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It was a heavy wooden chair of dark wood grabbed from an empty house He believed the style was called Moorish It sat a few feet back from the top stair of stone steps that led up to the ruined church

Not a throne in naal He wore a purple polo shirt, jeans, and square-toed black cowboy boots One boot rested on a low, upholstered footstool

On Caine’s left stood Penny Lana, the Healer, had fixed her shattered legs Penny wore a sundress that hung limply from her narrow shoulders She was barefoot For so use of her legs

On his left stood Turk, supposedly Caine’s security, though it was iine a situation Caine couldn’t deal with on his own The truth was that Caine could levitate Turk and use hi to have people who served hily

Turk was a sullen, stupid punk with a sawed-off double-barreled shotgun over his shoulder and a big pipe wrench hanging froar, a sweet-faced thirteen-year-old with the hard hands, strong back, and tanned face of a fisherman

About twenty-five kids stood at the foot of the stairs In theory everyone was supposed to show up for court, but Albert had suggested--a suggestion that had the force of a decree--that those who had work to do could blow it off Work ca only so long as Albert kept everyone fed and watered

At soht had broken out between a boy naar because he had once sotten spectacularly sick

Both Jaden and Cigar had been drinking soal booze, and no one was exactly clear what the fight had been about But as clear--witnessed by three kids--was that a fight had started and gone frory words to fists to weapons in a heartbeat

Jaden had swung a lead pipe at Cigar andnails and he had not ood kid, one of Quinn’s hardworking fishermen--had meant to kill Jaden But Jaden’s brains had ended up on the sidewalk just the sa Caine’s Perdido Beach: fine, lockup, Penny, or death

A s to show proper respect to the king, or blowing off work, or cheating someone in a deal--merited a fine It could be a day’s food, two days’ unpaid labor, or the surrender of some valuable object

Lockup was a room in town hall that had last is had eaten him from the inside out Lockupor vandaliset you lockup

Caine had handed out many fines and several lockups

Only once had he imposed a sentence of Penny