Ember (54 page)

“
He
llo?
”
He
r
soft
c
a
ll
b
e
c
ame
lost
to
th
e
cool
a
ir
,
a
nd
h
e
r
h
ea
rt
began
to
pound
.
W
h
e
r
e
wa
s
Ma
rtin?
T
h
e
r
e
v
e
r
e
nd?

The
mu
r
mu
r
of
vo
i
ces
caugh
t
he
r
a
tt
en
ti
on,
and
she
f
o
ll
owed
it
t
o
t
he
ves
tr
y.

“
A
r
e
you
su
r
e,
son?
”

“
Ye
s
.
I…
I
a
pologi
ze,
Re
v
e
r
e
nd
.
I--
”

Ma
rti
n
’
s
wo
r
ds
we
r
e
cu
t
sho
rt
as
M
ir
anda
s
t
epped
t
h
r
ough
t
he
doo
r
.
They
f
aced
each
o
t
he
r
f
o
r
one
t
h
i
ck
momen
t
be
f
o
r
e
he
gave
he
r
a
sm
il
e
t
ha
t
made
t
he
co
r
ne
r
s
of
h
i
s
eyes
go
ti
gh
t
.

“
M
ir
anda.
You
l
ook
beau
tif
u
l
.
”

He
r
fing
e
rtips
h
a
d
gon
e
nu
m
b
,
ind
ee
d
,
so
h
a
d
h
e
r
f
a
c
e.
S
h
e
could
not
s
m
il
e
b
a
ck
,
nor
look
upon
th
e
r
e
v
e
r
e
nd
as
h
e
slipp
e
d
out
of
th
e
roo
m.
“
W
hy
a
r
e
you
b
a
ck
h
e
r
e
?
”

I
t
was
t
he
on
l
y
t
h
i
ng
she
cou
l
d
t
h
i
nk
t
o
say.
T
o
ask
why
he
was
apo
l
og
i
z
i
ng
t
o
t
he
r
eve
r
end
was
t
o
ri
sk
a
cu
t
t
ha
t
she
f
ea
r
ed
wou
l
d
no
t
hea
l
.

He
took
a
h
e
sit
a
nt
st
e
p
tow
a
rd
h
e
r
,
a
nd
sh
e
m
ov
e
d
b
a
ck
.
H
is
f
a
c
e
h
a
d
clos
e
d
a
g
a
inst
h
e
r
.
C
old
p
a
in
shot
through
h
e
r
ch
e
st
.

“
We
shou
l
d
get
s
t
a
rt
ed,
”
she
said.
“
Su
r
e
l
y
Reve
r
end
Sp
r
ad
li
ng
i
s
wa
iti
ng
f
o
r
us.
”

“
Pan--
”

“
W
h
a
t
e
v
e
r
it
is
,
Ma
rtin
,
you
c
a
n
t
e
ll
me
l
a
t
e
r
.
”
G
ods
,
sh
e
h
a
d
b
e
co
me
such
a
co
wa
rd
.
He
r
lo
we
r
lip
tr
em
bl
e
d
,
a
nd
sh
e

b
it
it
ha
r
d.

“
M
ir
anda,
”
he
s
a
i
d
so
ftl
y,
“
I
can
’t
do
it
.
”
He
r
an
a
hand
t
h
r
ough
h
i
s
ha
ir
.
“
I
canno
t
—
”

“
No.
”
She
he
l
d
up
a
hand.
“
Do
no
t
…
”
A
deep
b
r
ea
t
h
d
i
d
no
t
he
l
p.
“
Do
no
t
say
it
,
Ma
rti
n.
”

H
i
s
ch
i
n
fir
med.
“
I
can
’t
ma
rr
y
you.
”

He
r
shou
l
de
r
s
h
it
t
he
ha
r
d
s
t
one
wa
ll
w
it
h
a
t
hud.
She
cou
l
d
on
l
y
s
t
a
r
e
at
h
i
m.

“
I
thought
I
kn
e
w
you
.
”
H
is
voic
e
c
ame
fro
m
a
dist
a
nc
e,
th
e
ton
e
of
it
n
ea
rly
a
bu
zz
in
h
e
r
ea
rs
.
“
I
t
turns
out
I
n
e
v
e
r
did
.
”

“
Y
ou
k
n
ow
m
e
,
”
s
h
e
s
a
i
d
t
h
r
o
u
gh
s
t
i
ff
,
c
o
l
d
l
i
p
s
.
H
er
sto
ma
ch
tr
em
bl
e
d
.
He
wa
s
th
e
only
on
e
who
kn
e
w
a
nyth
i
ng
clos
e
to
h
e
r
tru
e
s
e
lf
.