Page 9 (1/2)

"Your children s up," said Myrna

"Well, yes, but not anything so dramatic--"

"And so vivid," said Antoinette "He really sells it"

"He probably just wants attention," said Myrna

"Oh God, don’t you hate people like that," said Gabri

He put a carrot on his nose and tried to balance it there

"There’s a seal just asking to be clubbed," said Myrna

Ruth guffawed then looked at her "Shouldn’t you be in the kitchen?"

"Shouldn’t you be cutting the eyes out of a sheet?" asked Myrna

"Look, I like the kid," said Ruth, "but let’s face it He was doomed from the moment of conception"

"What do you mean?" asked Reine-Marie

"Well, look at his parents"

"Al and Evelyn?" asked Armand "I like them That reminds"Al gave me this"

"Oh, God," said Antoinette "Don’t tell

Gamache smiled When he’d dropped off Laurent, his father Al had been on the porch, sorting beets for their organic produce baskets

There was no e If a mountain cay He wore his long gray hair in a ponytail that ht not have been undone since the seventies

His beard was also gray and bushy and covered most of his chest, so that the plaid flannel shirt underneath was barely visible Sometimes the beard was loose, sometimes it was braided and sometimes, like that afternoon, it was in its own ponytail so that Al’s head looked like so about to be tie-dyed

Or, as Ruth once described him, a horse with two asses