HeartFire Page 0,39

and die?"

"Few give up living," said Cooper. "Most give up looking for a reason. But some have to keep searching. They can't bear to live without a purpose. Something larger than themselves, something so good that just being a part of it makes everything worthwhile. You're a seeker, Miss Purity."

"How do you know all these things about me?"

"Because I'm a seeker, too. Do you think I don't know my own kind?"

She looked around at the others. "If I were this thing, a seeker, why would I want to be with other seekers? If you're still seeking, it means you haven't found anything, either."

"But we have," said Cooper.

Smith rolled his eyes. "Verily Cooper, you know I still don't have a clue what we're even looking for."

"That's not what I'm talking about," said Cooper. "You're not a seeker, Alvin. You already have your life handed to you, whether you want it or not. And Arthur here, he's not a seeker, either. He's already found what he wants."

Arthur hung his head, embarrassed. "Don't you go saying!"

"Just like Mike Fink. They've found you, Al. They're going to follow you till they die."

"Or till I do," said Smith.

"Ain't going to happen," said Fink. "I'll have to be dead first."

"You see?" said Cooper. "And Jean-Jacques here, he's no seeker. He knows the purpose of his life as well."

Audubon grinned. "Birds, women, and wine."

"Birds," said Cooper.

"But you're still seeking?" asked Smith.

"I've found you, too," said Cooper. "But I haven't found what I'm good for. I haven't figured out what my life means." He turned to Purity again. "That's why I knew. Because I've stood where you're standing. You've fooled them all, they think they know you but it just means you've kept your secret, only now you're fed up with secrets and you have to get out, you have to find the people who know why you're alive."

"Yes," she whispered.

"So come with us," said Cooper.

"Dammit, Very," said Smith, "how can we have a woman along?"

"Why not?" said Cooper. "Quite soon you're going to rejoin your wife and start traveling with her. We can't camp in the woods our whole lives. And Miss Purity can help us. Our painter friend may be happy with what he's accomplished here, but we don't know anything more than we did before we arrived. We see the villages, but we can hardly talk to anyone because we have so many secrets and they're so reticent with strangers. Miss Purity can explain things to us. She can help you learn what you need to learn about building the City of - "

He stopped.

"The City," he finally said.

"Why not say it?" said Purity. "The City of God."

Cooper and Smith looked at each other, and Purity could see that both of them were filled with the pleasure of having understood something. "See?" said Cooper. "We've already learned something, just by having Miss Purity with us."

"What did you learn?" demanded Arthur Stuart.

"That maybe the Crystal City has another name," said Smith.

"Crystal City?" asked Miss Purity.

Cooper looked at Smith for permission. Alvin glanced at each of them in turn, until at last his gaze lingered on Purity herself. "If you think she's all right," said Alvin.

"I know she is," said Cooper.

"Got a couple of minutes?" Alvin asked Purity.

"More like a couple of hours," said Mike Fink.

"Maybe while you talk and talk I bath in the river," said Audubon.

"I'll keep watch," said Fink. "I fell in enough rivers in my time without getting nekkid to do it on purpose."

Soon Purity, Smith, Cooper, and Arthur Stuart were sitting in the tall soft grass on the riverbank. "I got a story to tell you," said Alvin. "About who we are and what we're doing here. And then you can decide what you want to do about it."

"Let me tell it," demanded Arthur Stuart.

"You?" asked Alvin.

"You always mix it up and tell it back end to."

"What do you mean, 'always'? I hardly tell this story to anybody."

"You ain't no Taleswapper, Alvin," said Arthur Stuart.

"And you are?"

"At least I can tell it front to back instead of always adding in stuff I forgot to tell in the proper place."

Alvin laughed. "All right, Arthur Stuart, you tell the story of my life, since you know it better than I do."

"It ain't the story of your life anyway," said Arthur Stuart. "Cause it starts with Little Peggy."

"'Little' Peggy?" asked Alvin.

"That's what her name was then," said Arthur.

"Go ahead," said Alvin.

Arthur Stuart looked to the others. Cooper and Purity both nodded. At once Arthur Stuart