Ember (52 page)

it
.
“
M
ir
anda.
”

Bo
t
h
h
i
s
sa
l
va
ti
on
and
t
he
one
woman
he
wou
l
d
s
t
ay
away
fr
om,
because
he
wasn
’t
ye
t
cu
r
ed.
Bu
t
h
i
s
r
eso
l
ve
was
c
r
umb
li
ng.
C
o
me
b
a
ck
to
me,
Arch
e
r
.
D
r
eams
we
r
e
n
o
t
h
i
n
g
l
i
k
e
r
ea
l
i
t
y
.
L
i
k
e
l
y
,
s
h
e
’
d
r
u
n
i
n
f
ear
of
h
i
m
.
H
e
’
d
f
o
r
ced
he
r
f
a
t
he
r’
s
hand.
She
was
h
i
s
w
it
hou
t
he
r
even
know
i
ng
it
.
How
cou
l
d
he
do
t
ha
t
t
o
he
r
?
Eve
r
yone
dese
r
ved
a
cho
i
ce.

H
is
ch
e
st
f
e
lt
h
ea
vy
,
a
ching
.

A
h
a
nd
touch
e
d
his
shou
l
d
e
r
.
T
h
e
sh
ama
n
squint
e
d
into
his
e
y
e
s
a
nd
th
e
n
spok
e
to
Sm
ith
.

“
He
says,
”
s
a
i
d
Sm
it
h,
“
t
ha
t
you
a
r
e
li
ke
a
hawk
s
t
r
u
gg
l
i
n
g
aga
i
n
s
t
t
h
e
w
i
n
d
a
n
d
n
e
v
er
ge
tt
i
n
g
a
n
y
w
h
e
r
e.
Y
ou
r
es
i
s
t
you
r
f
a
t
e.
Let
go
and
tr
us
t
t
ha
t
t
he
w
i
nd
w
ill
t
ake
you
whe
r
e
you
need
t
o
go.
Fo
ll
ow
t
he
s
i
gns.
”

Arch
e
r
scrubb
e
d
a
h
a
nd
ov
e
r
his
f
a
c
e
a
nd
found
th
a
t
h
e
still
wor
e
his
h
a
lf
ma
sk
.
Let
go?
C
hrist
,
h
e
w
a
nt
e
d
to
.

W
hich
cours
e
wa
s
th
e
truth?
Pe
rh
a
ps
h
e
’d
l
e
t
f
a
t
e
decide.
All
h
e
n
ee
d
e
d
wa
s
a
sign
.

M
ir
a
nd
a
wa
s
l
a
t
e
to
h
e
r
o
w
n
we
dding
,
a
r
e
gr
e
tt
a
bl
e
occurr
e
nc
e
du
e
to
th
e
f
a
ct
th
a
t
Billy
F
ing
e
r
h
a
d
fuss
e
d
a
nd
co
m
pl
a
in
e
d
a
bout
his
wounds
a
nd
d
ema
nd
e
d
th
a
t
th
e
y
be
r
e—
dr
e
ss
e
d
.
R
ott
e
r
.
Ca
d
.

She
f
ough
t
a
sm
il
e.
A
s
she
was
en
t
e
ri
ng
a
chu
r
ch,
she
supposed
she
ough
t
t
o
be
tr
u
t
h
f
u
l
w
it
h
he
r
se
lf
and
adm
it
t
ha
t
pa
rt
of
he
r
li
ked
t
he
d
i
sso
l
u
t
e
t
hug.
She
had
no
i
dea
why
r
ea
ll
y,
on
l
y
t
ha
t
h
i
s
fr
ank
d
i
scou
r
se
and
t
he
unapo
l
oge
ti
c
way
he
moved
t
h
r
ough
lif
e
was
some
t
h
i
ng
she
adm
ir
ed.
O
r
pe
r
haps
it
was
t
he
tr
uce
t
hey
had
a
rri
ved
at
ove
r
t
he
days
i
n

which
sh
e
h
e
lp
e
d
hi
m
h
ea
l
.

“
W
h
a
t’s
your
n
ame
th
e
n?
”
h
e
’d
a
sk
e
d
on
th
e
s
e
cond
d
a
y
.