“So is this why you've dragged me up here?”
His father spoke up for the first time. “We need to decide what to do. I'm not in favor of killing anything that doesn't need killing. You know that, son.
“But this...” he pulled off his hat and ran a forearm across his forehead. His face was pale in the dim light. “This ain't natural.”
“You just think it isn't natural,” Laura said suddenly. “You don't know anything about him. Or me.”
“No,” Larry Smith said steadily. His eyes were very direct, and Laura suddenly saw where Calvin got his immense store of calm. “I don't. But I think right now I need to know.”
“God damn it,” she muttered. Her lips tightened as she looked around the circle of men. “Can I at least ask you to turn your backs?”
Calvin nodded immediately. The other three also agree
