"Yes," said Calvin. "If it's a city of makers, how could you think to do it without the only other living maker." He grinned at Arthur.

"We're all makers here," said Alvin, ignoring the fact that Calvin already knew how offensive his words were. "Come on along, my house is just down here."

They met the women on the way, and Alvin introduced everybody to everybody. Jim Bowie was, to Arthur's surprise, quite a charmer, able to put on elegant Camelot manners when there was someone to impress. Calvin was his normal saucy self-but Rien seemed to enjoy his banter, much to Arthur's disgust, and when Calvin showered flattery on Marie d'Espoir, Arthur Stuart thought about causing him a subtle but permanent internal injury-but of course did nothing at all. You don't start a duel with a maker who has more power and fewer scruples than you.

They got to the house and Alvin invited them inside to sit down. The furniture, except for Peggy's rocking chair, was all rough-hewn benches and stools, but they were good enough to sit on-and Arthur had heard Peggy say that she didn't wish for more comfortable furniture, because if the chairs were softer, company would be inclined to stay longer.

Calvin seemed to want to talk about his narrow escape from Mexico City, but since Tenskwa-Tawa had already told Alvin and Arthur Stuart all about it as soon as Arthur got back from his mission there, they were not inclined to hear a version of the story that made Calvin out to be something of a hero. "I'm glad you got out all right," said Alvin-and meant it, which was more than Arthur Stuart could say for himself. "And Jim, I think you know that your going along with Arthur Stuart here probably saved the lives of all the other men who went with you, since they might not have gone if you had refused."

"I don't plan to die for any cause," said Jim Bowie. "Nor any man, excepting only myself. I know that ain't noble, but it prolongs my days, which is philosophy enough for me."

He expected, Arthur thought, a bit more amusement or admiration for his attitude-but this wasn't a saloon, and nobody here was drunk, and so it rang a little hollow. There were people here who would die for a cause, or for someone else's sake.

It was Peggy, bless her heart, who came right to the point. "So where will you go now, Calvin?"

"Go?" said Calvin. "Why, this is the city of makers, and here I am. I had some experiences-I was just about to get to them, but I know when it's not time for a tale-I had some experiences that made me realize how much I wished I'd paid more attention to Alvin back when he was trying to teach me stuff. I'm an impatient pupil, I reckon, so no wonder he kicked me out of school!"

Even this was a lie, and everyone there knew it, and it occurred to Arthur Stuart once again that Calvin seemed to lie just because he liked the sound of it, and not to be believed.

"I'm glad to have you," said Alvin. "Whatever you're willing to learn, I'll be happy to teach, if I know it, or someone else will, if it's something they know better than me."

"That's a short list," said Calvin, chuckling. It should have been a compliment to the breadth of Alvin's knack-but it came out sounding as if it were an accusation of vanity.

Arthur didn't have to be told that his sister was furious that Calvin was staying and Alvin was welcoming him. He knew Peggy thought that Calvin would one day cause his brother's death. But she said nothing about that, and instead turned to Jim Bowie. "And you, sir? Whither now?"

"I reckon I'll stay, too," said Bowie. "I liked what I saw up there. Well, no, not what I saw in the glass-don't misunderstand me, Alvin-but the manner of seeing. What an achievement! There's kings and queens would give up their kingdoms for an hour in that place."

"I'm afraid," said Alvin, "that you won't be welcome inside when the tabernacle is built."

Bowie's expression darkened. "Why, I'm sorry to hear that," he said. "Might I ask why?"

"There's some as finds the future in there," said Alvin. "But a man who kills his enemies shouldn't have access to a place that might show him where his future victims might be."

Bowie barked out a laugh. "Oh, I'm too much of a killer for your tabernacle, is that it? Well, here's a thought. Everybody here who has ever killed a man in anger, stand up with me!" Bowie rose to his feet and looked around. "What, am I the only one?" Then he grinned at Alvin. "Am I?"

Reluctantly, Alvin rose to his feet.

"Ah," said Bowie. "Glad to know you admit it. I saw it in you from the start. You've killed, and killed with relish. You enjoyed it."

"He killed the man who killed my mother!" cried Peggy.

"And he enjoyed it," Bowie said again. "But it's your place for visions, Al, I won't dispute you about it. You can invite whoever you please. But that only applies to the building, Al. This is a free country, and a citizen of it can move to any town or county and take up residence and there ain't a soul can stop him. Am I right?"

"I thought you were a subject of the King, from the Crown Colonies," said Peggy.

"You know that an Englishman has only to cross the border and he's a citizen of the U.S.A.," said Bowie. "But I've gone them one better, and taken the oath just like a ... Frenchman."

He grinned at Rien. "I think I know you, ma'am," he said to her.

She looked at him with eyes like stones.

"I'll be your neighbor like it or not," said Bowie. "But I hope you like it, because I intend to be a peaceable citizen and make a lot of friends. Why, I might even run for office. I have a bent for politics, having once made a try at being emperor of Mexico."

"As you said," Alvin answered quietly. "It's a free country."

"I will admit I thought I'd get a warmer welcome from old friends." He grinned at Arthur Stuart. "This lad saved my life in Mexico. Even though he surely would rather not have done it. I'll never forget that."

Arthur Stuart nodded. He knew which part Bowie would never forget.

"Well," said Bowie. "The good cheer and bonhomie in this room is just too much for me. I'll have to find a place where I find less cheer and more alcohol, if you catch my drift. I hear it may take going into Warsaw County to get that particular thirst satisfied. But I'll be back to build me a cabin on some plot of land. Good day to you all."

Bowie got up and left the cabin.

"An obnoxious fellow," said Calvin loudly-Bowie could certainly hear him, even outside the door. "I don't know how I managed the journey from Barcy to here without quarreling with him. Maybe it was his big knife that kept the peace." Calvin had a remarkable ability to laugh at his own jokes with such gusto that one could miss the fact that he was the only one laughing.

Calvin turned to Arthur Stuart. "Of course, I could have got here sooner if somebody had bothered to take me along the way you did with Jim and his crew. He says you were able to make them run like they were flying, as if the ground rose up to meet their feet and trees got right out of their way.

But I suppose I'm not worthy of such transportation."

"I offered to let you come along," said Arthur Stuart-and then immediately regretted it. Arguing with Calvin's lies just made him more enthusiastic.

"If you'd told me about this-greensong, was it?-I'd have come with you in a second. But to come along just because the Red Prophet was making threats-well, I reckon he wanted to conquer Mexico as bad as we did, and he got there first. Now he's got the empire, and I'm just an ordinary fellow-well, as ordinary as a maker can ever be. You, Alvin, you pretend to be ordinary, don't you? But you always manage to let people see a bit of what you can do. I understand! You want to be thought modest, but at the same time, nobody thinks a man's modest unless they know what great things he's being modest about, eh?" He laughed and laughed at that one.