Part 87 (2/2)

'And what do you see?”

Clearwater moved round on her knees and began to colour his face.

'Love. Death. Betrayal. A new beginning...”

'Are you to be taken from me?”

She traced a gentle line down his cheekbone and on to his neck. 'I cannot tell. It is you who read the stones. But whatever happens, part of me will always remain with you.”

'But you won't.”

Clearwater took hold of his chin. 'If you are to be the sword of Talisman, your strength must not come from me but from within yourself.” She pressed a finger against his heart.

Easier said than done, thought Cadillac. Oh, Sweet Mother! Why did life have to be so hard, and full of pain?

Dressed and tagged as a Mute, Cadillac was taken back with Clearwater to join the others in the stockade. It was his first experience of life in Ne-Issan as a gra.s.s-monkey: The place stank with the odour of unemptied s...o...b..ckets, and what little food there was was tasteless and unappetising. Worst of all, there was no sake.

Later in the day, Side-Winder appeared outside the stockade. Steve walked across and spoke to him through one of the gaps in the vertical planking. 'How come they let you off the boat?”

'Another breakdown. Everybody got sh.o.r.e-leave except the engineers.”

'You come to say goodbye?”

'No. I'm coming with you.” The mexican's hard mouth split open in a happy grin. 'How about that!'

Steve smiled back. 'You're going to miss those lumps.” * 'You kidding? Can't wait!” 'I can believe it. Listen. As you're here, and since you'll be travelling back with us, there's something I've been dying to ask you.”

'Oh, yeah, what's that?”

'Well, I can't help noticing you've got a lot of slant-eyed friends.

How about filling me in on that?”

Side-Winder's sunny smile turned into a sly grin. 'No can do, amigo.

Try asking Mother when you get back to Rio Lobo.”

'Do you think he'll tell me?” The idea of Karlstrom spilling the beans on anything seemed an unlikely prospect.

'Can't say...”

'But you are going to tell me how we're getting out of here.”

'Yeah. We leave tonight on a fis.h.i.+ng-smack, then we transfer on to a couple of power inflatables and cross over to a place called Long Point on the other side of Lake Erie.”

'Is Mother going to hook us up?”

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