Page 64 (1/1)

He tears his eyes away fro to what? What’re you talking about?"

"The people I saw--they were pointing The voice I heard was leading us away from the forest, toward the plain Even your parents’ house, the garden path led away--toward this spot And now these flowers…I don’t know,too hard to find sense in all of this"

"You think they’re showing us the way" He turns back to face the hills "Tohat?"

We stand, staring at the path before us, so clear and bright All I want is to go find out if they’re real, if they’re as solid as the flower in his journal If all of this is some dream in which the laws of physics don’t exist

"Lilac!" Tarver’s voice is urgent, snappingto catch my breath as he leans close to h with faint stubble, as he brings his line of sight alongside le where we touch

This is no drea" He stretches one arlint?"

It’s all I can do not to turn ht I draw in a deep breath and force myself to focus I don’t see it i the strip of forest bordering the hills at its western edge

And then, as sudden as a lightning strike, I do see it A tiny glint of reflected sunlight, winking atat it, trying not to believe it’s what I think it is "It’s a piece of the ship that landed there Another crashed escape pod"

Tarver slowly lets his ar at the thing too "I don’t think so" His voice is quiet too, barely audible over the wind "It’s tough to tell, but I think the trees around it are cleared, unifor "

There’s no fuel for a fire out a hills, and it’s bitterly cold, but I don’t care Tarver estie of the forest, and as the sun set in front of us on the first day I could see the trees along the horizon, in the distance The sea of flowers vanished into e, but we knohere we’re being led To what end, or what purpose, we can’t hope to guess, but if it’s a building--and it’s real--it ht be the key to our rescue

"Hot water!" I say cheerfully, eating cold, plain pasta withso delicious

"A roof," Tarver replies,at his own handful of the pasta I cooked before we left The kitchen storerooms on the wreck were lance over at hi his still-pale face some false color We’re camped in the lee of a hill, as ht, even together

"A bed," isthe last of his share of the pasta and leaning back on his elbows He’s stillslowly, carefully But he looks better, for all his trouble walking today "I can’t top that"

I hurry to finish the rest of my dinner and scoot over to where he reclines on the blanket, eager for his warood arm around me, easy, coht he sood, but I turn ainst the material of his T-shirt

We’re quiet for a while, perhaps each of us i Tarver saw on the horizon His face has changed, a spark of hope where there had only been gri with the belief that no rescue was co? It’s obvious that ever since we reached the Icarus, he’s been aiood chance we’ll be able to signal for help No re would be without so htly He inhales deeply, the rise and fall of his chest shiftingdo you think we’ve been here?"

"Counting the ti a quick ? It knocks the wind out ofIt feels like only two days and like a lifetie voice "I turned seventeen a few days ago" The day you ca myself to say that out loud

Tarver’s breath catches, then releases "Happy birthday, Miss LaRoux" I can hear the smile in his voice

I’ve become a year older while stranded on this planet I s

Perhaps sensing the shift in ertips along my arm I suspect the movement hurts him, but if it does, he makes no co you’d do e get rescued? A realat his T-shirt in distaste "Take a shower?"