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I patted my chest, my stomach, all the places I’d been puht arot a new ar

"You’re lucky you didn’t need a new head," caht through the doorway "In fact, it’s a shaive you one, because apparently the one you’ve got now is full of sawdust Disappearing like that, running off without a clue where you were going--and after all ?" He towered over Erinned at hiain"

"Yes, ha-ha, it’s all sot yourselves killed out there!"

"We were lucky," E cousins were available that evening and I was able to catch theer at the Cradle and Coffin! They don’t work for free, by the way I’ed boat!"

"Fine, fine!" I said "Settle down, okay?"

"What were you thinking?" he said again, his awful breath settling over us like a cloud

And then it ca, and I kind of lost it "That you were an untrustworthy lout!" I fired back "That it’s only about money with you, and you probably would have sold us into slavery the first chance you got! Yeah," I said, "we looked into it We know all about the shady things you peculiars get up to around here, and if you think for a minute we believe that you"--I pointed at Sharon--"or any of you"--I pointed at the doctor--"are helping us purely out of kindness, you’re nuts! So either tell us what you ith us or let us go, because we’ve … we’ve got …"

A sudden, crashing wave of exhaustion My vision unfocused

"Got better things to …"

I shook un to spin Eently ontoyou because Mr Bentham asked us to," he said tersely "What he wants with you, well, you’ll have to ask hi, Mister whoever can kiss my mmmff--"

E himself at the moment," she said "I’ us We’re in your debt"

"That, too," I ry and scared, but also genuinely happy to be alive--and to see Eht leaked out of ratitude I closedand listened to them whisper about me