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He says, That blast at the bridge must of done somethin to yer brain It sure as hell rattled yer nerve Ever since then, you bin all, thou shalt not kill I tell you, that’s hard to s, coel of Death fer nuthin Remind me How one fer the wound Anger raises its head in me Growls low in its throat I silence it with a twitch of ht if needs ht this fight with bows an guns an bombs Fer three reasons, I says Number one Look at how hters, I mean, not jest bodies--no offence to nobody

Slim looks at Mercy an Molly She means us, ladies, he says The old, the lame an the slow

Oh, I ain’t always slow, says Molly She’s propped on her elbows, legs stretched out, studyin her bare feet with drowsy content They’re small an shapely an, fer feet, they’re re Go on, Saba, she says We don’t take no offence

If we keep this a gun fight, I says, they’ll have the upper hand in no time an we’ll be dead Reason two Even if we could keep ’em on the run fer a while, the terrain of New Eden don’t favour guerilla action Everythin’s too close an we ain’t got enough places to retreat to Pretty soon they’ll knohere all our foxholes are an on’t have nowhere to hide

I keep lookin at them, each one in turn Tryin to read their faces, their eyes, as their thoughts turn an chase Choosin my words with care Slowin myself dohen I start to talk too fast

Reason three, I says I bin learnin a lot about New Eden From Mercy an other sources Information has coht now, but I can tell you this Knohat I do, the smartest an best way to beat him is without a shot bein fired An I believe it can be done That we can do it

I don’t, says Creed An I don’t believe you believe it neether The first sign of trouble, you’ll be reachin fer yer gun or yer bow It’s who you are Yer brother here says you was born with a bow in yer hand I only had to see you in action once to know that

Ash says, Sorry, Saba I stuck with you all the way so far, but I jest cain’t see how this would work I in the Stewards onto our side … She shakes her head It’s a nice thought, but yer dreahtin--an I’m a thousand years old, says Slim Sorry, sister, I’m with Ash on this one

Me too, says Tommo

What about the rest of yuz? Mercy? I says Molly? Where do you stand? Lugh? How about you?

Lugh says, Sorry, but I’es

I ain’t so sure about that, I says If we don’t try, we’ll never know One chance to prove this can work That’s what I want Tonight at the babyhouse An if it works, you’ll all support this We’ll roll it out fast Babyhouses, slaves, Edenhoh One chance

He looks at ht, he says One chance Me an Eht, Em?

My eyes tell hiot back Now she’s usin Tracker as a shield between her an s his neck, her face half-buried in his fur She’s ashamed over Nero After all her sworn vows to do better But I ain’t gonna chew her out I don’t even give her the hard eyeball I’onna leave her an see what happens

Creed looks a world full of scorn at Lugh Yeah, well, you would go along with her, wouldn’t you? he says Even if it was the most crackbrain notion ever Which it is

I wouldn’t be so sure Molly sits up straight, suddenly brisk If there’s somethin that runnin a hooch joint learns you, it’s that there’s one down the usual dismal road Ike’s dead, Jack’s dead an Bram an Maev an yer other friends too I ain’t ready to join ’es We should try this We’d be fools not to