But it hadn't hurt. Miko just laughed and ran off to begin picking.Jerry and the girls took their lunch bags through the trees to the riverbank, where...Jerry always ate lunch. It was the first time the girls had been there. It was cool in the shade of the big Madrona trees. The river cut into the bank here and had eroded a slope away, giving it a beach of soft sand. They ate and talked. Jerry realized that Sari did, indeed find him attractive.After eating, they went back to the field. Everybody. I too had thought it was just my imagination."Well, it's better to play it safe. I'll come over as soon as Nina and the baby come home, and then we can work on that tracking device again. It's been on hold much too long anyway." OK, if you think so... But please don't mention this to my wives."I assured him I wouldn't, and we let the subject lie. While waiting for the women to rejoin us, we sat in silence, each deep in his own thoughts.The women eventually came downstairs and joined us. The. He looked up into Paulie's face, it's normally handsome features contorted into a mocking grin. Robbie felt the usual surge of anger, of pure undiluted hatred. He pictured Paulie's head, lying on the ground, blood spouting from his severed neck.BAM! A kick to the ribs and for a second, Robbie heard the sounds around him. He heard what everyone else in the corridor was doing. They were laughing...laughing at his pain, and Robbie once again felt the surge of anger. Laugh at him? He pictured. He had thin compressed lips and a strong jaw to go with his big straight nose. Big ears too, like old people get because everything else stops growing but the ears, the nails, and the hair.My mates padded back towards me and we all went back into our room. The old man had gone around to the front porch and our Master would deal with him. The boys were damp and their feet dirty, but so were mine and we didn't really care. We lay back down and gave each other little growls as each of us sought.