Page 43 (1/2)
"The e of the earth, the sea just cascading into an abyss, and so across the void: ‘Here there be roup silence, Bobby said, "Bad choice of historical trivia, bro"
"Yeah," Sasha said, gradually slowing the Expedition as she peered into the dark fields north of Haddenbeck Road, evidently looking for Doogie Sass anecdotes about Marie Antoinette at the guillotine?"
"That’s the stuff!" Bobby agreed
Roosevelt darkened thewhat didn’t need to be coojerrie says the cro off the rock"
"With all due respect," Bobby said, "Mr Mungojerrie is just a fuckin’ cat"
Roosevelt seeojerrie says he may be just a fuckin’ cat, but that puts him two steps up the social ladder frohed "He didn’t say that"
"No other cat here," Roosevelt said
"You said that," Bobby accused
"Not e"
"The cat?" Bobby said skeptically
"The cat," Roosevelt insisted
"Bobby’s only a recent believer in all this smart-aniojerrie turned in ht, dude"
Mungojerrie raised one forepaw
After a ht onder, he extended his right hand across the back of h five
Good work, Moht Very nice Let’s just hope when all is said and done, we end up with more smart cats than crazed reptiles
"Here we are," Sasha said as we reached the bottom of the hill
She shifted the Expedition into four-wheel drive and turned north off the highway, driving slowly because she had doused the headlights and was guided only by the hts
We crossed a lush h a stand of live oaks, approached the boundary fence surrounding Fort Wyvern, and stopped beside the largest sports utility vehicle I had ever seen This black Humone custo driven off the showrooher on them than did a standard model, and it had been stretched by the addition of a few feet to its cargo space
Sasha switched off the lights and the engine, and we got out of the Expedition
Mungojerrie clung to round I understood his concern The grass was knee-high Even in daylight, you’d have difficulty spotting a snake before it struck, especially considering how fast a motivated serpent can move When Roosevelt reached out, I handed the cat to hiie Sassreet us, like a steroid-hah He closed the door behind hiie Sassman is five inches shorter than Roosevelt Frost, but he is the only man I’ve ever knoho can make Roosevelt appear to be petite The sass e on Roosevelt, but I’ve never seen a hundred pounds used to better effect He seeer than Roosevelt, but twice as large, h he isn’t, a true leviathan on land, a guy who ht discuss the techniques of city destruction over lunch with Godzilla
Doogie carries his race and does not appear to be fat All right, Doogie does look big, très et the impression that he’s made of animate concrete, impervious to arteriosclerosis, bullets, and tiie that’s every bit as mystical as the stone crow at the top of Crow Hill
Maybe his hair and beard contribute to the iod of thunder and rain once worshipped in ancient Scandinavia, where they noorship cheesy pop stars like everyone else His untamed blond hair, so thick that it offends the sensibilities of Hare Krishnas, hangs to the middle of his back, and his beard is so lush and wavy that he couldn’t possibly shave it off with anything less than a laer Great hair can radically enhance a man’s aura of power--as witness those who have been elected to the presidency of the United States with no other qualifications--and I’ie’s hair and beard have more than a little to do with the supernatural ih the real mystery of him cannot be explained by hair, size, the elaborate tattoos that cover his body, or his gas-flaht he wore a zippered black jumpsuit tucked into black boots, which should have ian baby in Dr Denton pajaht be called down to Hell by Satan to unclog a furnace chinarled and half-burnt contentious souls of ten serial killers
Bobby greeted hiie replied
"Cool wheels," I said aded
Roosevelt said, "Thought you were all Harleys"
"Doogie," Sasha said, "is a man of many conveyances"
"I am a wheel-o-maniac," he adht with a priest"
The eye was better, still swollen but not to such a tight slit The ice had worked
"We ought to get ie"
He agreed "I’ve been hearing coyotes like no coyotes I’ve ever heard before"
Bobby, Sasha, and I looked at one another I recalled Sasha’s prediction that we hadn’t seen the last of the pack that had co’s house
The cathedral-quiet fields and hills lay under a shrouded sky, and the breeze fro nun In the live oaks behind us, the leaves whispered only slightly louder than ie led us around to the back of the custoht was not as bright as usual, because half the fixture was masked with electrician’s black tape, but even the reduced illurasslands
Just inside the tailgate were two shotguns They were pistol-grip, pu that Manuel Raie said, "I don’t think either of you boardheads is likely to shoot a hole in a silver dollar with a handgun, so these suit you better I know you’re shotgun-fanum loads, so be prepared for the kick With this punch and spread, you buckaroos don’t have to worry about ai"