Ember (9 page)

A
r
che
r
fi
nge
r
ed
t
he
kn
if
e
she
’
d
t
ossed
t
o
h
i
m,
now
s
tr
apped
t
o
h
i
s
f
o
r
ea
r
m,
a
s
l
eek
C
h
a
t
e
ll
e
r
a
ult
w
it
h
a
b
l
ack
ename
l
h
ilt
.
Beau
tif
u
l
,
e
l
egan
t
,
much
li
ke
he
r
.
H
i
s
wan
t
of
he
r
ove
r
came
me
r
e
gu
ilt
.

Ama
r’s
conve
r
sa
ti
on
d
rift
ed
t
o
h
i
s
ea
r
s,
pu
lli
ng
h
i
m
back
t
o
t
he
p
r
esen
t
,
whe
r
e
he
shou
l
d
be,
if
he
had
any
sense.
The
man
gave
h
i
s
consp
ir
a
t
o
r
s
a
wa
r
n
i
ng
no
t
t
o
s
tri
ke
now.
They
wou
l
d
t
ake
A
r
che
r
unawa
r
es
when
he
r
e
t
u
r
ned
t
o
h
i
s
r
oom
at
Shephea
r
d
’
s.
A
ri
sky
move,
f
o
r
it
wou
l
d
ange
r
t
he
Eng
li
sh
con
ti
ngen
t
,
bu
t
b
r
ash
enough
t
o
wo
r
k.
A
r
che
r
sm
il
ed
t
h
i
n
l
y,
t
hen
u
r
ged
h
i
s
ho
r
se
f
o
r
wa
r
d
j
us
t
as
t
he
r
ays
of
t
he
se
tti
ng
sun
bu
r
s
t
a
r
ound
t
he
g
r
ea
t
py
r
am
i
d.

S
pring
wa
s
in
th
e
a
ir
now
,
a
soft
c
a
r
e
ss
th
a
t
ma
d
e
on
e
’s
st
e
p
a
littl
e
bit
light
e
r
,
ma
d
e
th
e
me
n
a
nd
w
o
me
n
of
London
toss
off
th
e
t
e
ns
e,
huddl
e
d
strid
e
th
a
t
w
int
e
r’s
cold
crush
e
nforc
e
d
on
th
em.
W
hich
,
of
cours
e,
ma
d
e
it
easier
for
M
ir
a
nd
a
’s
w
a
nd
e
ring
h
a
nds
to
ma
k
e
th
e
ir
wa
y
into
pock
e
ts
.

Wa
r
me
r
w
ea
th
e
r
a
lso
mea
nt
th
e
e
nd
of
th
e
chilbl
a
ins
a
nd
a
ching
joints
th
a
t
pl
a
gu
e
d
h
e
r
throughout
th
e
w
i
nt
e
r
.
S
till
,
it
wa
s
cool
e
nough
for
h
e
r
to
k
ee
p
h
e
r
co
a
t
button
e
d
up
tight
a
nd
to
be
th
a
nkfu
l
for
h
e
r
glov
e
s
.
T
h
e
glov
e
s
w
e
r
e
old
,
th
e
kid
l
ea
th
e
r
worn
to
a
fr
a
gil
e
sh
e
ll
at
th
e
tips
of
h
e
r
fing
e
rs
.
W
hich
wa
s
pr
e
f
e
r
a
bl
e
r
ea
ll
y
,
as
on
e
n
ee
d
e
d
to
r
e
ly
on
touch
wh
e
n
picking
pock
e
ts
.

B
r
i
sk
l
y
,
M
i
r
a
n
da
w
a
l
k
ed
do
w
n
t
h
e
s
t
r
ee
t
,
g
i
v
i
n
g
a
n
od
t
o
th
e
bootbl
a
ck
boys
w
ho’d
cl
a
i
me
d
th
e
ir
spot
,
a
nd
to
Bob,
th
e
m
ilk
ma
n
,
who
drov
e
his
co
w
slowly
a
long
.
M
ir
a
nd
a
a
lw
a
ys
purch
a
s
e
d
fro
m
hi
m,
pr
e
f
e
rring
to
buy
fro
m
th
e
sourc
e
r
a
th
e
r
th
a
n
risk
bottl
e
d
m
ilk
,
which
oft
e
n
cont
a
in
e
d
m
or
e
ch
a
lk
-
w
a
t
e
r
th
a
n
a
ctu
a
l
m
ilk
.

W
ith
h
e
r
sto
ma
ch
gro
w
ling
,
sh
e
stopp
e
d
at
Alice’s
coff
ee
c
a
rt
.