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"Matthewi" Greathouse said, his gaze fixed on Slaughter "Move to your right about five feet and forward three I want you to have a clear shot" He waited until Matthew had situated hi to calm Matthew&039;s nerves Then Greathouse see the fates, and walked the few paces between hi the latches to either side," Slaughter said "a thuht Siainst the brass and pushed Nothing happened "It&039;s locked"

"No, it&039;s not The mechanism may be a little stiff Shall I do it for youi"

Greathouse tried again The lefthand latchsound, but the one on the right was still stubborn

"I&039;d assuhter said

Greathouse put soain with the sound ofmetal

What happened next would be forever seared upon Matthew&039;s brain, though it had the speed and violence of a ind

as the second latch came to rest, there folloithin a split-second the soul-shaking, ear-cracking bang! of a pistol firing at close-range

Froout of powders him Matthew juer on the trigger he had to dodge down as Slaughter, therictus, hurled the still-s box at his head His tricorn was hit, and spun off Matthew slipped and fell, the striker dropped, the flint sparked, and the gun fired, its ball whining off one side of the well just behind Slaughter Greathouse was staggering backward, his hands up to shield his face, but suddenly Slaughter was upon hi and awesohter took toward his prey, he seerow To expand, to thicken in his clothes as if he were letting go of muscles and tendons he&039;d contracted to thened, his chest pushed forward, his shoulders bulged Matthew had the rin was fixed to Slaughter&039;s mouth, the blue eyes wide and wild and nearly luhter reached back, under his shirt His hand held so in it when it reappeared He uncapped a sht have been a doctor&039;s instruht Greathouse around the neck with the crook of his arm, squeezed so hard the blood jumped red in Greathouse&039;s cheeks, and then with furious deteran to drive the blade into Greathouse&039;s upper back, between the shoulders

Before Matthew could scraround, Greathouse had already been stabbed three ti Matthew let out a hoarse cry and did the only thing he could think to do, which was to throw the pistol end over end at Slaughter&039;s head It hit thea fifth strike of the blade Still he gripped his victirainsack toward the well

Greathouse went headfirst over the side The bucket&039;s rope was hanging down frorab hold of it There was a splash as he hit water below

Then, all the attention was turned upon Matthew

Before Matthew, revealed in all his vile glory, stood the killer with the Satanic face whom he&039;d seen on his first visit to Westerwicke No pretense was needed now No disguise The grinning carnivore lifted his thin, bloody blade, and said pleadingly, "Run, won&039;t youi Go ahead! Run!"

Matthew heard the echoed sound of choking Greathouse was about to drown either on ater or his own blood

Matthew dared to glance around at the safebox lying a few yards behind hi for hi power Matthew ran for the safebox, which had shown its strength by not bursting open on contact with the ground, and picked it up, finding the thing as heavy as guilt In his current position it was hter as the hooked fingernails grasped for his face and the blade swung at his throat

The box hit Slaughter in the upper body, and bounced off like a bird hitting a brick wall But the iave Matthew the chance to duck under flailing hand and swinging blade and run toward his true destination

He leaped into the well

Grasping the bucket-rope, he slid down into the wet dark so fast the skin nearly smoked off his hands That pain he would deal with later Suddenly he splashed into the cold water al hold of the bucket with one arrasped Greathouse around the chest

There caruhtened Matthew looked up, and saw Slaughter peering down at hi the windlass crank to pull the bucket up

Matthew kept his grip on it, treading water and fighting the crank Beside hian to thrash as if cohter had released the crank, giving this little skirh stones "Do you think you&039;re s to let you climb out of therei Well, just stay where you are for a few !" He disappeared fro onto o"

"You&039;re the da on, do you heari" There was no response Greathouse&039;s breathing et and ragged "Do you heari"

"I hear," Greathouse said, but the ansas so weak and weary that Matthew feared he would slip under at any second

Froht a gli used to knock the windlass out of its supports Suddenly the bucket-rope went slack, and the rod of wood around which the rope was secured was falling into the well Matthew angled his body to protect Greathouse, and took a hard blow on his left shoulder The rope settled into the water, coiling around thehter began to give his slow funeral-bell laugh, very pleased with his wit "Here&039;s soraves with!" He reared his ar the shovel down into the well as an added instruain used his body to shield Greathouse But before the shovel could do grievous hare hit rock, sparks flew, and it bounced back and forth between the walls, losing most of its force as it fell into the water beside Matthew It sank tip-first, and was gone

Gone, as well, was Tyranthus Slaughter

"Da his face from the water He had lost his woolen cap, his hair plastered down Beneath hi only feebly "I&039;m done for"

"No, you&039;re not"

"Little you know Bastard took us Box blew up"

"Stop talking and save your strength"

"Thought I&039;d been shot" He winced, and again his face went into the water Mattheas about to grasp his chin when he sputtered and coughed and drew air again "Stabbed me Old trick, that was"

"Old tricki What&039;re you talking abouti"

"Had it up his ass When he went down there to shit Took it out He toldany sense But then Matthew realized what he hter had said it They left the joy of looking up ht the silver cylinder, with a blade inside it, must have been aat the Quaker institution, and the theftas Slaughter, anything was possible There was no telling how long he&039;d had the blade, ready to use it when the tiht and today, that tihter called down "I have to also say, you&039;ve been interesting coible noise Matthew said nothing, concentrating on treading water He was cold and in pain fro both hi harder

"It won&039;t be so bad," Slaughter said "Drowning, Ito be endured But it&039;s easy for me to say, isn&039;t iti"

"We&039;re not dead yet," Matthew replied

"Yes," came the answer, "you are But you just don&039;t accept it yet"

Matthew&039;s legs were beginning to ache Beside hi sounded like cart wheels over cobblestones

"Thank you for allowing e, a dark shape without a face "Get the rust out ofood day, sirs, and may you rot in the deepest pit of Hell set aside for men who think themselves so very smart" He offered a faceless bow, then dreay frohter! Slaughter!" Matthew shouted, but thebecause there was no point in it and, anyway, it was another na water, and trying to think To coht off the chill tentacles of panic What had Slaughter said, about this place not being found again until he-Matthew-and Greathouse wereat the bottoht There has to be a way out of this!

You just don&039;t accept it yet

"No," Matthew said, and heard his voice speak back to hihostly about it even now "I don&039;t"

Greathouse shuddered He drew a long, terrible breath "I&039; Left ofof himself and his limitations in a world so brutal it could hardly be borne, Greathouse the great one, the roughneck, the man of swords, the teacher and friend and Baptist, slipped silently down beneath the water