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Then Whelk’s mother had called and told Whelk that his father had been arrested for unethical business practices and inco ar criuessed, and the FBI had been watching for years Overnight, the Whelks lost everything

It was in the papers the next day, the catastrophic crash of the Whelk fairlfriends left him Well, the second one was technically Czerny’s, so perhaps that didn’t count The whole thing was all very public The Virginia playboy, heir to the Whelk fortune, suddenly evicted frolionby dorm, relieved of his social life, freed fro loaded onto a truck and his room emptied of speakers and furniture

The last time Whelk had looked at thisthat the only thing he had left was the ten-dollar bill in his pocket None of his credit cardsanyotten out of the car

"Does this make you white trash now?" he’d asked Czerny didn’t really have a sense of hus that happened to be funny Whelk, standing in the wreckage of his life, didn’t laugh this tiame any the ritual"

Chapter 11

One hour and twenty-three o off for school, she oken by the front door closing Gray dawn light filtered in her bedrooainst the glass She tried not to resent her lost one hour and twenty-three minutes of sleep

Footsteps started up the staircase Blue caught the sound of her s are better done at night" This was Neeve Though her voice was smaller than Maura’s, it was crisper, somehow, and carried well "Henrietta is quite a place, isn’t it?"

"I didn’t ask you to look at Henrietta," Maura replied, in a stage whisper She sounded -- protective

"It is difficult not to It shouts," Neeve said Her next words were lost in the sound of a creaking stair

Maura’s reply was obscured as she, too, started to climb the stairs, but it sounded like, "I would prefer if you left Blue out of this"

Blue went very still

Neeve said, "I’ If he vanished at the same time that … possible they’re linked Do you not want her to knoho he is?"

Another stair groaned Blue thought, Why can’t they talk without creaking up the stairs at the same time!

Maura snapped, "I don’t see how that would be easier for anyone"

Neeveout of hand," herhis naine, and now …"

Blue strained her ears It felt like she hadn’t heard hertime, with the exception of Gansey

It was possible, Blue thought after a long moment, that Maura meant Blue’s father None of the aard conversations Blue had atteotten her any information about him, just nonsensical humorous replies (He is Santa Claus He was a bank robber He’s currently in orbit) that changed every tiure who’d had to vanish because of a tragic past Possibly to a witness protection prograli his strange daughter daydream under the beech tree

Blue fully fond of her father, considering she’d never met him

Somewhere in the depths of the house, a door closed, and then there was once ht-silence that is hard to disturb After a long moment, Blue reached over to the plastic bin that served as her nightstand and retrieved the journal She rested a hand on the cool leather cover The surface of it felt like the cool, smooth bark of the beech tree behind the house As when she touched the beech tree, she felt at once comforted and anxious: reassured and driven to action

Henrietta is quite a place, Neeve had said The journal seeree A place for what, she wasn’t sure

Blue didn’t mean to fall asleep, but she did, for another hour and twelve minutes It wasn’t her alarht shouted in her brain:

Today is the day Gansey coetting ready for school, the conversation between Maura and Neeve seemed more coical Sitting on the edge of her bed, Blue touched one of the quotes

The king sleeps still, under a mountain, and around him is asseht hand is his cup, filled with possibility On his breast nestles his sword, waiting, too, to wake Fortunate is the soul who finds the king and is brave enough to call hirant hiined by a es It felt as if there were a larger, terribly curious Blue inside her that was about to bust out of the s ainst her palms

A favor

If she had a favor, ould she ask? To not have to worry about money? To knoho her father had been? To travel the world? To see what her ain:

Today is the day Gansey co

What will he be like?