@@@@@Miss Eastlake wants to see some, tooYou can 504
@@@@@Miss Eastlake wants to see some,
tooYou can use the car to
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haul em down to El Palacio - you seem to be doing
admirably
The turn-off to Duma Key was ahead
"I'll tell you what I think sometimes," he said
"I think that this run of fabulous luck I've been
having has got to turn and run the other way
There's absolutely no statistical reason to think
such a thing, but it's something to hold ontoYou
know?"
"I do," I said"And Wireman?"
"Still here, muchacho
"You love the Key, but you also think something's
wrong with the KeyWhat is it about this place?"
"I don't know what it is, but it's got something
Don't you think so?"
"Of course I doThe day Ilse and I
tried to drive down the road, we both got sick
"And she's not the only one, according to the
stories I've heard
"There are stories?"
"Oh yeahThe beach is okay, but inland"I'm thinking it might be some
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kind of pollution in the water-tableThe same
something that makes the flora grow like a mad
bastard in a climate where you need irrigation
just to keep the frigging lawns from dyingBut it's best to stay clearI think
that might be especially true for young ladies
who'd like to have children somedayThe kind
without birth defects
Now there was a nasty idea that hadn't occurred to
meI didn't say anything the rest of the way back
ix
This is about memory, and few of mine from that
winter are as clear as the one of arriving back at
El Palacio that February nightThe wings of the
iron gate were openSitting between them in her
wheelchair, just as she had been on the day Ilse
and I had set out on our abortive exploration
southward, was Elizabeth East
