“He is not my child; only someone I care for. I...I must go now.” She began to back away from the Americans as if she was afraid of being seen with them. Mallory watched for a moment and then decided there was something that needed saying to put a cap on the incident that nearly got him run over by a truck.
“Where I come from, we generally say thank you when someone gives us a hand.”
The woman dropped her head for a moment. She seemed to be struggling for the right words. When she looked up into Mallory’s eyes, he detected a spark—the same sort of look you get from a strange woman when she’s willing to give you a shot. “Of course,” she said, forgive me. Marhaba—thank you very much.”
“You bet, lady.” Mallory grinned at Doc Grouse and shrugged. “Anything us foreign devils can do, you just
