In the solving of his immediate problems, James can be forgiven for putting Paul Brennan out of his mind.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
But Paul Brennan was still alive, and he had not forgotten.
While James was, with astonishing success, building a life for himself in hiding, Brennan did everything he could to find him. That is to say, he did everything that—under the circumstances—he could afford to do.
The thing was, the boy had got clean away, without a trace.
When James escaped for the third, and very successful, time, Brennan was helpless. James had planned well. He had learned from his first two efforts. The first escape was a blind run toward a predictable objective; all right, that was a danger to be avoided. His second was entirely successful—until James created his own area of danger. Another lesson learned.
The third was planned with as much care as Napoleon's deliverance from the island.
James had started by choosing his time. He'd waited until Easter Week. He'd had a solid ten days during which he would be only one of countless thousands of children on the streets; there would be no slight suspicion because he was out when others were in.