i could n't harm her the last time we met because she had not been authorized . `` by our mutual agreement , due to a better alternative . '' he did n't need to know the details , but at least she 'd told him the truth . quiet and full of young families . if it was the south road again , she could do the same . now they drank and looked into the black waters below them . frantically the people tried to scramble up the mocking steep sides of the mountain , sliding helplessly down on the loose rubble . 