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Akee put the gown to her nose, sniffed, and then frowned.
"No. Just Noawhane. But not Noawhane."
"What do you mean?"
Akee searched for the right human words to use. "Edge to it. Not there
before."
Trence's expression tightened. "Undead?"
"Nabaren no turn undead. Noawhane smell odd."
Trence scratched his head, looking perplexed, and thinking for a moment. "Can
you track her?"
"Noawhane keep to trees. Akee no follow."
"We'll have to tell Sinclair it's a bust."
"Sinclair-Saee be unhappy."
"Maybe. We can hope she'll head home. You think
Noawhane knows what she's doing?"
"Akee hope so."
* * * *
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Sinclair rose from his chair when he saw Trence and Akee return. "Did you find
her?"
Mother Damnation [The Blessed and the Damned I]
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162
Akee shook her head unhappily. "Noawhane run away.
Take tree route. No trail."
"I just hope she makes it home," said Sinclair. "Trence, see what you can find
out about the major. If there's still no change, I'm going to hit the
officer's club."
Trence nodded at his unit mates and walked off.
Akee settled into a chair.
Trence came back solemn. "No change."
Sinclair scanned the faces of his unit. Left to their own devices, all of them
would sit here and mope. There were better things he could do with them, and
it didn't include canceling the leave time they had managed to steal in order
to sit in the hospital waiting room. "Look guys, let's hit the PX
then go see the Duchess. I want each of you to look at a map
I drew and answer some questions about what happened."
Jenkins blinked. "Yessir."
Trence and Akee rode with Sinclair, while the three privates followed in
Eryngus' beat up truck.
Kate greeted them at the door. She eyed the half-dozen on her veranda with a
raised eyebrow and chuckled. "Another army night?"
"Yeah." Sinclair gave her a wan smile, waiting for her to either let them in,
or bawl him out and then let them in.
"Well, at least you're sober."
"For the moment."
Kate stepped back from the door, sweeping her arm out to welcome them over her
threshold.
"I assume those bags contain liquor?"
"Yeah."
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163
Kate planted her hands on her hips. "And?"
"Some for the major, who's not allowed it on doctor's orders. Some for the
boys who can't anymore. And some
'cause we're thirsty."
Kate raised her eyebrows. "Aristotle Sinclair," this prompted a few sniggers
from Wain, Ringer, and Gobber "I
should know well enough by now that an army always marches on its liver, but
if you think I'm going to play hostess to half a dozen drunken reprobates,
I've got just one thing to say to you."
A tense silence descended upon the company.
"Just you make damn well sure that there's some left for the rest of the
platoon!" She started off, paused, and then turned. "Aristotle, Nipa isn't
feeling well. You'll have to fend for yourselves. She needs quiet, so keep the
guys away from the east end."
"She seemed fine this morning." Sinclair sobered.
"She's old, Aristotle. Some of the girls are helping me with her. So just keep
the guys on the west end."
"Will do."
* * * *
Sinclair moved all his maps and the jar of pencils to the big table in the
formal dining room upstairs where they had more space. The hour grew late, and
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a knock came at the door.
Sinclair glanced to see who Kate ushered inside. Randall stood in the doorway
with his beret in his hands, looking uncertain.
"I hope I'm not interrupting. Aunt Kate said to come up."
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by Janrae Frank, Phil Smith
164
Because Dane had no surviving family, the Sinclair clan had become the closest
thing to relatives that Randall and
Jessy had besides their parents. Looking at Randall right then, Sinclair could
almost see the eleven year old boy who had fled one of his parents' frequent
quarrels and ridden a bicycle through forty miles of dangerous country from
Fort Necessity to Kate's home.
* * * *
Trence grinned as he approached Sinclair and Akee in the waiting room the next
day. "They moved him into a room on the ward last night. He's awake and alert,
but he's only allowed brief visits."
Sinclair grabbed Akee and swung her around in an impromptu dance that brought
odd looks from the staff walking past them.
"You can go up, Sinclair," Trence said. "But they'll only give you fifteen
minutes with him."
Dane parted his eyes as Sinclair entered. He appeared pale and worn. Drainage
tubes protruded from the side of his bandaged chest and another down near his
waist, drawing out the excess blood and any air that might have been trapped
inside him. "Sinclair." Dane acknowledged him in a raspy voice, his breathing
rough.
"Major."
"Don't let ... them retaliate." Dane's eyes closed and he seemed to drift for
a moment before speaking again. "They will."
"I know it, Dane."
Mother Damnation [The Blessed and the Damned I]
by Janrae Frank, Phil Smith
165
"Call Colworth. If his secretary ... or his aide ... doesn't want to ... put
you through." Dane fell silent and Sinclair could see that even this little
bit was exhausting him. "Tell them ... the fox said ... the fence is down."
"Will do."
"Tell Colworth ... I said give you ... everything you ask for.
Ball's in ... your court."
"I know." Sinclair looked away, finding it hard to see Dane like this. The [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]