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Russian ht a worried glimpse on Masterson’s face First an American uy dead? Ansould have to wait for the moment
Gray could see that the helicopters, reflected in his mirrors, continued to close the distance While Gray had succeeded in his plan--getting the tea off the assault teaht at the bottom of the next hill!" a voice called behind hilanced back and saw they had a stoay
Abhi Bhanjee
Rosauro explained, "He knoay to shake our tail!"
Hitting the bottoht and followed the muddy valley
"Now left past that next fencerow!" Abe yelled
What fencerow?
Gray leaned forward Without headlights, it was too dark to see If only he had ht blazing It was not exactly what Gray had been hoping for Still, with the better illumination, he spotted a fence of stacked stones ahead Unfortunately the beaht swa the water, pinging his back end
With no time to spare, Gray reached the fence and yanked to the left Even with the four-wheel drive, the back end fishtailed in the water and ripped, and they fled up a short rise and out of the water
The helicopter side But its spotlight pivoted se below
Shooting over the top of the next rise, the SUV lifted into the air for a breath, then struck down hard enough to knock Gray’s teeth together Cries rose froht, a black sea divided the gray landscape ahead It was not water, but a vast forest
"Mango orchard!" Abe said "Very old farenerations there"
Gray shot toward that dark orchard
The spotlight followed Gunfire rained at thele bullet touched theine, they barreled into the orchard Trees towered in straight rows Branches arched into a continuous canopy, cutting off the glare of the spotlight Gray slowed as the light vanished and darkness fell around hi perpendicular to their original path The thu of the helicopter’s blades faded Gray fled deeper, like an escaped prisoner running through a dark cornfield
"How large is this orchard?" he asked, calculating hoell they’d be able to hide here
"Over ten thousand acres"
That’s one big cornfield
As the danger ebbed, everyone settled themselves more comfortably into their seats
Rosauro leaned forward "There’s another reason Abe insisted he co"
"Why’s that?"
She lifted a coin into view It was the Greek coin with the chakra wheel on the back She pointed to the telanced into the rearview mirror He spotted Abhi Bhanjee seated in the back row next to Luca Even through the gloonized the man’s terror He remembered the Hindu man’s description about where Archibald Polk had been headed when he’d vanished
A cursed place
13
Septeuard
In dry clothes and with his bones warmed by the hearth, Monk circled the cabin He creaked around as quietly as possible, stepping carefully He wore his boots, though the laces were untied He had all the children redress and put on their shoes before curling up in their quilts If they had to leave suddenly, he didn’t want theether, each cocooned in their blankets They seemed smaller in sleep, especially Konstantin His sharp attention and mature speech patterns made him seem older But with his body relaxed, Monk realized he could be no older than twelve
Stepping past them, Monk moved extra softly By now, he knehich floorboards creaked the loudest and avoided them Pyotr lay curled in the embrace of the old chi to her chest, breathing deeply in sleep Pyotr had panicked earlier, scared for his twin sister Monk trusted the boy’s instinct, but there was nothing they could do It took a full hour to get Pyotr to finally relax, but the day’s trek had worn the boy to a thread He finally succuuarded over by Marta
No matter how softly Monk tread, she would lift her head toward him as he passed Bleary, war with her head
Keep watching over him, Marta
At least someone loved these children
Monk returned to his seat beside the door He had upended the table across the threshold and had positioned a chair in front of that He sank to it with a sigh
He listened to the night noises of the swas, the buzz of crickets, and the occasional soft hooting of a hunting owl He had been startled earlier by soh the shutters revealed aaround