16

 

 

        "Read it to me again," Puck said, his sweating face shimmering in the fire light, though the glow in his eyes was from pride.

        "I already read it to you twice," I said shoving the paper towards him. “If you love the news report so much, read it for yourself.”

        “"You know I can't read good, just read it once more, I won't ask again."

        I unfolded the paper again and tilted it towards the fire place.

        It detailed the account of Puck’s leap off the falls and the report of an eyewitness claiming Puck could not have survived, even though no body had been recovered. The paper also printed some Puck’s notorious criminal career.

        “That's Wilson telling them all that about me,” Puck said with a weak laugh. "He would put a bullet in my head if he could shoot straight because I know as much about him as he does about me.”

        "Maybe you should get out of town for a while after you've recovered," I suggested.

        “And give people the satisfaction of knowing they’ve run me off, no way,” Puck said. "I've got some scores to settle, not just with Red Ball, but with a lot of other people who are supposed to be my friends."

        "Just get some sleep," I said. "You need to heal before you go off on your rounds of revenge."

        “Yeah,” Puck said with a sleepy grin. “Revenge.”