Page 73 (1/2)

Out in the corridor, Flatnose was still rily to hiie was clutching her rucksack ‘Then I’ll just run off’

Fenoglio took her by the shoulders ‘No!’ he whispered e Thinking up ideas is htened her lips ‘Yes, all right,’ she o back to theDusk was already falling outside I’lio stretched out with a sigh on the narrow bed behind her I’ to sit here like bait! I shall run away before they catch Mo too

And for the hundredth time, as she waited for darkness, she tried to push away the question that kept co into her head: where was Mo? Why hadn’t he come?

37

Carelessness

‘You think this is a trap, then?’ the Count asked

‘I always think everything is a trap until proven otherwise,’ the Prince answered ‘Which is why I’m still alive’

William Goldman,

The Princess Bride

It was still hot when the sun had gone down There was not a breath of wind in the darkness, and the gloorer crept back to Capricorn’s village

Two guards were strolling around the car park, and neither of theer took a different route to Capricorn’s house this tie had been so utterly destroyed by the earthquake which drove out the last villagers that Capricorn had not had them rebuilt These streets were still blocked by the rubble of ruined walls, and it wasn’t very safe to walk there Even after so ht fall So Capricorn’s e, where dirty dishes left by its long-gone inhabitants still stood on many tables behind dilapidated front doors There were no floodlights here, and even the guards seldom came this way

Tumbled heaps of broken tiles and stones stood er chose They slipped beneath his feet as he clambered over theain, afraid the noise uard appear a the ruined houses His mouth was dry with terror as he ducked behind the nearest wall Ss’ nests clung to it, one above another The guard was huer knew him; he had been with Capricorn for e in another country For Capricorn had not always lived aes like this one, houses, abandoned farms, even a fortified castle once But a day had always come when the web of fear so expertly spun by Capricorn tore, and the attention of the police was drawn to hiswould happen here

The guard stood still to light a cigarette Its s his head, he saw a thin white cat perched areen eyes staring at hierous? No, but that reen eyes went on staring The white tail began twitching back and forth Dustfinger looked at his dusty boots, at a twisted iron bar lying a the stones, anywhere but at the cat Animals don’t like you to look theer looked straight at hiarette between his lips At last, just as Dustfinger was beginning to feel he would be crouching behind this ruined wall for the rest of his life, the guard turned and strolled off Dustfinger dared not move until the sound of his footsteps had died away When he straightened up, feeling stiff, the cat raced away, spitting, and he stood there for a long ti for his heartbeat to slow