The Pool of Fire (The Tripods) (21 page)
Read The Pool of Fire (The Tripods) Online
Authors: John Christopher
We had been silent since we came up from the Hall. Now Beanpole said, “If Henry had not died . . .”
I said, “Would one man have made any difference?”
“One might. Julius did. And it could have been more than one. I would have helped him, if he had wanted me to.”
I thought about that. I said, “Perhaps I would, also. But Henry’s dead.”
Fritz said, “I think perhaps I will give up my farming. There are things more important.”
Beanpole said, “I’m with you.”
Fritz shook his head. “It is different for you. Your work is important, mine not.”
“Not as important as this,” Beanpole said. “What about you, Will? Are you ready for a new fight—a longer, less exciting one, with no great triumphs at the end? Will you leave your seas and islands, and help us try to get men to live together, in peace as well as liberty? An Englishman, a German, and a Frenchman: it would be a good start.”
The air was cold but exhilarating. A gust of wind scattered powdery snow from the face of the Jungfrau.
“Yes,” I said, “I’ll leave my seas and islands.”
Also by John Christopher
The White Mountains
The City of Gold and Lead
When the Tripods Came
A Dusk of Demons
SIMON PULSE
An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division
1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10020
This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 1968 by John Christopher
Copyright renewed © 1996 by John Christopher
Preface copyright © 2003 by John Christopher
All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.
Book design by Ann Sullivan
The text for this book is set in New Caledonia.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Christopher, John.
The pool of fire / John Christopher.
p. cm.
Sequel to: The city of gold and lead.
Summary: Will and a small group of free people plan to destroy the three great cities of the Tripods before the arrival of a spaceship destined to doom humanity.
ISBN 0-689-85506-0
ISBN 978-1-4814-0914-8 (eBook)
[1. Science fiction.] I. Title.
PZ7.C457 Po 2003
[Fic]—dc21 2002026883