'They won't find you here,' Dieter said to him. 'At least not for
'Maybe never,' Vera said happily. Then the smile went out of her eyes as she watched John approach. She went to the young man and offered her hand to him.
'Whenever you need me,' she said simply.
John took her hand and leaned forward to kiss her cheek. 'Thank you,' he said.
He offered his hand to Tricker and they shook. 'Later,' he said. Tricker nodded.
John picked up his duffel, gave a little wave, and walked down the gangplank.
Vera watched him go with worried eyes. 'You watch out for him,' she said to von Rossbach.
Dieter nodded, then leaned forward to kiss her good-bye. 'You watch out for
Epifanio answered the front door to find a lovely young woman waiting. She looked American in her blue jeans and T-shirt, and wore her honey-blond hair in a long braid that hung over her shoulder. The girl stroked the braid as if it were the tail of a cat, a splash of bright color against the greenery and flowers of the front gardens.
'
'I'm looking for Wendy,' she said in Spanish. Somehow it sounded like a question.
Epifanio shifted his feet uneasily. 'I am sorry, senorita, but she is not here.' Nor did he know where she went, or when, or if she would be back. He settled in to wait for her to ask him these questions, though, as she inevitably would.
'It's important that I find her.' The girl's blue eyes were serious, her expression grave.
Epifanio shrugged. He was wearing his Sunday suit, his hat was in his hand, and he wanted to close the door so that he and Marietta and Elsa could go to church and the small fiesta that was planned for after the Mass.
The girl's eyes grew a bit wider, and the slant of her eyebrows gave her a look of sorrow. 'I would hate to have to go to the police,' she said.
The overseer let out his breath in a deep sigh; any moment Marietta would come to ask why he was taking so long. 'I could only tell them what I have told you,'
he said reasonably. 'She was here. She stayed here for a week, and then she left.
I never spoke to her myself.' At least not after he turned her over to the senorita.
He shrugged. 'I am truly sorry, senorita, but I know nothing else.'
Now a hard look came into the young woman's eyes and she looked into the hall behind him in a way that Epifanio thought quite rude. 'Who's in charge here?'
she demanded.
Epifanio thought that no well-bred young woman should use such a tone to a man so much her senior as he was, regardless of rank or standing. But he'd heard that American girls were very bold and knew no better, so he tried to be patient.
'This is the
home.'
'Is Wendy with him?'
'It is possible.' Epifanio turned his head slightly; he could hear footsteps approaching, Marietta's beyond a doubt, and he suppressed a sigh. 'I really don't know.' He shrugged again.
'Who is it?' Marietta called from the end of the hall.
'It is a young American girl,' Epifanio told her. 'She's looking for the senorita.'
'Ah!' his wife said happily, and came forward. She had liked Wendy very much.
'You are a friend of Senorita Dorset?'
The girl smiled and nodded. 'Yes, ma'am. It's very important that I find her. Do you know where she is?'
Marietta was a bit taken aback that the child chose not to introduce herself; it seemed poor manners. But then, everyone knew that Americans raised their children like dogs in a pen, teaching them nothing about how to behave. Then, too, perhaps she was so worried that she was forgetting her manners. If she had any. Marietta folded her arms beneath her bosom and frowned.
'What do you want with her?' she asked. If the girl really had no manners she wouldn't notice how intrusive the question was. But she could feel her husband looking at her, aghast.
'I'm not at liberty to say,' the young woman answered primly. Then she raised
her hands. 'Look, if Senor von Rossbach isn't here, is there anybody around who would know where Wendy might be?'
It was a complicated question and husband and wife looked at each other.
'Perhaps the senora,' Epifanio suggested in Guarani. Marietta nodded and he turned to the young woman. 'Perhaps Senora Krieger can be of help to you.'
The girl's eyes sharpened. 'Who's she? The housekeeper?'
'I am the housekeeper,' Marietta said coolly. She drew herself up. 'Senora Krieger is a guest.' She spoke the word
With exaggerated patience the girl said, 'May I see
Epifanio and Marietta exchanged glances.
'Let me guess, she isn't here.' The young woman glared at them. 'Is this some kind of a game?' she snapped.
'The senora is out riding,' Marietta said stiffly. She gestured graciously toward the furniture on the
My husband and I are going to Mass and cannot entertain you.'
The girl blinked as though she didn't quite understand what Marietta meant.
Then she nodded and went to sit on one of the rocking chairs, for all the world as though the couple had disappeared. Marietta widened her eyes and looked at her husband. He shrugged in response and closed the door, locking it behind him.
Such a thing was almost never done, but he didn't trust this young
Alissa sat on the porch looking out over the parched landscape, updating her plans and wondering how long she would have to wait to kill Sarah Connor.
Yes.
Alissa frowned slightly. Even so, why had Skynet not provided more resources for this reconnaissance? True, the T-101s were needed to help retool the automated factories for their eventual conversion to Hunter-Killer and T-90
manufacture, but still…
That conversation about the quantum superimposition and the difficulty of permanently bending the world lines had been very odd. It was almost as if Skynet was
No. That was ridiculous. She must focus on the mission, not go scatterbrained like poor defective Clea. Traveling lightly made heavy weapons impossible, but she had the backup equipment, and she had herself.
Alissa wondered what the old woman had meant when she said they couldn't entertain her. She pictured
