| Ch. 25. Kicked out of the village, Portia visits the hospital in nearby Morgantown. A doctor there knows something peculiar is going on in Blood, but isn't inclined to investigate: "They mind their business, we mind ours." He finds Clint's and Jared's birth certificates stapled together and Portia learns what the reader already knows about the deaths of the boys' mothers. Portia returns to Blood the next day; when she arrives at Clint's cabin at dusk, she sees Clint on the porch and a woman and child at the edge of the yard, beckoning to her. She runs to Clint, and out of her hearing Clint tells Gilda and Charlie to get lost. (How did they escape?) Portia announces she's staying in Blood "to see if the Union is cohesive as I've always assumed."
Ch. 26. Clint delivers blood to the mansion; his metal vest saves him from Duquieu's booby traps: wooden spears hurled by wall-mounted catapults. After the attack he and Duquieu debate Blood's feudal servitude. Clint says his education showed him what a leech Duquieu is: he survives on the townspeople's superstitions. Duquieu says the people would never have progressed anyway, and Clint says "Because you haven't let them!" Duquieu sidesteps the issue by railing about local families that produce "gargoyles" through incest, and brags that he built two schools that the locals burned down: "They wanted only their fields, their jugs and their isolation." Clint suggests that Duquieu and Gilda, as the last surviving Lamprous, could have saved the townspeople by killing themselves. Duquieu replies that suicide's not so simple. Before Clint leaves, he tells the old Lamprou that Jared has released Gilda, Charlie, and Sam.
Ch. 27. Outside Sugie's house the next morning, Clint discovers Portia shooting arrows at targets. Unknown to her, Sugie has his rifle trained on Sam Steiner, who is stalking her, wearing a large floppy hat and oversized clothes to protect himself from the sun. To Sugie's horror, the sharp-eyed Clint points out that Gilda and Charlie (who we learn in Chapter 33 are impervious to sunlight) are on the other side of the yard, also watching the archer. Sugie explains that Portia was on a "limpig team" and made the bow and arrows herself. [Somewhat conveniently because Portia still doesn't know about Lamprous, the arrows are pure pine.] Again out of Portia's hearing, Clint tells Sam to lay off the woman and to tell Lady Lamprou and Charlie to do the same. At first Sam is snarling, but when he realizes Clint has no blood he says "Awww. You're a Lamprou."
Ch. 28. Clint and Coley stand on the old rope bridge they played on as children and talk about the stray Lamprous haunting Blood, and their feelings. Coley asks about Portia, mentioning that the newcomer gave her some rouge to replace the "cheek color" she normally gets by soaking pieces of red wallpaper. [Another interesting detail of life--and poverty--in the hills.] Suddenly, Jared appears on the shore and cuts the rope bridge. Clint and Coley dive fifty or sixty feet into Slate Lake. Clint guesses that Jared wasn't trying to kill them but wanted to sever the childhood ties the three of them had. Coley points out (not for the first time or the last) that Clint has "never been right" about Jared.
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Ch. 26. Clint delivers blood to the mansion; his metal vest saves him from Duquieu's booby traps: wooden spears hurled by wall-mounted catapults. After the attack he and Duquieu debate Blood's feudal servitude. Clint says his education showed him what a leech Duquieu is: he survives on the townspeople's superstitions. Duquieu says the people would never have progressed anyway, and Clint says "Because you haven't let them!" Duquieu sidesteps the issue by railing about local families that produce "gargoyles" through incest, and brags that he built two schools that the locals burned down: "They wanted only their fields, their jugs and their isolation." Clint suggests that Duquieu and Gilda, as the last surviving Lamprous, could have saved the townspeople by killing themselves. Duquieu replies that suicide's not so simple. Before Clint leaves, he tells the old Lamprou that Jared has released Gilda, Charlie, and Sam.
Ch. 27. Outside Sugie's house the next morning, Clint discovers Portia shooting arrows at targets. Unknown to her, Sugie has his rifle trained on Sam Steiner, who is stalking her, wearing a large floppy hat and oversized clothes to protect himself from the sun. To Sugie's horror, the sharp-eyed Clint points out that Gilda and Charlie (who we learn in Chapter 33 are impervious to sunlight) are on the other side of the yard, also watching the archer. Sugie explains that Portia was on a "limpig team" and made the bow and arrows herself. [Somewhat conveniently because Portia still doesn't know about Lamprous, the arrows are pure pine.] Again out of Portia's hearing, Clint tells Sam to lay off the woman and to tell Lady Lamprou and Charlie to do the same. At first Sam is snarling, but when he realizes Clint has no blood he says "Awww. You're a Lamprou."
Ch. 28. Clint and Coley stand on the old rope bridge they played on as children and talk about the stray Lamprous haunting Blood, and their feelings. Coley asks about Portia, mentioning that the newcomer gave her some rouge to replace the "cheek color" she normally gets by soaking pieces of red wallpaper. [Another interesting detail of life--and poverty--in the hills.] Suddenly, Jared appears on the shore and cuts the rope bridge. Clint and Coley dive fifty or sixty feet into Slate Lake. Clint guesses that Jared wasn't trying to kill them but wanted to sever the childhood ties the three of them had. Coley points out (not for the first time or the last) that Clint has "never been right" about Jared.
- tom moody 5-16-2002 6:31 am