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I open my mouth to speak, but I don’t knohat to say I am scared, so scared But I don’t want Damien to see that He knows it, of course, but I want to be strong I need to be as strong as he believes h the heavy wooden door to the judges’ cha where I cannot follow into a world I don’t understand

All I know is that trials are not usually interrupted in this way

All I can see is the stern expression on the judges’ faces and the blank control in the eyes of Charles Maynard

All I know is that they have taken Damien from me

All I feel is fear

Chapter Four

Ollie has al tea on, but his absence makes me feel even more at loose ends It has been over an hour now I am alone and desperate for information For the first time since I can country, because I have no understanding of what is going on around h The fact that I do not speak German only exacerbates the illusion The Gerlish, and I can hear what they are saying to Ollie And what they are saying is that they do not understand any lass, and I’ even worse than the spectacle we anticipated

I pressto leverwill only call attention to allery are staring atthemselves In the absence of Damien, I stand as his proxy It is not a role that I would mind under normal circuht

When I ao completely mad if even one es’ chaes come first, their expressions unreadable Then Maynard, then Herr Vogel The lay judges follow, and Das up the rear

I’ when my eyes meet Damien’s My hands are fisted inat hih I search his face, I can find nothing helpful in his expression It is completely blank

He slips in behind the counsel table, and he is only inches froer looking at me, and a cold wave of fear settles overmine I blink away tears and reach out for him He takes my hand in his and squeezes it

It’s bad, I think Whatever it is, it must be very, very bad

Da increases He sits at the defense counsel table, and I take my seat, as well There is already one witness--a janitor--who saw hi on the roof with Richter before Richter fell to his death Could there be another witness? It is the only thing I can think of, and worry consues are back at the bench and Ollie returns to the gallery The bailiff calls the proceedings to order just as Ollie sits beside me