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One thing leads to another, and in Jack Reacher’s case, one warust day, a hitched ride in an empty lumber truck led to East Millinocket in Maine, which led in turn to a decent hhich led to a halting tary-guys conversation with the man at the next table, which led to an offered ride further north, to a place called Island Falls The unspoken but clearly iuy’s coffee and pie, but the establishment was cheap, and Reacher had money in his pocket, and as always he had no particular place to be, so he accepted

One thing leads to another

The guy’s car turned out to be a softly-sprung old Chevrolet, lacy with rust, and Island Falls turned out to be a pleasant little place on a lake, way in the north, where Maine sticks out like a thumb up Canada’s ass, with Quebec to the left and New Brunswick to the right But most of all Island Falls was pretty close to the north end of I-95 Which was te Reacher had a collector’s instinct when it came to places He knew the south end of I-95 pretty well More than nineteen hundred miles away, just past don Miami He had been there many times But he had never seen the north end

He had no particular place to be

One thing leads to another

Getting out of Island Falls was easy enough He had a cup of coffee in a hut next to a kayak rental slip, and stood in the buggy warmth of the lake shore and took in the view, and then he turned his back on it all and walked out of town the sahway cloverleaf He set up on the on-raust, it arm, it was vacation country The ht He was clean His clothes were only two days old, and his shave was only three Ideal conditions, overall

And sure enough, less than ten minutes later an old-model Jeep SUV with New Brunswick plates slowed and stopped There was a woer seat They looked to be somewhere in their mid-thirties, clearly outdoor types, ruffled by the wind and tanned by the sun Heading home, no doubt, after an active vacation Maybe they had been kayaking Or ca Or both The load space in the rear of the truck was piled up with stuff

The guy in the passenger seat let his n, and the wooing to Fredericton, which isn’t far, I’ood to you?”

Reacher said, “Is that in Canada?”

“Sure is”

Reacher said, “Then that’s perfect All I want is to get to the border, and then back again”

“Got soainst Canada?”

“My passport expired”

The guy nodded Gone were the days when a person could just stroll in and out of neighboring countries Then the guy said, “But there’s nothing h the fence, either You’d be better off staying where you are, surely”

Reacher said, “I want to see the end of the road”

The guy said, “That sounds heavy”

The wo of the road”

“Good point,” Reacher said

The guy said, “Hop in the back” He craned around in his seat and batted stray items aside Reacher opened the door and slid in and used his hip to finish the job He closed the door and the woh the last thirty-some miles of America

The last exit was for a town called Houlton Or the first exit, Reacher supposed, from the Canadian point of view Then ca traffic, and barriers and booths and official signs Reacher stayed in the Jeep until the last car’s length, and then he said his thanks and his goodbyes and he slipped out, and he stepped ahead and put his foot on the last inch of blacktop, directly under the barrier pole

The end of the road

One thing leads to another

He looped back and crossed to the southbound lanes and set up again thirty yards fro drivers plenty of ti too fast to stop Once again he anticipated no kind of a lengthy delay August, daylight, sunshine, vacation country, waroodwill Ten ht, maybe closer to five, and it wasn’t outside the bounds of possibility that the first car through would be the one

It wasn’t But the second car was Which wasa soccer riht blue, maybe, when it left the factory, but now colorless, alwo woman in the back The van had New Brunswick plates, and it was trailing a puff of oil s away from the customs post

But Reacher had ridden in worse vehicles

It slowed and stopped alongside hier as already down The woman in the front said, “We’re headed for Naismith”

Which was a place Reacher had never heard of He said, “I’m not sure where that is”

The guy at the wheel leaned across and said, “The Allagash,north for a bit It’s a little town Where you get on the wilderness trail through the forest It’s a really cool place”

Reacher said, “North of here?”

The guy said, “Beautiful country, man You should see those woods Really primeval Step off the path, and you could be the first human ever to set foot I mean, literally Ten thousand years of undisturbed nature Since the last Ice Age”

Reacher said nothing

The guy said, “Get it while you can,to take it all down”

No particular place to be

Reacher said, “OK, sure, thanks”

One thing leads to another

He looped around the rear of the van and the girl in the back slid the door on a rusty track and he cli backpacks and one hard-shell suitcase The seat was soot settled and slid the door closed and the van ain, from the effort