How to use "they" in a sentence

Its words never help, they just make me feel bad

If these boulders move or fall, they can be dangerous.

I guess they are about twenty-five years old.

If I don't appear, will they go to my truck to find me? I won't be there

But will they realise that something is wrong and go for help?

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

He will probably call my family and they will tell the police that I am missing

After Kristi and Megan left Aron, they got lost in the west canyon and arrived late at the meeting place

By the time they reached Goblin Valley, the car park was full and there was nowhere to stay for the night.

Kristi agreed and they parked by the side of the road for the night.

All they found was a truck from Colorado with a bike inside and skis on the roof.

'Why didn't we just get his phone number?' Megan asked as they drove back to Moab.

I kill five or six as they circle around my head

Clouds at night are good because they trap the day's heat in the canyon, but clouds during the day are bad because the sun doesn't warm the air

I hope they will stay and keep the heat in the canyon

At six-thirty that evening, they called the police

This meant that they wouldn't do anything until late the following day.

If I'm lucky, they'll start some time on Wednesday

If I'm very lucky, they might search the Robbers Roost area first

Even then, the earliest they'll reach me is Thursday

Perhaps they knew where he was

Finally, they had the correct number

They smile at me in a kind way, but they never speak

I know they are protecting me

To me, they are real

It is only when they disappear and the cold and pain return that I know they are not

Half an hour later, they were on their way

When they reach me, I begin telling my story: 'My name is Aron Ralston

A second man gets out of the helicopter and they help me inside

He pulls at the things over my right arm and asks Steve what they are.

Some sailors said that they saw a dangerous giant monster living in the cold waters of the ocean

Some ships tried to find it and kill it, but they never returned.

We knocked on the ship's sides, but they were too thick and no one heard us.

I told them our story, but they did not seem to understand

We couldn't escape because they would kill us.

"I thought they were the cannibals."

They threw spears at us, but they all missed

When I woke up, I thought that they put something in our food to make us sleep.

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

Captain Nemo gave us all axes to cut the squid's tentacles if they attacked.

'What's Dinah doing? Will they remember her milk tonight? Oh, Dinah! Why aren't you here with me? Perhaps there's a mouse here and you can eat it!'

When they saw her, they got out of the water too.

Then they all came to the Dodo and stood round it.' Who was first? Who was first?' they shouted.

'Chocolates, chocolates!' they cried.

But the chocolates were too big for the small birds, and they had to eat them very slowly

When they finished their chocolates, they sat and looked at Alice.

'A cake? Why did they throw a cake?' she wondered.

When they finished, they sang it again

'I'll have to take this child away from here, or they'll kill it!' she thought

It was asleep, so they talked over its head.

When they saw Alice, they cried, 'No, no, you can't sit here! There isn't a place for you!'

'Perhaps they'll call me back,' she thought

'And then they'll be nice to me and give me some tea and bread-and-butter.'

But they didn't say anything.

There were ten of them, and they had red diamonds on their clothes

When these people saw Alice, they all stopped

'Help us!' they cried

She put her arm through Alice's and they walked through the garden.

'Will they cut off your head?' Alice asked the Duchess.

'Oh no, they never cut off anybody's head

Alice wanted to ask more questions but they heard a cry: "The trial is beginning!"

'I hope they finish the trial quickly,' she thought

But the Mad Hatter ran very fast and they could not catch him.

I can think things OK, but when I have to say them or write them down, sometimes they come out all wrong

I tried to play with girls, but they all ran away from me.

Then they put me into another kind of school, and there were some strange boys there

'I see other people playing, but I don't play and they never ask me to play with them.'

Mom was there, and they got all the things out of my desk and put them in a brown paper bag

Then they told me to say goodbye to the teacher.

But I knew that they really wanted me to play football

Then they ran after me across the football field

When they caught me, it needed eight of them to pull me down! Coach Fellers was really happy! He started jumping up and down and laughing

But they gave me the ball, and I ran over the goal line two or three times

But they started the bus, and away I went.

Three or four other people were in the group with her, and they made a good sound

When they were winning 28 to 7, Coach Bryant called me across

"Just give me that boy in my team for a year!", and they did

'Do what you like,' they said.

'Hurry up with that food, Gump! We're hungry!' they shouted.

'Gump!' they screamed

The enemy started shooting at us before we got on the ground, and they blew up one of our helicopters

We could hear shooting all round us, but they didn't hit us

When it was day again, our planes came, and they blew up the enemy soldiers

We began to move back to the hill, but Doyle suddenly saw more enemy soldiers who were going towards our men! We waited until they got to the top, then Bones began shooting with the machine gun

We were crossing a rice field when suddenly they started shooting at us

I thought perhaps they were there to welcome us, but I was wrong

The people ran after me - all two thousand of them! - but they couldn't catch me

A lot of army people were there, and they immediately started shaking my hand and telling me that I was a brave man and that they were pleased to meet me.

Soon after that, I heard that I was leaving the army early, and they gave me some money for a train ticket to go home.

She was now playing in a group called The Broken Eggs, and they played two nights each week at a place called the Hodaddy Club near Harvard University

Then they began to play - and they were loud

'They threw me out after they found a boy in my room one night

Oh, I threw my medal away, OK - but it hit somebody really important! One of the President's men! So they threw me into prison.

As it happened, I didn't stay in prison long, because they soon realized that I was an idiot, and they put me in a special hospital for idiots

'You're just the kind of person that they're looking for!' the doctors told me.

His name was Sue (yes, I know it's a girl's name, but they sent a male ape up by mistake, and NASA didn't like to tell the newspapers that)

'I think they live somewhere in North Carolina now.'

A lot of people say that they married an idiot, but they don't know what it's like to marry a real one

Then she got up and held little Forrest's hand, and they walked away.

When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir

And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

And, more than this, they placed in the platform for my acceptance, and as a law to themselves and to me, the clear and emphatic resolution which I now read:

Now, if they would make the effort in good temper, could they not with nearly equal unanimity frame and pass a law by means of which to keep good that unanimous oath?

If a minority in such case will secede rather than acquiesce, they make a precedent which in turn will divide and ruin them; for a minority of their own will secede from them whenever a majority refuses to be controlled by such minority

I do not forget the position, assumed by some, that Constitutional questions are to be decided by the Supreme Court; nor do I deny that such decisions must be binding, in any case, upon the parties to a suit, as to the object of that suit, while they are also entitled to very high respect and consideration in all parallel cases by all other departments of the government

At the same time, the candid citizen must confess that if the policy of the government, upon vital questions affecting the whole people, is to be irrevocably fixed by decisions of the Supreme Court, the instant they are made, in ordinary litigation between parties in personal actions, the people will have ceased to be their own rulers, having to that extent practically resigned their government into the hands of that eminent tribunal

It is a duty from which they may not shrink to decide cases properly brought before them, and it is no fault of theirs if others seek to turn their decisions to political purposes.

Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing government, they can exercise their CONSTITUTIONAL right of amending it, or their REVOLUTIONARY right to dismember or overthrow it.

I will venture to add that to me the convention mode seems preferable, in that it allows amendments to originate with the people themselves, instead of only permitting them to take or reject propositions originated by others not especially chosen for the purpose, and which might not be precisely such as they would wish to either accept or refuse

The chief magistrate derives all his authority from the people, and they have conferred none upon him to fix terms for the separation of the states

The people themselves can do this also if they choose; but the executive, as such, has nothing to do with it

The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.

Compared with the perils which our forefathers conquered, because they believed and were not afraid, we have still much to be thankful for

True, they have tried

Faced by failure of credit, they have proposed only the lending of more money

Stripped of the lure of profit by which to induce our people to follow their false leadership, they have resorted to exhortations, pleading tearfully for restored confidence

These dark days, my friends, will be worth all they cost us if they teach us that our true destiny is not to be ministered unto but to minister to ourselves, to our fellow men.

In their need they have registered a mandate that they want direct, vigorous action

For only when our arms are sufficient beyond doubt, can we be certain beyond doubt that they will never be employed.

I decided what kind of people they were before they said a word to me

And I hope you see me in your imagination - when they put the rope around your neck and the crowd cries out for your death!'

The men looked at the woman, but in the darkness they did not know if she was drunk or dead

They decided to continue on their way to work and tell the first policeman they met.

Mrs Purkiss was awake most of the night, and Mr Purkiss slept badly and was awake between one and two o'clock, but they heard nothing

This was a new, unknown type of murder, which they could not understand

He lived with his wife at the club, which they managed together

When they saw a lot of blood flowing from the woman's neck, they ran to find a policeman

At the time of the murder they were only a few streets away from Mitre Square

Hearing about the murder, they went to the square

Then they went off to look for the killer.

When they parted at 2 p.m

Mary and Barnett decided to live together, and by the beginning of 1888 they were renting a room, 13 Miller's Court in Dorset Street.

This was one of the reasons why they quarrelled that autumn.

Mrs Cox followed them into the court and said, 'Goodnight, Mary Jane' as they were going into Mary's room

Hutchinson followed the couple into Dorset Street, where they stood and talked at the entrance to Miller's Court

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

But they did not come out, so he went away as the church clock struck three o'clock.

But that does not mean they are murderers.

So he had to go to the police before they found him and asked him why he was there

There were stories of a mysterious man known as 'Leather Apron', who demanded money from prostitutes and beat them if they resisted

When the police found a leather apron at the scene of the Hanbury Street murder, they hunted a man called John Pizer, a Polish boot-maker who always wore a leather apron for his work

But they could not print details of the killer's mutilations, which the doctor did not reveal

Although the details of Annie Chapman's murder were given on September 19th, they were not reported for reasons of decency

But on October 3rd shopkeepers complained that they were losing a lot of business because people were afraid to go out shopping.

The search ended on the 18th, and the police admitted they had not found the smallest clue

But it is very possible that they interviewed Jack the Ripper.

'Children make friends very easily, don't they?' Mme Thenardier smiled

The couple dressed Cosette in rags and gave her very little food, which they made her eat from a wooden bowl under the table

'The child is lucky to have a home at all,' they told everybody.

The Thenardiers wrote her a frightening letter in which they told her that Cosette had no clothes, and that they needed ten francs immediately to buy her a new dress

The Thenardiers, however, were very angry - they had wanted money, not clothes

This time they wanted forty francs because Cosette was very ill and urgently needed medicine

She approached them without thinking, and discovered that they had gathered around a travelling dentist

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

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

'It takes more than a small town prison to hold a man as strong as that,' they all agreed.

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

As they were approaching the inn, Cosette turned to him and said, 'May I have the bucket now? If Mme Thenardier sees that someone has been helping me, she'll beat me.'

The old man gave her the bucket, and they entered the inn together.

After hugging and kissing their mother, they sat on the floor by the fire and played with a doll

The two girls, when they saw Cosette with their doll, ran crying to their mother

'What kind of man is this?' they thought

The next morning they gave him the bill, charging him three times the usual price for a meal and a bed for the night

At last, the soldiers gave up their search and went back in the direction they had come

Valjean hugged Cosette tightly with relief, knowing that at last they were both safe.

When girls looked at him and smiled, he thought they were laughing at his old clothes

In fact, they were attracted by his good looks, but he was not confident enough to realize this

But, although he was very interested in them, they seemed not to notice him at all

'Do you know who they are?' Marius asked him one day.

When he felt that they were near him, he looked up and saw that the girl was looking steadily at him with a soft, thoughtful gaze that made him tremble from head to foot.

The next day they did not go to the Gardens, so again Marius went to the house as night was falling

From what they were shouting at each other, he understood that they were running from the police

He stood for a moment staring after them as they disappeared round a corner

Marius read the four letters and discovered that they were all asking for money

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

This was why he had failed to recognize the two daughters when they had run into him on the street

She clapped her hands and cried, 'We've been looking for that everywhere! How did you know they were mine? Of course, the handwriting

'If they had had another neighbour,' he thought, 'one who had noticed their suffering, perhaps they could have been rescued by now.'

Her sister has taken her to hospital, but they'll be back soon.'

They threw the rope ladder from the open window but, before they could escape, the door opened and Inspector Javert walked in.

Then, as if by magic, her lips were next to his and they were kissing

Afterwards, they sat together on the garden bench in a state of shock, neither of them speaking

Beneath the stars, they were happy just to look into each others eyes and hold each other's hands

Then, at last, they began to speak

In this way, bathed in happiness, they lived untroubled by the world.

The crowd grew more and more excited, until finally they tried to take the coffin away from the soldiers and carry it across a bridge

When they found a letter in his pocket which proved that he had been sent to spy on them, they tied him to a post inside the inn,

In their new house, they went to bed in silence

There was no reason, he thought, why they should not continue to live happily together in England

As long as he had Cosette, he would be happy, and it did not matter where they lived

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

'How can we leave?' they protested

The soldiers will shoot us as soon as they see us.'

The rebels fired their guns but, when the smoke had cleared, they saw the soldiers, unharmed, steadily aiming the cannon at the barricade

Within half an hour the sound of gunfire in other places had stopped, and the rebels knew that they were alone

When a second cannon was moved into position next to the first, they knew that the end was near.

As other guns began firing at the smaller barricade, the rebels fought back bravely, but they were running out of bullets

The rebels fought long and hard to defend the stronghold, but finally they had to withdraw to the low wall outside the wine shop

Before long, they broke down the door and rushed inside

When they arrived at M

When they had got back into the carriage, however, Valjean said, 'Inspector, will you do one last thing for me before you arrest me?'

He held Marius's head to his chest and they cried together.

When they were alone together, Cosette and Marius kissed.

The only thing they discovered was that Mme Thenardier had died, and that her husband had escaped from prison and disappeared with his surviving daughter, Azelma.

All previous unhappiness was forgotten as they kissed in the church, watched proudly by M

There were flowers everywhere when they returned to M

Marius and Cosette both did their best to raise Valjean's spirits, to show him how much they loved and needed him, to fill him with the strength and the desire to live again

They're made of silver, but to me they are pure gold

When I pull my fingers away, they are wet, and even with no light the blood is bright and easy to see.

I look carefully at my clothes, but they mean nothing

The jeans are new, but now they are dirty: muddy stains cover the legs from the wet grass

I do not understand anything else that they say, but I do understand these three words, and I smile again.

"Bloody idiot," he says to Sylvia as they slowly move away from the jetty onto the dark water

And they watch me every day, and I think that they watch me at night too."

We never found the driver, but William died instantly, they say."

And they are both dirty: their skin, boots and clothes all covered in red sand.

Best be careful." And they laugh again, and Gerry smiles.

And the brothers laugh as they watch Gerry and the truck drive up the road to Hobbs Creek while the great Australian sun begins to fall behind the horizon.

Beautiful, and they belong to me.

Maybe they want to steal his bag

Well, they can try!

So many, that they are impossible to understand

"At night they worry

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

But they are better than the dirty old jeans and green jacket that are now in a bin behind the shop where they sit.

"Then they don't worry

A woman's bag is the best: they have more things in them

"But what if someone sees me? What if they stop me?"

Nick calls them weekend bags; he says they are the best

Sure, there are one or two bigger than her, but none of them has her romance or her luxury," Mrs Carolina Heath says as they enter the dining room.

Just look at the view out there." And from the large glass windows they can see the majestic figure of the Statue of Liberty as the ship slowly moves away from the port of New York and heads into the deep of the ocean.

I suppose every ship needs some pirates, and these are they

The men stand and nod politely, and Carolina is amused by the interested looks they give Eleanor Chance.

"If they scare you, just scream, and I can rescue you."

The Statue of Liberty is still visible in the distance, but they will soon be alone on the dark ocean.

After the murderer kills the victim, they just watch the weapon melt

"Let me guess: they're rich, she wants his money?"

And if they are detected, so what? They are his pills."

They can't: they know it's too dangerous

They reach out, and they burn her back and her neck and her hair

Eleanor smiles, and they both stand up

And in the low, romantic light of the ballroom they both think they see something strange on her back and neck

But no, it cannot be what they think it is.

He forgot to do it once, and they refused to pay him for the day.

They say this is the case because Miss Lee was not in a sane state of mind when she killed Mr Dawson; they say that this crime was in defence of her sister

They say this is premeditated murder because for half an hour Miss Lee looked for Mr Dawson; they also say she made her intention clear on three different occasions

So you can tell them what you want, but they can do nothing, and you are still here in Bristol, and so is my family

And they will not like what you say

Slowly they all come back in, and Nick knows he has to say something

Someone who thinks they can enter your house in the middle of the night!

The gardai are everywhere, and they are looking for him

I need to wait for a few days until they think I'm miles from the city

A bank, Father, and they have insurance and all that, so they don't need it

And this time the silence is heavy and tense, and Barry can hear the voices of the women as they leave the church

He remembers that afterwards they were in the hotel room kissing, but then something happened, and she laughed

He needs to find another route and a motel to stay in for a few days: a cheap motel where they only want a name and some cash.

Jesus, is this it? Did he really do something to that girl? More than hit her once? Did he do what they said on the radio? Was she dead?

One moment they were running; the next there was the sound of the gun and a scream

We tell them to tell the parents they can have the kid when they leave us the money

Everything they have is better

I just know that if we ask them for a small amount, then they can pay

If you ask for more, you have to wait, and then there is the risk that they contact the police

We tell them they only have six hours

He only knows that it was three in the afternoon when they first heard the sound of the police sirens.

"How? How can they know where we are?" said Greg

Brandon pulled him from the old deserted cabin, and they ran for Greg's truck

The sound of the sirens was still in the distance, and Brandon thought that maybe they were still okay and that maybe they could leave; maybe they could escape together

"But which kid?" Brandon asked as they planned everything in Greg's cabin.

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

So that's what they did: they took the kid as he walked into town

No one saw them, but they covered Greg's plates to be sure, and they wore masks

The kid screamed at first, but they gagged him and tied his hands

Greg made the call to the hotel, and they drove to the cabin in the Yoho national park

Then they waited

I know these mountains better than they do and better than you."

"Come on," Smith says, and they walk to the entrance.

The secretary outside the headmaster's room tells them they can enter, but Smith stops

Didn't they have some sort of fight recently, Miss White?"

In a few years they will be politicians, judges or doctors

Outside they can see the renovation work: there is scaffolding on the face of the old building, a new wall on the side of it, and three or four workmen are sitting on a bench eating lunch.

The door to the tower is in another corridor, and when they open it, they hear footsteps on the stairs

Then the hammering they heard in the headmaster's office starts again, and the policemen go to the door.

"Well, students normally don't like teachers, do they?"

"Should we speak to the students, Sir?" West asks as they walk back to the car.

"Well, to see if they know anything."

"They're children, West: they can't even put a tie on

And they heard it in the corridor with Miss White and Mr Cliff.

And then they were all on top of him

At first they only hit him

And they lifted him up and carried him to the new wall, which was nearly finished

And they put him behind it, in a deep dark corner where no one could see him and the light disappeared as they put the last bricks in place

And they will hear.

Junior said that to walk there was stupid, because they had a car, and despite all of Owen's arguments, the teenager did not change his mind.

And yes, the last time they came to the forest, it was a bit cold, and they had nothing to do.

"And one day they can be yours if you want."

And Owen knew the boy was interested then, and for the first time in a long time he thought that maybe there was something they could do together

Soon they are deep in the forest, and Owen finds a small clearing

For the first time in many years Owen and Junior seem to be exactly what they are: father and son

Then maybe in a few years they can start to go for a pint like Owen and his father did.

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

But then they reach another clearing, and they hear something behind the trees.

And he thinks that maybe next time they should just go to the cinema instead

They all think they can win

They all think they can cheat and beat the casino."

"When did they last eat, Clive?"

"Come on," he says to Clive and Kenny, and they move back to the stairs.

And for a little while more they wait, until the surface of the pool is calm again

And they shut the door on what remains of Jimmy Lane.

The poor old woman must not feel too comfortable next to the noisy kids, but Sarah knows that they are okay: she can spot the bad kids from a mile away.

No, these kids are okay, but they are loud, and it is impossible for Sarah not to hear their conversation

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

"Yeah, he killed another one, didn't he? Last Friday, they reckon," the tallest of the kids says.

He uses something strange: not a knife but something long and thin, and he stabs them again and again, and they just bleed and bleed."

They said none of the victims looked like they tried to fight

And they are watching her.

...He uses something strange: not a knife but something long and thin, and he stabs them again and again, and they just bleed and bleed.

Sala and Cham live in an enormous overcrowded city that they are forbidden to leave, for their own protection: the world outside the city was contaminated during the wars.

Because the Oil Wars left the city short of energy, everyone has a small chip buried under the skin on their wrists, which measures how many units of energy they use

It also notes where they are at all times, to keep them safe.

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

"What are they all doing there?"

"So they're demanding the packing work instead."

"And will they get it?" asked Niki.

"So they're just getting wet for no reason?" said Niki

Everyone was given one hundred energy units a week, and they had to be careful not to use them too quickly

that's so sweet of you!" Taste-pots were great, because they weren't expensive, but gave you the taste of something luxurious like double chocolate ice cream

At Space 234, they stepped inside the little room and closed the door

There was a screen on the wall with a list of places to choose from: places they would never see for real.

Instead, there was calm blue ocean as far as they could see, under a cloudless sky

All they could hear were the sounds of the waves and the gentle wind in the trees

But Cham had come in and closed the door, and they had started to talk

By the time they left the simulator, she'd fallen in love - and luckily for her, so had Cham.

With five of them sharing, an hour cost just one energy unit each, so they did this often

For the first thirty minutes, they chose the illusion of a big nightclub with a famous band playing

Then they changed to a sunny park, like the ones that their city used to have, and sat down to talk.

"I think they're saying two years, at least," said Palo.

"And they actually pay you?" Niki's eyes were wide.

It will save space and energy, they say."

To get home quickly, they stepped onto one of the fast-moving walkways that stretched in all directions across the city.

As they traveled, towering blocks of apartments rose up high all around them

Sala and Cham stepped off the walkway near their apartment blocks, and as they did so, someone knocked Sala's elbow, then held her arm for a second.

Everything they ate everything they used - it was all grown or made within the city's limits

They did not want anyone going into the contaminated world beyond - it was much too dangerous, they said.

Such adventures had been normal then, but they seemed almost magical now.

Was this the best life they could hope for?

The three of them laughed and talked as they waited for the doors to open

Then they were in, and heading to their favorite machines

they kind of make me think

"Something is wrong, isn't it?" asked Gran, as they sat in the Real Space

Hand in hand, they went inside the apartment

But it was crowded because Cham had two younger sisters, and Sala knew they all hated living deep underground - especially Cham's dad Tian.

There was a choice of lifelike views in 3D - not as clever as the illusions in the simulator, but they did help the family to forget, at times, that they lived deep under the ground.

Well, they say it's a huge study opportunity

"Because you're just lying in the pod, they're able to store all the heat energy that your body creates

And they pay you, too

This was the only world they were ever likely to experience

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

They only attended one day a week; on the other days, they studied virtually, on the ultranet

Sala rushed down, and they set out on one of the fastest walkways to the pod center, talking happily

Now that they were actually on their way, it was all so much fun.

The door recognized that they had tickets, and let them in

Inside, the lights were so bright they were almost blinding, and there was a constant soft noise of people working on computers

All the technicians wore white coats; they looked serious and professional

"I think they want us to follow them!"

Sala did the same with another dolphin and they had a lot of fun, diving down through the water and back up to the surface with a splash.

She tried to move her arms, but they were trapped

"I guess they take a 3D picture of you inside the pod, and then they create an avatar."

A bit too clever, said a voice in Sala's head: they'd been together, and yet not together; they were able to talk to each other, but sometimes experienced things separately

I'll just finish this." Cham swallowed his drink hurriedly, and they waved goodbye to Zee.

As they passed the enormous hologram wall by the entrance, Cham put his arm around Sala

She wished they could just go back to normal now

And they keep bringing in more robots."

"Well, they say they're offering high-level studies, so that's obviously good," said Mom cautiously

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..

all to avoid the one big thing they needed to discuss.

"So they'll end up doing Pod Life."

It was the first important crossroads they'd come to together

It felt like a moment of magic: they'd never been so close.

"So they decided not to fix the old equipment

They find problems even before they've happened, and fix them."

She wished she could be with Cham, but his family was in crisis; they all needed him more than she did right now

"Mom, why can't they just use people instead of replacing them with robots and nanobots all the time?" Suddenly, Sala felt more angry than upset

When they had all cried and hugged each other, it was the first thing that Sala thought of.

"Who are they? How did they get it across the boundary?"

"I promise." He took Sala's hand and they walked on a little

Here they were, almost at the doors of the pod center

Leti led them past the pods where they'd been swimming with dolphins, and then through some thick glass doors

"Yes," they said.

That was all they had to make this separation less painful.

Was this a trap? Where were they going? But the woman didn't look back; she wasn't going to wait

Before long, they passed through a district that Sala had never visited before

She took me to an earth apartment and told me what they're doing."

"Who's 'they'?"

maybe they created that letter

And the fruit - well, maybe they found it somewhere in the city

"But why? Why would they do that? And how could they know that wild roses mean so much to Gran?"

a wild, crazy dream that they've invented to confuse you

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

They walked back to the simulator center and spent an hour together alone in Space 29, where they chose their waterfall illusion

Then they met Niki, Palo, and Ding in a cafe for taste-pots

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

By the time, they had all said goodbye, and Sala had gotten home, evening had fallen

They've discovered that the contamination is all a lie and they're trying to find ways through the force field!"

Gently, they shook Gran awake

"Well, Gran," said Sala, "maybe one day, when Cham comes out of the pod, and they've managed to break through the force field, we really will be able to go together

And if, like Eston says, they really live freely in the outside world, you wouldn't want to stay here, would you?" Mom nodded

In the end, they had just an hour or two at his apartment before he left

Even then, they weren't alone.

"Well, they'd be invisible

Now they had nothing

When we're not learning, we play sports, and they're all great..."

I started on beginner areas - they're nice and easy to manage

If I find some, I can test them to see if they belong to someone in our family."

It was good to know that they could do something to test Eston's letter; but even so, it wouldn't tell them where Wena and Oban's group had gone

We've been having a lot of fun! This week, they gave us the chance to try snowboarding as well as skiing."

"I'm not sure he'll agree to leave the pod anyway, but if he does, they might still want him to stay

But maybe they've noticed he's different, too," said Gran

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

Of course, they would have seen that Cham had changed! And they'd permit him to leave the pod at once if they thought it was damaging him.

Then they sat around the kitchen table, looking expectantly at Sala

Maybe his parents would be disappointed, but it was the only responsible thing to do; they'd thank her, in the end.

Would they ever leave?

Then, at last, they were alone.

"I hope they're all OK."

If you're in here, I'll know they can't reach you," he said

"But how have they persuaded him to think like that?" asked Sala

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

During the Oil Wars, they had to train us how to keep our minds strong, in case we were caught by people who wanted to change the way we thought."

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

"If the government comes here, they won't find anything," said Gran

"Of course they won't," said Mom

"But the problem is, they can test Cham to check if he's lying

Then maybe they would help us escape across the boundary."

When they came out, they would be obedient servants of the government.

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

they taught you how to protect your mind

She was saving all her strength for when they saw Cham.

And the way they were smiling, none of the other parents seemed to suspect that anything was wrong.

"Are they happy with the results?" asked Tian.

Sala waited in the pod as they made the final checks, bright lights blinding her from above.

When you know what they're trying to do, you're one step ahead; you've won half the battle already

If they can't surprise you, it's harder for them to control you.

You must look at people when they are speaking

My job was to talk to them, light their cigarettes and tidy the room after they had gone.

They must have been full of the life they had shared.

Everyone laughed, but they seemed friendly

I knew that they compared me with Rebecca

'Are they Rebecca's things?' I asked.

'When did they find her?' I felt I must know everything now

And when I meet anyone new, I know what they are thinking: "How different she is from Rebecca." '

My dress and the wig had arrived and they both looked perfect

'Thank God, they're beginning to go.'

'Such a wonderful party,' they said

'They want to see if they can get the ship off the rocks.'

When people have a great shock, they feel nothing at first

'What will they do?' I said.

Then they will remember that other body in the church

I knew what had happened as soon as they came back

They'll think that, won't they, Maxim?' I said.

He has to be there when they get the boat up tomorrow

When they had gone, he came back to me on the terrace.

I wondered what the papers would say if they knew the truth

'How long will they be?' I asked him.

'The sea-cocks? What are they?' asked the Coroner.

'Can you think why they are there?'

'But what are they trying to find out?'

What were they all saying now? What was happening? What would I do if Frank came back to Manderley without Maxim? I thought again of that dreadful word - murder

'Why do they think Rebecca did that?'

But they can't do anything to us.'

'How fast are they going, Joe?'

'Where are they, Sam?' asks Joe.

But perhaps they'd been mistaken when they identified the body

As they stared at each other through two windows and through the strange sulphurous light, she had the feeling that they were making contact across an immense gulf of space and time and destiny

Pulling her gaze away from his, she studied her hands, which were gripping the steering wheel so fiercely that they ached.

Danny's cries and her response became increasingly shrill and desperate, for they knew that they must reach each other before nightfall or be lost forever; in the oncoming night, something waited for Danny, something fearsome that would seize him if he was alone after dark

They began as lovers, sharing every detail of their daily lives - triumphs and failures, joys and frustrations - but by the time the divorce was final, they were strangers

At first, it had seemed terribly wrong that such a wonderful opportunity should come her way before she'd even had time to mourn her boy, as if the Fates were so shallow and insensitive as to think that they could balance the scales and offset Danny's death merely by presenting her with a chance at her dream job

Then the new dreams began, and they were far worse than the dream that she'd had immediately after Danny had been killed.

What if they came, lights flashing and sirens screaming - and found no one? If she had summoned the police every time that she imagined hearing a prowler in the house during the past two weeks, they would have decided long ago that she was scramble-brained

She and Michael hadn't yet begun to raise their voices to each other; their disagreements had been conducted in normal tones, sometimes even in whispers, yet Danny probably had heard enough to know they were having problems.

Six months later she and Michael separated, and less than five months after the separation, they were divorced.

Her hands were icy; they chilled her sides even through her nightgown.

Although she repeatedly erased them, they stubbornly returned

Anybody else tried to handle all this, they'd just end up with one goddamn big mishkadenze on their hands

Now they seemed to have shaped a hit show together.

The heavy bronze and glass revolving doors glittered as they spun with a steady flow of people

Directly overhead, the ceiling of the immense porte cochere was lined with hundreds of lights; none of the bulbs were burning now, but after nightfall, they would rain dazzling, golden luminosity upon the glossy cobblestones below

Shortly before noon, two high rollers from Dallas sat down at a blackjack table and, in three hours, lost a quarter of a million bucks; they were laughing and joking when they left the table to try another game

Carol had been shiny-eyed and breathless because the high rollers had tipped her with green chips, as if they'd been winning instead of losing; for bringing them half a dozen drinks, she had collected twelve hundred dollars.

They didn't hike all the way into the true wilderness, just a reasonable distance off the beaten path, and they planned for every contingency

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.

They made pleasant small talk for the next fifteen minutes, and none of it had to do with Magyck! Tina was aware that they were trying to take her mind off the show, and she appreciated their effort.

This afternoon, however, she'd been playing a pair of lucky slot machines at the Mirage Hotel, and she hadn't wanted to walk away from them while they were paying off so generously

Some people for whom she cleaned house insisted that she keep regularly scheduled appointments, and they did a slow burn if she showed up more than a few minutes late

With that attitude plus a few money-management skills, they were able to hang on longer than most slot players who plunged at the dollar machines after getting nowhere with quarters, and because of their patience and perseverance, the duchesses won more jackpots than did the tide of tourists that ebbed and flowed around them

Even these days, when most machines could be played with electronically validated value cards, the nickel duchesses wore black gloves to keep their hands from becoming filthy after hours of handling coins and pulling levers; they always sat on stools while they played, and they remembered to alternate hands when operating the machines in order not to strain the muscles of one arm, and they carried bottles of liniment just in case.

Together they formed an odd but solid community, with a satisfying sense of belonging

In a country that worshiped youth, most elderly Americans devoutly desired to discover a place where they belonged, but unlike the duchesses, many of them never found it.

For five years, ever since her sixty-fifth birthday, they had been pressuring her to live with them

She loved them as much as life itself, and she knew they truly wanted her with them; they were not inviting her out of a misguided sense of guilt and obligation

If she phoned for them and then ran out of the house, they might not find an intruder when they came

She put them back where they belonged, then slid the sofa into place.

She would have been lovely enough if her eyes had been dark, in harmony with the shade of her hair and skin, but they were crystalline blue

These things were as they always had been, since she had first come to work here, before Danny had died.

After a moment the other two models ceased their erratic dancing and began to spin around and around, like the first plane, as if they were actually flying, and there was no mistaking this deliberate movement for the random effects of a draft.

The closet doors closed with a jarring crash - but they didn't open again

The model airplanes slowed, swinging in smaller and smaller circles, until they finally hung motionless.

They would nod and smile woodenly and agree that it was a strange and frightening experience, but all the while, they would be thinking that poor old Vivienne was finally getting senile

By the time they got backstage, the opening-night party was in full swing

After their fourth encounter, she lost track of how long they were together

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.

He says I'd just make the performers nervous and cause the technicians to look over their shoulders for the boss when they should have their eyes on their work."

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

Inside the closet, shirts and jeans began to swing wildly on the pole from which they hung, and some clothes fell to the floor.

Though Danny's screams were increasingly muffled, they were even more urgent than before, because the dirt began to cover his face and pour into his mouth

The airplane models were no longer in the display case; they were strewn across the floor, and a few were broken

Hundreds of gamblers - pretty young women, sweet-faced grandmothers, men in jeans and decoratively stitched Western shirts, retirement-age men in expensive but tacky leisure outfits, a few guys in three-piece suits, salesmen, doctors, mechanics, secretaries, Americans from all of the Western states, junketeers from the East Coast, Japanese tourists, a few Arab men - sat at the semielliptical blackjack tables, pushing money and chips forward, sometimes taking back their winnings, eagerly grabbing the cards that were dealt from the five-deck shoes, each reacting in one of several predictable ways: Some players squealed with delight; some grumbled; others smiled ruefully and shook their heads; some teased the dealers, pleading half seriously for better cards; and still others were silent, polite, attentive, and businesslike, as though they thought they were engaged in some reasonable form of investment planning

At the craps tables, the crowds, primarily men, were more boisterous than the blackjack aficionados; they screamed, howled, cheered, groaned, encouraged the shooter, and prayed loudly to the dice

And everywhere in the gigantic casino, there were cocktail waitresses in brief costumes, revealing long legs and cleavage; they bustled here and there, back and forth, as if they were the threads that bound the crowd together.

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.

Ice rattled in glasses as gamblers drank while they played

To reach the escalators that would carry them down to the shopping arcade on the lower level, they had to cross the entire casino

Halfway across the long room, they stopped at a clearing where a middle-aged man lay on his back, unconscious, in front of a blackjack table

When at last they reached the end of the casino and were on the escalators, heading down toward the shopping arcade, Tina said, "What is blackjack blackout?"

Crowds surged past the souvenir shops, art galleries, jewelry stores, clothing stores, and other retail businesses, but they were neither shoulder-to-shoulder nor as insistent as they were upstairs in the casino.

When they were first married, he'd been fun, charming, easygoing, but he had not been that way with her in a long time.

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

"For years people go home from Vegas and tell all their friends that they came out ahead of the game

And when all of a sudden someone does hit it big, especially on a slot machine where it can happen in a flash, they're so surprised they pass out

They go to bed at dawn, get up in the afternoon, and they lose track of what day it is

When the excitement wears off a little, they go to check out of the hotel, and they discover their three-day weekend somehow turned into five days

They think they're being overcharged, and they argue with the desk clerks

When someone shows them a calendar and a daily newspaper, they're really shocked

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?"

"I think they were just trying to upset me, scare me."

She turned away from him and started toward the rear entrance of the hotel, out of which they'd come a few minutes ago.

It could tell her each man's preferred brand of liquor, each wife's favorite flower and perfume, the make of car they drove, the names and ages of their children, the nature of any illnesses or other medical conditions they might have, their favorite foods, their favorite colors, their tastes in music, their political affiliations, and scores of other facts both important and trivial

She thought of the man in her nightmare, the man in black whose face had been lumpy with maggots, and the shadows in the corner of her office seemed darker and deeper than they had been a moment ago.

The number was 1001012, identified as the access for "Comps," which meant "complimentary guests," a euphemism for "big losers," who were never asked to pay their room charges or restaurant bills because they routinely dropped small fortunes in the casino.

Then they disappeared.

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.

She took hold of the two lines - one heavy cable and one ordinary insulated wire - and they seemed to come alive in her hands, like a pair of snakes, resisting her

All those years they'd taken kids into the mountains, nobody was even scratched."

All they know is how

No one in his right mind would take boys as young as twelve into the deepest parts of the Sierras, no matter how well prepared, supplied, and trained they were, no matter how strong, no matter how many big brothers were there to look out for them."

From there they were going to hike for three days with snowshoes and backpacks, making a wide circle around the bus, coming back to it at the end of the week.

"Somehow, for some reason, they drove the bus more than four miles off the main highway, four miles off and a hell of a long way up, right up to the damn clouds

For a moment, they sat in silence, sipping cognac.

Elliot studied the printouts, and together they examined the computer in Angela's office

They plugged it in and tried to get it to repeat what it had done earlier, but they had no luck; the machine behaved exactly as it was meant to behave.

I can't think of anyone I know who'd be capable of this sort of thing even if they did hate me enough to contemplate it

Maybe I'd hire private detectives, and they wouldn't catch anyone but me."

"What are they like?"

But mainly I think they used dental records."

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

"The body's in an airtight casket, but it'll be even more deteriorated now than it was a year ago when they recommended you not look at it."

"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

They wanted to have a little fun during the evening that lay ahead, and now they began putting themselves in the mood for it.

As they crossed the reception area on their way toward the hall, Tina glanced nervously at Angela's computer

But she and Elliot left the outer office, flicking off the lights as they went, and the computer remained dark and silent.

She was gone two months after they diagnosed it."

He realized they had even more in common than he had thought

"Do they bother to give their kitchen a pleasant used look?"

While Tina and Elliot had been joking in the kitchen, even before dinner had been completely prepared, she had begun to think they might go to bed together

By the time they finished eating dinner, she knew they would

They both realized that they were in need of each other, physically and mentally and emotionally, and that whatever happened between them would be good.

After dinner, they adjourned to the den, where Elliot built a fire in the black-granite fireplace

Tina felt as if they had talked without pause all evening, speaking with quiet urgency, as if each had a vast quantity of earthshakingly important information that he must pass on to the other before they parted

The more they talked, the more they found in common

As if drifting in a dream, they left the den and went into the bedroom

For a long, long time, they forgot that death existed, and they explored the delicious, silken surfaces of love, and it seemed to them, in those shining hours, that they would both live forever.

Elliot switched on the bedside lamp to prove to her that they were alone in the room.

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

Afterward, they slipped into sleep again.

On hot summer days, these barren, sandy slopes seemed godforsaken, and they would not be made lush and green for another ten years at least

Although a judicial purist might have disapproved, prosecutors and public defenders and tax attorneys and criminal lawyers and corporate counsel were mingling and getting pleasantly drunk with the judges before whom they argued cases most every week

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

Elliot didn't want to ask Kennebeck for a favor within hearing of a dozen lawyers, and today there was nowhere in the house where they could be assured of privacy

In silence, they walked back to the house, where the party was getting louder by the minute.

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.

He had a few chores to finish before she came, so they wouldn't have to spend a lot of time doing galley labor as they had done last night

"What are they for?"

They appeared to be genuinely surprised by this news, and Elliot was pretty sure they weren't the people who had been trying to scare Tina

Besides, though they both struck him as slightly wacky, they didn't seem to be merely hoaxers or borderline psychopaths who got their kicks by scaring defenseless women

"Who?" Vince asked, but it was too late to cover the revealing look they had exchanged.

"Hell, you won't be able to tell them who we were or where they can start looking for us

And if they do pick up our trail somehow, we can put pressure on them to drop it fast

"That's not quite the way they explained the system in law school," Elliot said.

When they got their answers, they would kill him

If they had intended to let him live, they wouldn't have used their real names in front of him

And they wouldn't have wasted so much time coaxing him to cooperate; they would have used force without hesitation

They wanted to gain his cooperation without violence because they were reluctant to mark him; their intention was that his death should appear to be an accident or a suicide

While he was still under the influence of the drug, they might be able to make him write a suicide note and sign it in a legible, identifiable script

Then they would carry him out to the garage, prop him up in his little Mercedes, put the seat belt snugly around him, and start the engine without opening the garage door

When Danny had first begun collecting horror comics with his allowance, she had closely examined those books to decide whether or not they were harmful to him

We need to check our lines where they come into your house."

They were going to great lengths to avoid using violence, which confirmed Elliot's suspicion that they wanted to leave him unmarked, so that later his body would bear no cuts or bruises incompatible with suicide.

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?

If these people were determined to kill him just to stop the exhumation, they would have to kill Tina

By the time he called the police and managed to explain the situation, they might be too late to help Tina.

In letters that were supposed to look as if they had been formed from rotting shroud cloth, the artist had emblazoned the title across the top of the first page, above a somber, well-detailed scene of a rain-swept graveyard

Kevin's parents went away from the city immediately after the funeral, intending to spend a month at their summerhouse in the country, where they could be free from the press of business and social duties, the better to mourn their lost child

Most of the story dealt with Death's attempts to stop the mother and father on their desperate night journey; they were assaulted by every form of the walking dead, every manner of living corpse and vampire and ghoul and zombie and ghost, but they triumphed

Danny certainly had been dead when they had buried him.

"Listen, Tina, they wanted to kill me just because I was going to help you get Danny's body exhumed."

"Maybe they're part of it somehow."

"I can't figure why they'd come for me first."

Elliot put a hand on her shoulder, stopped her, and turned her around just as they entered the bedroom

They hurried back the way they had come.

In the foyer, Elliot jerked open the front door, pushed her through ahead of him, and they both plunged into the golden late-afternoon sunshine.

"You don't think they'll actually start shooting at us?" Tina asked.

And I think they had a fake suicide planned for me

But now that they know we're on to them, they might panic, might do anything

The only thing I do know is they can't let us just walk away."

"What do they have to do with Danny?"

He wheeled around another corner, and then another, trying to disappear from the men in the van long enough to leave them with so many choices of streets to follow that they would have to give up the chase in confusion

Too late, he saw the sign at the fourth intersection - NOT A THROUGH STREET - but they were already around the corner and headed down the narrow dead end, with nothing but a row of ten modest stucco houses on each side.

"There's probably more than one of them, and they'll be armed."

"So who the hell are they?" she asked,

Apparently, Tom couldn't conceive that burglars, psychopathic killers, and other lowlifes were permitted to purchase a Mercedes-Benz if they had the money for it

Elliot wondered how Tom would have reacted if they had shrieked into his garage in an old battered Chevy.

Any amusement he felt at the way they had handled Polumby evaporated instantly as he reversed warily out of sanctuary, down the driveway, and into the street

Each time he glanced at her, she was either crouched forward, squinting at every new street they entered, or twisted halfway around in her seat, looking out the rear window

However, by the time they reached Charleston Boulevard - via Maryland Parkway, Sahara Avenue, and Las Vegas Boulevard - they began to relax

While Elliot drove, he told Tina what had happened at his house: the two thugs, their interest in the possibility of Danny's grave being reopened, their admission that they worked for some government agency, the hypodermic syringes...

No matter who they are, they're not omniscient

If they can't find us, they can't kill us."

As they continued west on Charleston Boulevard, Tina said, "Earlier you told me we couldn't go to the police with this."

If they have a judge in their pocket, why not a few cops?"

For some of them, it's the only loyalty they'll ever be capable of

"Is that likely? I mean, how could they be sure he'd win the election?"

"Maybe they fixed it."

"But why would they want Kennebeck on a Vegas court instead of in Washington or New York or someplace more important?"

"But even if Kennebeck's bosses have a lot of influence with the Vegas police, would the cops let us be killed? Would they really let it go that far?"

Elliot glanced in the rearview mirror, as he had been doing every minute or two since they'd turned onto Charleston Boulevard

The traffic thinned out as they drove farther from the heart of town, closer to the looming black mountains that thrust into the last electric-purple light in the western sky.

But before we go in, let's check out that list of questions they were going to make you answer."

Tina stopped when they reached the purple light under the mercury-vapor lamp

She had a round face, dimples, eyes that twinkled as if they had been waxed, and a Texas drawl

When Elvira left the table and they were alone, Tina said, "Let's see the papers you took off that guy."

"Evidently they think someone from Project Pandora has decided to rat on them."

All the other parents were asked to identify their kids, even though some of the corpses were in such a horrible state they couldn't be cosmetically restored for viewing at a funeral

If they hadn't seen their kids' bodies, they might have just gone through a year of doubt like you did, might be easily persuaded to join us in a call for the reopening of all the graves

But if the other people had a chance to view the bodies, if none of them has had any reason to entertain doubts like yours, then they're all just finally learning to cope with the tragedy

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

If they're waiting, watching - we'll be dead before we can tell a reporter more than a sentence or two

But if we go to the press in Los Angeles or New York or some other city, the reporters there aren't going to have a whole lot of interest in it unless they see an aspect of the story that lifts it out of the local-interest category

But it seems to me the most obvious thing we have to consider is that the scouts and their leaders saw something they weren't supposed to see."

"And saw something they weren't supposed to see."

because of what they saw, they were killed?"

"I just can't believe the government would murder a group of little children just because they accidentally got a glimpse of a new weapon or something."

Surely they couldn't have managed to get more than a glimpse."

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

"Well, they'd have had to be pretty stupid to think murder was the safest way to handle it

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

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

In fact, they didn't talk much at all

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

When they finished eating, Tina spoke first

Elvira stopped by the table and asked if they wanted anything more

"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

They didn't realize how lucky they were

And they haven't been coming from someone who wants to expose the true story of the Sierra accident

They are exactly what they appear to be!"

Confused, he said, "And to your way of thinking, what do they appear to be?"

Danny survived the accident, but they couldn't let him come home because he'd tell everyone the government was responsible for the deaths of the others, and that would blow their secret military installation wide open."

I don't know why they didn't kill him

I don't know how long they think they can keep him bottled up like this

But that's what they're doing

Those might not be the precise circumstances, but they're pretty damn close to the truth."

they think someone involved with Project Pandora has turned on them and told me what really happened to Danny

That's why they've been so much different from any dreams I've had before, so much stronger and more vivid."

Though Tina continued to be buoyed by the unshakable conviction that Danny was alive, fear crept into her again as they drove onto Charleston Boulevard

The only thing that scared her now was the possibility that they might find Danny - and then be unable to rescue him

If they found Danny and then perished trying to save him, that would be a nasty trick of fate, for sure

He had thought Evans might be keeping a vigil at the demolished house, while the firemen sifted through the still-smoldering debris, searching for the remains of the woman they thought might be buried there

Bruckster fell in beside and slightly behind his target as they pressed through the teeming mob that jammed the enormous casino

His ships, sealed in their glass worlds, relaxed him; he liked to spend time with them when he had a problem to work out or when he was on edge, for they made him feel serene, and that security allowed his mind to function at peak performance.

Kennebeck had known Alexander for five years and had despised him from the day they met

Part of this antagonism between them rose because they had been born into utterly different worlds and were equally proud of their origins - as well as disdainful of all others

Yet numerous members of the family had secretly rendered service - some of it dirty - to the FBI, the CIA, and various other intelligence and police agencies, often the very same organizations that they publicly criticized and reviled

Eventually Harry realized that the extreme left and the extreme right shared the same two basic goals: They wanted to make society more orderly than it naturally was, and they wanted to centralize control of the population in a strong government

Meanwhile, we're checking out Stryker's associates in his law firm, his friends, the woman's friends, anyone with whom they might have taken refuge."

"I already know what they're going to find

But why would they go to Arizona, of all places?"

"If they actually headed for Flagstaff," Alexander said, "they ought to have landed by now

That's where they went

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

Look, they can't be going up to the mountains, because they don't know where the laboratories are

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

Pacing, Kennebeck said, "Now that we've tried to kill them, they know the story of the Sierra accident was entirely contrived

So now, they're twice as anxious to see it

They'd exhume it illegally if they could, but they can't get near the cemetery with us watching it

So if they can't open the grave and see for themselves what we've done to Danny Evans, what are they going to do instead? They're going to do the next best thing - talk to the person who was supposedly the last one to see the boy's corpse before it was sealed in the coffin

"So they'll go to see the mortician who supposedly prepared the boy's body for burial."

"But if that's where they went, then they're not just hiding out, licking their wounds

Good God, they've actually gone on the offensive!"

"Our people in Reno will have to move fast, but they'll manage

"I don't even think we should put a tail on them as soon as they get there," Alexander said

We know where they're going

Elliot was glad they had bought a couple of heavy coats before leaving Las Vegas

He wished they'd thought of gloves; his hands were freezing.

When they had landed, they'd been alert for unusual activity on the runway and in the private-craft docking yard - suspicious vehicles, an unusual number of ground crewmen - but they had seen nothing out of the ordinary

The night clerk at the rental agency, from whom they had signed out the car, had known exactly where Bellicosti's place was, and he had marked the shortest route on the free city map provided with the Chevy.

The headlights flashed on and off so rapidly that, they created a stroboscopic effect, repeatedly "freezing" the falling snow, so that it appeared as if the white flakes were descending to the ground in short, jerky steps.

The kid's a lot more important than they are

"What the devil is wrong with the engineers? Why can't they correct the problem?"

So they say."

"I hear they're bringing in the original design team," Dombey said

If he's subjected to many more of these sudden temperature fluctuations, we'll never be certain they didn't contribute to his death

"Penetrating, aren't they?"

They aren't the same as they were when he first came in here a year ago."

"They can't be waiting for us, can they? They don't know we're in Reno."

We're not going to make the same mistake they did and wind up back in their hands."

"If they've anticipated us, set a trap at the funeral home-"

"And if they haven't set a trap, I've got to be there when you question Bellicosti."

He didn't lock the doors, because it was possible that he and Tina would need to get into the car in a hurry when they returned.

The raw, damp wind was stronger now than it had been a short while ago, when they'd landed at the airport

And if assassins were waiting here, they would expect their prey to approach the funeral home boldly, confidently

Elliot felt naked as they crossed the luminescent snowfield

He wished that they weren't wearing such dark clothes

The crunching and squeaking of the snow under their feet seemed horrendously loud to him, though they actually were making little noise

For a few seconds they paused, touching each other briefly, gathering their courage.

"But they expected us through the front door." He took her by the arm

When they were nearly halfway across the graveyard, when Elliot was positive they weren't being pursued, he stopped, leaned against a tall monument, and tried not to take such huge, deep gulps of the painfully cold air

They embraced, and then she said, "If they knew we were flying to Reno, why didn't they follow us from the airport? Then they would have known we weren't going to walk in the front door of Bellicosti's place."

"Maybe they figured I'd spot a tail and be spooked by it

And I guess they were so sure of where we were headed, they didn't think it was necessary to keep a close watch on us

And we better get out of the neighborhood before they find that guy in the snow."

Elliot recognized them for what they were

"If we abandon the car with them so close, they'll run us down fast

Give them a chance to see you when they turn into the street

They'll be looking at you, and they won't see me."

"But what if they get you?"

If we stop for more than a couple of seconds, it'll show up on their receiver, and they might get suspicious."

When they had gone two blocks, he said, "Turn right at the next corner." After two more turns and another three blocks, he said, "Pull it to the curb

I want to find the bug they planted on us."

"But they can't follow us now," she said.

They can watch our progress on that, even if they can't get their hands on us till another chase car catches up

In the car again, with the doors locked and the engine running and the heater operating full-blast, they sat in stunned silence, basking in the warm air, but shivering nonetheless.

Eventually Tina said, "My God, they move fast!"

Even at 1:45 in the morning, as they passed the entrances to casinos, loud music and laughter and the ringing of slot machines gushed forth, not a merry sound at that hour, a regurgitant noise.

A short time later, in bed, they held each other close, but neither of them had sex in mind

They wanted nothing more than to touch and to be touched, to confirm for each other that they were still alive, to feel safe and protected and cherished

After encountering so many people with so little respect for human life, they needed to convince themselves that they really were more than dust in the wind.

I'm a mother lion, and they've stolen my cub

These diplomatic and intelligence-gathering assignments were never an insult to his family name, but they were always minor postings to embassies in smaller countries like Iceland and Ecuador and Tonga, nothing for which The New York Times would deign to acknowledge his existence.

At least half of the people who worked for it did not even realize it existed; some thought they were employed by the FBI; others were sure they worked for the CIA; and still others believed that they were in the hire of various branches of the Treasury Department, including the Secret Service

As he sat in the dimly lighted cabin of the fan-jet and watched the clouds racing below, Alexander wondered what his father and his uncles would say if they knew that his service to his country had often required him to issue kill orders

What would the elder Alexander's, the famous statesmen, think if they knew he'd soiled his hands with blood? As for the fact that it was sometimes his job to order other men to kill, he supposed his family would understand

The Alexander's were all idealists when they were discussing the way things ought to be, but they were also hardheaded pragmatists when dealing with the way things actually were

George liked to believe that they might even find it in their hearts to forgive him for having pulled the trigger himself.

He wants us just to walk into the place where they're keeping him and take him out."

"But even if Danny could somehow get us in," he said, "we don't know where they're keeping him

And if it does exist, they might not be holding him there anyway."

"Don't they publish terrain maps of the wilderness areas? Backpackers and other nature lovers would need them

They used an electronic scrambling device, so they could speak candidly, and the old man was furious and characteristically blunt.

Elliot and Tina found what they needed in one of the gun shops: a set of twelve wilderness maps of the Sierras, designed with backpackers and hunters in mind

Back in the hotel room, they opened one of the maps on the bed, and Elliot said, "Now what?"

She said, "People who believe in the occult have a thing they call 'automatic writing.' Ever hear of it?"

But where do you expect to find a hypnotist? The last time I looked, they weren't setting up shops on street corners."

Sandstone didn't have the faintest idea why they were in Reno or what they were seeking in the mountains.

She pulled the cap off the red felt-tip pen that Elliot had purchased at the hotel newsstand just before they'd caught a taxi to Sandstone's house

Elliot had suggested a change in the color of ink, so they would be able to tell the difference between the meaningless scribbles that were already on the map and any new marks that might be made.

That's where they're keeping him."

They're going to find us sooner or later, and when they get their hands on us, they'll kill us."

"But what if they're watching my accounts down there? That would lead them to us fast

You can do that sort of thing as long as they know for sure you're capable of paying the entire bill when it comes due a month later."

"We'll see if they'll accept the card."

And you know what a ticky-tacky airport they have at Tahoe

If they thought you knew about them-"

If they were killed, the truth would die with them, and the cover-up would continue

Considering the high price that they had paid for the pathetically insufficient information they had obtained, he couldn't tolerate the prospect of all their pain and fear and anxiety having been for naught.

"Sooner or later they'll make a mistake

Where were they?

Tina was in awe of - and disquieted by - the stately forest that crowded them as they drove north on the narrowing county road

On paper, they were still moving along the border of the map, with a large expanse of blues and greens on their left

Shortly they would turn off the two-lane blacktop onto another road, which the map specified as "unpaved, nondirt," whatever that was.

First, they had visited a sporting-goods store, purchasing two Gore-Tex Thermolite storm suits, boots, snowshoes, compact tins of backpacker's rations, cans of Sterno, and other survival gear

If the rescue attempt went smoothly, as Tina's dream seemed to predict, they wouldn't have any need for much of what they bought

But if the Explorer broke down in the mountains, or if another hitch developed, they wanted to be prepared for the unexpected.

This wasn't insurance against the unforeseen; this was simply prudent planning for the trouble they could foresee all too well.

From the sporting-goods store, they had driven out of town, west toward the mountains

At a roadside restaurant, they changed clothes in the restrooms

Entering the formidable mountains, they had become aware of how soon darkness would settle over the sheltered valleys and ravines, and they had discussed the wisdom of proceeding

Perhaps they would have been smarter to turn around, go back to Reno, find another hotel room, and get a fresh start in the morning

The thing was - they had momentum

They both felt as if they were on a good roll, and they didn't want to tempt fate by postponing their journey.

Now they were on a narrow county road, moving steadily higher as the valley sloped toward its northern end

"Looks more like the road they always take in those old movies when they're on their way to Dracula's castle."

After a while he said, "Did you see the pictures they took of the kid's brain this morning?"

They passed a few signs that told them the lane they were using was kept open for the exclusive benefit of federal and state wildlife officers and researchers

When they came out of this curve, the trees fell back from the verge, and open sky lay above for the first time since they had departed the county blacktop.

A hundred and fifty yards farther, they reached another sharp turn

"What if Danny didn't have anything to do with it? They might just be letting us in so they can trap us inside."

The guard swung the submachine gun into firing position as they swept past him.

As they swung into another curve, Elliot wrestled with the wheel, and Tina was acutely aware that a great dark void lay beyond the shoulder of the road

Elliot held the vehicle on the pavement as they rounded the bend, and then they were out of the guard's line of fire

As they ascended into the night, snow began to fall hard and fast in sheets of fine, dry flakes.

She began to wonder exactly what sort of little boy they were going to find at the top of the mountain.

At four-thirty, they obtained a strong, positive identification from a maid at Harrah's.

Who were these two people? Why weren't they hiding in a dark corner somewhere? Why weren't they scared witless? Christina Evans was only an ordinary woman

Where were they getting their strength, their nerve, their endurance? It seemed as if they must have some advantage of which Alexander was not aware

Even if they locate the main gate, they can't get any farther than that

"They can get inside easily enough if they have a friend in there."

And they have a cellular backup

"That must be where they're holding him," Elliot said.

God knows how far they cut back into the rock

They're allowed to go into Reno for shore leave between cruises, but for long stretches of time, they're confined to this 'ship.'"

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

And they would be dead.

The flakes were hard, dry, and granular; they hissed like driven sand across the Perspex windscreen.

"When we were running operations against the drug lords down in Colombia," Morgan said, "they called me 'Bats,' meaning I had bats in the belfry." He laughed.

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.

He didn't want to tie the wounded man's hands, so they carefully moved him to a supply closet and locked him in there.

The cab was at such an angle from them that they couldn't see who was in it.

Nevertheless, they crept cautiously to the elevator and peered inside apprehensively

The cab was empty, and they boarded it, and the doors glided together.

According to the indicator board above the doors, they were on the fourth of four levels

They stepped into a hallway exactly like the one they had left upstairs.

If they were discovered and confronted by a squad of angry security men, Elliot's one pistol might not be enough to discourage an assault

Then, even with Danny jamming the enemy's weapons, she and Elliot would be able to escape only if they slaughtered their way out, and she knew that neither of them had the stomach for that much murder, perhaps not even in self-defense.

This level was the same size as the one on which they entered the complex: more than four hundred feet on one side, and more than one hundred feet on the other

To the right of the window was another airtight door like the one through which they'd just entered

He was paging through a book when they burst in

If security discovers we're here, at least they won't be able to get their hands on us for a while."

And a lot of people around him, a lot of people protecting him, people in research and people in charge of project security - they're also megalomaniacs

For a moment Tina couldn't move, afraid to see what they had done to Danny

But they were sunken, ringed by unhealthy dark skin, which was not the way they had always been

For almost two months, they've been reinfecting his body over and over again, letting the virus wear him down, trying to discover how many times he can lick it before it finally licks him

Tomorrow they intend to stick another dirty needle in him."

Alexander was increasingly confident that they would reach the installation unscathed, and he was aware that even Kurt Hensen, who hated flying with Morgan, was calmer now than he had been ten minutes ago.

they're now supposed to be our new friends, but they keep developing bacteriological weapons, new and more virulent strains of viruses, because they're broke, and this is a lot cheaper than other weapons systems

Lots of people out there in the rest of the world - they believe in chemical and biological warfare

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."

"If I understand you, the Chinese could use Wuhan-400 to wipe out a city or a country, and then there wouldn't be any need for them to conduct a tricky and expensive decontamination before they moved in and took over the conquered territory."

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 Bollinger discovered they had a vehicle, he tried to persuade them to drive him all the way into Reno

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

Both Jaborski and the other scout leader decided they might have a dangerous character on their hands

He couldn't keep anything in his stomach because recently they've been reinfecting him, testing him to destruction, like I said

If they all left, they'd just be turning the place over to men like Tamaguchi and Zachariah, and there wouldn't be anyone around to balance things

What sort of research do you think they might do then?"

"But once our story breaks in the papers," Tina said, "they'll probably just shut this place down."

They might pretend to close us down, but they won't

When they took Danny out of the small room, they couldn't hear Zachariah's shouted invectives through the airtight steel door.

And for sure, if the people in this installation got the idea that Danny's newfound psychic abilities were a result of the parietal spot caused by his repeated exposure to Wuhan-400, they would want to test him, poke and probe at him

Danny opened the high-security elevator and made the cab rise once they were in it

"But they're not good people, baby

Eighty, ninety, a hundred feet they soared, soared straight up into the night.

As they drove off the plateau, around the burning wreckage of the helicopter, Danny said, "They were bad people

I received a death threat by phone the night before the arbitration - I can't say for certain that it was from the writer; the voice was so deep that it might have been his mother - and the next morning the law firm handling the studio's case assured me that they had taken extra security measures for the meeting

Because I was never in the room with both partners, getting a thoughtful response to a story note I'd given was impossible, because neither could speak for the other and could only promise to consult when next they met at the deathbed of whatever beloved person expired that week.

"Oh my God, my God, they've found me!"

"No, they'll laugh at me

'But they laughed at me

'How stupid they are!' cried Holmes

'Well, I hope they won't kill young Openshaw,' I said.

But they did

I found out that the captain and two of his men, all Americans, weren't on the ship last night, so I'm sure they killed poor John Openshaw

When they arrive in America, they'll get the pips and then the police will catch them!'

'No, call the police first, or they'll ask you awkward questions

'Yes, and they laughed at me.'

'Helene, as soon as the police examine that fly they will know that you are not insane, and then...'

It was clear they thought I was crazy

The police would never understand but the professors would, and they must not! That had been Andre's last wish.

that when they were abroad, her husband was killed

She also had the most unusual eyes I have ever seen - for they were almost golden, too

'I hear they've arrested Lawrence.'

Babies, not us, decide when they'll arrive

At five-thirty, they were driven to the village

Immediately after they had left, Mr Clement rang up and I told him that they had gone out.'

Mrs Protheroe came to the door, and they both went inside.'

'And they came out - when?' Colonel Melchett asked

And Dr Stone came down the path from Old Hall, so they all walked towards the village together

At the end of the road, I think they were joined by Miss Cram

'Well then,' said Colonel Melchett, 'did you also see Mrs Protheroe's and Mr Redding's expressions as they walked along the road?'

And then tell Mrs Protheroe that Mr Redding is innocent - well, then they might both tell you the truth.'

'But they are the only two people who had a reason for killing Protheroe.'

These scientists, they think a girl's a kind of machine

'Ah! Then they don't think Lawrence Redding did it

They're very stupid, aren't they?'

Dr Stone met them and they walked together to the village

'Oh, doctors, what do they know!' Slack replied.

As I sat there, I heard footsteps outside, they paused for a minute, then went away

'What did they threaten you with?'

And the person laughed! Then they put down the telephone

But they haven't arrested Mr Redding?'

I'm asking everyone where they were yesterday evening between the hours of six and seven p.m.'

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

'Oh! But they didn't, did they? Because I was in, you see.'

But a nice-looking young man, I'm sure they would tell him at once.'

And they don't need to come through the village

That's two strange telephone calls in one day, and I bet they were made by the same person.'

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

'But you can never be sure they will be on time

'I have never been in a house where they had a murder,' Mary said

So I said, "If the vicar and his wife are satisfied, that is all that matters." And she laughed and said, "Oh! But are they?"'

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

'He asked me if I wanted to find my husband's murderer, and I said, "Yes." And then he asked me whether I suspected anyone, and I said, "No." And then he said, did I think the person who committed the crime knew the village, and I said they certainly seemed to

'Perhaps they didn't know they were missing,' I suggested

They all looked as though they had been written by the same person, and they all said, 'Urgent'

I thought that, of course, the news they had heard must be the same thing

Well, this person said they saw a certain lady walk up the road that goes to the vicarage

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

You remember the disagreement they had

They still think the 6.20 was written by someone else - but they're not sure.'

But Miss Marple just smiled and continued, 'I liked Anne and Lawrence, so when they both confessed in that silly way - well, I was happy that I had been wrong

'But when they did come out, their behaviour was happy and normal

Because if they had really said goodbye to each other they would have been sad

But because of the murder they did not dare to appear upset

For the next ten minutes, they were careful to be seen by people in the village, then at last Mr Redding went back to the vicarage

And they thought that this would make her stop

Lettice came to see me just after they were arrested

With great confidence, people travelled around this world and believed that they were in control of their lives

Its air is much thinner than ours, its oceans have become smaller until they cover only a third of its surface, and from its far north and south the ice is steadily moving forwards

And looking across space, with instruments and minds more powerful than we can dream of, they see, at a distance of only 56,000,000 kilometres, a morning star of hope - our own warmer planet with its green land and grey seas, its cloudy atmosphere and its growing population.

Because it was so small, I did not see the Thing they were sending us, which was flying quickly towards me across that great distance

For ten nights they saw a flame each night

It seems to me almost unbelievably wonderful that, with that danger threatening us, people could continue their ordinary business as they did

He met some local people who were up early, but the story he told and his appearance were so wild that they would not listen to him

They listened, knocked on the burnt metal with a rock and, getting no answer, they both decided that the men inside were either unconscious or dead.

Of course the two were quite unable to do anything, so they went back to the town again to get help

I think they understood that nothing could be done for the moment, and had gone away to have breakfast at Henderson's house

They may stay in the pit and kill people who come near them, as they cannot get out of it

but they are so horrible!'

And we also learned that the Martians were so mechanically clever that they did not need to use their bodies very much.

One or two adventurous people went into the darkness and crawled quite near the Martians, but they never returned, because now and again a light-ray swept round the common, and the Heat-Ray was ready to follow

And all night the sound of hammering could be heard as the Martians worked on the machines they were making ready.

None had seen them, so they asked me many questions

An ordinary engineer is much better educated than a common soldier, and they discussed, with some intelligence, the odd conditions of the possible fight.

I learned that they were shooting into the wood in which the second cylinder had fallen

Then I realized that the Martians could hit the top of Maybury Hill with their Heat-Ray because they had cleared the college out of the way.

I have no doubt that this was the third of the cylinders they had fired at us from Mars.

I began to ask myself what they could be

Were they intelligent machines? I felt this was impossible

And, shining in the morning light, three of the tripods stood on the common, their tops turning as they examined the damage they had done.

We shouted and they stopped while we hurried towards them

'What do they look like?' asked the officer.

He thanked me and they rode away.

Their metal bodies shone in the sun as they moved forwards to the guns

It ended with the words, 'Although they seem frightening, the Martians have not moved from the pit into which they have fallen, and don't seem able to do so.'

That night he made up his mind to visit me, in order to see the Things before they were killed

Some did, but they needed time to realize what all the reports in the Sunday papers actually meant

Besides this, Londoners are very used to feeling safe, and exciting news is so normal in the papers that they could read reports like this without great fear:

No one in London knew what the Martians looked like, and there was still a fixed idea that they must be slow: 'crawling', 'moving painfully' - words like these were in all the earlier reports

'There's fighting going on around Weybridge,' was all the information they had.

'They come from Weybridge and Walton, and they said guns have been heard at Chertsey, heavy firing, and that soldiers told them to move out at once because the Martians are corning

What does it all mean? The Martians can't get out of their pit, can they?'

He learned that they were not just a few small crawling creatures, but that they could control enormous mechanical bodies

Certainly people were excited by the news, whatever they had felt before

The faces of the people showed that they were very tired

At that time there was a strong feeling on the streets that the government should be blamed because they had not destroyed the Martians already.

Hidden by a wood, it seems they were not noticed by the Martian nearest to them

After this it seemed that the three Martians spoke together, and those who were watching them report that they stayed absolutely quiet for the next half-hour

A dozen signal lights went on as soon as they began to move, warning the waiting guns around Esher

These broke when they hit the ground - they did not explode - and let out an enormous amount of thick Black Smoke

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

Wherever there was a possibility of guns being hidden, they fired a cylinder of Black Smoke at them, and where the guns could be seen they used the Heat-Ray.

They only used the Heat-Ray from time to time that night, either because they had a limited supply of material for its production or because they did not want to destroy the country, but only to defeat its people

You can see the quiet expectation, the officers watching, the gunners waiting with their horses, the groups of local people standing as near as they were allowed, the ambulances and hospital tents with the burnt and wounded from Weybridge

You can imagine, too, how they watched as the blackness rose into the sky

It told the people of London that they had to run away.

The police who had been sent to direct the traffic, exhausted and angry, were fighting with the people they had been called out to protect.

He heard their screams and, hurrying round the corner, saw a couple of men trying to pull them out of the little cart which they had been driving, while a third held onto the frightened horse's head

It seemed that she had had a gun all the time, but it had been under her seat when they were attacked

The younger woman suggested that they should move on and catch a train at St Albans

He suggested that they should drive across Essex to the sea at Harwich, and from there get right out of the country.

So, intending to cross the Great North Road, they went on towards Barnet

As they got closer they saw- more and more people, all tired and dirty

When they came out of it Mrs Elphinstone said

There were people of every class and profession, but they were all dusty; their skins were dry, their lips black and cracked, and all of them looked very afraid.

They went back a hundred metres in the direction they had come

As they passed the bend in the road, my brother saw a man lying not far away

In another moment they were caught and swept forwards with the stream of vehicles

Then they began to look for a chance of getting to the right side of the road

But as soon as they were in the stream of vehicles, there was little they could do

They were taken through Barnet and were more than a kilometer beyond the centre of the town before they could fight their way across to the other side of the road.

There they stopped for the rest of the afternoon, because they were all exhausted.

If the Martians had only wanted destruction, they could have killed the whole population of London on Monday, as it moved out slowly through the neighboring countryside

They destroyed any weapons they found and wrecked the railways here and there

That day the refugees began to realize how much they needed food

As they grew hungry, they began to steal

A number of people now, like my brother, were moving to the east, and some were even so desperate that they turned back towards London to get food

But this did not change their plans, and they continued travelling east

Although the three of them were hungry themselves, they decided to walk on.

After several more hours on the road, they suddenly saw the sea and the most amazing crowd of ships of all types that it is possible to imagine.

After the sailors could no longer come up the Thames, they went to the towns on the Essex coast to take people onto their ships

It seemed to him that they were surprised by this new enemy

If the ship had fired one shell, they would have sent it straight to the bottom with the Heat-Ray.

They saw the three thin figures separating and rising out of the water as they moved back towards the shore, and one of them raised the box that fired his Heat-Ray

Everyone was shouting and they could hear shouts and cheers from the other ships and the boats

All this time the steamboat was moving steadily out to sea and away from the fight, and when at last the steam cleared, the black cloud got in the way and they could see nothing of either the Thunder Child or the third Martian

In three steps it was among them, and they ran away in all directions

You can't possibly move without making a noise, and I think they are outside.'

People who have never seen these things can hardly understand how alive they looked.

This face had no nose - I do not think they had any sense of smell - but it had a pair of very large, dark eyes, and just beneath these a kind of v-shaped mouth

As I watched the Martians, they seemed to be trying to raise themselves on the hands, but with their increased weight on Earth this was impossible

It may be that on Mars they moved around on them quite easily.

Besides this they had a heart, but they had no stomach because they did not eat

Instead, they took fresh blood from living creatures and used a tube to put it straight into their own bodies

They did not sleep, and because they had very simple bodies they never seemed to get tired

On Earth they could not move without effort, but even at the end of their time here they remained active

In twenty-four hours they did twenty-four hours of work.

Germs, which cause so much disease and pain on Earth, have either never appeared on Mars or they got rid of them a long time ago.

I know a little of psychology and I am absolutely certain that they exchanged thoughts.

Or if they stayed permanently, they might not think it necessary to watch it all the time.

I did not think that they could be defeated by human beings

I saw a couple of hungry-looking dogs, but they hurried away from me

Perhaps even now they were destroying Berlin or Paris, or maybe they were moving north.

Certainly, unless they had been killed, she and my cousins would have run away.

'But they didn't kill everyone

And after they went away, I went towards Walton across the fields

'I guess they've got a bigger camp there

I believe they've built a flying-machine and are learning to fly'

'If they manage to do that, we haven't got a chance,' I said

And they've taken over the capital of the most powerful country in the world

These green stars - I've seen none for five or six days, but I've no doubt they're falling somewhere every night

'After the tenth shot they fired no more - at least until the first cylinder came.'

'But even if there is, they'll get it right again.'

'And what will they do with us?' I said.

'It seems to me that at the moment they catch us when they want food

But they won't keep doing that

As soon as they've destroyed all our guns and ships and railways, they'll begin to catch us one by one, picking the best and keeping us in cages and things

All these - the sort of people that lived in these houses, all those little office workers that used to live down that way - they'd be no good

They just used to rush off to work - I've seen hundreds of them, with a bit of breakfast in their hand, running to catch their train, frightened they'd be sacked if they didn't

After a week or two running around the fields on empty stomachs they'll come and be caught quite happily.' He paused

'The Martians will probably make pets of some of them; train them to do tricks - who knows? And some, maybe, they will train to hunt us.'

The ones the Martians capture will be like farm animals; in a few years they'll be big, beautiful, stupid - rubbish

And then there are the railways, where they go underground

But there are no germs on Mars, and as soon as the Martians arrived, as soon as they drank and fed, our tiny friends began to destroy them

It is our home and would be ours even if the Martians were ten times as strong as they are.

Across the pit, on its further edge, lay the great flying-machine which they had been testing in our heavier atmosphere when disease and death stopped them

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 was a lonely man, and they were very kind to me

I was a sad one too, and they were patient with me

Already they were busy with returning people; in places there were even shops open

Every time the planet Mars comes near to us, I worry that they might try again

In that case, the cylinder could be destroyed before it was cool enough for the Martians to come out, or they could be killed by guns as soon as the door opened

It seems to me that they have lost a great advantage in the failure of their first surprise

Possibly they also believe this.

I go out into the Byfleet Road, and vehicles pass me, a boy on a bicycle, children going to school - and suddenly they become strange and unreal, and I hurry on again with the soldier through the hot, dangerous silence

I go to London and see the busy crowds in Fleet Street and the Strand, and it comes to my mind that they are just the ghosts of the past, walking the streets that I have seen silent and empty, spirits in a dead city

I am sure that our maid had warned them that I was arriving, and they all went away

They write to her and tell her to send them a hundred pounds, or they will tell her new husband everything

When her husband tells her that someone is living in the cottage, she knows that they are her blackmailers

She decides to go again, and this time she brings a photograph, which they probably asked her for

Instead of giving me liver pills, they gave me blows on the head

On Saturdays, they wake him up at two o'clock, and put him outside the door.)

We didn't take wine or beer, because they both make you sleep.

As soon as George and Harris started packing, they broke a cup

Then they put heavy things on top of them

In the maze, they met some people who had been there for forty-five minutes

They wanted to get out because they were lost

They were pulling a rope behind them, and they were talking

They had probably had a boat at the end of the rope when they started

But they had lost it.

When they looked back, they saw that they were towing a boat that was not theirs

When they are finally ready to pull, they start running

They pull the boat too fast, and they are soon tired

While they rest, your boat goes out into the middle of the river

'Oh, look,' they say, 'the boat's gone to the middle of the river!'

Once people try my scrambled eggs, they always want them.'

We thought they were some sort of Red Indian food, and, to cook them correctly, it was necessary to do special dances with magic words.

As they did this, they cursed us

However, they never catch any fish

If you go swimming, they come to look at you and disturb you

As she walks out of the office, they sing: Count, count, count your blessings.

And they start singing again along the path as she opens the front gate and walks to the door.

And they both burst out laughing

Are they new?'

But they are very pretty

Were they expensive?'

And I believed her because I know what they pay her is just not enough to live on

'No, it's just that women allow them to behave the way they do instead of taking some freedom themselves.'

And yet they are sad

Mercy complained that she was hungry and so they went to the kitchen to heat up some food and eat

'Perhaps, I mean, perhaps that really doesn't matter, does it? But they say he has so many wives and girlfriends.'

What use is a sister, if you can't have a talk with her? And what would their parents say if they were alive? They were good church-goers

After they had gone a mile or so from the house, the man started a conversation.

'But they won't be too surprised.'

He drove to the Seaway, to a part of the beach they knew very well

and they would drive to exactly where the sea and the sand meet.

As they play with each other's bodies on the back seat of the car, the old Sea shuts his eyes, bored

He hates tears, because, like many men, he knows they are one of the strongest weapons that women have.

And as they laugh, they know that something has happened

'Since every other girl she knows has ruined herself and made money out of it, why shouldn't she? Her friends don't earn any more than she does, but every day they wear new dresses, shoes, and so on, to work

Are those shoes the old pair which were new a couple of months ago? Or are they the newest pair? And here she is herself, the pretty one

Still they watch her, horrified, and wondering what it's all about

Because they both know it is about something.

'Of course,' say James and Connie, and for some reason they are both afraid of what is coming.

They learn to love them (if they don't learn to hate them!) after they're married

When they return - with Sir Percival's friend Count Fosco and his wife (Laura's aunt Eleanor) - will go to live with them in Hampshire

They needed someone to draw the plants and animals they found there

Anyway, the important thing is that they know the secret

And even though they are opposed, and even though I will be victorious, I want Miss Halcombe to know how much I admire her diary and that nothing in it contributed to my victory and her failure.

As soon as Miss Halcombe and my wife are well enough, they'll go to stay with their uncle in Cumberland

When the Count and Countess arrived from the countryside, they brought a guest with them: the Countess's niece, Lady Glyde

When they saw me, one lifted up her veil

I took one, using a false name, and Marian and Laura lived in the other under the same name; I said they were my sisters

'Surely they should be kept more safely?'

Somehow they had caught fire, and Sir Percival could not get to the door.

'If the police find out, they'll put you in prison for years!'

He knew that none of the village women spoke to me because 6 they thought I had lost my virtue

How I hated him! He forced me to stay here in this village, where they all talked about me but no one spoke to me! Finally, now, after all these years, I have earned their respect

'Yesterday, I looked out of the window in our old house, and I saw the Count standing outside with the doctor from the asylum! Then they went away

Now that she was better, my heart began to beat fast again when she was near me, our hands began to shake when they met.

It may be the most important topic, because women can only be equal to men if they have an equal education.

Her books have been very important for women's rights, and they are still important today.

Her family were not rich, but they educated her

In 2011, a group of people wanted to get money for a statue of Mary in London, so they put a picture of her on the Houses of Parliament

Let's have a statue of this famous woman!" they said.

This is because of things like war, or because girls have to get married when they are very young

Educated women have better health and they work more, says the World Bank

They also do not have as many children, and they marry later

Human rights mean that people are not put into prison because they do not agree with the government, and that people are not hurt when they are in prison

This meant that, when a black person caught the bus, they had to get on at the front of the bus to pay

Then they had to get off and get on the bus again at the back door.

Her father had a small business, and they lived in a large house

They learned things they needed for family life, like how to cook.

When she was older, they paid for her to go to a women's school in Paris.

He wrote some laws in 1870 and 1882 that allowed women to keep their money or houses after they married

When they were put in prison, they did not eat

But Emmeline and the other women knew that they had to do something

Sometimes, the suffragettes almost died from not eating, but still they continued to Fight

On 2nd July 1928, women were given equal voting rights with men they could vote at the age of twenty-one

In most countries, they can now vote

They are fighting for women to get an education and for women to have equal rights when they get married

It showed that some American women were not happy if they only worked at home

They did cooking and cleaning, and they looked after children.

But people thought that this work was not important, and women had to leave their jobs when they married.

Although almost none of them carried a gun, they did "men's" jobs and got the same pay

This meant that women had to go out to work because they needed to feed their children.

There were still jobs for women, but they were usually in shops or for secretaries

This was a change from women in the past, who only worked a little because they got married and had children

In the West, doctors could help women to choose how many children they had

Women are now working in large numbers, and they are also becoming leaders in business and politics.

In many parts of the world, women cannot work outside of the house, or cannot work where they want to