the North Koreans were supposed to be alive, but it was easier if they
were dead."

"No wonder he's crazy. Hey, Claude."

"What's happening, Patrick?"

"I got paid."

"Don't tell him that," Sam said.

"Mon ami . . . "

"Hi, Claude." A young woman stepped next to Claude and took his arm.

"Who's your friend?" she asked, looking at Patrick.

"This is Patrick."

He remembered her gray eyes; she was the one who had smiled at him on
his first night in town. Up close, he noticed tiny freckles and a gap
between her front teeth.

"I'm Sue," she said.

"Hi."

"Claude is a famous ski jumper, did you know?" She was grinning widely.

"You ski, Patrick?" Claude asked.

"A little."

"I'm from the U.P., did 300 feet at Iron Mountain."

"Yo!"

"No more. Now I go one time a year to the Bear Mountain meet. Little
jump."

"You won last year," Sue said.

"Year before, Cher."

"Claude, have you seen Jim?"

"Not today."

She frowned. "Bye, Claude. Bye, Patrick." Patrick watched her leave.

"So who's Jim?" he asked.

"Her boyfriend--alcoholic dude, a nice guy. She likes you." Claude
drifted along the bar; he knew everyone. Patrick was beginning to feel
at home in the Depresso. Amber had come in twice during the week, once
with Willow and once with a builder named Art. She had smiled at
Patrick, but she wasn't available--although her smile seemed to
indicate that any day she might be. I'm on her list, Patrick thought,
smiling back.

He finished the Darwin book and started _An Introduction to
Mathematics_ by Alfred North Whitehead. One evening in the Depresso,
Sue came over to his table and asked what he was reading. "Listen to
this," he said.

"Operations of thought are like cavalry charges in battle: they are
strictly limited in number; they require fresh horses; they must be
made only at decisive moments."

Sue wrinkled her nose. "Too much." She sat down.

"I mean, this book is a classic. What is math, anyway? Right here,"
Patrick said, patting the cover. "Lays it out. You can learn anything
you want from books."

"Why aren't you in school somewhere?"

"I was; I quit. It was just a place where they put you in a box--a
lawyer box, a doctor box. I didn't want to be in a box. Besides, it was
expensive." Sue giggled.

"So, where are you from, Sue?"

"Michigan, same as Claude--except he's from the U.P."

"What are you doing in Woodstock?"

"Art Students League. I model and take classes."

"Shou