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Saba, says Jack We better go

His voice right behind e Remember?

He takes e kinda ht Short winds dash at us then die Clouds threaten, then calrey sky thumps down like a lid an sharp picks of rain razor us It settles to a mean-tempered dank of a day Jack jale inside it an hitch a ride Me, I gotbefore we’re miserably damp

It’s all cloud an sharp rain inside of hts clod an churn Feelins spike rab ’eood look

One DeMalo don’t have miraculous visions It’s a trick A cheat He ain’t who he says he is He ain’t what he says he is He discovered the bunker an its secrets by chance He claian to misuse them

Two He must be revealed fer the fraud that he is Everybody needs to know about the visions By everybody I mean the Stewards an the Tonton The only way they’d believe is if they seen it fer the, we’ll jest tell them e found an they’ll believe us

Three What’s aotta use what I know to our best advantage I gotta be wise, be cool Think, plan, then act In the right way, at the right tiot so little time, there ain’t no chance in hell that I’ll--stop, stop Be cool Stay calm

Four Four It’s unbelievable It’s shameful But here it is The cold stone of betrayal burns in me I feel betrayed by hiht luht Jack had betrayed me You only feel betrayed if you place yer trust in somebody If you believe what they tell you I believed DeMalo Believed him when he told me I was special That I warn’t like nobody else I believed that meant he would tell me--me above all others--the truth But he plays me jest like he’d play anybody He baits his line an reels us in An as ard an the weakness of my flesh fer his I swear, when DeMalo hauled ht, he landed me on shiftin sands Me, who used to think I stood on bedrock

I realize Jack’s stopped That I’rab hold of Herht be able to hear hts

Sorry, I says Did you say somethin?

I said, this is where we part ways, he says

We’re at HorseArch, in the middle of the boulderfield The worn hindquarters of a stallion rear atop the crues Kell away Puts distance between us His hat hides his eyes He’s only said one thing since we left the bunker Lucky fer us they was late That’s e’d reached the safety of the wooded ridge an looked back to see the two relief guards appear Since then, not a word, an that’s strange Jack ain’t no chatbox, but he’s social There’s always some to an fro with hihts fer so long

You bin awful quiet, I says

I got a lot on my mind, he says

His distant tone slaes everythin, don’t it? The seedstore, the fake visions D’you think I oughta tell Lugh an the rest e found?

Not yet, he says It’s way too big We’ll keep it between us fer now

Right, I says Listen, I wanna it ’eether later on?