| Ch. 48. Clint plants boxes of gunpowder in Jared's cave just after sundown, then hides and sleeps, waiting for his half-brother to return. Near dawn, when Clint is sure Jared is in the cave, he ignites the gunpowder. The cave "erupts like a volcano," but Clint is disappointed to see that Jared is blown into the river, where he is "crying in hoarse coughing sounds" but still alive.
Ch. 49. Unable to tolerate Widow Witt's garlic smell anymore, Portia heads down the mountain, ignoring the widow's warning that "only a dimwit goes out of doors this time of night." As she walks, she wonders if there is anything for her to return to in Newark, reflecting that she feels "really alive for the first time in years or maybe all her life." Back at Sugie's cabin, she is horrified to discover the corpse of Clint's cat hanging from a pillar on the front porch. She freezes as she sees Charlie, Sam, and a man "all bent over and gasping" walking slowly up the hill towards her. Mysterious penultimate sentence: "It all came together in one terrible revelation and she knew at least part of her destiny."
Ch. 50. Riding Baron, Clint chases Jared, who is running on foot through a dense fog. The fleeing Lamprou climbs into a tree, which Clint promptly sets on fire. Jared climbs from the smallest branches onto a large, thick reed and makes his escape.
Ch. 51. Sam Steiner and Swen Anderson attack haven number five. Jared's instructions have changed: now he wants the gang to make as many Lamprous as possible. When the roof blows open, the townspeople rush out the door. Swen punches people in the face to immobilize as many as he can before biting them; Sam just tears out their throats and throws them to the ground. After their work is done and they've left, Clint comes on the scene, and throws wooden swords into the chests and backs of the fallen.
Ch. 52. Jared has turned Coley into a Lamprou after abducting her from haven number three, intending to use her death and demonic rebirth "as a knife to twist in Clint's guts." Coley makes a wooden sword and begs Clint to kill her with it before she succumbs to "starvation and badness." Crying, Clint demurs at first, but she finally convinces him. He stabs her quickly and forcefully when she isn't expecting it. Laying her on the ground, he pins a brooch from Duquieu's treasure trove to her blouse, matching the ring Jared gave her for her wedding: "Now she belonged to both of them."
|
Ch. 49. Unable to tolerate Widow Witt's garlic smell anymore, Portia heads down the mountain, ignoring the widow's warning that "only a dimwit goes out of doors this time of night." As she walks, she wonders if there is anything for her to return to in Newark, reflecting that she feels "really alive for the first time in years or maybe all her life." Back at Sugie's cabin, she is horrified to discover the corpse of Clint's cat hanging from a pillar on the front porch. She freezes as she sees Charlie, Sam, and a man "all bent over and gasping" walking slowly up the hill towards her. Mysterious penultimate sentence: "It all came together in one terrible revelation and she knew at least part of her destiny."
Ch. 50. Riding Baron, Clint chases Jared, who is running on foot through a dense fog. The fleeing Lamprou climbs into a tree, which Clint promptly sets on fire. Jared climbs from the smallest branches onto a large, thick reed and makes his escape.
Ch. 51. Sam Steiner and Swen Anderson attack haven number five. Jared's instructions have changed: now he wants the gang to make as many Lamprous as possible. When the roof blows open, the townspeople rush out the door. Swen punches people in the face to immobilize as many as he can before biting them; Sam just tears out their throats and throws them to the ground. After their work is done and they've left, Clint comes on the scene, and throws wooden swords into the chests and backs of the fallen.
Ch. 52. Jared has turned Coley into a Lamprou after abducting her from haven number three, intending to use her death and demonic rebirth "as a knife to twist in Clint's guts." Coley makes a wooden sword and begs Clint to kill her with it before she succumbs to "starvation and badness." Crying, Clint demurs at first, but she finally convinces him. He stabs her quickly and forcefully when she isn't expecting it. Laying her on the ground, he pins a brooch from Duquieu's treasure trove to her blouse, matching the ring Jared gave her for her wedding: "Now she belonged to both of them."
- tom moody 5-26-2002 7:31 am