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"Had or has?"Matt said final y, breaking the silence

"How can we know?"Stefan said "Heto watch that Or he could have been kidnapped To be kil ed at a later time - or to become a vampire"

"And you real y think her parents wouldn’t tel her?"Matt deet? When she was - what, three already?"

Mrs Flowers, who had been quiet a long time, now spoke sadly "Dear Meredith may have decided to block out the truth herself With a child of three it’s hard to say If they never got her professional help"She looked a question at Meredith

Meredith shook her head "Against the code,"she said "Iany of you this, and especial y not Stefan But I couldn’t stand it any theed Meredith hard "We understand,"she said "I don’t knoil happen in the future if you decide to be an active hunter - "

"I can promise you my friends won’t be on my list of victims,"Meredith said "By the way,"she added, "Shinichi knows I’m the one who’s kept a secret froer,"Elena said, and hugged her again

"At least there are no ently, and Elena looked at her sharply Nothing was ever that simple And Shinichi had made a whole handful of predictions

Then she saw the look in the mild blue eyes of the old woht then was not truth or lies, or even reckonings, but si Meredith She looked up at Stefan while stil hugging Meredith and saw the same look in his eyes

And that - made her feel better somehow Because if it was truly "no secrets"then she would have to figure out her feelings about Da Shinichi, which was saying quite a lot, real y

"At least we’ve got a potter’s wheel - so "And a kiln in the back, although it’s al grown over with Devil’s Shoestring I used to house, but children came and smashed them I think I could make an urn like the ones you saw if you can draw one for me But perhaps we’d better wait for Mr Saltz to Stefan Elena couldn’t make it out until she heard Stefan’s voice in her mind He says Damon told him once that this house is like a swap h

Damon didn’t make that up! I think Mrs Flowers said it first, and then it sort of got around, Elena returned heatedly

"When we get the pictures,"Mrs Floas saying brightly,

"we can get the Saitou wo"

Meredith final y moved back froet into any trouble,"she said, and her voice and face were co now"

Bonnie was sure she could stay out of trouble

She’d had that strange drea with Elena to the Island of Doom

Fortunately, it had see she had to ponder over and try to find hiddenlike that

Plus, she’d ht in this brown rooet her out soon

But not before she had a sugarpluotten a taste of one in the story last night, but Marit was such a good girl that she had waited for dinner to have any more Dinner was obtained in the next story about the Dustbins, which she’d plunged into thisher first hand-caught piece of raw liver, fresh from the hunt Bonnie had hastily pul ed the little star bal off her te that could possibly get her on a hue

But then, compulsively, she had counted up her money She had !

When her bathrooet into a conversation with the boy who usual y led her to the outdoor privy This ti at his earlobe so often that when she begged hio by herself - it wasn’t as if she didn’t know the way - he had relented and let her go, asking only that she hurry

And she did hurry - across the street and into the little store, which s pul ed by hand, and othersmel s that she would have knohere she was blindfolded

She also knehat she wanted She could picture it froarplum was round like a real plum, and she’d tasted dates, almonds, spices, and honey - and there may have been so to the story, but Bonnie had taken fifteen of the s coins with her, in case of a confectionary elanced warily around her There were a lot of custoirl earing sacking just like Bonnie and looked exhausted Surreptitiously, Bonnie inched toward her, and pressed five of her copper soli into the girl’s chapped hand, thinking, there - now she can get a sugarpluave her the sort of save to Marit when she had done so adorable

I wonder if I should talk to her?

"It looks pretty busy,"she whispered, ducking her head

The girl whispered back, "It has been Al yesterday I kept hoping, but at least one noble came in as the last one left"

"You mean you have to wait until the shop’s eirl looked at her curiously "Of course -

unless you’re buying for your mistress or master"

"What’s your name?"Bonnie whispered

"Kelta"

"I’iggles

Bonnie felt offended; she’d just given Kelta a sugarplu at her

"I’m sorry,"Kelta said when her mirth had died down "But don’t you think it’s funny that in the last year there are sotheir names to Alianas and Mardeths, and Bonnas - so allowed to do it"

"But why?"Bonnie whispered with such obvious genuine bewilderment that Kelta said, "Why, to fit into the story, of course To be named after the ones who kil ed old Bloddeuhile she was ra deal?"

"You real y don’t know? After she was kil ed al her money went to the fifth sector where she lived and there was enough left over to have a holiday That’s where I’htened when I was sent out with a ht above you and you’d never know, until - "Kelta had put al heron an innocent hand

"But you real y are a Bonna,"Kelta said, with a flash of white teeth in rather dingy skin "Or so you said"

"Yeah,"Bonnie said feeling vaguely sad "I’ht!"The next moment she cheered up "The shop’s eood-luck Bonna! I’ve been waiting two days"

She approached the counter with a lack of fear that was very encouraging to Bonnie Then she asked for so cal ed a blood jel y that looked to Bonnie like a s darker deep inside Kelta s, unbrushed hair and was gone

Thehopeful y at the door, clearly hoping a free person - a noble - would come in

No one did, however, and at last he turned to Bonnie

"And what is it you want?"he dearplum, please?"Bonnie tried hard to make sure her voice didn’t quaver

The man was bored "Show me your pass,"he said irritably

It was at that point that Bonnie suddenly knew that everything was going to go horribly wrong

"Co books, thea hand over her sack-cloth smock, in which she knew perfectly well there was no pocket, and certainly no pass

"But I thought I didn’t need a pass, except to cross sectors,"she babbled final y

The man now leaned over the counter "Then showshe could think of She turned and ran, but before she could reach the door she felt a sudden stinging pain in her back and then everything went blurry and she never knehen she hit the ground