Landslide

I

Lucy Atherton tore her arm from my grasp and ran across the room towards the door. Old Bull, ill though he was, put all his energy into a whipcrack command. ‘Lucy!’

She stopped dead in the middle of the room. Matterson said coldly, ‘What load have you got in the gun?’

I said, ‘Rifled slugs.’

His voice was even colder. ‘You have my permission to put one through her if she takes another step. Hear that, Lucy? I should have done it myself twelve years ago.’

I said, ‘I found her in your study going through the desk. I think she was looking for your will.’

‘It figures,’ said the old man sardonically. ‘I sired a brood of devils.’ He raised his hand. ‘Young woman, plug that telephone in this socket here.’

The nurse started at being addressed directly. All that had been going on was too much for her. I said, ‘Do it — and do it fast.’ She brought over the telephone and plugged it in by the bedside. As she passed on her way back I asked, ‘Have you anything to write with?’

‘A pen? Yes, I’ve got one.’

‘You’d better take notes of what’s said here. You might have to repeat it in court.’

Matterson fumbled with the telephone and gave up. He said, ‘Get Gibbons at the police-station.’ He gave me the number and I dialled it, then held the handset to his head. There was a pause before he said, ‘Gibbons, this is Matterson... my health is none of your damn’ concern. Now, listen: get up to my place fast... there’s been a killing.’ His head fell back on to the pillow and I replaced the handset.

I kept the shotgun centred on Lucy’s middle. She was white and unnaturally calm, standing there with her arms straight down by her sides. A tic convulsed her right cheek every few seconds. Presently Matterson began to talk in a very low voice and I motioned the nurse nearer so that she could hear what he said. She had a pen and a notebook and scribbled in longhand, but Bull wasn’t speaking very fast so she had time to get it all down.

‘Howard was envious of Frank,’ said the old man softly. ‘Young Frank was a good boy and he had everything — brains, strength, popularity — everything Howard lacked. He got good grades in college while Howard ploughed his tests; he got the girls who wouldn’t look at Howard, and he looked like being the guy who was going to run the business when old John and I were out of the running, while Howard knew he wouldn’t get a look-in. It wasn’t that John Trinavant would favour his son against Howard — it was a case of the best man getting the job. And Howard knew that if I got down to making a decision I’d choose Frank Trinavant, too.’

He sighed. ‘So Howard killed Frank — and not only Frank. He killed John and his wife, too. He was only twenty-one and he was a triple killer.’ He gestured vaguely. ‘I don’t think it was his idea, I think it was hers. Howard wouldn’t have the guts to do a thing like that by himself. I reckon Lucy pushed him into it.’ He turned his head and looked at her. ‘Howard was a bit like me — not much, but a bit. She took after her mother.’ He turned back to me. ‘Did you know my wife committed suicide in a lunatic asylum?’

I shook my head, feeling very sorry for him. He was speaking of his son and daughter in the past tense as though they were already dead.

‘Yes,’ he said heavily. ‘I think Lucy is mad — as crazy mad as her mother was towards the end. She saw that Howard had a problem and she solved it for him in her way — the mad way. Young Frank was an obstacle to Howard, so what could be simpler than to get rid of him? The fact that old John and his wife were killed was an incidental occurrence. John wasn’t the target — Frank was!’

I felt a chill in that big, warm, centrally-heated room — the chill of horror as I looked across at Lucy Atherton who was standing with a blank look on her face as though the matter under discussion did not concern her a whit. It must have been also ‘a minor happening of no great consequence’ that a hitch-hiker called Grant was also in the car.

Matterson sighed. ‘So Lucy talked Howard into it, and that wouldn’t be too difficult, I guess. He was always weak and rotten even as a boy. They borrowed my Buick and trailed the Trinavants on the Edmonton road, and ran them off that cliff deliberately and in cold blood. I daresay they took advantage of the fact that John knew the car and knew them.’

My lips were stiff as I asked, ‘Who was driving the car?’

‘I don’t know. Neither of them would ever say. The Buick got knocked around a bit and they couldn’t hide that from me. I put two and two together and got Howard cornered and forced it out of him. He crumpled like a wet paper bag.’

He was quiet for a long time, then he said, ‘What was I to do? These were my children!’ In his voice was a plea for understanding. ‘Can a man turn in his own children for murder? So I became their accomplice.’ There was now a deep self-contempt in his voice. ‘I covered up for them, God help me. I built a wall around them with my money.’

I said gently, ‘Was it you who sent the money to the hospital to help Grant?’

‘I was pulled two ways — torn down the middle,’ he said. ‘I didn’t want another death on my conscience. Yes, I sent the money — it was the least I could do. And I wanted to keep track of you. I knew you’d lost your memory and I was scared to death you’d get it back. I had a private investigator checking up on you but he lost you somehow. Must have been about the time you changed your name.’ His hands groped blindly on the coverlet as he looked into the black past. ‘And I was scared you’d start back-tracking in an attempt to find yourself. I had to do something about that and I did what I could. I had to get rid of the name of Trinavant — it’s an odd name and sticks in a man’s memory. John and his family were the only Trinavants left in Canada — barring Clare — and I knew if you bumped up against that name you’d get curious, so I tried to wipe it out. What put you on to it?’

‘Trinavant Park,’ I said.

‘Ah, yes,’ he chuckled. ‘I wanted to change that but I couldn’t get it past that old bitch, Davenant. She’s about the only person in Fort Farrell I couldn’t scare hell out of. Independent income,’ he explained.

‘Anyway, I went on building the company. God knows what for, but it seemed pretty important at the time. I felt lost without John — he was always the brains of the outfit — but then I got hold of Donner and we got going pretty good after that.’

There was no regret for the way he had done it. He was still a tough, ruthless sonofabitch — but an honest sonofabitch by his lights, dim though they were. I heard a sound outside — the sound of a fast-driven car braking hard on the gravel. I looked at the nurse. ‘Have you got all that?’

She looked up with misery in her face. ‘Yes,’ she said flatly. ‘And I wish I hadn’t.’

‘So do I, child,’ said Matterson. ‘I should have killed the pair of them with my own hands twelve years ago.’ His hand came out and plucked at my sleeve. ‘You must stop Howard. I know him — he’ll go on killing until he’s destroyed. He loses his head easily and makes terrible mistakes. He’ll kill and kill, thinking he’s finding a way out and not knowing he’s getting in deeper.’

I said, ‘I think we can leave that to Gibbons — he’s the professional.’ I nodded to the nurse as a faint knocking sound echoed through the house. ‘You’d better let him in. I can’t leave here with her around.’

I still kept a close watch on Lucy whose face continued to twitch spasmodically. When the nurse had gone I said, ‘All right, Lucy: where are they? Where are Clare Trinavant and McDougall?’

A chill had settled on me. I was afraid for them, afraid this crazy woman had killed them. Matterson said bleakly, ‘Good Christ! Is there more?’

I ignored him. ‘Lucy, where are they?’ I could have no pity for her and had no compunction in using any method to get the information from her. I pulled out the hunting knife. ‘If you don’t tell me, Lucy, I’ll carve you up just like I’d carve up a deer — with the difference that you’ll feel every cut.’

The old man said nothing but just breathed deeper. Lucy looked at me blankly.

I said, ‘All right, Lucy. You’ve asked for it.’ I had to get this over with fast before Gibbons came up. He wouldn’t stand for what I was about to do.

Lucy giggled. It was a soft imbecile giggle that shook her whole body, and developed into a maniacal cackle. ‘All right,’ she yelled at me. ‘We put the sexy bitch in the cellar, and the old fool with her. I wanted to kill them both but Howard wouldn’t let me, the damn’ fool.’

Gibbons heard that. He had opened the door as she began laughing and his face was white. I felt a wave of relief sweep over me and jerked my head at Gibbons. ‘The nurse say anything about this?’

‘She said a little.’ He shook his head. ‘I can’t believe it.’

‘You heard what this one said, though. She’s got Clare Trinavant and old McDougall locked in a dungeon of this mausoleum. You’d better put cuffs on her, but watch it — she’s homicidal.’

I didn’t take the shotgun off her until he had her safely handcuffed and then I tossed it to him. ‘The nurse will fill you in on everything,’ I said. ‘I’m going to find Clare and Mac.’ I paused and looked down at the old man. His eyes were closed and he was apparently sleeping peacefully. I looked at the nurse. ‘Maybe you’d better tend your patient first. I wouldn’t want to lose him now.’

I hurried out and down the staircase. In the hall I found a bewildered-looking man in a dressing-gown. He came over to me at a shuffle, and said in an English accent, ‘What’s all the fuss? Why are the police here?’

‘Who are you?’ I asked.

He drew himself up. ‘I’m Mr Matterson’s butler.’

‘Okay, Jeeves; do you have any spare keys for the cellars?’

‘I don’t know who you are, sir, but—’

‘This is police business,’ I said impatiently. ‘The keys?’

‘I have a complete set of all the house keys in my pantry.’

‘Go get them — and make it fast.’

I followed him and he took a bunch of keys from a cabinet which contained enough to outfit a locksmith’s shop. Then I took him at a run down to the cellars which were of a pattern with the house — too big and mostly unused. I shouted around for a while and at last was rewarded by a faint cry. ‘That’s it,’ I said. ‘Open that door.’

He checked a number stencilled on the door and slowly selected a key from the bunch while I dithered with impatience. The door creaked open and then Clare was in my arms. When we unlatched from each other I saw she was filthily dirty, but probably not more than I was. Her face was streaked with dirt and there were runnels down her cheeks where the tears ran. ‘Thank God!’ I said. ‘Thank God you’re alive.’

She gave a little cry and turned. ‘Mac’s bad,’ she said. ‘They didn’t feed us. Howard came down sometimes but we haven’t seen him for five days.’

I turned to the butler who was standing with his mouth open. ‘Send for a doctor and an ambulance,’ I said. ‘And move, damn you.’

He trotted off and I went in to see how bad Mac was. It figured, of course. Crazy Lucy wouldn’t bother to feed people she already regarded as dead. Clare said, ‘We’ve had no food or water for five days.’

‘We’ll fix that,’ I said, and stooped down to Mac. His breathing was quick and shallow and the pulse was weak. I picked him up in my arms and he seemed to weigh no more than a baby. I carried him upstairs with Clare following and found the butler in the hall. ‘A bedroom,’ I said. ‘And then food for six people — a big pot of coffee and a gallon of water.’

‘Water, sir?’

‘For Christ’s sake, don’t repeat what I say. Yes — water.’

We got Mac settled in bed and by that time the butler had aroused the house. I had to caution Clare not to drink water too fast nor to drink too much, and she fell on cold cuts as though she hadn’t eaten for five weeks instead of five days. I reflected that I hadn’t lived too badly in the Kinoxi Valley, after all.

We left Mac in the care of a doctor and went to find Gibbons who was on the telephone trying to make someone believe the incredible. ‘Yes,’ he was saying. ‘He’s loose in the Kinoxi Valley — got a shotgun with rifled slugs. Yes, I said Howard Matterson. That’s right, Bull Matterson’s son. Of course I’m sure; I got it from Bull himself.’ He looked up at me, then said, ‘I’ve got a guy here who was shot at by Howard.’ He sighed and then brightened as though the news had finally sunk in on the other end of the line. ‘Look, I’m going up to the Kinoxi myself right now, but it’s unlikely that I’ll find him — he could be anywhere. I’ll need a backup force — we might have to cordon off a stretch of the woods.’

I smiled a little sadly at Clare. This was where I came in but this time I was on the other end of a manhunt — not the sharp end. Gibbons spoke a few more words into the mouthpiece, then said, ‘I’ll ring you just before I leave with any more dope I can get.’ He put down the telephone. ‘This is goddam incredible.’

‘You don’t have to tell me,’ I said tiredly, and sat down. ‘Did you really speak to Bull?’

Gibbons nodded and there was a kind of desperate awe in his face. ‘He gave me specific instructions,’ he said. ‘I’m to shoot and kill Howard on sight just as if he were a mad dog.’

‘Bull’s not too far wrong,’ I said. ‘You’ve seen Lucy — she’s crazy enough, isn’t she?’

Gibbons shuddered slightly, then pulled himself together. ‘We don’t do things like that, though,’ he said firmly. ‘I’ll bring him in alive.’

‘Don’t be too much the goddam hero,’ I advised. ‘He’s got a shotgun — a five-shot automatic loaded with 12-gauge rifled slugs. He nearly cut Jimmy Waystrand in two with one shot.’ I shrugged. ‘But you’re the professional. I suppose you know what you’re doing.’

Gibbons fingered some sheets of paper. ‘Is all this true? All this about them killing the Trinavants years ago?’

‘It’s a verbatim report of what old Matterson said. I’m witness to that.’

‘All right,’ he said. ‘I have a map here. Show me where you last saw Howard.’

I bent over as he unfolded the map. ‘Right there,’ I said. ‘He took two shots at the helicopter as we were taking off. If you want to get up to the Kinoxi fast that helicopter is just outside the house, and there might even be a pilot, too. If he objects to going back to the Kinoxi tell him I said he was to go.’

Gibbons looked at me closely. ‘I got a pretty garbled story from that nurse. I gather you’ve been on the run from Howard and a bunch of loggers for three weeks.’

‘An exaggeration,’ I said. ‘Less than two weeks.’

‘Why the hell didn’t you come to me?’ Gibbons demanded.

It was then I started to laugh. I laughed until the tears came to my eyes and my sides ached. I laughed myself into hysteria and they had to bring a doctor to calm me down. I was still chuckling when they put me to bed and I fell asleep.

II

I woke up fifteen hours later to find Clare at the bedside. I saw her face in profile and I’ve never seen anything so lovely. She became aware I was awake and turned. ‘Hello, Boyd,’ she said.

‘Hi, Trinavant.’ I stretched luxuriously. ‘What time is it?’

‘Just past midday.’ She looked at me critically. ‘You could do with a clean-up. Seen yourself lately?’

I rubbed my jaw. It no longer prickled because the hair had grown too long for that. I said, ‘Maybe I’ll grow a beard.’

‘Just you dare.’ She pointed. ‘There’s a bathroom through there, and I got you a razor.’

‘I trust I won’t offend your maidenly modesty,’ I said as I threw back the sheets. I swung out of bed and walked into the bathroom. The face that stared at me from the big mirror was the face of a stranger — haggard and wild-looking. ‘My God!’ I said. ‘No wonder that pilot was wetting his pants. I bet I could stop cows giving milk.’

‘It will come right with the application of soap and water,’ she said.

I filled the bath and splashed happily for half an hour, then shaved and dressed. Dressed in my own clothes, too. I said, ‘How did these get here?’

‘I had them brought from Mac’s cabin,’ said Clare.

Sudden remembrance hit me. ‘How is he?’

‘He’ll be all right,’ she said. ‘He’s as tough as Bull. He seems to be bearing up under the strain, too.’

‘I want to get him in court to tell that story,’ I said grimly. ‘After that I don’t care if he drops dead on the spot.’

‘Don’t be too hard on him, Bob,’ said Clare seriously. ‘He had a hard decision to make.’

I said no more about it. ‘Have you been filled in on all the details of this caper?’ I asked.

‘Mostly, I guess — except for what you have to tell me. But that can wait, darling. We have plenty of time.’ She looked at me straightly. ‘Have you decided who you are?’

I shrugged. ‘Does it matter? No, Clare; I’m no nearer finding out. I’ve been thinking about it, though. After the Matterson family a guy like Grant, a drug-pusher, is pretty small potatoes. What’s a drug-peddler compared with a couple of multiple murderers? Maybe Grant wasn’t such a bad guy, after all. Anyway — as I said — does it matter? As far as I’m concerned I’m just Bob Boyd.’

‘Oh, darling, I told you that,’ she said. We had a pretty passionate few minutes then, and after coming out of the clinch and wiping off the lipstick, I said, ‘I’ve just thought of a funny thing. I used to have bad dreams — real shockers they were — and I’d wake up sweating and screaming. But you know what? When I was under real pressure in the Kinoxi with all those guys after my blood and Howard coming after me with his shotgun I didn’t get too much sleep. But when I did sleep I didn’t dream at all. I think that’s strange.’

She said, ‘Perhaps the fact you were in real danger destroyed the imaginary danger of the dream. What’s past is past, Bob; a dream can’t really hurt you. Let’s hope they don’t come back.’

I grinned. ‘Any nightmares I have from now on are likely to be concerned with that automatic shotgun of Howard’s. That really gave me the screaming meemies.’

We went in to see McDougall. He was still under sedation but the doctor said he was going to be all right, and he had a pretty nurse to look after him. He was conscious enough to wink at me, though, and he said drowsily, ‘For a minute there, down in that cellar, I thought you were going to let me down, son.’

I didn’t see Bull Matterson because his doctor was with him, but I saw the night nurse. I said, ‘I’m sorry I busted in on you like that, Miss... er...’

‘Smithson,’ she supplied. She smiled. ‘That’s all right, Mr Boyd.’

‘And I’m glad you turned out to be level-headed,’ I said. ‘A squawking woman rousing the house right then could have queered my pitch.’

‘Oh, I wouldn’t have made a noise under any circumstances,’ said Miss Smithson primly. ‘It would have adversely affected Mr Matterson’s health.’

I looked straight-facedly at Clare who was disposed to burst into a fit of the giggles and we took our departure of the Matterson residence. As we drove away in Clare’s station-wagon I looked into the driving mirror at the over-bloated splendour of that fake castle and heartily wished I’d never see it again.

Clare said pensively, ‘Do you know how old Lucy was when she and Howard killed Uncle John, Aunt Anne and Frank?’

‘No.’

‘She was eighteen years old — just eighteen. How could anybody do anything like that at eighteen?’

I didn’t know, so I said nothing and we drove in silence through Fort Farrell and on to the road which led to Mac’s cabin. It was only just before the turn-off that I smote the driving wheel, and said, ‘My God, I must be nuts! I haven’t told anyone about the quick clay. I clean forgot.’

I suppose it wasn’t surprising that I had forgotten. I’d had other things on my mind — such as preventing myself getting killed — and Bull Matterson’s revelations had also helped to drive it out of my head. I braked to a quick stand-still and prepared to do a U-turn, then had second thoughts. ‘I’d better go on up to the dam. The police should have a check-point there to prevent anyone going up into the Kinoxi.’

‘Do you think they’ll have caught Howard yet?’

‘Not a chance,’ I said. ‘He’ll be able to run rings round them. For a while, at least.’ I put the car into gear. ‘I’ll drop you at the cabin.’

‘No you won’t,’ said Clare. ‘I’m coming up to the dam.’

I took one look at her and sighed. She had her stubborn expression all set for instant use and I had no time to argue. ‘All right,’ I said. ‘But stay out of trouble.’

We made good time on the Kinoxi road — there were no trucks to hinder progress — but we were stopped by a patrolman half a mile short of the powerhouse. He flagged us down and walked over to the car. ‘This is as far as you go,’ he said. ‘No one goes beyond this point. We don’t want any sightseers.’

‘What’s happening up there?’

‘Nothing that would interest you,’ he said patiently. ‘Just turn your car round and get going.’

I said, ‘My name’s Boyd — this is Miss Trinavant. I want to see your boss.’

He stared at me curiously. ‘You the Boyd that started all this ruckus?’

‘Me!’ I said indignantly. ‘What about Howard Matterson?’

‘I guess it’s all right,’ he said thoughtfully. ‘You’ll want to see Captain Crupper — he’s up at the dam. If he’s not there you wait for him; we don’t want anything going wrong in the Kinoxi.’

‘Then you haven’t caught him yet,’ said Clare.

‘Not that I know of,’ said the patrolman. He stood back and waved us on.

Work was still going on at the powerhouse and I could see a few minuscule figures on top of the sheer concrete wall of the dam. There was still the sea of mud at the bottom of the escarpment, a slick, slimy mess churned up by the wheels of trucks. It had been too much for a couple of trucks which were bogged down to their axles. A team of sweating men had anchored a power-winch on firm ground and was hauling one of them out bodily.

I pulled up next to a big car and found myself looking at Donner, who looked back at me expressionlessly, then got out of the car. I went to meet him with Clare close behind. ‘Donner, you’re in trouble.’ I waved at the powerhouse and up at the dam.

‘Trouble!’ he said bitterly. ‘You think this is trouble?’ For a reputedly bloodless and nerveless man he was showing a hell of a lot of emotion. ‘Those goddam crazy Mattersons,’ he burst out. ‘They’ve put me in one hell of a spot.’

I knew what was wrong with him. He was one of those people who make bullets for others to shoot, but he’d never take responsibility for pulling the trigger himself; a perfect second-in-command for Bull Matterson but without Bull’s guts. Now he found himself in charge of the Matterson Empire, if only temporarily, and the strain was telling. Particularly as the whole thing was about to fall apart. Nothing could now prevent the whole story coming into the open, especially the double-dealing with the Trinavant Trust, and it was easy to see that Donner would be hunting around for ways to unload the blame on to someone else.

It wouldn’t be too hard — Bull Matterson was too sick to fight back and Howard, the murderer, was a perfect scapegoat. But it was a trying time for Donner. However, I wasn’t interested in his troubles because a bigger danger was impending.

I said, ‘This is more trouble than you think. Did you read my report on the geology of the Kinoxi Valley?’

‘That was Howard’s baby,’ said Donner. ‘I’m just the accountant. I didn’t see the report and I wouldn’t have understood it if I had.’

He was already weaselling out from under the chopper; he could see trouble coming and was disclaiming responsibility. Probably, on the balance of things, he really hadn’t seen the report. Anyway, that didn’t matter — what mattered was getting every construction man off the site as soon as possible.

I pointed up at the escarpment. ‘That hillside is in danger of caving in, Donner. It can go any time. You’ve got to get your men out of here.’

He looked at me incredulously. ‘Are you crazy? We’ve lost enough time already because that dumb bastard Howard pulled men away to look for you. Every day’s delay is costing us thousands of dollars. We’ve lost enough time because of this mud, anyway.’

‘Donner, get it through your skull that you’re in trouble. I really mean what I say. That bloody hillside is going to come down on you.’

He swung his head and stared across at the solid slope of the escarpment, then gave me an odd look. ‘What the hell are you talking about? How can a hill cave in?’

‘You should have read that report,’ I said. ‘I found quick clay deposits in the valley. For God’s sake, didn’t you do a geological survey of the foundations of the dam?’

‘That was Howard’s business — he looked after the technical side. What’s this quick clay?’

‘An apparently solid substance that turns liquid if given a sudden shock — and it doesn’t need much of a shock. As near as I can check there’s a bed of it running right under that dam.’ I grinned at him humourlessly. ‘Let’s look on the bright side. If it goes, then a couple of million tons of topsoil is going to cover your powerhouse — the clay will liquefy and carry the topsoil with it. That’s the best that can happen.’

Clare touched my elbow. ‘And the worst?’

I nodded towards the dam. ‘It might jerk the foundations from under that hunk of concrete. If that happens, then all the water behind the dam will flow right over where we’re standing now. How much water is backed up behind there, Donner?’

He didn’t answer my question. Instead, he smiled thinly. ‘You tell a good story, Boyd. I like it very much, but I don’t go for it. You have a good imagination — an earthquake laid on to order shows real creative thought.’ He scratched his chin. ‘The only thing I can’t figure is what you reckon to gain by stopping construction now. I just can’t figure your angle.’

I gaped at him. McDougall had been right — this man figured every motive in dollars and cents. I drew a deep breath, and said, ‘You stupid, ignorant oaf!’ I turned from him in disgust. ‘Where’s the police captain who’s supposed to be here?’

‘Here he comes now,’ said Donner. ‘Coming out of the valley.’

I looked up to the road that clung to the hillside above the dam. A car was coming down, trailing a dust plume behind it. ‘Captain Crupper hasn’t the power to close down operations,’ said Donner. ‘I wish I knew what you were figuring, Boyd. Why don’t you tell me what you’re getting at?’

Clare said hotly, ‘Something you wouldn’t understand, Donner. He just wants to save your life, although I’m damned if I know why. He also wants to save the lives of all those men, even though they were after his blood not long ago.’

Donner smiled and shrugged. ‘Save those speeches for suckers, Miss Trinavant.’

I said, ‘Donner, you’re in trouble already — but not in real bad trouble because the worst that can happen to you is jail. But I’ll tell you something: if anyone gets killed here because you’ve ignored a warning you’ll have a lynch-mob after you and you’ll be damned lucky not to be strung up to the nearest tree.’

The police car rolled to a stop quite close and Captain Crupper got out and came over. ‘Mr Donner, I asked you to meet me here, but apparently it is now unnecessary.’

Donner said, ‘Captain Crupper, this is Mr Boyd and Miss Trinavant.’

Crupper switched hard eyes to me. ‘Hm — you stirred up something here, Boyd. I’m sorry it had to happen to you — and to you, Miss Trinavant.’ He looked at Donner. ‘It appears an investigation of the Matterson Corporation would be in order; running a private manhunt doesn’t come under normal business procedures.’

‘That was Howard Matterson’s affair,’ said Donner hastily. ‘I knew nothing about it.’

‘You won’t have to worry about him any more,’ said Crupper curtly. ‘We’ve got him.’

‘You got on to him fast,’ I said. ‘I’d have guessed it would take longer.’

With grim humour Crupper said, ‘He’s not as good in the woods as you, apparently.’ His lips tightened. ‘It cost us a good man.’

‘I’m sorry to hear that.’

He slapped his gloves against his thigh. ‘Gibbons was shot in the knee. His leg was amputated this morning.’

So Gibbons had to go and do the heroic bit after all. I said, ‘I warned him not to monkey around with Howard. Bull Matterson warned him, too.’

‘I know,’ said Crupper tiredly. ‘But we always try the pacific way first. We can’t shoot on sight just on someone’s say-so. There are laws in this country, Boyd.’

I hadn’t noticed the law around the Kinoxi Valley during the last couple of weeks, but I said nothing about that. ‘There’s going to be a lot more good men lost if this idiot Donner doesn’t pull them off this site.’

Crupper reacted fast. He jerked his head round to look at the powerhouse, then speared me with a cold glance. ‘What do you mean by that?’

Donner said silkily, ‘Mr Boyd has laid on an instant earthquake. He’s been trying to make me believe that hillside is going to collapse.’

‘I’m a geologist,’ I said deliberately. ‘Tell me, Captain: what is the road like up in the Kinoxi? Wet or dry?’

He looked at me as though I had gone mad. ‘Pretty dry.’

‘I know,’ I said. ‘You were kicking up quite a cloud of dust coming down the hill. Now tell me, Captain: where the hell do you think all this mud is coming from?’ I pointed to the greasy waste around the powerhouse.

Crupper stared at the mud, then looked at me thoughtfully. ‘All right. You tell me.’

So I went into it again and finally said, ‘Clare, tell the Captain of the demonstration I showed you with the quick clay cores. Don’t embroider it — just tell it straight.’

She hesitated. ‘Well, Bob had some samples of earth — he’d taken them from up here before Howard ran him off. He took a piece and showed how it could bear a big weight. Then he took another piece and stirred it in a jug. It turned to thin mud. That’s about all.’

‘Sounds like a conjuring trick,’ said the Captain. He sighed. ‘Now I have a thing like this dumped on me. Mr Donner, what about pulling your men off pending an expert investigation of the site?’

‘Now look here, Crupper,’ Donner expostulated. ‘We’ve had enough delay. I’m not going to waste thousands of dollars just on Boyd’s word. He’s been trying to stop this project all along and I’m not going to let him get away with any more.’

Crupper was troubled. ‘There doesn’t seem to be anything I can do, Mr Boyd. If I stop work on the dam and nothing is wrong my neck will be on the block.’

‘You’re damn’ right,’ said Donner viciously.

Crupper looked at him with dislike. ‘However,’ he said firmly, ‘if I thought it in the public interest I’d stop construction right here and now.’

I said, ‘You don’t have to take my word for it. Ring the geology faculty at any university. Try to get hold of a soil mechanics specialist if you can, but any competent geologist will be able to confirm it.’

Crupper said with decision, ‘Where’s your telephone, Mr Donner?’

‘Now, wait a minute,’ cried Donner. ‘You’re not going to grind this man’s axe for him, are you, Crupper?’

Clare said suddenly, ‘Do you know why Bull Matterson had a heart-attack, Donner?’

He shrugged. ‘It was something about Boyd being Frank Trinavant. Now, there’s a cock-and-bull story!’

‘But what if it’s true?’ she said softly. ‘It will mean that Bob Boyd will be bossing the Matterson Corporation in the future. He’ll be your boss, Donner! I’d think about that if I were you.’

Donner gave her a startled glance, then looked at me. I grinned at Clare and said, ‘Check!’ She was pulling a bluff but it was good enough to manipulate Donner, so I followed up quickly. ‘Do you pull the men off the site or not?’

Donner was bewildered; things were happening too fast for him. ‘No!’ he said. ‘This is impossible. Things don’t happen like this.’ He was a man who lived too far from nature, manipulating his money counters in drilled formations, unconscious of living in an artificial environment. He could not conceive of a situation he could not control.

Crupper said harshly, ‘Put up or shut up. Where’s your site boss?’

‘Over in the powerhouse,’ said Dormer listlessly.

‘Let’s get over there.’ Crupper moved off through the mud.

I said to Clare, ‘Take the car and get out of here.’

‘I’ll go when you go,’ she said firmly, and followed me to the powerhouse. There wasn’t much I could do about that, short of spanking her, so I let it go. As we went along I sampled the mud, rubbing it between forefinger and thumb. It still had that slick, soapy feeling — the feeling of disaster.

I caught up with Crupper. ‘You’d better plan for the worst, Captain. Let’s assume the dam goes and the lake busts through here. The flood should follow the course of the Kinoxi River pretty roughly. That area should be evacuated.’

‘Thank God this is an underpopulated country,’ he said. ‘There are only two families likely to be in trouble.’ He snapped his fingers. ‘And there’s a new logging camp just been set up. Where’s that goddam telephone?’

Donner came back just as Crupper finished his telephone conversation. Behind him was a big hulk of a man whom I had last seen closely when crashing a gun butt into his jaw.

It was Novak.

He stiffened when he saw me and his hands curled into fists. He shouldered Donner aside and strode over and instinctively I got ready for him, hoping that Crupper could break up the fight quickly. Without taking my eyes off him, I said to Clare, ‘Get away from me — fast.’

Novak stood before me with an unsmiling face. ‘Boyd, you bastard,’ he whispered. His arm came up slowly and I was astonished to see, not a fist but an open hand extended in friendship. ‘Sorry about last week,’ he said. ‘But Howard Matterson had us all steamed up.’

As I took his hand he grinned and rubbed his face. ‘You damn’ near busted my jaw, you know.’

‘I did it without animosity,’ I said. ‘No hard feelings?‘

‘No hard feelings.’ He laughed. ‘But I’d like to take a friendly poke at you some time just to see if I could have licked you.’

‘All right,’ said Crupper testily, ‘This isn’t old home week.’ He looked at Donner. ‘Do you tell him — or must I?’

Donner sagged and looked suddenly much smaller than he really was. He hesitated and said in a low voice, ‘Withdraw the men from the site.’

Novak looked at him blankly. ‘Huh?’

‘You heard him,’ said Crupper abruptly. ‘Pull out your men.’

‘Yeah, I heard him,’ said Novak. ‘But what the hell?’ He tapped Donner on the chest. ‘You’ve been pushing to get this job finished; now you want us to stop. Is that right?’

‘That’s right,’ said Donner sourly.

‘Okay!’ Novak shrugged. ‘Just as long as I get it straight. I don’t want any comeback.’

I said, ‘Wait a minute; let’s do this right. Come with me, Novak.’ We went outside and I looked up at the dam. ‘How many men have you got here?’

‘About sixty.’

‘Where are they?’

Novak waved his hand. ‘About half are down here at the powerhouse; there are a few up at the dam and maybe a dozen scattered around I don’t know where. This is a big site to keep track of everybody. What the hell’s going on, anyway?’

I pointed up the escarpment to the dam. ‘You see that slope? I don’t want anyone walking on it. So those guys up at the dam will have to take to the high ground on either side. See Captain Crupper about getting the boys away from the powerhouse. But remember — no one walks on that slope.’

‘I guess you know what you’re doing,’ he said. ‘As long as Donner goes along with it, it’s okay by me. Getting the guys off the dam will be easy — we have a phone line up to there.’

‘Another thing — have someone open the sluices up there before leaving.’ That was merely a gesture — it would take a long time for the new Lake Matterson to empty but whether the slope collapsed or not it would have to be done eventually and the job might as well be started as soon as possible.

Novak went back into the powerhouse but I waited a while — maybe ten minutes — then I saw the small figures of men moving off the dam and away from the danger zone. Satisfied, I went inside to find Crupper organizing the evacuation of the powerhouse. ‘Just walk out of here and find high ground,’ he was saying. ‘Keep off the Fort Farrell road and away from the river — keep off the valley bottom altogether.’

Someone shouted, ‘If you’re expecting the dam to bust you’re crazy.’

‘I know it’s a good dam,’ said Crupper. ‘But something’s come up and we’re just taking precautions. Move, you guys, it’s no skin off your nose because you’re still on full pay.’ He grinned sardonically at Donner, then turned to me. ‘That means us, too — everyone gets out of here.’

I was feeling easier. ‘Sure. Come on, Clare. This time you are leaving, and so am I.’

Donner said in a high voice, ‘So everyone leaves — then what?’

‘Then I have a closer look at the situation. I know the dangers and I’ll walk on that slope as though on eggs.’

‘But what can you do about it?’

‘It can be stabilized,’ I said. ‘Others will know more about that than I do. But in my opinion the only way will be to drain the lake and cap the clay outcrop. We can only hope the thing doesn’t slip before then.’

Novak said in sudden comprehension, ‘Quick clay?’

‘That’s right. What do you know about it?’

‘I’ve been a construction man all my life,’ he said, ‘I’m not all that stupid.’

Someone yelled across the room, ‘Novak, we can’t find Skinner and Burke.’

‘What were they doing?’

‘Taking out stumps below the dam.’

Novak bellowed, ‘Johnson; where the hell’s Johnson?’ A burly man detached himself from the crowd and came across. ‘Did you send Skinner and Burke to dig stumps below the dam?’

Johnson said, ‘That’s right. Aren’t they around here?’

‘Just how were they taking out those stumps?’ asked Novak.

‘They’d got most of ’em out,’ said Johnson. ‘But there were three real back-breakers. Skinner has a blasting ticket so I gave him some gelignite.’

Novak went very still and looked at me. ‘Christ!’ I said. ‘They must be stopped.’ I could visualize the effect of that sharp jolt on the house-of-cards structure that was quick clay. There would be a sudden collapse, locally at first, but spreading in a chain reaction right across the hillside, just like one domino knocks down the next and the next and so on to the end of the line. Firm clay would be instantaneously transformed into liquid mud and the whole hillside would collapse.

I swung round. ‘Clare, get the hell out of here.’ She saw the expression on my face and turned away immediately. ‘Crupper, get everyone out fast.’

Novak plunged past me, heading for the door. ‘I know where they are.’ I followed him and we stood staring up at the dam while the powerhouse erupted like an ants’ nest stirred with a stick. There was no movement on the escarpment — no movement at all. Just a confusion of shadows as the low sun struck on rocks and trees.

Novak said hoarsely, ‘I think they’ll be up there — on the right, just under the dam.’

‘Come on,’ I said, and began to run. It was a long way to the dam and it was uphill and we were pounding up that damned escarpment. I grabbed Novak’s arm. ‘Take it easy — we might start a slide ourselves.’ If the shear strength had fallen according to my estimates it wouldn’t take much disturbance to initiate the chain reaction. The shear strength was probably under five hundred pounds a square foot by now — less than the pressure exerted by Novak’s boot hitting the ground at a dead run.

We moved gently and as fast as we could up the escarpment and it took us nearly fifteen minutes to do that quartermile. Novak lifted his voice in a shout. ‘Skinner! Burke!’ The echoes rebounded from the sheer concrete face of the dam which loomed over us.

Someone quite close said, ‘Yeah, what do you want?’

I turned. A man was squatting with his back to a boulder and looking up at us curiously. ‘Burke!’ said Novak explosively. ‘Where’s Skinner?’

Burke waved. ‘Over behind those rocks.’

‘What’s he doing?’

‘We’re getting ready to blow that stump — that one, there.’

It was a big stump, the remnant of a tall tree, and I could see the thin detonating wire leading away from it. ‘There’s going to be no blasting,’ said Novak and walked quickly over to the stump.

‘Hey!’ said Burke in alarm. ‘Keep away from there. It’s going to blow any second.’

It was one of the bravest things I have seen. Novak calmly leaned over the stump and jerked the wire away, bringing the electrical detonator with it. He tossed it to the ground casually and walked back. ‘I said there’ll be no blasting,’ he said. ‘Now, get the hell out of here, Burke.’ He pointed up to the road that clung to the hillside above the dam. ‘Go that way — not down to the powerhouse.’

Burke shrugged. ‘Okay, you’re the boss.’ He turned and walked off, then paused. ‘If you want the blasting stopped you’ll have to hurry. Skinner’s blowing three stumps all at once. That was only one of them.’

‘My God!’ I said, and both Novak and I turned towards the jumble of rocks where Skinner was. But it was too late. There was a sharp popping sound in the distance, not very loud, and a nearer crack as the detonator Novak had pulled out exploded harmlessly. Two plumes of dust and smoke shot into the air about fifty yards away and hung for a moment before being dissipated by the breeze.

I held my breath and then slowly released it in a sigh. Novak grinned. ‘Looks like we got away with it that time,’ he said. He put his hand to his forehead then looked at the dampness on his fingers. ‘Sure makes a man sweat.’

‘We’d better get Skinner off here,’ I said. As I said it I heard a faint faraway sound like distant thunder — something more felt inside the head than heard with the ears — and there was an almost imperceptible quiver beneath my feet.

Novak stopped in mid-stride. ‘What’s that?’ He looked about him doubtfully.

The sound — if it was a sound — came again and the quiver of the earth was stronger. ‘Look!’ I said, and pointed to a tall, spindly tree. The top was shivering like a grass stalk in a strong wind, and as we watched, the whole tree leaned sideways and fell to the earth. ‘The slide,’ I yelled. ‘It’s started.’

A figure came into sight across the hillside. ‘Skinner!’ shouted Novak. ‘Get the hell out of there!’

The ground thrummed under my boots and the landscape seemed to change before my eyes. It wasn’t anything one could pin down, there was no sudden alteration — just a brief, flickering change. Skinner came running across but he had not come half the distance when the change became catastrophic.

He disappeared. Where he had been was a jumble of moving boulders tossed like corks in a stream as the whole hillside flowed. The entire landscape seemed to slip sideways smoothly and there was a deafening noise, the like of which I had never heard before. It was like thunder, it was like the sound of a jet bomber from very close quarters, it was like the drum-roll of tympani in an orchestra magnified a thousand times — and yet it was like none of these. And underneath the clamour was another sound, a glutinous, sucking noise as you might make when pulling a boot out of mud — but this was a giant’s boot.

Novak and I stood rooted for a moment helplessly looking at the place where Skinner had vanished. But it was no longer correct to call it a place because a place by its nature is a definite locality, a fixed point. Nothing was fixed on this escarpment and the ‘place’ where Skinner had been ground between the boulders was already a hundred yards downhill and moving away rapidly.

I don’t suppose we stood there for more than two or three seconds, although it seemed an eternity. I dragged myself out of this shocked trance and shouted above the racket, ‘Run for it, Novak. It’s spreading this way.’

We turned and plunged across the hillside, heading for the road which represented safety and life. But the chain reaction under our feet, flashing through the unstable clay thirty feet underground, moved faster than we did, and the seemingly solid ground rocked and slid under us, dipping and moving like an ocean.

We ran through a scattering of saplings which bent and swayed in all directions and one fell immediately in front of us, its roots tearing free from the moving ground. I vaulted it and ran on but was momentarily held by a half yell, half grunt from behind. I turned and saw Novak sprawled on the ground, held down by the branch of another toppled tree.

When I bent to examine him he seemed dazed and only half-conscious and I struggled violently to release him. Luckily it was only a sapling but it took all my strength to shift it. The continuous movement of the ground made me feel queasy and all the strength seemed to be leeched from my muscles. It was very hard to think consecutively, too, because of the tremendous noise — it was like being inside a monstrous drum beaten on by a giant.

But I got him free and only just in time. A big glacial boulder moved past, tossing like a cork on a stream, right over the place where he had been pinned. His eyes were open but glazed and he had a witless look about him. I slapped his face hard and a glimmer of intelligence came back. ‘Run,’ I shouted. ‘Run, goddam you!’

So we ran again, with Novak leaning heavily on my arm, and I tried to steer a straight course to safety, something which was damn’ near impossible because this was like crossing a swiftly flowing river and we were being swept downstream. In front of us a fountain of muddy water suddenly jetted fifteen feet into the air and soaked us. I knew what that was — the water was being squeezed out of the quick clay, millions of gallons of it. Already the ground beneath my feet was slippery with mud and we slithered and slid about helplessly as this handicap was added to the violent movements of the earth itself.

But we made it. As we came nearer the edge of the slide the movement became less and I finally let Novak slip to solid ground and sobbed for breath. Not very far away Burke was lying prone, his hands scrabbling into the soil as though to clutch the whole planet to himself. He was screaming at the top of his voice.

From the time the first tree went down to the time I dropped Novak in safety couldn’t have been more than one minute — one long minute in which we had run a whole fifty yards. That was no record-breaking time but I don’t think a champion sprinter could have bettered it.

I wanted to help Novak and Burke but something, call it professional interest, held my attention on this great catastrophe. The whole of the land was moving downhill at an ever-increasing speed. The front of the slide was just short of the powerhouse and whole trees were being tossed into the air like spillikins and boulders ground and clashed together with a noise like thunder. The front of the flow hit the powerhouse and the walls caved in, and the whole building seemed to fold and disappear under a river of moving earth.

The topsoil flowed away to the south and I thought it was never going to stop. Water, squeezed from the clay, spurted in fountains everywhere, and through the soles of my boots I could feel the vibrations of millions of tons of earth on the move.

But finally it did stop and everything lay quiet except for the occasional rumble here and there as strains were eased and pressures equalized. Not more than two minutes had elapsed since the blasting of the stumps and the slide was fully two thousand feet long and extended five hundred feet from hillside to hillside. Ponds of muddy water lay everywhere. The clay had given up all its water in that awful cataclysm and there would be little danger of a further slide.

I looked down to where the powerhouse had been and saw just a waste of torn earth. The slide had erased the powerhouse and had gone on to cut the Fort Farrell road. The little group of cars that had been parked on the road had vanished, and from the tip of the slide gushed a torrent of muddy water already carving a bed in the soft earth as it rushed to join the Kinoxi River. There was no other movement at all down there and I was painfully aware that Clare might be dead.

Novak got to his feet groggily and jerked his head quickly as though to shake his brains back into position. When he spoke he shouted, ‘How the hell...?’ He looked at me in astonishment and began again more quietly. ‘How the hell did we get out of there?’ He waved his hand at the slide.

‘Sheer luck and strong legs,’ I replied.

Burke was still clutching the ground and his screams had not diminished. Novak swung round. ‘For God’s sake, shut up!’ he yelled. ‘You’ve survived.’ But Burke took no notice.

A car door slammed on the road above and I looked up to see a policeman staring at the scene as though he couldn’t believe his eyes. ‘What happened?’ he called.

‘We used a mite too much gelignite,’ shouted Novak sardonically. He walked over to Burke, bent down and clouted him on the side of the head. Burke’s screams suddenly stopped but he continued to sob raspingly.

The policeman scrambled down to us. ‘Where did you come from?’ I asked.

‘From up the Kinoxi Valley,’ he said. ‘I’m taking a prisoner into Fort Farrell.’ He clicked his tongue as he gazed down at the blocked road. ‘Looks as though I’ll have to find another way round.’

‘Is that Howard Matterson you have up there?’ When he nodded I said, ‘Keep tight hold of that bastard. But you’d better go on down there — you might find Captain Crupper, if he’s still alive.’ I saw another policeman on the road. ‘How many are there in your car?’

‘Four of us, plus Matterson.’

‘You’ll be needed in rescue work,’ I said. ‘You’d better get moving.’

He looked to where Novak was cradling Burke in his arms. ‘Will you be all right here?’

I was tempted to go with him to the bottom, but Burke was in no condition to move and Novak couldn’t carry him unaided. ‘We’ll be all right,’ I said.

He turned to climb up to the road and at that moment there was a great groan as of intense pain. At first I thought it was Burke but when the sound came again it was much louder and boomed right down the valley.

The dam was groaning under the pressure of water behind it and I knew what that meant. ‘Jesus!’ I said.

Novak picked up Burke bodily and began to stumble up the hill. The policeman was climbing as if the devil was at his heels, and I ran across to help Novak. ‘Don’t be a damn’ fool,’ he panted. ‘You can’t help.’

It was true; two men couldn’t lug Burke up that slope any faster than one, but I hung around Novak in case he slipped. More noises were coming from the great concrete wall of the dam, strange creakings and sudden explosions. I looked over my shoulder and saw something incredible — water under pressure fountaining from underneath the dam.

It jetted a hundred feet high and spray blew in my face. ‘It’s going,’ I yelled, and looped my arm around a tree, grabbing Novak’s leather belt with the other hand.

There was a loud crash and a fissure appeared, zigzagging down the concrete face from top to bottom. The quick clay had slipped from underneath the dam and the waters of Lake Matterson were blowing the foundations out, leaving nothing to bear the enormous weight.

Another crack appeared on the face of the dam and then the water pressure from behind became too much and the whole massive structure was pushed aside impatiently by a solid wall of water. A great chunk of reinforced concrete was thrown out from the dam; it weighed every ounce of five hundred tons, but it was thrown into the air and toppled in twisting flight until it crashed into the sea of mud below. In the next second it was overwhelmed and covered by the rush of lake water.

And so were we.

We just hadn’t been able to go that extra few feet up the hill and the flood swirled in its first crest just above us. I had the sense to see what was coming and to fill my lungs with air before the water hit us so I didn’t think I’d drown, but I thought I’d be torn in two as the fast water hit Novak and swung him off his feet.

With one hand grasping his belt I was holding the weight of two big men and I thought my arm would be sprung from its socket. The muscles in the other arm cracked as I desperately hung on to the tree and my lungs were bursting when I finally managed to gulp air.

That first great crest could not last long but while it did it filled the valley from side to side and was a hundred feet deep in that first great lunge to the south. But it dropped rapidly and I was thankful to find the strain taken from me as a policeman grabbed Novak.

He shook his head and gasped. ‘I couldn’t help it,’ he cried desolately. ‘I couldn’t hold him.’

Burke was gone!

There was a new, although impermanent, river below us which had calmed down to a steady and remorseless multi-million-gallon flow that would ebb, hour by hour, until there would be no more Matterson Lake — just the little stream called the Kinoxi River that had flowed from this valley for the last fifteen thousand years. But it was still a raging torrent, three hundred feet wide and fifty feet deep, when I staggered up and planted my boots firmly on that wonderful solid road.

I leaned on the side of the police car and shuddered violently and then became aware that someone was watching me. In the back of the car, sandwiched between two policemen, was Howard Matterson, and his teeth were drawn back in a wolf-like grin. He looked totally mad.

Someone tapped me on the shoulder. ‘Get into the car — we’ll take you to the bottom.’

I shook my head. ‘If I travel with that man you couldn’t stop me killing him.’

The policeman gave me an odd look and shrugged. ‘Suit yourself.’

I walked slowly down the road towards the bottom of the hill and desperately wondered if I would find Clare. I was glad to see some survivors; they picked their way slowly down the hillside and walked like somnambulists. I came across Donner; he was smeared with viscid mud from head to foot and was standing looking at the flood water as it streamed past. As I passed him I heard him muttering. Over and over again he was saying, ‘Millions of dollars; millions of dollars — all gone! Millions and millions.’

‘Bob! Oh, Bob!’

I swung round and the next moment Clare was in my arms, sobbing and laughing at the same time. ‘I thought you were dead,’ she said. ‘Oh, darling, I thought you were dead.’

I managed a grin. ‘The Mattersons had a last crack at me but I came through.’

‘Hey, Boyd!’ It was Crupper, no longer neat and trimly uniformed but looking like a tramp. Any one of his own men would have put him in jail just for looking like he did. He stuck his hand out. ‘I never expected to see you again.’

‘I thought the same about you,’ I said. ‘How many were lost?’

‘I know of five for certain,’ he said gravely. ‘We haven’t finished checking yet — and God knows what is happening downstream. They didn’t have much warning.’

‘You can make it seven for certain,’ I said. ‘Skinner and Burke both bought it. Novak came through.’

‘There’s a lot needs doing,’ said Crupper. ‘I’ll get on with it.’

I didn’t volunteer for anything. I’d had a bellyful of trouble and all I wanted to do was to go away somewhere and be very quiet. Clare took my arm. ‘Come,’ she said. ‘We’ll go away from here. If we climb the hill there we might be able to find a way round the flood.’

So we made our way up the hill very slowly, and at the top we rested a while and looked north over the Kinoxi Valley. The waters of Matterson Lake would fall very quickly to reveal the jagged stumps of a raped land. But the trees still stood in the north — the forest in which I had been hunted like an animal. I didn’t hate the forest because I reckoned it had saved my life in a way.

I thought I could see the green of the trees in the far distance. Clare and I had lost four million dollars between us because the Forestry Service would never allow a total cut now. Yet we were not displeased. The trees would stay and grow and be cut down in their season, and the deer would browse in their shade — and maybe I would have time to make friends with brother Bruin after having made amends for the scare I gave him.

Clare took my hand and we walked slowly along the crest of the hill. It was a long way home, but we’d make it.