TE17 Mysterious Montenegro

John Saul being a sheltering windbreak, and now the birds would continue to go about entirely as they wanted, without him coming up with some explanation, some commentary on their activities, which he couldn’t have communicated to them anyway. Keen to avoid any new stimulus, rather than cross the bridge over the little lake—who knew what might lie on the other side—he took the straight path in the direction of the stately house, only to come across parts of the Chinese lantern displays which were now an annual fixture in the grounds. Even if he had taken the bridge route, he would hardly have avoided the figures, mostly animals, that were illuminated by night but in the day just stood around, today in the rain, like the dozen or so zebras he was now hastily passing, or the elephants and giraffes he glimpsed with a lion or two up ahead. The Disney-like spectacle only made him wonder about what lay behind the enterprise, was it a venture by some Chinese company, or group of companies, a consortium , part of the slow but accelerating takeover of the world by the Chinese; theworkerswho set up the exhibits, intelligently bolting them to the ground, probably in anticipation of Storm Caroline or Desmond or Eddie, Fidel, Glenda—the carousel of names spun ever fasteras theworldgotwarmer—kept to themselves fromtheir arrival at the airport through the months it took them to erect, display and dismantle the exhibits, which they appeared to do entirely without plans on paper or visual directions, checking the electrics and carrying out minor repairs with pliers and spanners in the night; kept apart, from their arrival at the airport to the stately house and immediately down to all the work beside the paths, across the bridge, climaxing at the Disney-Chinese palace on the great lawn beside the dark gigantic cedars, out to lunch and back, for weeks, keeping to themselves, walking abreast 218