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Deep in the murk, Carson halted, held her breath, listened At first she heard nothing, then only the chortle and chuckle of gentle waves rolling through the pilings on which the dock rested

No doubt Michael approached behind her, but quietly, no longer at a run She glanced back but saw no man-shape or shadow in the whiteout

She released her pent-up breath and moved forward cautiously After perhaps twenty feet, she stopped again and still heard nothing but the seely amused waters of the placid bay

The air s was cool in herthe dock, when she paused a third time, she heard a faint thump, a stealthy creak Initially, the sounds see

A clink of ht side of the dock She cleaved the fog, reached the railing, and followed it bayward until she found where it turned to serve a gangway

The descending planking et and slippery, not just frous or lichen that had colonized the wood of the long-unused ramp Her hands were moist, as well, and the pistol slick with condensation

If she fell orfor the noise If he chanced a fog-blind fusillade, luck was as likely to be on his side as on hers Of all the bullets in the barrage, one ht leave Scout angway and stepped onto the flat wood of the slip Aas host boat that haunted the bay

Engines silent, with no running lights or cabin lights aglow, the double-deck vessel had an enclosed helm station above the main-deck cabins Carson was nearer the bow, and the stern vanished in the fog, but based on the proportions of what she could see, the craft h to be a coastal cruiser that could trade the bay for the open sea

NoAs Carson ht the vessel appeared to be adrift in the slip Chang had evidently untied before boarding andto the helm station, perhaps by a ladder on the port side

The boarding gate in the starboard deck railing stood open He had most likely been hesitant to close it behind him and make another metal-on- , Carson was especially vulnerable, with a one-hand grip on her pistol, left hand on the cold stainless-steel railing, body inaboard silently, however, and without incident

The narrow starboard deck led forward past a few portholes but only as far as a door The elevated foredeck lacked gunwales

Carson moved quietly aft to the spacious stern deck

Even in the purling mist, she could discern two doors in the after bulkhead She supposed that one e and other quarters, while the second probably opened on a co would not have gone below or forward froet quickly to the helm and must already be up there, at the controls

Between the bulkhead doors, a steep slope of stairs led up to the open deck behind the hele LEDs, probably controlled by a light sensor that activated the at the foot of the stairs, she could see nothing above except dense, slowly eddying fog

Expecting to hear the engines turn over at any second, Carson decided to go up fast, without using the handrail, gun in both hands, leaning forward from the waist for balance

Before she could put a foot on the first tread, she felt the ainst the nape of her neck, and an involuntary vulgarity hissed between her clenched teeth

Chapter 8

Nummy was okay with jail He felt cozy and safe in jail Four walls, ceiling, floor Nothing about jail was too big

He liked the woods, too Behind his little house, the woods caht up to his backyard He sat on the porch so in and out of the trees, and sorass Watching birds and deer, Nummy felt nice

But he wasn’t okay with the woods the way that he was okay with jail He tried going into the woods a few ti trees and fallen trees, dead trees and live trees, too eneral, tooon and on, woods and more woods with no end From a distance, woods were pretty Close up, they scared Nummy

Memorial Park, in town, had lots of trees but not too much If he stayed on the brick paths, there weren’t too o, and he always came back to one street or another that he knew

His little house, where he grew up and where he now lived alone--it had no roo The smallest was the kitchen, where he spent the most time

The jail cell was ss in it No refrigerator No oven No table and chairs The cell was a cal with the cell was Mr Lyss For one thing, Mr Lyss was stinky

Grandmama, who raised Nummy, always said he would do best if he pretended not to notice people’s faults Folks didn’t like you talking about their faults, especially if you were a dumb person

Nummy was dumb He kneas dumb because so many people had told hio said there was no point in hi to school

Someti who he was Grandmama said he wasn’t du led to toocould puff up a person with pride, and pride was a lot worse than dumbness

As for the powers that be, Grandnorant was also worse than dus no h but was too lazy or tootruly du tall or short, or beautiful Being ignorant is a choice Grandmama said there were very few truly dunorant that you couldn’t count them all

Nummy pretended not to notice how bad Mr Lyss stank, but he noticed, all right

Another problem with Mr Lyss was that he was excitable

In her last years, Grand sure Nuone and not able to help him make decisions

For instance, wicked people were those ould want hi S in our hearts, Grand soht or norant, but that person was for sure wicked

Excitable people ht not be wicked, but mostly they were bad news, too Excitable people couldn’t control their eht nottrouble of one kind or another, but they’d do it anyway if he wasn’t careful

Mr Lyss was one of the most excitable people Nueant Rapp walked away and climbed the stairs at the end of the hall, Nummy sat on the lower bunk, but Mr Lyss shouted after the he wanted an attorney and he wanted one now With both hands, he shook the cell door,a racket He stamped his feet He spat out words that Nummy had never heard before but that he knew in his heart ords that it rong to say

When the policeone, Mr Lyss turned to his cellmate Nummy smiled, but Mr Lyss did not

The old ry--or maybe that was just his usual look, a condition not a choice Nu any other way His short hair was standing out in all directions, the way cartoon aniot an electric shock His bared teeth were like lumps of charcoal after all the black has been burned out of them His lips were so thin, hishell did he mean, we’re livestock?" Mr Lyss demanded

Nummy said, "I don’t know that there word"

"What word? Livestock? You live in Montana and you don’t know livestock? Why’re you jerking my chain?"

Nummy said as only true: "You don’t have no chain, sir"

Loo over Nu smart with me, boy?"

"No, sir I’m not smart, I’m blessed"

Mr Lyss stared hard at him After a while, Nuain, the oldat him

At last, Mr Lyss said, "You’re some kind of dummy"

"Is there more kinds than one?"

"There’s a million kinds There’s the kind who’re dumb about money There’s others dumb about women Some are so dumb they spend their whole lives with their heads up their butt"

"Up whose butt, sir?"

"Up their own butt, whose butt do you think?"

"Can’t be done," said Nummy "Not your own head up your own"