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Alive? Then Matt…

"Please, you’ve got to help Matt He’s alive I was just talking to hiot to help him!"

She saw the distress in the medic’s eyes

"I’m so sorry…"

She was in the uely aware of a needle in her arm

Then there was only darkness

1

One year later

L eslie paused for ait was The sky couldn’t have been a lovelier shade of violet But then, the countryside in northern Virginia was some of the most beautiful in the world

More so than ever before, at least to her

In the past year, she had co as the colors of life It had been such a strange year, filled with vividly conflicting emotions The touch of the sun, the color of a dawn, see to live alone still interrupted the newfound beauty Life had become doubly precious, except that she felt it was such an incredible gift that it should be shared…yet she was alive and Matt was dead

The setting sun was beautiful, and the night breeze sweet and soft With that thought in ainst her cheeks The warhed, then returned to work She needed to hurry The light would be gone soon

Painstakingly, bit by bit, she brushed away the dust covering the recently revealed area She removed the last few specks, and then…

Yes!

She continued to brush away the dirt fro a sense of jubilation She couldn’t be certain, of course, not absolutely, but it looked like they had discovered the old St Mathias graveyard that Professor David Laymon had been certain was here She eyed the skull for size and shape Bones weren’t her specialty She knew objects, fabrics, even architecture, all the things that made up life, backward and forward She knew bones only because she had coments of calico by the skull hinted at a type of hair decoration that fit perfectly with Layraveyard had been reserved for indentured servants, slaves and those ere si better

"Brad!"

"Yeah?"

Brad Verdun, her good friend and colleague, was busy working a few yards away As she waited for his attention, she took her tweezers and carefully collected the bits of fabric she had discovered; a lab analysis would verify her thoughts, she was certain, but every little shred needed to be preserved

"Brad!"

"Yeah, yeah" At last he dusted his hands and rose, then walked to where she orking He swore softly, shaking his head "You were right Again" He stared at her a little skeptically "If I didn’t know you so well, I just ree with everyone else that you’re psychic"

She smiled a little uneasily "You would have chosen the same spot yourself," she assured him

"Yeah, eventually" He looked across the work site, staring at the professor, as down on his hands and knees about fifty yards away "Well, princess of the past, announce your discovery Give the old boy his thrill for the night"

"You tell hiether," she said modestly "You were just a few feet away"

"You e deal," she reminded him stubbornly

"I won’t take your credit"