Erin Koip Orinitus rose
from her camp bed, slipped into a warm robe and fetched her baby out of his
crib. Sitting on the edge of the cot, holding Sikar II to her chest, she looked
through the open front of her shelter tent down the short graded approach to
Lucy’s estate, morning mist smoked the treetops and heavy dew damped the
terrain.
A second cot adjoined
Erin’s, standing head to head, it was empty, only holding disturbed blankets in
a heap. Around the foot of her bed a folding mattress lay on the ground, a
sleeping figure stretched across it.
Her empty hand took her
pillow and threw it at the man, hitting the back of his shoulders. “Wake up!
Your wife is out running already, Grube is with her.”
Chilperic sat up and let
the covers fall over his lap. He yawned and scratched a stubbled chin. “Don’t
do that! I feel like I just got to bed.”
“Didn’t you? You were
still drinking with those guys when Chris, Grube and I turned in. I bet you
were up half the night!”
“Sometimes it’s the only
way I can sleep.”
“You should relax with
your wife, not with alcoholics. I don’t need you two here—go home and fuck,
you’ll both feel better.”
