The leaders of the march glanced at each other unbelievingly, but continued to move forward, passing in a thin line first the firemen, then the stupefied troopers who stood behind them, and still moving on, unmolested, toward the steps of City Hall.
From his place on the curb, Ben could see that some of the firemen were crying. Many had dropped their hoses and were now simply standing in place while the small gap in the gray wall of troopers grew wider and wider as the demonstrators poured through it. Suddenly Ben felt like a little boy on the trolley once again, peering toward the rear. But now there were hundreds of faces staring back at him, solemn and insistent.
The marchers had begun to sing quietly, and as he listened to their voices, a kind of music filled him as well, and his eyes grew moist and his hands trembled. He thought of Doreen in her innocence, Kelly in his love and Breedlove in his courage, and as he thought these things, he could feel the deepest quarters of his heart urge him forward, slowly at first, then more insistently, until finally he stepped off the curb, moved to the edge of the line of march, then, after a single moment of delay, joined the onrushing wave of humanity.
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
copyright © 1989 by Thomas H. Cook
cover design by Jason Gabbert
This edition published in 2011 by MysteriousPress.com/Open Road Integrated Media
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Table of Contents
Cover Page
Title Page
Dedication
ONE
TWO
THREE
FOUR
FIVE
SIX
SEVEN
EIGHT
NINE
TEN
ELEVEN
TWELVE
THIRTEEN
FOURTEEN
FIFTEEN
SIXTEEN
SEVENTEEN
EIGHTEEN
TWENTY
TWENTY-ONE
TWENTY-TWO
TWENTY-THREE
TWENTY-FOUR
TWENTY-FIVE
TWENTY-SIX
TWENTY-SEVEN
TWENTY-EIGHT
TWENTY-NINE
THIRTY
THIRTY-ONE
THIRTY-TWO
THIRTY-THREE
THIRTY-FOUR
THIRTY-FIVE
THIRTY-SIX
THIRTY-SEVEN
THIRTY-EIGHT
THIRTY-NINE
FORTY
FORTY-ONE
FORTY-TWO
FORTY-THREE
FORTY-FOUR
FORTY-FIVE
FORTY-SIX
Copyright Page