Once Oliver had driven deep enough into the city that he was surrounded on all sides by men other than those that he had collected, he gave a foreman in charge of building repairs a simple instruction. "Leave your duties for a while," he said. "Order the same of your men. And spread the word to the other workers, if you would."
The foreman looked at him blankly, but nodded. A difficult instruction to interpret. Not 'take a break', not to do with getting this done, or getting that done, but a simple pause in what they were already doing. A stillness, perhaps, that was what Oliver wished for.
