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himself, he rented muscle from the cult of A-Laf. They did great violence that
could not be traced back to him. For his part, he later provided similar
services to the aggressive faction now controlling the cult. You will remember
Mr. Crask and Mr. Sadler.
You got all that out of Brother Brittigarn? I shivered, just remembering
Crask and Sadler. Being glad that those two were among the angels now.
Because, in their time, they d been much worse than Merry Sculdyte. Much more
in my face, far more often.
Idid. That is, he knew the secret history of the A-Laf cult well enough to
let me fill the gaps. He did not know the name of the TunFairen criminal
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captain whose blood money financed the growth of the cult. But what he knew
made it obvious that Chodo Contague must be that hidden ally. I expect Mr.
Contague would be considerably nonplussed to discover what his assistance has
made possible.
No shit.
Excellent thinking.
What?
You were thinking that it might be useful to see Mrs. Claxton again and
interview her from a new perspective.
Yeah? Yeah! I m so clever. I shuddered again, again stricken by that
totally creepy feeling that made the chills worse than ever. The whispers were
almost intelligible. I had a notion that it would not be good to really
understand.
Got that this time. Ugh. I should have seen it.
You going to fade into one of your mystery moods while I figure it out for
myself?
Not this time. It would be too dangerous to wait that long. The mood you
feel, the whispers you hear, are caused by the nickel jackal idols. They came
here fully charged with pain and misery and madness. All that has begun to
boil off. Someone did not reseal the box properly.
Begun? This has been going on since they dragged those things in here. I
just didn t make the connection. I began to have trouble breathing. But none
whatsoever shivering.
No need to get upset.
You can t breathe, maybe you do need to fuss.
I stared at that damned box. The lid was closed. But it hadn t been nailed
down tight.
A baby cat trotted in, headed my way, bounced, landed in my lap. It made
itself at home. But it stared at that box, too. With an intensity suggesting
that it saw things invisible to me.
Much better.
What?
You are calmer now. Once you are comfortable with it, nail that box shut.
Sure. I m a rock. But he was right. The panic was gone. The whispers had
receded. My hands weren t trembling. How much longer is this going to last?
That cannot be predicted. It may become necessary to catch this Kolda and
make him tell us about samsom weed. I do not want to deal with flashbacks and
seizures indefinitely.
Yeah? Consider my point of view.
Ah.
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Ah? Ah, what?
The rumor of your imminent demise may be about to pay dividends.
I am on my way, Singe said, heading for the front door. A moment later I
heard Scithe talking, though I couldn t make out individual words. Singe came
back to report. That was a Watchman. He wanted to know if it was true about
you. I said yes. On inspiration, I told him you had been forced to take a
poison Teacher White got from somebody named Kolda.
Idid not cue her, Chuckles informed me.She thought of that herself .
Good going, Singe. They ll round them all up.
Singe puffed up with pride.
No time for patting one another on the back. Garrett, you need to be in bed,
dying.
Block is at the Cardonlos place, eh?
It seems logical. I believe he is. Mr. Scithe suspects he is, though he has
not seen the Colonel. He was sent here because of his ignorance. But he is
brighter than they suspect. He believed his real task was to find out if I am
awake. He will report that he found nothing suspicions.
Block being Block,that would be suspicious. They ll think you messed with
his head, then.
Not amusing. Go be sick.
49
The being sick part didn t require much acting. I still had aches in my pains
and bruises on my bruises and those were turning colorful. I hadn t gotten
near a razor in modern times. I kept hoping Tinnie would come back and give me
a sponge bath. I shivered and shook.
I fell asleep. Which I needed to do. I d wasted altogether too much time not
sleeping.
Tinnie woke me up.
Oh, hell!
Thank you so very much. I ll just go back home.
I wasn t being& you re here because you heard I was dying. Somebody from the
Watch told you, right?
Yes. How did you know?
They knew she d been here before. They d walked her home. They d visited her
before doing anything else.
And you told them I d be all right because the Dead Man keeps me breathing.
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Oh-oh. I goofed.
Yep. We wanted to fish Block into coming over here. The Colonel was too
clever for us this time. Did Block know something he was eager to keep to
himself? Probably not. He just had a dislike for having his secret mind
exposed.
My breathing seemed almost natural. But thinking about Tinnie and sponge
baths alerted me that I wouldn t be living the fantasy anytime soon. Life is
a raging bitch.
Dean said you d be in a bad mood. You haven t been drinking as much as you
should. Water, I mean.
My, my. She could be right. I was thirsty right then.
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