "We couldn't hang a jaywalking ticket N29 189 on any of them. They've all been in Sunday school since the day N29 190 they were born."

N29 191 "What do those FBI yo-yos know, huh? They cleared N29 192 me, right? I was the holiest saint in town, N29 193 right?"

N29 194 "And both the House and the Senate confirmed you with N29 195 rather decent majorities, Vincent. That says something about our N29 196 constitutional checks and balances, doesn't it?"

N29 197 "More about checks made out to 'cash' than balances, N29 198 Prez, but we'll let it slide, okay? ... Owl Eyes here says that N29 199 five or six of the big robes may be leaning the wrong way, N29 200 right?"

N29 201 "It could simply be minor speculation," added N29 202 Washburn. "And completely in camera."

N29 203 "So who's takin' pictures?"

N29 204 "You misunderstand, sir. I mean the debates remain N29 205 secret, not a word of them leaked to the press or the public. The N29 206 blackout was actually self-imposed on the grounds of national N29 207 security, in extremis."

N29 208 "In who?"

N29 209 "Good heavens!" cried Washburn. "This N29 210 wonderful country, the nation we love, could be placed in the most N29 211 vulnerable military position in our history if five of those damn N29 212 fools vote their consciences. We could be N29 213 obliterated!"

N29 214 "Okay, okay, cool it," said Mangecavallo, N29 215 staring at the others around the table, quickly passing by the eyes N29 216 of the President and his heir apparent. "So we got us some N29 217 room by this top-secret status. And we also got five or six N29 218 judicial fruitcakes to work on, right? ... So, as the intelligence N29 219 expert at this table, I say we should make sure two or three of N29 220 those zucchinis stay in the vegetable patch, right? And since N29 221 this sort of thing is in my personal realm of expertise, I'll go to N29 222 work, capisce?"

N29 223 "You'll have to work quickly, Mr. Director," N29 224 said the bespectacled Washburn. "Our mole tells us that the N29 225 Chief Justice himself told him he was going to lift the debate N29 226 blackout in forty-eight hours. In his own words, Chief Justice N29 227 Reebock said, 'They're not the only half-assed ball game in town' - N29 228 that's a direct quote, Mr. President. I personally do not use such N29 229 language."

N29 230 "Very commendable, Washbloom -"

N29 231 "That's Washburn, sir."

N29 232 "Him, too. Let's skull, men - and you, too, Miss N29 233 ... Miss ..."

N29 234 "Trueheart, Mr. President. Teresa N29 235 Trueheart."

N29 236 "What do you do?"

N29 237 "I'm your Chief of Staff's personal secretary, N29 238 sir."

N29 239 "And then some," mumbled the DCI.

N29 240 "Stow it, Vinnie."

N29 241 "My Chief of Staff ...? Gosh 'n' crackers, where N29 242 is Arnold? I mean this is a crisis, a real zing N29 243 doozer!"

N29 244 "He has his massage every afternoon at this hour, N29 245 sir," replied Miss Trueheart brightly.

N29 246 "Well, I don't mean to criticize, but -"

N29 247 "You have every right to criticize, Mr. N29 248 President," interrupted the wide-eyed heir apparent.

N29 249 "On the other hand, Subagaloo's been under a great deal N29 250 of stress lately. The press corps call him names and he's quite N29 251 sensitive."

N29 252 "And there's nothing that relieves stress more than a N29 253 massage," added the Vice-President. "Believe me, I N29 254 know!"

N29 255 "So where do we stand, gentlemen? Let's get a fix on N29 256 the compass and tighten the halyards."

N29 257 "Aye, aye, sir!"

N29 258 "Mr. Vice-President, give us a break, huh? ... The N29 259 compass we're locked into, Big Man, should better be fixed on a N29 260 full moon, 'cause that's where we're at - looney-tune time, but N29 261 nobody's laughin'."

N29 262 "Speaking as your Secretary of Defense, Mr. N29 263 President," broke in an extremely short man whose N29 264 pinched face barely projected above the table and whose eyes glared N29 265 disapprovingly at the CIA director, "the situation's N29 266 utterly preposterous. Those idiots on the Court can't be allowed to N29 267 even consider devastating the security of the country over an N29 268 obscure, long-forgotten, so-called treaty with an Indian tribe N29 269 nobody's ever heard of!"

N29 270 "Oh, I've heard of the Wopotamis," the N29 271 Vice-President interrupted again. "Of course, American N29 272 history wasn't my best subject, but I remember I thought it was a N29 273 funny name, like the Choppywaws. I thought they were slaughtered or N29 274 died of starvation or some dumb thing."

N29 275 N30 1