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else you need? Dancing girls? Tinnie might come stumble around. Or can we get to the point? Iwonder if that samsom weed might not he coming back on you again. That was a thought. I did my best to ignore it. But there could ve been something to it. The A-Laf deacon went straight to Silverman. One of the big boys placed a box in the old man s lap. Silverman produced a loupe. He opened the box. I jumped. The casket contained a nickel dog. A pup. All right! A jackal. This one wasn t charged, though. It was just a hunk of metal. Silverman studied the critter. Then he stared at the Dead Man. Then he studied the statue again. It will be difficult. But I enjoy a challenge. Especially work in unusual metals. This won t be enough material, though. Page 208 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html Voice barely audible, the deacon said, More is available. He was cooperating only because he wasn t strong enough to fight the Dead Man. I need ten more pounds, Silverman said. Preferably in small pieces. Responding to a query from the Dead Man, who hadn t included me. He was amusing himself. Getting back. All that juvenile Garrett! I responded with a scowl. But I paid attention. Accompany Deacon Osgood and his associates. Make certain they move the necessary materials to Silverman s workshop. Stick with Deacon Osgood until he has executed his commitment in full. Hey, all right. I confess to a certain sarcasm. You gonna bother telling me how I ll know when he has? There s always a chance remote as the moon, naturally, but statistically possible that I won t figure it out for myself. Deacon Osgood is going to surrender A-Laf s despair confiscation system. Mr. Silverman will make modifications. Deacon Osgood and his henchmen are not pleased, but have spent enough time in our forward-looking city to appreciate the enthusiasm of the Watch. He was smug. Proud of himself. And likely twisting everything to make a certain defunct Loghyr look like an ingenious trouble tamer. I have planted strong mindworms in all three servants of A-Laf. Deep fears and compulsions will carry them through the wrap-up. Even so, arm yourself. The deacon has a strong mind. The proximity of active jackals may attenuate the mindworm s efficacy. I see. I didn t comment on the fact that mind-worms weren t imaginary anymore. Though I d suspected hanky-panky with the facts when he d sold the goods to Teacher White. Relax now. I have to fill the vacuum inside your skull with what you need to carry this stage through to its best conclusion. 76 A-Laf s minions hadn t done badly, making connections round TunFaire, building on foundations provided by Harvester Temisk and Chodo Contague. Their associations with the Bledsoe and the Tersize family had been useful. Best of all, from their viewpoint, was an alliance on the Hill, with the Spellsinger Dire Cabochon, birth name Dracott Radomira, cadet of the royal family, a comparative unknown whose name never came up in any review of the ruling class s crimes and misdemeanors. Cabochon was particularly useful because she was defunct, in fact though not yet legally. Unlike my resident cadaver, the old witch just sat in a corner mummifying. Her pals from out of town hadn t reported that the air had gone out of her. The out-of-towners didn t note the unnatural post-demise good health of the remains, either. The old witch must have sung spells around herself before she surrendered to the unavoidable. The right people might be able to bring her back. If they were of a mind. Page 209 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html Not my problem. I wasn t of a mind. Tinnie made noises indicating repugnance. I comforted her not at all. She d insisted on tagging along. Let her enjoyall of it. I was still wasting mind time looking for an argument pointed enough to penetrate redheaded stubbornness and make Tinnie understand that there were parts of my life she shouldn t share. I said, It don t smell bad for somebody being a long time dead. Deacon Osgood s crew wasted no time. They collected metal dogs, metal scraps, and metalworking tools from a sitting room converted into a workshop. If I was a cynic, I d have thought they wanted to hustle me out of there. They piled everything into old vegetable sacks. Osgood was as happy as a guy working with a migraine. He feared the Watch would find out about this shanty now. But he couldn t not help me. This would have been the administrative headquarters for A-Laf s TunFaire mission. The base in the Tersize establishment had been living quarters. I checked the dead woman. It wasn t immediately obvious whether her demise had been natural or assisted. Colonel Block could work that out. There was a crackly sense about her that said, Don t touch! I didn t. That might be all it took to reanimate her. Old Bones must have known. He hadn t informed the Watch. He didn t want his scheme hip deep in law and order. You. Garrett. Deacon Osgood seldom spoke. When he did he sounded worn-out. Carry this sack. You. Trollop Tinnie popped him between the eyes with a handy pewter doodad. Those eyes crossed. He staggered. His troops gawked. This was beyond their imagining. Still, I was glad Chuckles had taken time to stifle their natural tendencies [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] |
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