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Two Steps Up, and One Step Back
�God damn, Jack,� said Ebreth. �When Coyote Jay said Jack Paris was in the Hotel, I assumed he meant--� He shook
his head. �It doesn�t matter. You really don�t remember anything?�
�Not much,� he admitted, �but it�s been starting to, uh, come back.� Jack Yearlate rubbed the toe of one boot
awkwardly against the insole of the other, trying to think of a way to approach the subject that wouldn�t make him look like an utter
moron, and then just blurted out �Val and I aren�t married, are we?�
�What?� Ebreth said. �No. No, she got pissed at you for running off on your own so she slept with someone else.�
�Oh.� Jack tried to reconcile that with the fragile sorrow of the woman he�d been remembering and couldn�t. �I thought it
was something more, uh, tragic,� he said.
�Well, that was the short version,� said Ebreth. �The reason you were running off was to sacrifice yourself to your
family�s archenemy to save her, and then we couldn�t undo it.�
�And that... pissed her off?� Jack scrunched his forehead up in confusion.
�It was sort of the way you did it,� Ebreth said. �I was about ready to slug you one myself. ...God damn, Jack,
we all thought you were dead. Have you been in the Hotel this entire time?�
�No,� Jack said, �I--I�ve been living in Darwood... Western Nylevia?� Ebreth shook his head in nonrecognition.
�It�s a small town. Just off Highway 9. I--have a wife there. Now.�
Ebreth shook his head like he still couldn�t believe all of this was happening. �Well, we�ll get you back to her,�
he said, and squared his shoulders in a way Jack dimly remembered from what felt like a very long time ago. �One way or
the other. Come on.�
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