Exit Kingdom

skirt.
    Moses watches her as she creeps up behind the car on the driver’s side until she’s at the window, which is rolled down. She reaches in and touches the side of the sleeping
man’s face, caressing his cheek lightly with her fingers. In her other hand, Moses can see she has the beltand the wad of fabric.
    The man wakes suddenly to see the redhead’s smiling face hovering before him.
    It’s you, he says.
    It’s me, she says and kisses him.
    He must wonder if he is still asleep, or if he has fallen into death and heaven by the back route of somnolence. He is old, his hair thin, grey and wispy. This man is no fighter. He closes his
eyes again and relents to her kiss,which is deep and long and, Moses notices with disdain, undeniably professional. It is longer than it needs to be. The man is subdued – he is acquiescent,
and still she continues to kiss him, one hand gripping the back of his head as though it is still possible to draw him closer, as though she would consume him, as though her appetites are the same
as those of the dead.
    Moses sees theother hand reach up with the wad of fabric.
    She stops kissing him suddenly.
    I always liked you, she says to him. You were always nice to me.
    He smiles a little.
    Then she takes the fabric and jams it into his mouth.
    An expression of tragic betrayal comes into his eyes – and so surprised is he that he doesn’t even struggle against her for a moment – not until after she has alreadygot
Moses’ looped belt around his neck like a leash.
    Then she opens the car door and pulls him out by the end of the belt. He reaches for the fabric in his mouth so that he can cry out, but Moses is there, taking his hands and holding them
still.
    In such a manner, they drag the man through the snow and into the trees by the side of the road and tie him to one of the trunks using thebelt and strips of torn fabric. He does not struggle
much, for he is set upon by the woman he once knew, who kissed him even, and a man he does not know but who is a Paul Bunyan of a man who looks like he would brook no resistance. Besides, the
Vestal Amata keeps reassuring him they aren’t going to kill him.
    See, she says and points. The road’s right there. They’ll see you from it. Theywon’t leave without you.
    He’s the doctor Fletcher keeps with him, the Vestal says to Moses as they make their way back to the car. Peabody’s his name. He cured me of the clap once. He’s an okay
guy.
    Hush up, Moses says. Let’s just get ourselves out of here.
    Moses climbs into the driver’s seat, and the Vestal gets in the other side.
    You ready? Moses says.
    I’m ready.
    Mosesglances once more into the woods at the man called Peabody who at some time in the past cured the Vestal of her gonorrhoea and is now tied to a tree with mild staring eyes. Then he starts
the engine, puts the car in gear and accelerates as quickly as he can without letting the tyres spin on the ice.
    At first the others don’t seem to notice – then, as they pass the first few vehicles of thecaravan, some of Fletcher’s men begin calling out. By the time they reach the front
of the caravan, guns are unsheathed and aim is being taken – and Moses can see Fletcher himself in the rearview mirror – standing there atop the truck, throwing in fury the half-empty
bottle of wine so that it spins end over end through the air and spills its contents onto the snow, staining the earth with aburgundy that looks like day-old blood.
    Some potshots are fired, one of them thunking into the plastic of the bumper – but they are too far gone for an effective hit.
    Now what? says the Vestal.
    Now we outrun em, Moses says. They’re slow, but we’ve got a tail we got to stay ahead of. Besides, Abe’s waitin on me. Let’s get this business finished for once and
all.
    *
    They drive five hours straight, though the roads are icy and slow going. They pass places with names such as Mountain Village, Sawpit and Loghill. The road begins to decline,
and they find themselves coasting down out of the mountains where the snow diminishes and finally disappears altogether. In a city called Montrose, they veer off onto a highway going east. It is
good driving for a while,and Moses sees no sign of the caravan behind them.
    Maybe they gave up, says the Vestal. I can’t be worth all this.
    Maybe they gave up, but I do doubt it. The more I take you away, the more of a holy grail you get to be to Fletcher. There’s not much can come