Dark Zone

29

The chemist’s house was a small brick building close to the road and bordering on a large farm. The field of sunflowers had been harvested very recently, perhaps that morning, and Karr found that the smell tickled his nose in an unpleasant way. He started to sneeze as LaFoote unlocked the door to let them in, and then stood in the foyer sneezing.

The sneeze probably saved their lives.

As Karr reached for a handkerchief, he saw a thin thread strung across the bottom of the doorway to the left. He grabbed the Frenchman, pulling him down just as the back of the house exploded, showering them with debris. Karr pulled the old man with him as he crawled out. Just as he reached the path there was a second explosion, this one much louder and so violent that it rolled them into the nearby roadway. A fireball shot into the air. Large pieces of wood and stone began falling around them; a piece of brick about the size of a fist bounced off Karr’s shoulder, and an even larger one flew by as he got up.

LaFoote was breathing all right, but he was dazed, and it took Karr a good two or three minutes to get him back to full consciousness. By then, Telach had started screaming in Karr’s ear, asking what was going on, and there was a siren in the distance.

“I think there was an explosive rigged to ignite the gas main,” said Karr, speaking to LaFoote as well as the Art Room. “Or something. There was a thread on that inner doorway.”

“It wasn’t booby-trapped last week,” said LaFoote, coughing.

“All right, time for us to retreat if we can,” Karr said.

“Why?”

“Because my French isn’t up to an eight-hour workout with the police,” said Karr. “Come on.”