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For answer, the Djinn nodded toward a spot on the carpet--a relatively clean one A pile of clothing materialized there--white shirt, sturdy pants that looked suspiciously like I remembered the drapes to be My own shoes, recovered and cleaned Plain white bra and panties and socks

Djinn couldn’t create out of thin air, but they could recycle He’d used the raw material of extra sheets, the curtains, towels, whatever textile was around, and he’d ed to produce a decent attempt at a wardrobe Clean and dry, if not stylish

I struggled into it fast It fit, of course Djinn tailoring always fit I tiedin the dirt and started to follow the Djinn out of the rubble

"Jo?" Cherise called I looked back She was sitting up, cradling the fretful boy in her lap

She looked huge-eyed and emotionally shattered, but at least she was physically okay For now "I want to go with you"

"No If you put any weight on those legs right now, they could break again They need at least an hour to finish building the seal in the break That’s as fast as I can do it"

"Okay" She sed, but didn’t look away "I want to see him buried Please Take me with you"

I hesitated, then nodded "I’ll send the Djinn back for you," I said "Wait here, okay? I promise, it’ll only be a few minutes"

She didn’t like it, but I think she saw that there was no way I could carry her ical power If I pulled power fro returns and a harder crash once it was over I couldn’t afford it

Not knowing that this was far froh; he’d left a lighted trail of orange light through the trees

He hadn’t gone too far in, but far enough that I lost sight of the road and the wrecked s were hushed The air smelled sweet and heavy, crisp with the smell of the needles

Untouched

The Djinn had dug a grave--six feet deep, wider than needed--beneath a particularly i tree Kevin’s body lay wrapped in a sier looked like the boy I’d known, or the man I’d wished he’d had a chance to become He lookedempty, rendered pale and sexless by the shroud I wasn’t sure I wanted Cherise to see hiet hiet Cherise and the kid Don’t let her walk yet"

The Djinn nodded andat Kevin for a moment, then hopped down into the daround to move him toward me and onto a hardened cushion of air I floated him down into my arms, and lowered him the last bit on my own He still felt heavy Sohter now

I leaned over and kissed his lips gently "I’m so sorry," I said "Find peace, Kevin I’ve never known anybody who needed it more, and deserved it h, but I couldn’t think of anything else to say

I levitatedair and stepped off at ground level, just in time to see the Djinn arrive back at a run with Cherise and the boy in his arms They looked like toys, the casual way he balanced them, but I kneouldn’t drop them No chance

He looked around, then formed a plain wooden chair that was the same color and texture as the trees around us Fallen wood, probably, reshaped for the purpose He lowered her into it and cas he probably regretted," David said "But he tried to do good That counts"

"He died trying to save us," I said "That counts for everything"

We linked hands It didn’t feel like David, but that didn’t ht now I just wanted to feel a touch, anyone’s touch, to remind me I wasn’t all alone in this I felt a breath of relief pass over me that made me feel a little weak I wish you ith me, I whispered, deep inside

And I heard his whisper back, along that golden cord that bound us on the aetheric plane

I aether, we filled in the hole Apart fro of birds in the trees, the busy rustle of ani on their lives, there wasn’t any sound When I looked at Cherise, she was silently crying The boy was staring at us in confusion, about to break into wails of disapproval for all this craziness, but not sure if he should

We srave, and I sent a pulse through the Earth, bidding the seeds to grow Grass and flowers, pushing up green and fresh

"You deserved better, Kevin," I said "You always deserved better than what you got, and I’, after that--so in warm, liquid syllables, lyrical and lovely that rose and fell in emotional arcs of poetry When he was done, he bowed his head

"That was beautiful," Cherise said, even though I knew she hadn’t understood it any more than I had

"It’s our prayer for the dead," said David’s voice "Given to those who fall in battle"

When he said our, I sensed that he didn’tin that long-ago time

I squeezed his hand "It is beautiful," I said "Promise me you’ll use it for me if it comes to that"

"No," he said "I won’t Because I won’t be here to do it if you’re gone"

We stayed a while longer, but the air was getting cool, and we had o

The Djinn carried Cherise back to the waiting Mustang, which had only suffered a few scratches and dings out in the parking lot during the general destruction Good I’d destroyed way too many automotive works of art in my time I didn’t want to leave the Boss behind, too

I looked back at the place where Kevin Prentiss had died until it fell away in the rear , just another wide spot in the road Nothing special

It was special now It alould be, for me

I waited for the tears, but they stayed where they were, siry

"Floor it," I said to the Djinn, and to David through hihter"