How to use "about" in a sentence

After that, I'll drive to Goblin Valley, about eighty kilometres north of here

It's not difficult and I should be able to finish in about eighteen hours

As I walk, I think about the history of the people who were here before me

I think about my plan for the day

I always get very excited when I'm about to leave on a trip

I guess they are about twenty-five years old.

As we go, we talk about our interests

We are on the trail together for about five kilometres

The movement is so easy I don't think about it

It's only about three metres, so I won't need any equipment

The Big Drop Rappel is now only about 160 metres away

This one is about four metres down

It's about the same size as the wheel of a bus

It seems there's nothing to worry about

Stop thinking about how bad the problem is, Aron

What about other hikers? Will they find me by chance? Again, the answer is probably 'no'

Everything about this stupid adventure was a mistake

I think again about amputating my arm

I now have only about one-eighth of a litre left.'

'Does he know about the party?' Elliot asked.

Just thinking about it makes me want to do something.

I'm afraid I'm rather worried about him

Something about the visions tells me that I have not given the people I care about enough attention

Just as I am about to drink, the vision disappears and I wake up

I guess he must be about three

What about the Robbers Roost canyons in the south? The only roads down there were made of rocks and sand

I try and forget about the bird and pick up the camcorder

'The police at the carpark told us about you,' he says.

After about ten minutes, Eric helps me up and we continue walking slowly.

'It's about twelve minutes from here.'

You know a lot about sea life

"You have things here that most people only read about, Captain."

"I want to talk about our escape."

Ned Land still wanted to escape, and he thought about it every day

Captain Nemo was upset about something, and he had the power to tell us what to do

"Professor, do you know anything about medicine?"

I did not want to say anything about the sick man, but I was curious

He's not famous and he's angry about that."

He's angry about something

Many people like to tell stories about giant squid, but no one knows if they are true

The squid was about to pull him into the sea

"It's about our freedom

"Yes, about twenty miles away

She thought about her cat, Dinah

Then she saw a very small door about 40 centimeters high

She began to think about her friends

She catches a mouse every day - Oh! You're angry again! We won't talk about Dinah any more-'

'I never speak about cats! Our family hates cats! I don't want to hear any more about them.'

'Come back again and we won't talk about cats or dogs.'

The Dodo had to think about it

Alice loved to talk about her cat

'Oh, why did I talk about Dinah?' cried Alice

Perhaps somebody will write a book about this place - and about me! Perhaps I will, when I'm bigger.' Then she remembered

It was about one meter high.

In a short time she was about 60 centimetres high

Alice thought about that

When she was about 30 centimeters high, she walked through the door into the garden.

I would like to speak to somebody about it.'

Ask her about it.'

'What do you know about these tarts?' he asked

Then the King asked, 'What do you know about these tarts?'

She sat up and told her sister about the White Rabbit and the rabbit-hole

I told him about the idiot school.

The film was about a man and a woman, Bonnie and Clyde, and there was a lot of shooting and killing

We didn't talk, but after about an hour, I asked, 'Can I try it?' and he said 'OK', and gave me the harmonica

She wasn't angry about the cinema, and she asked me to have a drink with her!

They played for about an hour, and I was lying back with my eyes closed, listening happily

I wasn't clever enough at the lessons, and there was nothing that anybody could do about it

After about a hundred hours on a bus, me and a lot of other new young soldiers arrived there

'What about this?' I asked

There was a big metal thing about six feet tall and five feet round, sitting in the corner.

I put everything in it, and after about an hour you could smell the cooking

Well, in between the shooting, Bubba told me about himself

Then we got orders to move the machine gun about fifty metres to the left of the big tree that was in the middle of the valley, and to find a safe place to put it before the enemy blew us all up.

And that's all I've got to say about that.

There were about two thousand people waiting for us at San Francisco airport when we got off the plane! What a surprise! A lot of them had beards and long hair

When we got there, he bought me a beer, and he was telling me about the President and my medal when something happened

The President asked me a lot of questions about Vietnam and the army, but I just said, 'Yes, it's OK' or shook my head to say no, and after several minutes of this we were both silent.

But all this time, I was thinking about Jenny Curran

It was in the afternoon, and the man behind the bar said, Jenny'll be here about nine o'clock.'

Later, I went outside and walked round for about half an hour, then went back

'I wore flowers in my hair, and talked about love

Then, at about nine o'clock, a car stopped near the house and some people got out

I told her how I felt - I was sorry about the girl, and I didn't want to play in the group without her

The others were talking about something that would happen the next day

I asked about Jenny at the office, and the woman said, 'Yes, she works in here

And I told her all about that, and about Sue, the ape.

After about a month, I was winning nearly two hundred dollars a week, arm-wrestling

Jenny wasn't happy about the wrestling but I won a lot of money - sometimes by winning fights, sometimes by losing them because Mike told me to lose them

I think about having a house and a family and things like that now

So we went with Mr Felder, and I found myself acting in a film about the jungle - with Raquel Welch, the famous film star! 'Is that really Raquel Welch?' I asked Mr Felder

It took me about seven minutes to win the first game, and half an hour to win the next

The train got into Mobile station about three o'clock in the morning, and Sue and I got off

Two days later, Sue and I got the bus to Bayou La Batre, where Bubba's parents lived, and I explained to Bubba's daddy about the shrimp business that Bubba and I planned to start after we came out of the army

Well, we talked about Mom and the shrimp business and everything

Then I asked about Jenny.

We came here about three years ago.'

'Mom wrote and told me about your shrimp business, and how rich you were.'

'Do you know anything about football?'

'Perhaps I can put things right with Jenny,' I thought, 'now that I've found her again.' But the more I thought about it, the more I finally understood that it was better for the boy to be with Jenny and her husband, and not to have an idiot for a father.

I do not consider it necessary, at present, for me to discuss those matters of administration about which there is no special anxiety, or excitement.

There is much controversy about the delivering up of fugitives from service or labor

What is this non-cooperation, about which you have heard much, and why do we want to offer this non-cooperation?

There are many ways in which it can be helped, but it can never be helped by merely talking about it.

The story I want to tell is about a man who came into the company one day

He seemed about forty years old and he was very well dressed

We began to talk about other things.

I did not know what he was talking about.

Now I understood what he was talking about.

I did not think he was really sad about Mr Meltham at all

I wanted to find out more about this man.

'I have only heard stories about it,' he said

There was something false about his expression of sadness.

I spoke to our host about Mr Slinkton

His family are worried about him, you see

No one knew anything about it at all.

I was away from Mr Slinkton and Miss Niner for about five minutes.

Miss Niner began to tell me about her uncle

She was worried about what would happen to her uncle when she died

I know all about you.'

It's got all the information about the poisons that you use

'You asked Mr Sampson several times if he had any news about Meltham

I can give you news about him - I am Meltham!' he announced triumphantly.

They saw a policeman, Constable Jonas Mizen, not far away in Baker's Row, told him about the woman, and then walked on to work

She was about 1.58m tall, and had dark brown hair

The door opened to a passage about 7-8 metres long

It was about 4.45 a.m

Then he left for work and passed Spitalfields Church at about 5.32 a.m.

when some workmen rushed towards him and told him about the dead woman

She had a fight with a woman about a piece of soap and got a black eye

At about 1.30 a.m

She left at about 1.50

The other, Elizabeth Darrell, said that as she was walking down Hanbury Street at about 5.30 a.m

The passage into the yard was about five metres long and extremely dark

He was 1.70m tall, about 28 years old, and wore a deerstalker hat and dark clothes.

Schwartz later described the man as 1.65m tall, about 30, with a small brown moustache

Mr Diemschutz, anxious about the safety of his wife, went into the club to look for her

He found her safe with some club members and told them about the woman

He noted the dead woman's height - 1.57m - and guessed her age, about 42

Mrs Tanner, the deputy, said she last saw Elizabeth alive about 7 p.m

According to the medical evidence Elizabeth Stride died about 12.56 a.m., or even perhaps at 12.58

She asked him the time and he said nearly one o'clock, which was about the time of Elizabeth Stride's murder.

We can imagine her singing to herself as she walked along, a small woman, about 1.52m, and thin

She looked about forty, and had dark brown hair under her black bonnet

Hearing about the murder, they went to the square

He was afraid about anti-Jewish demonstrations, so he ordered his men to rub out the message

But he knew about the strong anti-semitic feelings in the area.

on Saturday 29th, Kelly told her to be careful about the Whitechapel killer.

'Don't you worry about me,' replied Catherine

Descriptions of Mary suggest an attractive young woman, about 1.70m tall, with a stout build, blue eyes, and a complexion 'as fair as a lily'

When Barnett left at about 8 p.m., Mary knew she had to go out into the streets to earn some money

He was about thirty-six, 1.65m tall, stout, with a carrot-coloured moustache

She went to bed about 1.30 a.m

She guessed the time was about 3.30-4.00

He wore a brown deerstalker hat and was short, about 1.63m

If the woman was Catherine Eddowes, then the man was certainly Jack the Ripper: about thirty, of average height, with a small moustache and a cap with a peak.

On November 12th a labourer named George Hutchinson gave the police a very good description of a man he saw with Mary Kelly at about 2 o'clock on the morning of her murder

Hutchinson said the man was aged about 34-35, just over 1.67m, with a pale face, dark eyes and hair and a small moustache

When they went into the court, he waited around for about 45 minutes

It had been in the water for about a month

In fact, Hutchinson had known Mary about three years, so he certainly knew that she had her own room

But Abbeline had been wrong about George Chapman.

When Mrs Mary Burridge of south London read about the murder, she collapsed and died of fright

Liz Stride and Kate Eddowes were murdered near Jewish clubs, and the police were very nervous about the possibility of anti-Jewish disturbances

When a man called Brennan began to shout about the murders in a pub in Camberwell, the customers ran out into the street and Brennan was soon arrested

The writer was probably talking about the injury to Annie's throat, but only the police, the doctors and the killer knew the details of Annie's murder

During the following weeks sales of newspapers, and verses and songs about the murders were enormous

On October 10th a woman hanged herself at 65 Hanbury Street because she was depressed about the murders

Years later Detective Walter Dew wrote in his memoirs about the killer's 'amazing elusiveness'

'What about all that food in the pots?'

'What about that one over there?' she said, pointing across the square to a small house beside the bishop's palace.

'Something about a dangerous stranger walking the streets?' he asked with an amused smile.

During dinner, Mile Baptistine looked at Valjean kindly while the bishop talked about the local cheese-making industry

Unable to return to sleep, he gazed into the darkness, thinking about the past twenty years

Now, at last, he was free, but he felt bitter and angry about his lost years

'Oh, you're worried about the silver? I don't know where that is.'

'But what about the candlesticks? I gave you those as well, don't you remember? They're silver like the rest, and worth at least two hundred francs

A boy of about ten years old was coming along a footpath with a small box on his back and dirty knees showing through holes in his trousers

He was a boy of about ten, a chimney sweep

The Thenardiers did not feel guilty about treating Cosette badly because Fantine had stopped sending them regular payments.

Although she was careful to say nothing about her daughter to anyone, other women at the factory soon discovered her secret

'My hair will grow again,' she thought, 'but teeth would be gone forever.' But then she thought about her daughter, and her own appearance suddenly seemed unimportant

'What are you talking about?'

I wrote to the police headquarters in Paris and told them about you.'

'Told them what about me?'

He stayed awake all night, thinking of Javert's story about Champmathieu

He would also have to break his promise to Fantine about bringing Cosette from Montfermeil

Fantine smiled, and began to talk dreamily about her future life with her daughter, and how happy they would be together

And you can forget all that nonsense about your child.

'We always knew there was something strange about him,' they said

There was something about his eyes, tilled with a strange sadness, that she liked and trusted

She let him carry the bucket up the hill and, as they walked back towards the village, she told him everything about her life with the Thenardiers

Cosette, who had forgotten about the bread, came out from under the table.

'But for a second, there was something about the beggars eyes that reminded me of Javert

Then one day, as he was passing, thinking about nothing in particular, the girl looked up at him and their eyes met

He suddenly realized that, in his feverish state, he had forgotten about the old man

However, there was something strange about them: although they all seemed to be written by different people, they were written on the same rough paper in the same handwriting

Thinking no more about it, he wrapped the letters up again, threw them into a corner and went to bed.

As Marius was thinking about the sad life of the family in the next room, he stared dreamily at the wall that separated them

Leblanc and told him about his debts.

'We'll know what to do about it.' And then, as he was going to leave the room, he turned to his wife and said, 'You know, it's lucky he didn't recognize me

Marius told Javert about the morning's events

Leblanc asked Jondrette about his circumstances, and Jondrette smiled sadly as he invented lie after lie

It's worth about three francs.'

'I don't know what you're talking about,' M

She bit her lip and hesitated, as if trying to make up her mind about something

That evening, Cosette was alone in the house which Jean Valjean had bought about a year earlier

Cosette, not a nervous girl by nature, smiled to herself and thought no more about it.

When Jean Valjean returned from his business the following day, Cosette told him about the noises in the garden

They talked all evening about their dreams, their mistakes, their moments of happiness, their moments of despair

'Well, I'll pray for you to succeed and I'll never stop thinking about you

He was unhappy about many things - about losing his teeth, about the political situation but, most of all, about the fact that he had not seen his grandson for four years, since their big quarrel

'Tell me about it,' he said to Marius, who stared back with silent amazement, unaware that the word 'grandfather' was responsible for the change in the old man's behaviour

'Come on, tell me about your love affairs

Marius told his grandfather all about Cosette and how much he loved her

They all looked very nervous and excited about something.

He looked about him but, seeing no one, he started to walk away, thinking that he was imagining things.

As he was eating, Toussaint told him about the fighting in the city, but he did not pay much attention

He was too worried about Cosette

He began to feel happier as he thought about the journey they would soon be making

'What about my share of the money?'Thenardier asked.

The old man walked to the window and, while he complained to the night about the pain and grief his grandson had caused him, the doctor arrived

He thought about Enjolras and Eponine, and wondered why Cosette's father had been at the barricade

Most of all, however, he thought about Cosette, and how he could find her again.

I know all about her

Despite enjoying an occasional conversation with him, he found something strange about the old man

But there were more important things for Marius to think about

One evening, when Marius was talking to Cosette and Jean Valjean about the mystery and his unsuccessful attempts to solve it, he became angry with Cosette's guardian's lack of interest in his story.

He was proud of having helped to bring her happiness with Marius, but another thing troubled his soul: the fact that nobody, not even Cosette, knew the truth about him

On the other hand, if he continued to lie about his past, he would lose his own soul

Marius listened quietly as Valjean told him everything about his life

I tried to persuade myself that it would be better not to admit the truth about my past, but it was no use

'She'll be heart-broken if she hears the truth about me

Marius kept his promise about not telling Cosette, and Valjean visited her every evening in a small room on the ground floor

Valjean would sit looking at Cosette in silence, or would talk about incidents from their past

He did not return to the house again, and Cosette was too busy with married life to think too much about him

Apart from the details about his life that Valjean had confessed to him, he knew that Valjean had killed Inspector Javert at the barricade

Cosette had not been happy about this

'Shall I tell you the secret that you were planning to sell me? I, too, have sources of information, and probably know more about the subject than you do

'I've spent a long time discovering the truth about Jean Valjean.'

Thenardier sat down and told Marius about the time he had helped Valjean to escape from the Paris sewer.

I am about to shout again when suddenly I remember something

I think about the lump on the back of my head and the fresh blood on my fingers

There is nothing cruel about the face, but I know instantly that this is the man that has Catherine, and I hate that face with all of my heart.

Maybe he is his friend, his partner, and I am about to run when I see the small gun in his hand.

The attendant is about to finish for the night.

Oliver thinks about loving, ironic Emily again

"Right," he says, and tries to smile to relax her, "what's all this about, then? The officer at the front desk says you need to speak to someone."

He has a bad feeling about his pint in the Black Bull pub

He walks up the corridor to the front desk and is about to shout for an officer when he sees the tall figure standing at the door of the police station

They can chop you up into little pieces," says Darwin, and Gerry thinks about Big Jones and the old factory on the Thames.

You know, I don't think he believes us about the salties."

"Bloody poms never believe us about the salties."

And he is about to laugh again, when he hears a noise from the trees.

He raises his gun and is about to shoot when the dark shape moves again, and he laughs.

And Gerry remembers the old factory on the Thames and the boxes with the different addresses and the story about what Big Jones does when people steal from him

And Big Jones looks up at him and is about to shout when suddenly he looks behind Gerry, and the colour disappears from his face.

In the day, when it's hot and sunny like today, they don't worry about anything

He thinks about home for a moment, but that is too far away now, and too long ago.

But you can't think about that, he tells himself.

There is something different about him

And a police officer helps him to stand and says something about him being a hero.

"No, I can't, I must find the captain: he promised to tell me all about the new people on board today; you know how I must know who I am sailing with." She looks at the men

Please, tell us about yourself," says Edward.

"Well, our conversation is about murder," says Peter to fill the silence "the perfect murder."

Mrs Heath is lovely, but she only talks about scandal and gossip."

"You see, we all have very different ideas about what the perfect murder is

Peter thinks that for a film there must be something visual about the murder weapon

In fact, I have an idea for a story: an idea I think about occasionally."

"So what about characters and motive?" he continues.

Michael takes a moment to think about it and then nods

"But what about the woman's motive?" Michael asks.

In reality, however, all he does is press 'play' on the recording device and write down a few notes about when the judge enters, when the prosecution or defence speaks, or what the final verdict is

"Please be seated!" says the judge, a woman of about forty years of age with a serious face and tone

What? Oh, who cares about her? She'll probably like prison, the crazy cow: more people for her to hurt

Then he shakes his head and is about to turn.

Is it my fault she is so stupid? So easy to manipulate? A little bit of blood on my face, a few tears, a fake story about him hitting me

He stands and is about to press the button on the recording device when he sees the red light flashing.

He thinks about lying, but why? The priest promises not to tell a soul

I just stopped in to confess about stealing another bottle of whiskey from the shop

But anyway, why think about it? Just drive; get a few more miles from the town, and from her.

He can forget about last night, about the girl

The sun is lower in the sky now, it's a little less hot, and the radio keeps him company with old songs about love and women, rock and roll and country music

There's something about Needles, something about trouble on Route Sixty-Six, and he tries to listen, but the signal is weak.

And he thinks for a moment about not stopping, but there is nowhere for him to go

The guy's eyes are covered by silver sunglasses, and there is something strange about his uniform, Dan thinks

Dan nods and gets out, and he thinks again that there is something strange about the cop's uniform

"You said it was easy!" he shouts again and recalls the first time his brother had told him about the plan.

Think about that." Greg drank some more of his beer and looked around the bar

He had about three hundred bucks left in the world

The kid looks about eleven, and they let him walk into the town from the hotel sometimes

The headmaster is a man about the same age as Smith, but there the comparison ends

"Miss White is here to take notes and can give you some more details about Mr Fletcher."

Smith is about to speak when a loud hammering sound starts, and Bowen shakes his head

"Sorry about that

"And what about the students?" Smith asks them both.

I came here to tell Mr Cliff what the headmaster said about the argument."

Only, Fletcher said something about Miss White: something no gentleman should say

"You asked about the students

The grass below their feet is green and fresh, the trees are heavy with leaves, and the air smells so good that Owen forgets about Junior's mood

But Owen does not like to think about that too much

So he tries not to think about it.

"What about deer? Can we shoot them?"

Owen thinks about what to say

Junior looks a bit happier now, and for twenty minutes Owen talks to him about how to hold the gun and how to walk with it, while his son listens carefully and asks sensible questions that show a real interest

Do you remember the rules about the gun, Son?"

And for a while they walk, and he is happy about how carefully Junior holds the gun and how he listens and does exactly what he should

A choice about what to do with this talent

But there is something very dangerous about Hank Wynn when he looks calm and happy

Did you hear that, Jimmy? So before I take this gag out of your mouth, and before you think about saying something stupid again, think about this

Everything you said about me is right

I wanted to win, I wanted the respect you talked about

For a moment she thinks about how quiet the platform is, and how normally she has to fight to get on the train in the evening.

Sarah thinks about her cosy sofa and the Chinese takeaway she will eat while watching TV

She cannot see his face because he has the hood of his sports jacket up, but he seems to be asleep, and there is something about his face that she does not like

She starts to feel better: more relaxed and less concerned about the reason why the tube is so quiet today.

And when she hears the topic that they are talking about, she suddenly feels cold.

She does not want to think about their conversation or the horrible reason why the tube is so quiet

She does not want to think about the stories in the newspapers

She does not want to think about what the police are calling the tube murders

She closes her eyes and thinks about her sofa, her Chinese take-away and her bed

And she dreams about dark tunnels and strange men watching her.

Sarah nods and is about to put her headphones back in her ears when she feels someone watching her, and she looks at the corner of the carriage.

"What was that about?" asked Niki, as they hurried on down the street

She'd turned around quickly and seen a boy: about her age but a little taller, with black hair and dark, smiling eyes..

"I heard the government has a new idea - about people living in pods."

I saw something about it, too

"What's it all about?"

"You seem worried about something."

Gran was always talking about how she'd lived by the ocean when she was a child.

"The one you tell stories about? The one who..."

"So, tell me about your day," she said, over her shoulder

Gran was always talking about the days when she and Sala's grandfather used to travel to distant lands, climb mountains, and go swimming in the ocean

Gran had a chip buried under her skin like everyone else, but she wore a bracelet to hide it as a small way of protesting about the government's tight control over everyone.

Then she thought about Gran's fruit.

If it really was from outside, it could be dangerous to say anything about it

"I'm dying to tell you a story about Gran

"Thinking about what?" demanded Sala

"Is this the Pod Life that Ding was talking about? The one where you live in a pod for two years?" Cham looked uncomfortable

As soon as Cham's face disappeared, she suddenly remembered: Gran's story! She'd forgotten to tell him about it in the end.

"So you were thinking about it!" she cried

"You were thinking about it the whole time!"

"You've read the messages, you've thought about it, you've even talked to your mom -"

Sala explained everything-about the special offer, and their conversation at the energy center.

I'm sure he loves you, but you can't blame hint for thinking about the future

Think about where he lives

So Cham probably needs to think about the future more carefully than you."

It meant that she earned a regular salary, unlike Cham's parents, who were always worrying about money

"Oh! No." Sala's thoughts had been so full of Cham and Pod Life that she'd almost forgotten about it

The mystery woman: Who was she? How did she know about Gran? She wondered when she would see her again...

Forgetting about the woman, she jumped to her feet and rushed out

And I want to know more about this Pod Life thing."

"What about it?"

I love the way she talks about the past and all that

She decided that they needed to talk about something different, because she'd come here to make things better, not worse.

When I told Mom about it, she looked so hopeful I thought she'd cry

would you think about doing it with me?"

Until now, Sala hadn't even thought about doing it herself

But then she thought of her Gran, and what she'd said about Cham's situation

We can think about it more clearly afterward."

"In fact, I've been looking into that Pod Life thing that Ding told us about

Another one! The news had spread about Pod Life, and other students had been discussing it all weekend

But whenever she thought about lying in a pod for months, her stomach seemed to turn over and over - in spite of what she'd told Cham.

"I'm not talking about being afraid

"I'll worry about it and then I won't be able to swim."

She wondered about the land in the distance

Your pod is about to move back into a vertical position."

"And then the dolphins were making all that noise, and we laughed about them talking to us -"

"And you're the one with doubts about it, so you should decide

"I'll think about it

Everyone wanted to hear about Sala's pod experience, so she described it slowly, giving every last detail

You've heard about it, haven't you?"

"I'd ask you to think about the things you love

Up on the roof, they talked about all the things that didn't really matter: what they'd eaten for dinner, the weather, Apat on the jumping machine..

It's not really about that..

I know you've thought about it, and I can see you've decided the answer is no

A few days had passed since Sala's decision, and she was feeling happy about it

Many of the other students still talked about nothing but Pod Life, but she didn't care.

Now, she was sitting with Niki on their lunch break, and thinking about the months ahead.

Back at home that afternoon, Sala thought about Niki's words: it was true that because she was with Cham, life felt exciting

She'd been about to do some studying, but watching a love story-stream was a much better idea

She chose one that Cham had recommended, about the Oil Wars

"Wait for what? He's about to sign up for Pod Life."

"We need to think about this." Mom pointed to the letter

"Anyway, he already knows about the wild rose fruit."

But ask him to keep quiet about it."

"What about his family?"

"We also don't know anything about the people who have brought this message," Gran pointed out

She pulled Cham away from the entrance and quickly told him the news about Gran's letter.

What more could she say? Cham's number one consideration right now was his family, and she couldn't stand in the way of that; but she wished that he would at least think about other possibilities.

She had been there for about thirty minutes when a woman began running on the machine next to her

Sala guessed she was about nineteen.

"What's this all about?" said Sala

The government's story about contamination is all a big lie, but it's too dangerous to challenge it, or to talk about this."

"Why are you talking about it with me, then?" said Sala

If that's true, she knows all about us

"We don't know enough about the pods yet

All the things that Gran had talked about

The whole way back from the earth apartment, Sala had been asking herself if it was OK to tell Cham about the rebellion

But Wena knew that Sala had told Cham about the rose fruit, didn't she? Anyway, Sala needed to tell Cham to try and persuade him not to go into a pod.

They've found out that it isn't true about the contamination

I'm worried about you

I've been thinking about this

Think about it."

This world, the city with its wrist chips and simulators, was the only one they knew, but Gran often talked about life before the Oil Wars - how they used to walk freely in the forests, grow flowers and fruit, sing songs around fires on the beach, and travel to wonderful places

"I just wish you'd change your mind about Pod Life," she said, in a rush.

We can wait, can't we? If everything you say is true, we can do something about it then."

Cham and the other three talked excitedly about Pod Life, but Sala felt strange.

When they had talked about it before, she had felt left out; not jealous, exactly, because she was sure that she didn't want to join them

Instead, she thought of Oban and Wena, and Gran's dreams about a life outside

"It's been hard for her, all this business about Uncle Eston

She looked exhausted at first; but the light came back into her eyes as Sala began to talk about her meeting with Wena.

"But what about their suggestion?" asked Sala

What do you think about that, Mom?"

We have to learn all about the history of the government and things like that

I really miss you, though." Sala wanted to tell him about seeing Wena, but she knew that she needed to be careful over the ultranet

All that endless talk about his skiing..

and then warning her about Wena and the rebellion

Gran was thinking about her brother Eston.

Then she thought about Cham's warning, and felt confused

How could Cham know anything new about the rebels, living inside the pod? Anyway, Gran was right: it was worth it

She was about to knock, when she saw that this one wasn't closed either

"Didn't you tell him about Eston's letter?"

"I know you've been very sure about the letter, Gran

You should seriously think about joining me."

"Cham, what are you talking about?"

"What's strange about a letter? I'm talking about the one Mom found under her bed."

So, what do you think? How about coming to join me?"

"I'll think about it," said Sala, suddenly afraid of what else he might say.

"What about his family?" asked Sala

Maybe they're worrying about the effect on him already."

None of them seemed at all alarmed or worried about Cham.

She couldn't tell them about Gran's letter, or the meetings with Wena

There was one last Ultranet Talk Hour with Cham before the end of the month, but Sala decided it wasn't even worth trying to talk to him about leaving

Cham had a new virtual hobby now - riding - and he talked happily about going out on horses and competing in races with Ding and Palo

But after the conversation where he'd talked about reporting things, Sala felt unsure of him, all the same.

Cham told them all about skiing, snowboarding, riding a horse.

"What about your studies?" asked his mom.

We learn a lot about how the government looks after us

"Actually, I'd really like to talk to Cham about his studies," she said

"To talk about studies, is it? Very likely, you two love-birds."

"Think about it and tell me tomorrow." He paused

they're teaching him all about obedience and how wonderful the government is

"Let's think about this reasonably

Cham doesn't know much about the rebellion, does he?" she said

"But he knows about the letter from Eston," said Gran

"So if he tells them about that, they will investigate

She thought about all the wonderful times they'd had together

She thought of everything that she, Mom, and Gran had talked about over and over

"Gran," she said, "you remember what you said last night, about the Oil Wars? You said..

Cham sat down and looked at the pictures that his sisters had drawn for him, then answered his parents' questions about the tests

With her new strength of mind, she didn't think about the tears and hugs as she'd said goodbye

I got up slowly, thinking about de Winter and about Manderley.

I told him about Mrs Van Hopper's illness.

She is always so curious about anyone important.'

I felt that he did not want to talk about his home.

De Winter asked me more questions about myself

I told him about my father, who had been a painter

I talked about my mother and her great love for my father

I thought for a moment that he was going to tell me about Manderley

Then, at last, he began to talk about Manderley

He did not talk about his life there, but about the house itself

He told me about the gardens and the flowers in the woods

He told me about the sea

He told me about a little, secret valley close to the sea

I remembered what Mrs Van Hopper had told me about de Winter's wife.

They say he never talks about it, never says her name

Mrs Van Hopper had been in bed for about ten days

I wish I was a woman of about thirty-six

You know all about me now

But I know nothing about you, nothing - except that you live at Manderley and..

I was thinking about Rebecca - beautiful and clever

In about an hour

'Why didn't you tell me about this before?' he said.

'Never mind about that, I've got to talk to you.'

'Please don't joke about it,' I said

'What do you know about Manderley?' Maxim said

I had forgotten all about Mrs Van Hopper

Maxim had not said anything to me about love

I'm going downstairs to arrange about her train

Maxim was smiling, but he said nothing about being happy

He said nothing about love

She may be rather strange at first, but don't worry about that

'I'm sorry about that; I like the sea,' I said

'Mr de Winter gave very careful orders in his letter about this room

'There's something very quiet and peaceful about this room

'Let's forget about Mrs Danvers,' he said

In Italy we had walked about in the evenings, or gone for a drive

We were all very worried about him last year

I had never asked him about Rebecca's death.

Frank Crawley told me a lot about Manderley

I told her about Mrs Van Hopper and how surprised she had been.

'Let's hope you have made him forget all about it

'What did she talk to you about after lunch?'

'I was telling her about how we met

'This path brings us to the valley I told you about,' Maxim told me

He began talking about Frank Crawley

Talking about Manderley always made Maxim happy again.

There was something strange about him

There was something frightening about that small, dark room

You wouldn't talk about it or even think about it.'

Sometimes I thought about the cottage down in the bay

I did not want anyone to talk about the sea or boats

I could not tell the woman that Maxim had never spoken about the ball.

'Yes, I must ask Maxim about it.'

I thought about Manderley, full of people in beautiful costumes, dancing in the hall

What must people think about me?

I decided that I would find out more about the Fancy Dress Ball

'I have been hearing about the Fancy Dress Ball, Frank,' I said

'Will you ask Maxim about the Ball?' I asked

Why doesn't someone do something about it?'

I had been thinking about that terrible night for so long.

Dear God, I did not want to think about Rebecca

Beatrice had sent me four big books about painting

I decided to put my new books in the library and I said nothing about the cupid.

'It's about Robert, sir

Robert says he knows nothing about it.'

No one would ever gossip about me.'

'What do you know about any gossip down here?' he said

Rebecca knew a lot about china.'

He is thinking about Rebecca, I said to myself

At about two o'clock, Robert brought me a message

She was talking about me of course

I did not like the way that Favell spoke about Maxim

'But I'd rather you didn't tell Max about my visit

Mr de Winter came in at about eleven

'Mr de Winter will be back at about six this evening,' Frith told me.

But I could not stop thinking about Favell and his friendship with Mrs Danvers

Beatrice arrived by car at about half past twelve

I wondered whether to tell Beatrice about Mrs Danvers' visitor, Favell

I did not want Beatrice to tell Maxim about the visit

But I did want to find out more about the man.

I hoped that she would tell me more about Favell, but she did not

For the rest of the time we talked about other things.

He did not say anything about Mrs Danvers or Favell.

'Are you worried about something?' I asked.

I knew then that he was not going to tell me about his anger with Mrs Danvers

It was on a Sunday afternoon when someone spoke about the Fancy Dress Ball again

'I haven't thought about it,' he said

'We have all been thinking about it

'What about you? Would you like it?' he said.

Our visitors were talking happily now about their costumes for the Ball

Maxim will love me as his wife and forget about Rebecca.

Soon everyone at Manderley was talking about the Fancy Dress Ball

I began to get worried about my costume

'The picture is about two hundred years old

Then I sent the drawing to the shop in London with careful instructions about the dress and the wig.

Maxim and Frank asked me about my costume but I told them nothing

I thought about going for a walk

'What about you, Mrs Lacy?' Frank said to Beatrice.

'Why, about your costume

No one had any idea about..

I fell asleep at about seven o'clock

I was too young for Maxim, I knew too little about the world

I had to explain about last night.

I've got to explain about last night

I felt that she knew about my tears

'He's never cared about mine

I could forget about loving Maxim

I could forget about Rebecca

I would not have to think about Rebecca any more...

She was on the rocks about two miles from the shore

Captain Searle came into the library about fifteen minutes later

Something I've dreamt about, night after night

'What are you trying to tell me? Captain Searle told me about the boat

'I knew you were thinking about Rebecca all the time

Do you remember? She sat there in the car and told me terrible, evil things about herself

'I thought about Manderley too much,' he said

I can't tell you about those terrible years with Rebecca

'Then you must say you made a mistake about the other body

He asked me if I had made a mistake about the other body.'

'I am afraid I don't know anything about that,' I said.

'I will give orders about the lunch,' she said

But if she learnt the truth about Rebecca's death, she would become Maxim's enemy too

We talked about the weather and Colonel Julyan asked me about my life in France

Frith and Robert were in the room and no one wanted to talk about the boat

'I don't care about anything else

Do you know anything about those holes?'

God, let me not think about it

Let me think about something else, anything...

We'll talk about everything when I get back

I thought about the church where Rebecca was being buried at last.

'You know all about Rebecca and me

Then I read about Rebecca's boat and the body in the cabin

What about those holes in the boat, Max?'

'I'm not happy about the verdict

'If Baker was important Danny would know about him.' Mrs Danvers was turning the pages of the diary.

I woke up early the following morning at about six o'clock

We had lunch somewhere and reached London at about three o'clock

We reached Baker's house at about five o'clock

We have come about the death of the late Mrs de Winter

There may be some talk, but I'll make sure that people hear about Dr Baker.'

'Do you think Colonel Julyan knows the truth about Rebecca's death?' I asked Maxim as we were drinking our coffee.

The boy was about twelve, Danny's age

Peanut-butter toast had been one of Danny's favorite foods, even when he was a toddler and was especially picky about what he would eat

She was able to think about the boy without crying, to visit his grave without being overcome by grief

Perhaps her anxiety about the public's reaction to Magyck! Was causing her to recall the greater anxiety she had felt about Danny

Her obsessive fear of intruders in the house, her disquieting dreams about Danny, her renewed grief - all of those things might grow from her concern about Magyck! If that were the case, then those symptoms would disappear as soon as the fate of the show was evident

It didn't last long enough for Tina to identify the source, but there was a stealthiness about it

She was proud, unable to bear the thought of appearing to be hysterical to a couple of macho cops who would grin at her and, later over doughnuts and coffee, make jokes about her

She certainly couldn't share with him her appraisal of the situation: Danny, sweetheart, don't worry about anything you might have heard through the wall

Unlike many boys his age, he'd been concerned about orderliness and cleanliness

If she was ever to stop dreaming about the boy, if she were to get control of her grief, she must begin her recovery here, in this room, by conquering her irrational need to preserve his possessions in situ.

His printing was neat, like everything else about him, not sloppy like this scrawled message

Danny, of course, had been writing about something else, and the dark interpretation that could be drawn from those two words now, after his death, was just a macabre coincidence.

In bed, again she snuggled in the covers and closed her eyes and tried not to think about the chalkboard

He wore blue jeans, a cheap blue work shirt - and about two hundred thousand dollars' worth of rings

He shifted from foot to foot as he talked about Magyck! Turned this way and that, gestured expansively with his quick, gem-speckled hands, virtually doing a jig.

She was also worried about being responsible for a ten-million-dollar budget

As Tina stood in this beautiful theater, glancing down at the colorfully costumed people milling about on the stage, then looking at Joel's rubbery face, listening as her co-producer unblushingly raved about their handiwork, she was happier than she had been in a long time

Carol Hirson, a cocktail waitress who was a friend of Tina's, had told her about the unlucky Texans a few minutes ago

She was certain to be quite late, but she wasn't going to worry about waking him.

The choice was filet mignon with Bernaise sauce or lobster in butter sauce, because Las Vegas was the one place in the United States where people at least temporarily set aside concerns about cholesterol

Hairdressers and lighting technicians rushed about on urgent tasks

Many were still in the communal dressing rooms, while other girls, already costumed, waited in the halls or at the edge of the big stage, talking about children and husbands and boyfriends and recipes, as if they were secretaries on a coffee break and not some of the most beautiful women in the world.

He was a rugged, good-looking man, neither big nor small, about forty

As she was mopping the last corner of the kitchen floor, as she was thinking about how dreary life would be without her friends and her slot machines, she heard a sound in another part of the house

She was about to head for the den when she noticed something odd about four framed eight-by-ten photographs that were grouped on the wall above the sofa

He was interested primarily in learning more about the mind that could create a work like Magyck! He had seen less than one-fourth of the program, yet he knew it was a hit - and far superior to others of its kind

Elliot wanted to know more about Christina Evans - and on a more fundamental level, he just wanted her.

Sooner or later word of her ranting's about poltergeists might get back to her daughter in Sacramento, and then the pressure to move to California would become unbearable

Helen Mainway chattered excitedly about the spectacular special effects, and Elliot Stryker had an endless supply of compliments as well as some astute observations about the technical aspects of the production, and Charlie Mainway poured a third bottle of Dom PS 233; rignon, and the house lights came up, and the audience reluctantly began to leave, and Tina hardly had a chance to sip her champagne because of all the people who stopped by the table to congratulate her.

Finally, she forgot all about circulating.

Standing near the left proscenium pillar, out of the main flow of the party, they nibbled at pieces of cake, talking about Magyck! And then about the law, Charlie and Helen Mainway, Las Vegas real estate - and, by some circuitous route, superhero movies.

And it's been a long time since I've been this awkward about it."

How about seven-thirty?"

Tina gave her address to him, and then somehow they were talking about jazz and Benny Goodman, and then about the miserable service provided by the Las Vegas phone company, just chatting away as if they were old friends

He had a variety of interests; among other things, he was a skier and a pilot, and he was full of funny stories about learning to ski and fly

Later, after no more than two dreamless hours, she suffered another nightmare about Danny

If the mess had been here when Vivienne arrived, the old woman would have cleaned it up and would have left a note about what she'd found

Every player at the table groaned, and they all had comments to make about the unlikely possibility that they might win anything from this dealer.

As they walked, Michael continued to try to amuse her by telling her about other unusual maladies to which gamblers were prone.

Then, as they stepped out of the rear entrance of the hotel and walked along the edge of the parking lot in the seventy-degree winter sunshine, he said, "So what did you want to talk about?"

Honey, you don't need a story about someone breaking into the house

Don't feel awkward about it

"I've been thinking about it the past few days

She said, "I didn't make up that story about someone breaking into the house just so you could play the strong, reliable man to my weak, frightened female

You're right about that

But you're wrong about everything else

And before you give me any more of that treacly talk about your great love of family, let me remind you that it wasn't me who tore our family apart

We were talking about family life, about Danny."

I'm even sorry if some of what I said about Danny hurt you, although, God knows, you deserve to hear it

At first, she wasn't sure what she was crying about

Why would a stranger harbor such passionate feelings about Danny's death?

"I completely forgot about the holiday."

And I'll be happy because the whole stunt will generate more talk about the show."

The hotel possessed an amazing wealth of information about its most favored customers

These were customers to whom the hotel was especially anxious to cater, and the more the Pyramid knew about them, the better it could serve them

Because so much material in the hotel's files was extremely confidential information about high rollers, and because the Pyramid's list of favored customers would be of enormous value to competitors, only approved people could obtain this data, and a record was kept of everyone who accessed it

The laser whispered through twenty names, forty, sixty, seventy, without producing the lines about Danny that had been on the first printout

Tina waited until at least a hundred names had been listed before she decided that the system had been programmed to print the lines about Danny only one time, only on her office's first data request of the afternoon, and on no later call-up.

She intended to determine if the words about Danny had been previously programmed to print out on her machine or if they had been sent to her just seconds ago by someone at another computer in another office in the hotel's elaborately networked series of workstations.

And if he were lying, he wouldn't have told her the story about Charlie and coffee, for that could be substantiated or disproved with only a minimum of effort; he would have come up with a better alibi if he really needed one

Do you know about Danny?"

She told him about the bizarre things that had been happening to her lately: the messages on Danny's chalkboard; the wreckage she'd found in the boy's room; the hateful, taunting words that appeared in the computer lists and on the monitor.

"Someone could have programmed it to spew out this stuff about Danny," Elliot said

Angela felt the chill first, when she got the initial printout with those lines about Danny

She had to take another small sip of cognac before she was able to say what was on her mind, and she realized that he had been right about the liquor having little effect on her

But a month ago I started dreaming about Danny again

And the past two weeks, I've dreamed about him every night without fail

Besides, if it was you who wrote on the chalkboard and smashed things in the boy's room, then it was also you who came in here during the night and programmed the hotel computer to spew out that stuff about Danny

They wouldn't be this mysterious about it, would they?"

"Tina, you know there isn't any maybe about it

After so much talk about death, she needed a glimpse of movement, action, life; and although the Strip sometimes was grubby in the flat glare of the desert sun, the boulevard was always, day or night, bustling and filled with life.

I wouldn't be able to fantasize about Danny still being alive."

"Anyway," she said, "even if reopening the grave doesn't help me find who's responsible for these sick jokes - or whatever the hell they are - at least it'll settle my mind about Danny

I mean, there isn't any doubt about the cause of death, no court trial hinging on a new coroner's report

A couple weeks after the little girl was buried, the mother started feeling guilty about not paying her last respects."

"God knows, I'm not happy about this, but I'm convinced it's something I've got to do."

No skulking about in dark alleys."

All the talk about death and fear and madness and pain seemed to have taken place further back in the past than a mere few seconds ago

As he dried his hands on the towel, he said, "Why don't we forget about going out to dinner? Let me cook for you instead."

"You're so modest about having built a splendid law practice, yet you're an egomaniac when it comes to your cooking."

"That mustard powder you're just about to put into the salad dressing."

"What about it?"

As an hour passed in front of the fire, and then another hour, Tina discovered that she liked Elliot Stryker more with each new thing she learned about him.

She was quaking, gasping about a man dressed all in black, the monstrous figure from her dream.

She had told him about the dreams, but he hadn't realized, until now, how terrible they were

Over breakfast, he asked her to go with him to the afternoon party at which he was going to corner Judge Kennebeck to ask about the exhumation

Approximately two hundred guests danced or milled about behind the house, and another hundred partied within its twenty rooms.

He greeted Elliot warmly, and they talked about their mutual interests: cooking, flying, and river rafting.

Kennebeck listened with interest to Elliot's unofficial feeler about the chances of getting Danny's grave reopened

Elliot didn't tell the judge about the malicious prankster, for that seemed like an unnecessary complication; he still believed that once the fact of Danny's death was established by the exhumation, the quickest and surest way of dealing with the harassment was to hire a first-rate firm of private investigators to track down the perpetrator

At last, he said, "What about the father?"

"If there's no hitch, maybe the father won't ever find out about the exhumation."

I'll call you this evening, after I've had a chance to think about it."

As they approached the house, they talked about the delights of pasta served with a thin, light sauce of olive oil, garlic, and sweet basil.

Everywhere he went, he heard talk about torts, writs, briefs, suits, countersuits, motions for continuation, appeals, plea-bargaining, and the latest tax shelters

The conversations were like those in which he was involved at work, eight or ten hours a day, five days a week and he didn't intend to spend a holiday nattering about the same damned things.

The guy was about five feet eight with a narrow face and a neatly trimmed blond beard

"What the hell is this about?"

"Not until you tell me what this is all about."

"Questions about what?" Elliot insisted.

"Tina Evans? What about her?"

"How do you know about that?"

"What are you talking about?" Vince asked

"We haven't heard anything about this."

"Someone's sending messages about the kid?" Bob asked.

"What about the messages she's been getting?" Vince asked, still watching Elliot closely.

"The only way you could have found out about the exhumation so quickly is if Kennebeck told you."

A chill spread from the base of his spine, up his back, as he realized what the presence of these men implied about the accident that had killed Danny.

"There's something about Danny's death..

something strange about the way all those scouts died

Not the CID, for sure; there's no military discipline about you

You work for some set of letters the public hasn't even heard about yet

Most of his friends had shared his avid interest in ghosts and ghouls; besides, the grotesque hadn't been his only interest, so she had decided not to worry about it.

How could she have dreamed about this hideous creature just last night and then find it waiting for her here, today, only hours later?

Yet she had dreamed about the man in black.

Curious about the story from which the illustration had been taken, Tina stepped to the box again to pluck out the graphic novel

"What about the heating system?"

She was curious about the story out of which that creature had stepped, for she had the peculiar feeling that, in some way, it would be similar to the story of Danny's death

"You really think you want to tangle with me, little man? Hell, my fist is just about as big as your head

Even if the government had established a secret police force, however, why was it so anxious to cover up the true facts of Danny's death? What were they trying to hide about the Sierra tragedy? What really had happened up in those mountains?

The lead story in this issue was about a boy, approximately Danny's age, mistakenly pronounced dead, then buried alive, and then exhumed.

Yeah, sure, just about as coincidental as sunrise following sunset.

Rule out all of this nonsense about the dream having been sent by some outside force

But what about the horror comic?

"What are you talking about?"

"I'll tell you about it later."

"What about the suitcases?"

about the boat," Elliot said, not even knowing where he was going to go with that line, ready to say anything to keep Tom from putting up the garage door and throwing them out.

He probably forgot to tell you about the boat."

Tina appeared to be no less pessimistic about their hope of escape than he was

After he retired about ten years ago, he was still a young man, fifty-three, and he needed something else to occupy his time

"We just need time to think about it, time to work out a plan

I'm pretty sure we can find a reporter who'll go with that much and write a story about how a bunch of nameless, faceless people want to keep us from reopening Danny's grave, how maybe something truly strange lies at the bottom of the Sierra tragedy

Kennebeck's bosses want to stop us before we sow any seeds of doubt about the official explanation

"I didn't say anything about what you'd choose if it were up to you

"The only thing new about me is that I wasn't scared stiff this morning, and now I am."

"Remember the nightmares I told you about?"

Tina told Elliot about The Boy Who Was Not Dead.

He knew exactly what she meant, but he didn't want to think about it, because there was no way he could make sense of it

Neddler told me all about them."

Most of the questions were concerned with how much Tina knew about the true nature of the Sierra accident, how much she had told Elliot, how much she had told Michael, and with how many people she had discussed it

Even after all this time, when she thought about Danny's last moments on earth - the terror he must have known, the excruciating pain he must have endured, even if it was of brief duration - she began to choke with sorrow and pity

If we go to them now with a wild story about a mysterious conspiracy, they aren't going to be anxious to listen."

Ideally, I'd even like to be able to hand the reporter a neat theory about what really happened to those scouts, something sensational that he can hook his story onto."

And I'm not just talking about the obvious ones like Nellis Air Force Base and the Nuclear Test Site

If they had seen something, they'd have come back with at least a dozen different stories about it, none of them accurate

Killing all those people and trying to fake an accident - that was a whole lot riskier than letting the kids come back with their half-baked stories about seeing something peculiar in the mountains."

People might have discounted most of what the boys said about it, but they'd have believed Jaborski and Lincoln

While she thought about what Elliot had said, she dipped one finger in the water and drew a grim mouth, a nose, and a pair of eyes in the circle; she added two horns, transforming the blot of moisture into a little demonic face

"What about Judge Kennebeck?"

"What about him?"

By unspoken agreement, Tina and Elliot didn't talk about their problems while they ate

And they thought about those things that neither of them wanted to speak of: murder past and murder present.

is finding out the truth about Danny's death

"Won't they know about it?"

I only hooked up with you today, so they haven't had time to learn more than the essentials about me

The long wing of the diner was nearly full of customers now; about forty people were eating dinner or waiting to be served

None of these people had to worry about professional killers, bizarre conspiracies, gas-company men who were not gas-company men, silencer-equipped pistols, exhumations

"What are you talking about? Did you see what I saw in there? Did you hear the jukebox? I don't see how that could have cheered you up

"Listen," she said excitedly, "we thought someone was sending me messages about Danny being alive just to rub my face in the fact that he was actually dead - or to let me know, in a roundabout fashion, that the way he died wasn't anything like what I'd been told

He was eight or nine years old, and he was curious about the details of a dealer's job

One day, about two years ago, I was in the kitchen, making an apple pie, and Danny came in to tell me Elmer wasn't anywhere to be found in the yard

He's able to move objects just by thinking about them

Now you're talking about another power besides telekinesis."

That explains why I dreamed about the hideous figure of Death in this comic book

I'm worried about you, Tina."

Perhaps Evans didn't know about the explosion at his former house

Or maybe he did know and just didn't give a damn about his ex-wife

The longer he thought about it, the less Kennebeck was able to believe that the Evans woman knew the truth about her son

Evans felt guilty about not having had the courage to view the boy's mutilated body prior to the burial

Christina Evans probably hadn't entertained a single doubt about the official explanation of the Sierra accident; she probably hadn't known a damned thing about Pandora when she had requested an exhumation, but her timing couldn't have been worse.

Left-wingers and right-wingers differed about certain details, of course, but their only major point of contention centered on the identity of those who would be permitted to be a part of the privileged ruling class, once the power had been sufficiently centralized.

At least I'm honest about my motives, Kennebeck thought as he watched Alexander cross the study

I've no doubt about that

"What about the airport?"

Suddenly he remembered something important about Elliot Stryker

"I can't help feeling guilty about involving you."

"You were so sure they didn't know a thing about the Sierra labs," Alexander said

They don't know anything more about Project Pandora than what they picked up from that list of questions they took off Vince Immelman."

What about this Bellicosti? Will he keep his mouth shut?"

"And it sounds to me as if Bellicosti knows too much about it."

There's no doubt about that

But there's something unusual about the EEG reading."

"Anyway, I don't see what you're so riled up about

We're supposed to be testing the boy to destruction, aren't we? Then why fret about his health?"

"You know I'm not talking about the morality of it."

"I'm talking about clinical standards."

I don't have much to say about research policy around here."

"You don't have anything to say about it," Dombey told him bluntly

If you have to blame someone because you're feeling guilty about what we're doing here, then blame the Chinese, not me."

There's something haunting about his eyes."

Elliot was worried about her, afraid for her, but at the same time, he was glad to have her company.

In any case, he couldn't stand here all night brooding about it.

"Listen, if I could get my hands on the people who're trying to keep us from finding Danny, I wouldn't have any compunctions about killing them

"If a man kills only for the pleasure of it, or if he kills only for an ideal like some of these crackpot revolutionaries you read about, that's savagery..

But he couldn't tell anyone about his achievements

He closed his eyes and thought about Christina Evans.

We'll worry about the rest of it later

She tried not to think about the chill

"The next time I read a story in the newspaper about some guy, who says he was picked up in a flying saucer and taken on a tour of the universe, I won't be so quick to laugh

I guess you were right about needing to be in a trance."

If you'd tell me what this is all about, maybe I could help you better."

They hadn't told him anything about Danny

"You don't have time to tell me about it now

spirit," Elliot said, deciding to stick with the occult terminology, not wanting to get bogged down in the real story about Danny.

Apparently, Billy liked his view of the world to be as neat and uncluttered as everything else about him; if he started believing in ghosts, he'd have to reconsider his opinions about a lot of other things too, and then life would become intolerably messy.

"What about a tank?" Billy Sandstone asked

"What about your American Express card?" she asked.

"I read a newspaper story once about a guy who bought a Rolls-Royce with his card

If they thought you knew about them-"

It's in a public lot about three blocks from here."

Even if she had not known that these deep woodlands harbored secrets about Danny and the deaths of the other scouts, she would have found them mysterious and unnervingly primeval.

"The spot that showed up on the boy's parietal lobe about six weeks ago."

"What about it?"

Danny's instructions are to take a turn north, off this lane, after about five miles."

"That's what the dream was all about."

"Someone, some damn turncoat on Project Pandora, must have revealed enough about its location for them to find it with just a little help

They had to have some advantage he didn't know about

"I don't see any reason to get too worked up about it

"Not only did someone on Project Pandora tell this Evans woman about her son

I'm sure you're right about that too," Elliot said

The fact that they had gotten this far unhurt didn't make Elliot feel any better about what lay ahead of them

He was trying hard not to think about the chopper, the bad weather, and the likelihood that they would take a long, swift, hard fall into a remote mountain ravine.

Tina had the sickening feeling that someone had been about to step out, had sensed their presence, and had gone away to get help.

"What about you?"

"What about me?" the younger one said sullenly.

"Questions about what?"

If you tell them anything about this..

She couldn't pinpoint what else about his eyes made him so different from any eyes she had ever seen, but as she met Danny's gaze, a shiver passed through her, and she felt a profound and terrible pity for him.

"It's certainly something to think about," Morgan said

They don't see anything immoral about it

If they felt they had some terrific new bug that we didn't know about, something against which we couldn't retaliate in kind, they'd use it on us."

Tina was too busy with Danny to think about what Carl Dombey had said, but Elliot knew what the scientist meant

That was just about the time that another researcher walked into his lab, saw the cultures of Wuhan-400 broken open on the floor, and set off the alarm

He started out of the forest, toward the county lane, which is about five miles from the turnoff to the labs, and after only three miles-"

The scoutmaster had parked the expedition's minibus on a lay-by about a mile and a half into the woods, and he and his assistant and the kids had walked in another half-mile before they encountered Larry Bollinger

They were just about to move off the road, into the trees, so they would be away from any sign of civilization when they set up camp for their first night in the wilderness

When they were reluctant, he made up a story about a friend being stranded in the mountains with a broken leg

There doesn't appear to be anything life-threatening about the parietal spot, but you sure should keep a watch on it."

"But after everything you said to Zachariah about this place being run by megalomaniacs, and after you've made it so clear you don't agree with everything that goes on here, why do you want to stay?"

There are a lot of people here who have some sense of social responsibility about this work

But we've got to be fast about it."

Alexander watched death rushing up at him and knew his curiosity about the other side would shortly be satisfied.

She thought about the future

The Eyes of Darkness is a modest little thriller about a woman, Tina Evans, who lost her child, Danny, when he was in an accident on a trip with his scouting troop

About a quarter of each meeting was tedious chum talk about the executive's and the approved writers' mutual acquaintances

The heating coils would probably have to maintain the road at about 38 to 40 degrees Fahrenheit to be sure that it remained free of snow and ice

After reviewing the chaos that he had inherited, the new head of network decided that even though Darkfall was an exciting script, he didn't want to make a movie "about little creatures living in the walls." He decided that we would film the other script I had done; for which I received primary credit but not sole credit because of Writers Guild rules virtually guaranteeing the first writer some kind of credit as long as that writer's drafts had been composed in one of the languages spoken on Earth.

'Well, sit down,' said Holmes, 'and tell me about yourself.'

Well, I don't know anything about pips or papers

Let's just forget about it," he replied.

They think that there's nothing to worry about.'

The police said it was an accident, but Holmes was very angry about it.

Sherlock Holmes is a very clever detective, but he can do nothing about the weather

'He rarely talked about it

I only know that he was about to start experiments he had been preparing for some months

'I have thought about that, Monsieur Delambre

But now I think about it, you're quite right

Have you asked the Air Ministry people? They knew all about the work.'

And for the first time, I also wondered about Helene

She had been very willing to speak about her life with my brother - which seemed a happy and ordinary one - up to the time he died

I had thought about going to see the commissaire, but knowing that he would then start questioning Henri made me hesitate

Staring at her, I was about to say that her boy had asked the very same question a few hours earlier

For a year before his death, my husband had told me about some of his experiments

He knew that the Air Ministry would have forbidden some of them as too dangerous, but he wanted to be certain about the results before reporting his discovery.

It was the first time he told me about his experiments and he came running into the house and threw the ashtray into my hands.

'Andre, please! What on earth are you talking about?'

'Do you remember I once told you about some mysterious flying stones in India? They come flying into houses as it thrown from outside, even though the doors and windows are closed.'

'But why don't you tell the other professors about your discovery?' I said

I talked to him for hours about me, about our boy, about his family, but he did not reply.

In my hand was a page of explanations: what I had to know about the steam hammer

'You heard about my poor sister-in-law?' I said.

During our dinner, we talked about politics, books, films, and the local football club

They talk about books and movies.

Anna tells Mitch about Rome.

Now, tell me more about Colonel Protheroe.'

'I wonder what we will talk about at tea,' said Griselda

'I do care about you, my dear.'

She came through the glass door, pulled off her little yellow hat and said, 'Is Dennis about?'

'There's been some trouble about him,' said Lettice

'What about?' I asked.

Father found out about it

I thought about Dr Stone, who was a well-known archaeologist

'We were just talking', said Griselda, 'about Dr Stone and Miss Cram.'

'The Colonel accused him of knowing nothing about archaeology.'

'There has also been some talk about that young artist, Mr Redding, hasn't there?' said Miss Wetherby.

'Did Lettice tell you about it?' Miss Marple asked me

While we talked about pictures, books and old churches, I felt that Mrs Lestrange really wanted to talk to me about something else

'Oh! Do you think I haven't thought about that again and again? I'm not a bad woman

'I've thought about what you said at lunch,' she told me, 'and I've found some good things to eat.'

If he stayed, people would start to talk about his relationship with Anne

Colonel Protheroe would hear about it - and things would be made much worse for her.

Lettice didn't care about him at all

'But you're wrong about there being nothing worth stealing

When I returned at about a quarter to four, Mary told me that Mr Redding was waiting for me in the study.

'I said about half an hour, but...'

I heard about it ten minutes ago, at five to seven

Discovery of the body was at about a quarter to seven

'What about Lettice?'

Lawrence knew about that clock being ahead

'He may have forgotten about it.'

'No, if you were committing a murder, you'd be very careful about things like that.'

'Dennis', said Griselda, 'is very excited about a footprint he found, and has gone to tell the police about it.'

It seems to me that if a young man had decided to take another man's life, he would not appear upset about it afterwards

'But if there was an argument,' I argued, 'the shot may have been fired in sudden anger, and Lawrence might have been very upset afterwards about what he had done.'

Won't say what the argument was about

I've heard gossip - about Redding and the daughter

'She didn't say anything about it, and she would have done if she had heard it.'

'What about a silencer? Nobody would hear anything then.'

At first Redding didn't seem to know what he was talking about, and then said he didn't use one

'Now,' Melchett said, 'You say you went to the vicarage at about a quarter to seven

I don't want to talk about it anymore.'

Mrs Protheroe had lied about the pistol.

When I had introduced Colonel Melchett to Miss Marple, he said, 'I want to talk to you about Colonel Protheroe's death

And I told him about the clock.

A good soldier like you doesn't know about these things.'

'So Gladys came round to find out all about it,' Griselda said.

Dr Stone thinks only about archeaology.'

But do tell me, Mr Clement, what do the police think about the murder?'

Also,' continued Griselda, 'you must forgive her for not caring about Colonel Protheroe's death

'When you did not tell me the truth about your clock.'

And all because it reminded you of something very different, something about a bag of wood for the fire.'

'I wasn't thinking about the time on the letter

'Imagine,' I said, 'that at about 6.30 Colonel Protheroe sat down to write that he couldn't wait any longer

'We know all about that,' said Melchett.

He said something nice and normal about seeing Protheroe - and I just started shouting

So what about your story, Mrs Protheroe?'

'Well, let us forget about that

I was rather worried about meeting Lawrence in the garden while my husband was inside the vicarage.

'What about that footprint I found?' he said to the Inspector.

'Well, have you anything you can tell us about it?' Melchett asked.

Mrs Price Ridley thought about it

Obviously, she was still cross about the missing pound note

Well, the telephone call was at about half-past five.'

Suddenly he said, 'I meant to tell you about your curate, Hawes

'Have you told the police about that man Archer threatening Protheroe?'

He was probably very angry about being sent to prison but would feel differently when he came out.

I remembered what Dr Haydock had said about his illness and supposed that explained it

There was something dead about her face

I am in a very strange position, Mr Clement, and I want to ask your advice about what I should do next

'Then if a lady - Miss Hartnell perhaps - said that she came here about six o'clock, rang the bell, but got no answer - you would say she was mistaken?'

'So if anyone said that they'd seen you out and about then...'

'Can you tell me what you talked about?'

'I'm afraid I must ask you tell me about it, private or not.'

'All I could think about was Anne-'

'I've found out about that telephone call that you received.'

You remember Mrs Price Ridley's complaint about that call to her house?'

'Well, what about the lady who called on Colonel Protheroe the night before the murder?'

'So you don't know much about the world

Clever young men know so little about life.'

'Was there was something you wanted to see me about?' I asked.

It was about a strange thing that happened last night

I couldn't sleep because I kept thinking about Colonel Protheroe, so I got up and looked out of my window

Mrs Protheroe said that she had last seen her husband at about a quarter to six when they parted in the village street

She had gone to the vicarage at about a quarter past six and thought that the study was empty

I only think about archaeology.'

Someone knew about that pistol of mine.' He opened the door and I went inside

But let me tell you about last night.'

'It's about Colonel Protheroe's death,' he had said to her

'So can you tell me anything about the lady who called to see Colonel Protheroe the night before he died.'

'I wonder what Mrs Lestrange wanted to see Colonel Protheroe about

She said, "By this time tomorrow night, you may be dead." So when I heard about the murder, I said to Rose, "It's her who did it!"'

Was this the same situation? I also wondered about Haydock

I don't think he has any idea that Lettice cares about him.'

His books are about unpleasant people with very boring lives.

He turned immediately to Griselda and as they talked, I heard her say, 'Do you have any ideas about the murder, Mr West?'

'And I think the Inspector should be told about it.'

We must say nothing to anybody about the suitcase

Even the Napiers are saying awful things about her! Just because she left their tennis, party a bit early

'I am sleeping very badly just now, and at about three o'clock this morning I thought I heard someone moving about the house

Do you think I ought to tell the police about it?'

I then asked her about her financial situation

I hoped it would get her into trouble.' I told her that I would return the earring to Anne and say nothing about how I had found it.

'Because I was in the woods when I suddenly thought about it.'

And a lot of people would know about it

He talked about it a lot

I have heard something about the death of poor Colonel Protheroe.

So I would like your advice about whether to go to the police or not.

I feel you should be the first to know about it

But it was true that I didn't know about Lawrence and Anne

I still felt upset about the anonymous letter

What about the silver, Inspector?'

There's a good man in Much Benham, who knows all about old silver and I've sent a car to fetch him

But this is about duty.' I could see that she was enjoying herself

I went straight home afterwards, and Mrs Protheroe called at about half-past six to borrow a gardening magazine

But I have heard of something that I think they should know about.'

I said goodbye, and as I left, I asked Clara about the sneeze.

Nothing about a crime is ever ordinary

I told him about Stone.

He had read about archaeology, but he kept making mistakes and Protheroe must have noticed

What about Miss Cram? Is she involved?'

'The police aren't sure.' I then told him that I was worried about my curate, Hawes, and that I was anxious that he should get away for a rest.

So I told him about my talks with Miss Hartnell and Miss Wetherby

'She has about a month to live

Then I told her about the three notes I had received that afternoon

I told her about the picture at Old Hall with the person's face cut

And I also told her about the shiny brown stone I had found

'Let us think about it again

'Oh!' Miss Marple was just about to step into the garden when she suddenly stopped

Where are you? I've found out about that call

'So it's the one man we never even thought about!' He went over to the sleeping man and shook him, at first gently, then harder

'So Miss Marple was right about us finding the wrong note

I explained about the telephone call and how I had thought I recognized Hawes' voice

It had made me think about the past romance between Lawrence and Griselda.

Perhaps Protheroe had found out about it and was going to tell me

'What about the shot heard in the woods?' I asked

Then he set fire to the end of the rope, knowing that it would take about twenty minutes to burn through and for the stone to fall and cause the explosion

'But what about Hawes?' Melchett said

Poor Mr Hawes felt more and more guilty about taking the money from the collection.'

'But what about the other telephone call?' Colonel Melchett asked

She and Dennis had heard that Mrs Price Ridley had been gossiping about the vicar and the church money

'You may think differently,' said Melchett, 'when you have heard what we now know.' And he quickly told him about Miss Marple's explanation of the crime

Haydock's gentle opinions about criminals changed immediately

Nothing at all was said about Miss Marple's part in solving the crime

'I'm not sure about that

My wife was just about to kiss me when suddenly she pulled away.

Don't say a word to her about the baby

That will stop her thinking anything about babies.'

So we quickly started to talk about the Protheroe case, and of 'Dr Stone', who had turned out to be a well-known thief

I do not think I would have known anything about it myself if I had not met Ogilvy, the well-known astronomer

Nobody on Earth knew anything about the approaching missile.

Hundreds of observers saw the flame that night and the following night, at about midnight, and again the night after that

Denning, our greatest astronomer, said that the height of its first appearance was about one hundred and fifty kilometres

It seemed to him that it fell to Earth about a hundred kilometres east of him.

The uncovered part looked like an enormous cylinder, about thirty metres across each end

'What about it?'

I heard it first from my newspaper boy at about a quarter to nine and I went to the common immediately.

At about eleven, as nothing was happening, I walked back, full of such thoughts, to my home in Maybury.

As it was then about a quarter past five, I went home, had some tea and walked up to the station to meet him.

Then something like a little grey snake, about the thickness of a walking-stick, came out of the middle and moved through the air towards me - and then another.

I thought about speaking to him, but did not

'People seem fairly silly about the common,' the woman said over the gate

'What's it all about?'

When I saw how white her face was, I began to comfort her and myself by repeating all that Ogilvy had told me about the impossibility of Martians capturing the Earth.

Many people had heard of the cylinder, of course, and talked about it, but it did not have as much effect as a political event.

At about eleven, a company of soldiers came through Horsell and spread out in a great circle around the common

I got back to lunch at about two, very tired because, as I have said, the day was extremely hot and dull

At about three o'clock I heard the sound of a gun, firing regularly, from the direction of Chertsey

At about six in the evening, as I had tea with my wife in the garden, I heard an explosion from the common, and immediately after that the sound of gunfire

He turned, stared, shouted something about 'crawling out in a thing like a dish cover', and moved on to the gate of the next house

Leatherhead is about twenty kilometres from Maybury

We got there without any problems at about nine o'clock, and the horse had an hour's rest while I had supper with my cousins and left my wife in their care.

You'll come in sight of the Martians, I expect, about a kilometer along this road.'

'Death is coming! Death!' and leaving him to think about that, I hurried on to Weybridge.

The morning papers on Saturday contained, in addition to a great deal of information about the planet Mars, one very short report.

My brother was not worried about us, as he knew from the description in the papers chat the cylinder was three kilometres from my house

At about seven o'clock last night the Martians came out of the cylinder and, moving around in metal machines, completely destroyed Woking station and the houses around it, and killed around 600 soldiers

At about five o'clock the growing crowd in the station was greatly excited by the opening of the line between the South-Eastern and South-Western stations, which is usually closed

At about eight o'clock the sound of tiring could be heard clearly ail over the south of London

He was now very worried about me.

As my brother began to realize how serious the situation was, he returned quickly to his room, put all the money he had - about ten pounds - into his pockets and went out again into the streets.

But three certainly came out at about eight o'clock

They aimed their guns well and fired at a distance of about one kilometer.

By about nine it had finished, and the machine was seen to move again.

I was so excited by all this that I completely forgot about my persona safety and raised my head out of the bushes

From there we could see the searchlights on Richmond Hill and Kingston Hill moving in the sky, and at about eleven the windows shook, and we heard the sound of the large guns that had been put in position there

The ends of the curve slowly moved apart, until at least they formed a line about twelve kilometres long.

So he escaped from the worst of the panic in London and reached Edgware at about seven

My brother learned that the two women were the wife and younger sister of a doctor living in Stanmore, The doctor had heard about the Martians at the railway station, on his way home from seeing a patient, and had sent them off, promising to follow after telling the neighbour

He said he would catch up with them by about half-past four in the morning, but it was now nearly nine and there was no sign of him.

Until about midday there were still many ships on the Thames, attracted by the enormous sums of money offered by refugees

At about one o'clock in the afternoon, the thin remains of a cloud of Black Smoke was seen coming through London's Blackfriars Bridge

I will tell you later about the falling of the fifth cylinder

My brother heard that about half the members of the government had met in Birmingham, in central England, and that enormous amounts of explosive were being prepared to be used in the Midlands

They heard no more about the bread than this notice, and nobody else did either.

It was about two o'clock when my brother got onto it with the two women

He would probably have stayed longer it the sound or guns had not begun at about that time in the south

No one worried about that very much

I was very worried about my wife

I knew my cousin was brave enough for any emergency, but he was not the sort of man to understand danger quickly and do something about it

A Martian walked across the fields at about midday, killing the stuff with steam

Everything was quiet through the afternoon and we started at about five o'clock along the blackened road to Sunbury.

We crossed Richmond Bridge at about half-past eight

They had large, round bodies - or perhaps heads - about a metre and a half across

I was tired but would not give up, and he cried and complained about his immediate hunger

He threatened me, begged me, and this was mixed with a great deal of talk about his service to God

For some time I stood there, not worrying about my safety

I had no regrets about this, but in the stillness of the night, with a sense that God was near, I thought again of every part of our conversation from the time we had first met

I've thought about it

I sat and thought about these things

I've been thinking about the drains

'We won't argue about that

It was a passage about ten metres long, designed to reach the main drain on Putney Hill

As we worked I thought about the job, and soon some doubts began to come into my mind

I thought about the distance to the drain and the chances of missing it completely

I saw about ten along Fulham Road

Wondering about all that I had seen, I moved on towards Primrose Hill

I have learned since then that I was not the first discoverer of the Martian defeat -several wanderers like me had already known about it on the previous night

They have told me since that I was singing a crazy song about 'The Last Man Left Alive! The Last Man Left Alive!' Although they were troubled with their own affairs, these people were very helpful to me

Very gently, when my mind was working again, they told me all they knew about what had happened in Leatherhead

I know very little about medical matters, but it seems to me most likely that the Martians were killed by germs.

Besides this, we still know very little about the Black Smoke, and the way that the Heat-Ray worked remains a puzzle.

Well, about six weeks ago she came and asked me for some.

'I was not happy about this because this was the first time that there was a secret between us

I gave her the cheque, and forgot about the matter

There was something strange about the face, Mr Holmes, that frightened me

I was not very near, but there was something unnatural and inhuman about the face

'That night I did not tell my wife about the strange face and the rude woman, but I did tell her that people were now living in the cottage.

I waited for about twenty minutes, and then she returned.

'The next day I had to go to the City, but I was so worried about my wife that I returned early to Norbury at about one o'clock

'Has she ever talked about visiting America again?'

Upon my word, Watson, there is something very attractive about that yellow face at the window, and I would not miss this case for worlds.'

When I met you by chance and learned to love you, I was afraid to tell you about my child

I took every possible precaution so that there would not be gossip about a little black girl

'You told me about her arrival in the cottage, and that night I had to see her, and that was the beginning of my troubles

What are you going to do about me and my child?'

We did not say another word about the case until late that night at Holmes' house in Baker Street, just before Holmes went to bed.

We were sitting in my room and were smoking and talking about our bad health.

We were all feeling very ill, and we were unhappy about it

I had read about all the symptoms of liver disease in a book

Every time I read about an illness, I realise that I have it.

I went to the British Museum Library to read about it

After some time, I began reading about another illness

I told him about what I had read at the library.

Go to bed no later than II o'clock each night and don't read books about things you don't understand.

We began talking about our illnesses again

There is nothing poetic about Harris

Harris was right about camping out when it rains

The wet tent flies about

Don't worry about it

George said he knew everything about the right clothes for a trip

We talked about food next

'I don't care about the soap,' I answered

He told us about the people killed on the river, and about the bad weather report.

Fortunately, he was worried about his wet cap and forgot about the church.

We wanted the water to think that we did not care about it

I also drank about a bottle of Thames water.

I thought about King John, who signed the Magna Carta at Runnymede, in II5

We thought about the happy days of childhood when there was lots of mustard on the table

'I'm dreaming about the sweet juice,' George said.

When Montmorency meets a cat, the whole street knows about it

We never discovered the truth about the swans

We asked Harris about it the next morning

He woke me up about twelve times during the night

We reached Reading at about II o'clock

The local fisherman's guide book doesn't say anything about catching fish

We dreamt about our favourite foods

Harris talked about fish cooked in a special sauce.

George said, 'Please don't talk about good food, until I finish this cold meat.'

George told us about a man he knew

Of course, we began talking about other illnesses

We talked about our evening

But it's hard not to think about it

'Oh, I forgot to tell you about them

And later I forgot all about them.'

'I am well.' But everything about her said bad news.

'I have told my sister about you,' said Mercy.

'Then it's my duty, a sister's duty, to tell her about something like this

He never does anything about them