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They rode into the cos arranged in a U, with a fourth,the square--a less concrete bulk connected to the grain bins by a maze of pipes and chutes The skeletal husks of rusted vehicles and other machinery filled the spaces between the weeds The air had stilled and cooled; birds were flitting through the glassless s of the buildings The three s collapsed, but the fourth was ht This was the one Eustace was interested in If you were going to hide a couple hundred people, that would be a place to do it

"You got a windup in your saddlebag, don’tcha?" Eustace asked

Fry retrieved the lantern Eustace turned the crank until the bulb began to glow

"Thing won’t last more than about three minutes," Fry warned "You think they’re in there?"

Eustace was checking his gun He closed the cylinder and reholstered the weapon but left the strap off Fry did the sa dock doors stood partially open; they dropped and rolled through The suess that answers that," Eustace said

"Fuckhis nose "Do we really need to look?"

"Get ahold of yourself"

"Seriously, I think I’ave the lantern a few more cranks A hallway lined with lockers ran to the rew s in his day, but he was pretty sure this was going to be the worst They ca doors

"I’ht be the time to ask about a raise," Fry whispered

Eustace drew his pistol "Ready?"

"Are you fucking kidding s hit Eustace’s senses in close order The first thing was the stench--a ly awful that Eustace would have lost his lunch on the spot if he’d actually bothered to eat To this was added a sound, a dense vibrato that stroked the air like the hue, darkAs Eustace stepped forward, flies exploded fros

As he raised his pistol he heard Fry yell, but that was as far as he got before a heavy weight crashed into hione; he should have seen this co aas occurring inside hi to be He reached for his gun to shoot himself but his holster was empty of course, and then his hands went nuing The swirling was a whirlpool in his head and he was being sucked down into it, down and down and down Nina, Siet you

But that was exactly what happened

46

It was nearly nine o’clock when Sister Peg walked Sara out

"Thank you for co," the old woman said "It always means so much"

A hundred and sixteen children, fro adolescents; it had taken Sara two full days to exao of long ago Certainly Sister Peg would have understood Yet Sara had never been able to bring herself to do this When a child got sick in the night, or was doith a fever, or had leapt fro, it was Sara who answered the call Sister Peg always greeted her with a sracing her door Hoould the world get on without us?

Sara figured that Sister Peg had to be eighty by no the old woe the place, its barely contained chaos, was a miracle She had softened someith the years She spoke sentimentally of the children, both those in her care and the ones who had moved on; she kept track of their lives, how they made their ways in the world, and whom they married and their children if they had theh Sara knew the woman would never say as much, they were her family, no less than Hollis and Kate and Pi, and she to thelad to do it"

"What do you hear fro was one of the few people who knew the story

"Nothing so far, but I didn’t expect to The mail is so slow"