Weather

The Devil's Game, INTERVAL FOUR, pp. 108-123.

The concluding passage of this chapter is punctuated by weather. When two Follow the Leader contestants collude:

"Through closed windows could be seen how the clouds thickened. Occasional lightning winked. The trees sounded like surf." (p. 117)

A storm builds outside while conflicts build inside. The sheltering forest sounds like that potentially more hostile element, the sea.

As the conversation proceeds:

"With the clouds, twilight was gathering in the room. Matt's cigarette end pulsed crimson." (p. 119)

Twilight gathers and Matt's cigarette shines red just as Ellis expresses interest in Matt's liking for guns. (I remember, from a previous reading, that one contestant will be shot dead.)

Later, the storm breaks. Night falls, followed by hot heavy raindrops. Wind howls, rain comes solid, then roars. Wind brawls, hoots and wails. The omniscient narrator compares the cold to the "...absolute zero of empty space..." (p. 121) The house creaks. The veranda quivers. Byron and Julia find the weather awesome. It shows how little they are. Byron says, "'...damn the cliches.'" (p. 121) But this cliche is real. When Julia approaches Byron, rain flies on the wind and drums. When he rejects her, wind and rain ramp.

(Read it and see what I mean.)