I started off, not knowing where I was heading, hearing him behind me, too far away to make a grab at him, but close enough for him to hit me if he squeezed the trigger.
I was asking myself who this mob was. Where did they spring from? What was the job they had gone back to finish? I thought with satisfaction that the chances were they’d run into Mifflin and his boys.
That’s the guy she was telling you about.
Who was s he?
We were in the foothills now, and the going was hard. We were climbing. Every now and then Joe would grunt, ‘Take the right-hand path,’ or ‘Bear to your left,’ but he didn’t close the gap between us, and there was nothing I could do but keep walking.
By now the sun had dropped below the horizon, and the light was fading. Before very long it would be dark. That might give me an opportunity, but I knew I had to be careful. Joe looked as if he had been born with a gun in his hand, and it would have to get very dark before I took any chances with him.
‘Okay, pally,’ he said suddenly. ‘Park yourself. We’re going to have a breather. Turn around and sit down.’
I faced him.
He was about four yards away from me, and sweating like a pig. The uphill climb in this heat didn’t agree with him.
He waved me to a rock while he picked one for himself, sat down stiffly, glad of the rest.