QUOTE 1. "She smiled: that cheerless new pinch of a smile. 'But what about me,' she said, whispered, and shivered again. 'I'm very scared, Buster. Yes, at last. Because it could go on forever. Not knowing what's yours until you've thrown it away. The mean reds, they're nothing. The fat woman, she nothing. This, though: my mouth's so dry, if my life depended on it I couldn't spit.' She stepped in the car, sank in the seat. 'Sorry, driver. Let's go.'"