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The boy could manage little more than a shiver. He looked back with pleading eyes at his interrogator. Again, words failed him. |
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"Which way did they go?" Ferris asked quietly. |
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"That's west," Jake declared, looking back at me. |
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"Benny," Doc began again, his voice measured and calm, "we can't help if we don't know what happened. Now, I want you to take a deep breath and try to tell me everything that happened from the time you left here. Do you understand?" |
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The youngster choked back still another sob and somehow tucked his head down deeper between his narrow shoulders. It was as if he were trying to hide from the awful thing that he had witnessed. |
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"Benny, you've got to try," Doc urged. |
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Finally the first effort broke through the wall of fear. "We . . . we saw 'em leave." The voice was still fragile and hesitant. "Luke and me, we . . . we decided to follow. They . . . they headed straight for old man Hall's marina. We . . . we watched them spread out. Luke wanted to follow . . . but I was scared. We kept losin' them . . . in the fog. I never saw fog that thick. Luke . . . Luke called me a chicken. Then all of a sudden . . . we heard growlin' sounds . . . |
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