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I blustered. The stone-faced kid had a way of getting to me. It was the second time in the last 18 hours he had unexpectedly materialized out of the fog. |
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"I have been searching in the woods," he said evenly. |
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"Searching? Alone? In this weather? In those woods? Are you out of your mind?" |
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Kelto stared back at me with a look of intolerance. "It is altogether possible, Mr. Wages, that I understand what is happening much more clearly than you do." |
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In less time than it takes to describe it, I was down to the last few inches of the old fuse, and it was burning fast. "Damn it, Kelto, if you know something that can shed some light on this situation, you'd better come out with it before someone else gets killed. While you were out there poking around in the woods, Madden held a village council session and decided to make a sweep through that area." |
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"I told you to let me handle it." |
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"Handle it hell," I shouted. "We've got some kind of maniacal, half-crazed, depraved monster out there that butchers animals and carves parts out of peopleand you make it sound like we're trying to get rid of some kind of garden pest. Just because you've got some sort of personal vendetta against this thing, you can't ignore your responsibility to . . . " |
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"I told you to let me handle it," he |
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