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"My dear fellow& of course."
He turned to the patiently waiting Toby. "I shall essay the lobster with& "
"Real sorry. Lobster's off today. Never got the fresh delivery."
Groans erupted all around the table.
Doc smiled, showing his perfect set of white teeth. "Worry not, cupbearer. Then I shall
choose the roast beef, well-done and sliced wafer thin, cosseted by the chef for my dining
pleasure, having been fed on lush meadow grass."
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Axler, James - Deathlands 33 - Eclipse at Noon
The main courses all came with a selection of vegetables. Boiled potatoes, a little
undercooked and served without any salt or butter. Carrots and broccoli with sliced
beans, and a large side salad that was heavy on wilted lettuce.
But it was still a great meal by Deathlands standards, and they all cleaned their plates.
Mildred, Krysty and J.B. passed on the creaking dessert trolley that Toby wheeled
proudly up to show them.
Jak, Ryan and Doc didn't.
"Those chocolate balls with cream," Jak said, watching the serving of the profiteroles
with great attention. "More than that. Better."
Ryan pointed at some round dishes with a kind of crust on top. "What's that?"
"Lemon brulie. A sorbet of lemons covered in brown sugar that's baked quickly under a
very hot grill."
"I'll have that."
Doc nodded. "I believe that I shall join you in that selection. I remember sampling a
similar delicious in Del Greco's on Fifth Avenue at an anniversary meal with my dear
Emily. I trust this lives up to my memory."
Ryan wasn't a great gourmet, partly because there were precious few opportunities in
Deathlands to sample quality food. But he actually sighed out loud at the first mouthful.
His spoon broke through the baked crust of molten sugar, into the ice-cold lemon sorbet
beneath. It was a truly exquisite combination of hot and cold, of sweet and bitter.
"Fireblast! But that's good."
Doc leaned back, eyes closed, savoring the taste sensation. "By the Three Kennedys! It is
perfection. Every bit as delicious as my memory of the dish."
In the end they had to order another round so that everyone could sample it.
After they'd settled the check, using up all of Jak and the Armorer's bonus and then some,
they staggered out, well stuffed, onto the quay, blinking in the bright afternoon sunshine.
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Axler, James - Deathlands 33 - Eclipse at Noon
"That was a meal and a half," Ryan said. "Reckon I've put back every ounce I lost during
my time with Paddy."
Jak leaned on an old iron fence that protected the edge of the dock, his red eyes scanning
the port. He turned his head, the gentle breeze tugging at his mane of snowy hair, and
froze suddenly, staring across the river.
Ryan caught the movement. "What?" he asked.
"Flash of reflected light. Sun off glass. Round tower at top big house. Don't all look!
Watching us."
Ryan glanced sideways, seeing the jagged spear of silver from the room. It flickered and
vanished, showing that the glass had moved.
"We saw someone watching from there earlier. Just before you arrived, lover. Remember,
Doc?"
"Indeed, yes. We thought we could make out a figure& or two& up there."
"Room's empty now," Krysty said. "Whoever it was up there's gone."
Ryan sniffed. "Wonder who in Twin Forks is interested in us? And why?"
J.B. turned away. "Most likely it's just some lonely old lady with nothing better to do.
Forget it. I could use a kind of lie-in for an hour, to get over that meal. Anyone else
coming back to the rooming house for a spell?"
Ryan nodded. "Why not." He watched as one of the stern-wheelers approached them
from the north, its steam whistle blowing, calliope tooting out a merry polka. "Wouldn't
mind a trip on one of those beauties," he said.
WITH SURPRISING AGILITY for such an enormously fat man, Gert Wolfram
descended the spiral staircase from the tower room, the Magus picking his way delicately
after him.
"I have lost count of the number of times that our paths have crossed," Wolfram said.
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Axler, James - Deathlands 33 - Eclipse at Noon
The Magus laughed, a thin, humorless, metallic sound that echoed up the staircase. "And
now this will be the last."
Chapter Ten
"Jack's almost gone," J.B. said, sitting on the end of the bed shared by Ryan and Krysty.
"Guess we have to work out what we're going to do next." Ryan rubbed sleep from his
eye. "Slept so rad-blasted well last night. Best night for an age."
"We staying or moving?" Krysty asked, the sheet pulled up to her shoulders, covering her
nakedness.
"Only been in the ville a day," Ryan yawned. "Like to look around for a day or so."
"Take a trip on one of the stern-wheelers, like you said? I heard the biggest and wildest of
them, the Golden Eagle, is due in tomorrow. Day to turn around. She goes back up the
Sippi the next dawning." Krysty ran her fingers through her hair, producing electrical
sparks. "Goes up as far as Crosstown, Wisconsin. Way north."
"Near the Lakes?" Ryan scratched his chin, feeling the heavy stubble. "Got to shave," he
muttered.
"How about the boat?"
He looked at Krysty. "Yeah. Why not? But we'll need plenty of jack for that."
Jak knocked on the door and stuck his head into the room. "Don't forget Dolores wants us
in noon. Meeting merchants in ville. What call it? Convention. That's name. From all
over. Coming to saloon lunch and girls. Reckons they could get out hand."
Ryan sucked at his teeth thoughtfully. "Gang of merchants in town. Trouble in saloon.
Bound to be jack-heavy, fat bastards like that."
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