Karen looked up at him. ‘Do you want to stay behind?’ she asked. ‘If all the rest of us go to the west coast, do you want to try to make it to Washington on your own?’

Peter looked back at her, and then shrugged. ‘It depends,’ he said sulkily.

Ed said, ‘Dyson – how many wagons do we have? And how many cars?’

‘We’ve got the Chevy wagon you brought back from Fall River. Then there’s the Big Dooley that Carson’s left here when they were shifting tree stumps. And four – maybe five family pick-ups and sedans. One El Camino for sure, and a Mercury Marquis.’

‘Okay,’ said Ed, ‘this is what we’re going to do. We’re going to load the pick-ups and the trunks of the family cars with as much food as we can. We mustn’t forget water and fruit juices, too. Then we’re going to get everybody into their cars and ready to go, and pull out of here in a convoy, shooting all the time. With any luck, we should be able to clear the farm without any casualties.’

‘With any luck,’ echoed Peter Kaiser, sarcastically, pulling a morbid face.

Shearson said, ‘Listen, Mr Hardesty, I may be technically the prisoner of your fancy-woman here, formerly my fancy-woman, but that doesn’t mean I have to take instructions from you. It’s essential that Mr Kaiser and I return to Washington; and if you’re not prepared to come with us, then I’m afraid we shall simply have to go without you.’

‘You wouldn’t get ten miles,’ said Ed. ‘Don’t you watch the television? Haven’t you seen what it’s like out there?’

‘Your concern for my well-being is touching,’ replied Shearson. ‘However, I’ve been looking after myself for a considerable number of years, often through situations that have been a good deal stickier than this one, and I think I can manage without you, thanks.’

Della said, ‘Really, Ed, we ought to try to make it to Washington. I know your wife and daughter are in Los Angeles, but I have to take Senator Jones in to the Bureau. There won’t be any hope of arraigning him if I drag him out to California. He’s probably thought up twenty ways of killing our indictments anyway – unusual and stressful arrest, that kind of thing. We really ought to try.’