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to you. Hell, they don't always make sense to me. But they're the tools I
use."
"Can you give me a hint? If I was going to bury somebody . . . " A little
light went on inside. He thought I was looking for a place somebody might
cache the General's goodies. "It would depend on the circumstances. How much
time I had. How good a job I wanted to do. Hell, if I had time, I'd put the
body ten feet down where nobody would have any reason to dig. If I was in a
big hurry I wouldn't do it here at all. I'd take it up the road to the marsh,
tie it to a couple of rocks and throw it in."
"What marsh?"
"On down the road, the other side of the rise out front. Look out the front
door, past the cemetery. You can see the tops of the trees. It's about a
hundred-acre swamp. There's been talk about draining it because of the smell.
Old Melchior, who owns the land, won't hear of it. Take a look sometime. It'll
bring back memories."
"I will. Let's feed our faces before Cook forgets us."
She was delivering the final load when Peters and I arrived. She looked at me
like I'd betrayed her by not showing up to help. Some people. Whatever you do,
they expect you to do it forever.
It was a meal like last night's. No conversation except grumbles about how
they might find the poacher and what they could do with him afterward. Nobody
seemed suspicious of the circumstances.
Could that be? Somebody was picking them off and they didn't realize it?
Maybe it was their background, all those years in the war zone. When my
company went in, there were two hundred of us, officers, sergeants, and men,
who had trained together and been hammered into a single unit. Two years later
there were eighteen originals left. Guys went down. After a while you accepted
that. After a while you accepted the fact that your turn was coming. You went
on and stayed alive as long as you could. You become completely fatalistic.
I asked, "Who took care of the stables today?"
They all looked at me like they'd just noticed me.
Peters said, "Nobody. Snake was on patrol." He wanted to ask why I wanted to
know. So did the others. But they just looked at me.
My glance crossed Jennifer's. She was thawing. She smiled faintly. With
promise.
Dellwoodsaid, "I spoke to the General. He'll see you after we eat."
"Good. Thanks. I was wondering if you'd remembered."
All those eyes turned on me again. They wondered what business I had with the
old man. I wondered what their theories were about my presence. It was obvious
Peters hadn't spread the word.
I asked, "What do you guys do for entertainment? This place is pretty bleak."
I'd forgotten to smuggle in some beer. Maybe tomorrow.
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Chain growled, "Got no time for entertainment. Too much work to do. And the
General won't hire anybody on. Which reminds me, troops. We got to cover
forHawkes . Which means we have to let something else go to hell."
Waynesaid, "The whole place is falling apart. Even with us hopping like the
one-legged whore the day the fleet pulled in.Dellwood , you got to try to get
through to him."
"I'll try."Dellwood didn't sound optimistic.
They went on, now the ball was rolling. I learned more than I wanted to know
about how and where the place was falling apart, what had been allowed to
slide too long and what had to be done right now to stave off disaster.
Tylersaid, "I say we worry about that damned poacher in our spare time. And
say the hell with trying to catch the others. The General don't come out no
more. How's he going to know we're not wasting time looking for them? They
want a few deer, I say let them have them. We need to keep this place from
falling apart."
That debate raged a while.
Jennifer contributed not a word. She seemed more interested in me. My fatal
charm. My curse. Or maybe she just wondered how I'd gotten those old boys so
animated.
15
I helped Cook clear away.Dellwood helped me help. He didn't seem inclined to
let me out of his sight. Cook was as tight-lipped as she claimed with a third
party present.
Dellwoodwanted to talk. He started as soon as we left the kitchen. "I hope
you have some progress to report. It would be a good time to give the General
an emotional lift."
"How come?"
"He had a good day today. He's been alert. His mind has had a keen edge. He
managed to eat his lunch without help. Your presence seems to have motivated
him. It would be nice if you could give him something to keep him feeling
positive."
"I don't know." What I had to tell the General wasn't positive. "I'll try not
to bring him down."
We were watched going up. This time I wasn't wrong about it being Jennifer. A
strange woman. Pity. She was gorgeous.
I didn't get it. When was the last time a woman like that left me cold? I
couldn't recall. Female is my favorite sport. Wasn't anything obviously wrong
with her, either. Maybe it was bad chemistry. The opposite of lust at first
sight.
"Who raised Jennifer?"
"Cook, mostly. And the staff."
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"Oh. What became of them?"
"The General released them to make room for us. We should've been able to
manage the place, putting the cropland out for rent. Hasn't worked out,
though."
"He kept Cook. Why her?"
"She's a fixture. Been here forever. Raised him, too. And his father before
him, and his father, too. He has his sentimental streak."
"That's nice." He hadn't been sentimental when he'd been my supreme
commander. Of course, I hadn't gotten to know him.
"He takes care of his own."Dellwood opened the General's door, seated me in
the room where I'd met the old man before. OldKaid was stoking the fire. "Wait
here. I'll have him out in a few minutes." The temperature was obscene.
"Sure. Thanks."
It was more than a few minutes but the old man was worth seeing when he came
out. He had a smile on. His cheeks had gained some color. He waited
tillDellwood andKaid departed. "Good evening, Mr. Garrett. I take it you've
made progress?"
"Progress, General, but I don't have any good news." Had his health improved
because thepoisoner had backed off with me around?
"Good news, bad news, better get on with it." [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]