He was worried about something you'd seen in the stones and ' 'I have seen many things in the stones,' said Cadillac darkly.

Steve ignored the interruption. 'He asked me to find out if you were okay, and to tell you that time was running out. When he learned you had decided to stay here - apparently of your own free will - it really knocked him sideways."

Cadillac responded with a non-committal shrug. He poured the rest of the sake down his throat and refilled the bowl.

Steve, who was still only halfway through his first helping, couldn't understand how the Mute was still on his feet. 'Hey - don't you think you ought to go a little easy on that stuff?."

."Don't worry, I can handle it. Practice makes perfect, isn't that what they say? Besides, it's good for you."

Cadillac's voice had thickened noticeably, but his drinking arm and his legs were still steady. He raised his bowl. 'Drink up. There's plenty more where this came from. Just one of the many fringe benefits."

'What are the others?"

Cadillac swept his free arm round the room as his lips reached out for the rim of the bowl. 'How many Mutes get to live in a place like this?"

'Not many, that's for sure."

'I've got another room to sleep in, one for eating and entertaining, a kitchen, bathroom, you name it. Plus a couple of guys who cut kindling wood and look after the garden, a cook and what they call a scullery-maid, and four body-slaves who keep house, clean my clothes, serve my meals, make my bed, and lie in it."

'Sounds too good to last..."

'On top of which I'm finally doing something I really enjoy. Something useful, demanding - that really stretches me. Y'know what I mean? And for the first time in my life I'm somebody. Anywhere else in this country, Mutes and Trackers are treated like dirt. But the Heron Pool's different.The people here respect me."

'Glad to hear it,' said Steve.

Cadillac sank some more sake. 'Anyway, my work here's nowhere near finished yet. But even if it was, why in the name of Columbus should I give all this up in order to play wet-nurse to a bunch of snot-brained louts who smell like they just took a bath in buffalo s.h.i.t?"

'Yeah, well, it takes all kinds. When we first met I'd have said pretty much the same about you."

'Except I turned out to be smarter than the average Bear."

'A whole lot smarter,' admitted Steve. This guy's ego was insatiable.

Never mind. If praise was what he wanted, that's what he'd get. By the bucketful. 'Is that how you think of Mr Snow?"

'No. Of course not."

'So what's going to become of the clan when he dies?

You saw his death in the stones, remember? Right where it's due to happen."

Cadillac shrugged off the question. 'Maybe I did, maybe I didn't."

'Well he seems certain enough. He told me he only had a few more months to live."

'All the more reason for not going back." Cadillac's drunken defiance crumbled a little. 'Look, reading the stones is not an exact science.

I'm just a new boy. I'm not infallible - any more than he is. Okay, yeah - I did see a lot of blood, sweat and tears in the stone. Death and destruction too. Mr Snow was in there somewhere, but so was the rest of the clan. And you put in an appearance too. But I may have mixed up two separate events - and the timing could be way out. It could be this year, or nextor ten years from now. Not that it makes any difference."

'What makes you say that?"

Cadillac drained the bowl. 'Because that part of my life's over. And soon there'll be nothing left to go back to.

They're finished." He picked up the bottle and sat down at the low table, plonking the sake down in front of him.

Steve cast his eyes over the sketches and drawings on the drafting table, then lowered himself on to the mat facing the young wordsmith.

'Who are finished - the M'Calls? The Plainfolk?"

'I don't want to talk about it."

Steve pushed his bowl forward for a refill. He didn't really want any more, but it meant there would be less for Cadillac to pour down his throat. So far, apart from the slurring voice, he was holding up well.

But Steve had the feeling that the Mute might go out like a light at any minute. And he didn't want that to happen just yet. They still had a lot more ground to cover.

Steve raised his second helping to Cadillac's fourth, took a sip, and let it slide down gently. However well Cadillac thought he was doing, Steve knew he must be feeling threatened by his sudden arrival on the scene.

And he knew the next bit would be like walking on thin ice. 'I'm sorry. I really messed things up for you."

On the contrary. Things couldn't have turned out better. If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be here."

'I wasn't talking about picking my brains. You're welcome to whatever's in there. I meant Clearwater."

Steve paused, hoping for some reaction. Cadillac's face gave nothing away. He tried again. 'I feel bad about what happened. You saved my life, offered me your friendship and... I betrayed you. It wasn't a deliberate act, but - ' He gave a helpless shrug. 'That's why I had to cut and run. There was no way I could hide my feelings for her, and...

I was too ashamed by what I'd done to face you and Mr Snow."

'It was meant to be. It was the Will of Talisman. He who seeks to be a true warrior must find the inner strength to accept these things."

'All the same, it must have hurt."

'For a while,' said Cadillac. 'But now I don't feel a thing."

Yes, it shows .... Steve watched Cadillac knock back some more sake.

'Is that why she's no longer with you?"

'No. The Iron Masters separated us soon after we arrived."

'Doesn't that bother you?"

'Why should it? I'm not in any danger, and as long as she can call on the power of Talisman neither is she."

'Do you know where she is now?"

'Yes. She was handed over to your present employer."