“That’s right, he’s cruel. But you knew that. And you have no control over the nature of God anyway. None of us do. So why won’t you relax?”
“That’s right, he’s cruel. But you knew that. And you have no control over the nature of God anyway. None of us do. So why won’t you relax?”
David made no reply. His head was bowed, but not in prayer this time. Johnny thought it was resignation. In some way, the boy knew what was coming, and that was the worst part. The cruelest part, if you liked. It’s not going to be that easy for him, he had told Steve in the powder magazine, but back there he hadn’t really understood how hard hard could be. First his sis, then his mother; now—
“Right,” he said in a voice that sounded as dry as the ground they were standing on. “First David, then Ralph, then you, Steve. I’ll be behind you. Tonight—sorry, this morning—it’s a case of ladies last.”
“If we have to go in, I want to go in with Steve,” Cynthia said.
“Okay, fine,” Johnny said at once—it was as if he had been expecting this. “You and I can switch places.”
“Who put you in charge, anyway?” Mary asked.
Johnny turned on her like a snake, startling her into a precarious step backward. “Do you want to have a go?” he asked with a kind of dangerous good cheer. “Because if you do, lass, I’d be happy to turn it over to you. I asked for this no more than David did. So what do you think? Want to put-um on Big Chief’s headdress?”
