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She set down her pen "Why don’t you look at the student jobs listed in the catalog? One of theht inspire you"

I took her advice, and I ended up writing an essay about joining the stables crew, since I kne to listen to horses as well as talk to them

With the application sent off, I foundabout the future My father sent eneral ter a doctor or a scientist He quoted W B Yeats: "Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire"

The quotation struckthat earlier that su of fire, you and your mother had better burn my letters With so many police around, it’s better that I stay dead"

I wrote back a long description of Hillhouse and a summary of my essays I told him I’d asked to live in one of the "quiet" dorms, where loud noise was prohibited after 10 PM Finally, I wrote, "We ht twice If I sent it, he’d feel reassured that all ell in Sassa And it wasn’t

I destroyed the first letter and wrote a new one It began: "Dear Father, I have been learning how to sarettes" It went on to talk abouto, and abouta local boy being questioned in the disappearance of a friend I thought of adding that Mãe was flirting with bartenders, but that seemed cruel, so I si lately" I ended with: "Yes, ill burn your letters It’s really a blessing that you’re not here"

Then I went to Mãe’s office to find a stamp

November faded into Dece up, we celebrated Christifts for me from my father and his assistants, Root and Dennis Dennis had made us observe the holiday

My mother and Dashay told me they celebrated the winter solstice with a Yule feast

"No presents?" I asked

Plenty of presents, they toldup And we’d even have our own Yule tree--soh other people’s s, back in Saratoga Springs

One mid-December day I decided to use my allowance to buy presents for theh temperatures in the seventies), and the ride into toent quickly The streets were busier, now that the search for Mysty had been called off According to the newspaper, the police said they had no leads

Sassa didn’t offeropportunities I decided that the pharmacy was my best bet

For Dashay, I found copper-colored eye shadoith glitter in it, two red candles, and a lemon-colored T-shirt captioned SASSY in silver Mãe was more complicated I finally settled on crystal-studded hair ornaonflies, two like stars, one like a crescent ht depress her, I was sliding it back onto the display pin when soainst a cos me "I need to talk to you," she said

I paid forlot

"I wanted to co me" She beckoned me toward a bench under a live oak tree "If we talk here, it’s like we ran into each other, no big deal"

She looked thinner than she’d been the last tiht now, and her sweater sagged around her waist and hips Her eyes had shadows under theleaot to help Jesse" She nodded, as if agreeing with herself "He’s in a bad way He’s using sos?" I said

"Yeah, but not like X or crack" She bent her head, then looked up at me "You know about that stuff?"

I’d read about it online I nodded

"So he’s doing so that ured, since you got him off alcohol, maybe you could help him kick this stuff" Autu reddish crescents along her cheekbones "Ari, he screwed up the lie detector tests And they found some of Mysty’s blood and hair in his car He respects you Won’t you help?" Her voice cracked, and that’s when I knew that I would try

Autun called it HARMONY HOMES MANOR, but it was a trailer park: row after row of mobile homes, some well ardens near the entrances, others looking as if they’d been abandoned--or should be As alked our bikes into the place (the road was too pitted with holes to ride), Autuainst Jesse "All they have is a tiny spot of blood and a few hairs, but they definitely belong to her"

"She rode in the car quite a bit, didn’t she?"

"That’s what I told them"

"And that day we came back from the e of the blood welling on her arotten all about that That’s where the bloodstain on the seat must have come from"

I wasn’t as convinced as she was For all I knew, Jesse uilty

But when I saw hi at the kitchen table inside the trailer, his head supported by his hands, elbows braced against the oilcloth table cover patterned with s-shaped salt and pepper shakers stood next to a large bottle of ketchup on the table, and the place smelled like years of fried food

Jesse looked up e ca to think of rown a beard "I’m Ari," I said

"Ari" He smiled

"I like the beard," I said I sat at the table opposite him "Autumn, leave us alone to talk, would you?"