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What do you see?"
He lookedIt was Jack who
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What do you see?"
He lookedIt was Jack who got it
first"A profile?" Then he said it again, without
the hesitation"We can only see the forehead, the
indentation of the eyesocket, and the top of the
nose from here, but I bet if we were on the beach,
we'd see a mouth, as wellOr what passed for oneAnd Shade Beach right below it,
I'll bet you anythingWhere John Eastlake went on
his treasure-hunting expeditions
"And where the twins drowned," Wireman added
"That's the path they walked to get thereThe breeze tugged at our hairWe
looked at the path, still visible after all these
yearsLittle feet going down to swim hadn't done
thatA footpath between Heron's Roost and Shade
949
Beach would have disappeared in five years, maybe
only two
"That's no path," Jack said, reading my mind
"That used to be a roadNot paved, but a road,
just the sameWhy would anybody want a road
between their house and the beach, when it
couldn't have been more than a ten-minute walk?"
Wireman shook his head
"Edgar?"
"Not a clue
"Maybe he found more stuff on the bottom than just
a few trinkets," Jack said
"Maybe, but-" I caught movement in the tail of my
eye - something dark - and turned toward the house
"What is it?" Wireman asked
"Probably nerves," I said
The breeze, which had been coming at us from the
Gulf, switched slightly and puffed out of the
south insteadIt brought a stench of putridity
with it
Jack recoiled, grima |