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."He wouldn't get any satisfaction if he did.Maxdoesn't say much anyway, and our guest demands that his privacy be upheld.""I see.""Not yet, but you will tonight.In the meantime, read to me, Doc.Then we'll talkabout a piece of strawberry pie I've been keeping back in the cold house in thecellar."Doc opened Macbeth, cleared his throat and began, set-ting the stage withnarrative exposition based on the play and adding to it from his store of memoryof stages he'd seen and the performers who'd put the story on.THE TRADING POST also had a large assortment of clothing and footwear.Ryan and J.B.knew the sizes of all the com-panions, as everyone in the groupdid.Scavenging meant knowing what was needed without guessing, withouthav-ing to pack around extra gear that might or might not fit.They got everyone a change of clothing, sticking with jeans and shirts in the samecolors the friends preferred.They even found fatigue pants, something Mildredfavored.Strangely socks and underwear seemed to be in shortage, but Ryan andJ.B.managed to get enough to go around.Max didn't say anything about the quantity they were taking.In fact he didn't saymuch about anything.Ryan was of the opinion that outside of J.B., Max wasabout the most taciturn man he'd ever seen.They put their selections in plastic bags, double and tri-ple bagging them to insurethat they didn't break and drop through."What about the price?" Ryan asked Max when they were finished.file:///C|/3226%20Sci-Fi%20and%20Fantasy%20.r%20-%20Deathlands%2045%20-%20Starfall.html (215 of 332) [1/3/2005 12:28:09 AM]file:///C|/3226%20Sci-Fi%20and%20Fantasy%20E-books/James%20Axler%20-%20Deathlands%2045%20-%20Starfall.htmlThe man worked a whetstone across the hand ax's blade."You need what you gotthere?""Wouldn't have taken it if we didn't," Ryan said."Saw the shape of your crew," the big man said."I think you need it, too.Lookslike you been needing it for a while.""Hard traveling." Ryan shifted his burden."There ain't no other kind." Max ran the whetstone across the ax's edge again."Don't worry about the price.Annie'll be fair with you."RYAN SPOTTED Dean in the barn's hayloft while he was sixty yards out.Theboy had snuggled down in the loose straw there and was nearly invisible in thecamouflage he'd chosen.Ryan hadn't even seen the glint of gunmetal in theretiring afternoon sun.Dean gave him a small wave as he got nearer, somehow knowing his father hadseen him.Ryan lifted his chin and dropped it quickly, acknowledging the wave.The hayloft was a good choice for posting security.With its back and left side putup nearly against the palisade wall, the only attack that could come from insidethe trading post could be covered from the hayloft.The smell of fresh horse dung greeted Ryan as he strode into the barn.He noticedat once that the survivors from the coldhearts in Idaho Falls had separatedthemselves from the companions.Morse and his sons formed another smallpocket against the wall opposite the horse paddocks.Elmore was the odd man outand obviously not happy about it.Jak kept him under guard, the albino sittingback on his haunches less than twenty feet from him."Did you get everything we needed, lover?" Krysty asked, coming up to helpRyan with the packages.She looked washed out, thinner than he'd ever remem-bered.Dark circles hungfile:///C|/3226%20Sci-Fi%20and%20Fantasy%20.r%20-%20Deathlands%2045%20-%20Starfall.html (216 of 332) [1/3/2005 12:28:09 AM]file:///C|/3226%20Sci-Fi%20and%20Fantasy%20E-books/James%20Axler%20-%20Deathlands%2045%20-%20Starfall.htmlunder her emerald eyes.And for the first time since he'd known her, her sentienthair didn't lie neatly in place.The strands were kinked in places, and uneven."Everything they had that we could use," Ryan an-swered.He started passing theammo out first, then parceled out the new clothing.Mildred poured another bucket of water into the horse trough she'd selected to useas a bath.She'd laid a fire along one side of it, burned it down to coals so the heatwould be there without an abundance of flames."I filled it," she said, "so I get thefirst one."No one argued with her.J.B.took the bucket from her hands."I'll finish filling if you want to get in."Mildred started stripping off.The horse trough was par-tially shielded from viewin one of the paddocks, out of sight of the Idaho Falls people.When she wasnaked, she stepped into the water, lying back gingerly.She sighed in satisfactionas she immersed herself."Don't bring that wa-ter on too fast, John," sheinstructed."Water's feeling just short of too hot, and after all this traveling, I don'twant to miss out on it."J.B.worked the pump handle and quickly filled the bucket with only a few shortstrokes."Well water," he told Ryan.The Armorer dipped his fingers into thebucket and tasted them."Heavy mineral content, and cold as a gaudy slut's heartin January.""It's not coming in off the river, then," Ryan said.J.B.shook his head, agreeing."Means they tapped an underground stream feeding into the river." Ryan sat on asmall farrier's bench only a few inches off the ground.He stretched his legs outbefore him.Tapping the underground stream in more than one place, because hewas sure there was at least one or two other hand pumps located in the mainhouse, meant the trading post had no shortage of water.It could literally seal itselffile:///C|/3226%20Sci-Fi%20and%20Fantasy%20.r%20-%20Deathlands%2045%20-%20Starfall [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]