The kid nodded eagerly as we roared off.

0 Christ, I thought, he's gone around the bend. No more of that talk, I said sharply. Or I'll put the leeches on you. He grinned, seeming to understand. Luckily, the noise in the car was so awful - between the wind and the radio and the tape machine - that the kid in the back seat couldn't hear a word we were saying. Or could he?