"Wind-burned nothing," said Geo. "This hurts."
Twenty minutes later, Iimmi said, "Well, this should be about it."
"Hey," said Urson. "There's Snake." As they ran forward, now, the boy jumped off the rail, grabbed their shoulders, and grinned. Then he began to tug them forward.
"You lucky little so and so," said Urson. "I wish you'd been with us."
"He probably was, in spirit, if not in body," Geo laughed.
Snake nodded.
"What are you pulling for?" Urson asked. "Say, if you're going to get headaches like that, you'd better teach us what to do with them beads there." He pointed to the jewel at Iimmi's and Geo's necks.
Snake nodded and tugged forward again.
"He wants us to hurry," Geo said. "We better get going."
The road finally tore completely away, and four feet below them, over the twisted rail, was the mouth of a street that led into the waterfront. Snake, Iimmi and then Urson vaulted over. Urson shook his hands painfully when he landed.