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"I can tell you care for me," he said "Your smile, your touch, your trust The way you rouse to s are inco piece I can’t puzzle out"

"I do care for you," I whispered "In my oay"

He closed his eyes briefly, let that sink in But then his jaw tightened "And ay is that?" he shot back "You’re not a little girl playing dress-up You can’t just float along, letting things happen to you You have to choose, Letitia Once we find the locket, you have to choose"

"I’ that far ahead," I said "I needabout it," Criminy said "And I want to know Once you have the locket, will you go back to your world and leave me with a frail, insensible body that ither and die here? Will you break the locket, will you take , until you grow old or gothat I could leave now if I wanted to," I said Here he was, trying to forcea choiceHow could he know ? "I have the potion I could take you back, or him It’s my choice"

"Yes, it is And ill you choose?"

I turned away My eyes scanned the horizon, watching the never-ending grasses flow into hills and es where the sky always hung too low There was an entire world here at ertips, and I’d only seen one srasses, a beautiful man fro fa for the life he’d lost And so stolen even more surely than iven me three choices, and I had added two ain, I’d already seen the future, and it grew darker with every glance

28

Soitated as we ruht twitchy And he wouldn’t put down the spyglass, even though he could barely control the jittering conveyance with one hand

"What is it?" I asked when I couldn’t stand the tense silence anyons are still circled The caravan hasn’t moved," he said "My orders were to follow the schedule, and they should be on the way to Liverpool by now"

I could see it then, the far-off shadows against the cloudy sky I had a feeling of hoht of the coon I actually ht of my own little basin of water to wash in and a soft, silk-covered bed … oh, it was heaven on wheels

The conveyance, unfortunately, had only two speeds: stop and go The traveling speed depended entirely on the tension in the winding key, and ere near the end of a round, so it was taking a painfully long time to climb the last hill

Finally, he jerked the conveyance off the road and pulled the brake It shuddered to a halt, and we jule figure lurked outside the caravan It was eerie

So darkinto o for the bolus or the knife in his boot He just held his ar onto his shoulder by her tail

"Don’t just sit there, Pe back down and hurtled toward the caravan It was auess it was like me and the watch I wore to check a patient’s blood pressure or tell ti her on his shoulder that he had see of our journey

My little Uro had only co I had been too busy peeing uardian’s door-unlocking capabilities The bracelet buround around the wagons was tra now, as they should have been The clockworks wereAll was quiet And that wasn’t good

Crion He paused in front of the steps, panting, and regained his co politely I was inin my stained, tornhappened Not a sound came from within, and the lack of her customary shrill reception was ominous Criminy tried the handle, and the door squeaked open

The room was always a jule Dress forms were toppled over, pools of fabric and pincushions sprawled in front of the broken mirror

Criminy closed his eyes and sniffed "Pinkies," he said "Coppers"

At that h Cri her up onto his shoulder, and she opened her mouth A thin white ribbon inched out and curled under her chin Cri: 19 Dead: 0 Blood: 0 ml Caravan: Safe"

"Well, it doesn’t see twelve and a half," he round

"Twelve and a half?" I asked

"Catarrh and Quincy are gone Two heads, one body"