"Hi, Jon, how's it going?" Not good. I dropped a flask this morning and messed up the whole experiment. Malcolm was very good about it, but I was mad ...t myself for letting him down. Fancy a beer to help me drown my sorrows?" Yes, but it's my round this time. You bought the last one." Okay, where do you want to go?" Is the Woodville okay?" Yes, fine by me."Sian was very good company. We had a couple of pints and a bag of pork scratchings each, and then I walked her home.She shared some top floor. Maine poocha ke shalu kahan hai to wo boli ke tujhe uski badi yaad aati hai. Main thoda jhep gaya to wo mere paas aake baith gayi. Meri aankho main dekh ke boli tum done kya kar rahe the subah. Maine dhere se kaha kuch nai aise hi khel rahe the.Wo hanste hue boli jaise mujhe nahi pata kaun sa khel khel rahe the. Itni aawaz aa rahi thi dono ki. Room to theek se band kar lete. Main sab janti hun ye jawani ke khel. Ab main thoda sa darr gaya par phir socha ke agar aawaz aa rahi thi to unhone us. “You can’t go back to your cabin.”“Ah, rising damp is it?”“Very, more like dripping wet from the ceiling.”“I can dry it off.”“Really? Just like you could, you know, transport me, and all that bloody cold water, to your room?”“Something like that. It’s unpredictable, magic. I could dry it but as soon as I dropped off to sleep it might all get wet again, or by gathering up all the moisture and sending it somewhere else, like overboard, I might get away with it. Magic is tricky stuff and you have. Not all that well. But I’ve been working. I’m going to work all winter on my defense. You’re gonna be surprised, next season.”“If you finally sign, it looks like maybe I’ve got a job here next year, too.”“They really like you, Marty! And I heard Zeke tell Paul Warren that he thought you were a natural.”“No shit? Zeke the Streak said that?”“I shit you not! ... But Zeke also said, ‘just keep that big lummox out of my outfield!”“Really? That doesn’t sound like something Zeke would say.”“Naw..