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Show -160- would be going down to the pool for a swim. It xas too early for his martini? He thought of walking down by the pool,- but the telephone they kept there most of the year had been unplugged and brought inside; and he was afraid he might not hear the inside phone from there? He stood up and stretched, and the dog did the same. He walked out onto the patio, and the dog followed? Outside? he plucked a few grass stems from the soil at the base of the fuchsias in the hanging baskets. A car drove up the h i l l ? and he thought i t was going to stop? but i t had jus* turned out to l e t another pass? It moved away, scattering pebbles over the lower part of the garden. The weather was nice for so l a t e in the year. Sometimes i t rained a lot around Christmas, sometimes? like this year? i t didn't? It almost always rained in January and February. By March? spring was usually on i t s way with sunshine and only an occasional light sprinkle? In summer, the green h i l ls across the way turned brown in the drought? didntt green again until the f a l l rains came? He heard the phone ring and hurried inside.1 When he lifted the receiver? he heard his wife's voice.1 From the hollow soind, he guessed she was calling from a pay phone? "How i s she?" he asked immediately. "I think she's a l l right? The doctor says she came through i t a l l right? I just saw her in the rec6very~reom,r My? she looks f r a i l ." |