Page 27 (1/1)

Kate was staring at him, wide-eyed "What happened?"

Well, Michael went on, that was the funny thing He had expected the whale to side the Nautilus Occasionally it would duck its enormous head beneath the surface, only to reappear a fewwet sneeze Then, as the , the creature descended and did not reappear Michael waited Was it finally gone? Several an to relax Then, with an explosion of seawater, it reared upward off his starboard bow, hurling its h into the air It was, Michael said, like watching a city lift into the sky See what I can do? Don’t mess with me, brother It crashed back doith a second detonation that blasted hiain

Kate was s a joke on you"

Michael laughed "I guess ht and returned to theup the last of the dishes The power had been cut for the night; a pair of candles flickered on the table, exuding greasy trails of sets the credit," Sara said "I’m so busy at the hospital I sorinned "It’s true"

"I hope a ht," Sara said "If I’d known you were cootten a proper cot from the hospital"

"Are you kidding? I usually sleep sitting up I’ down the stove with a cloth A little too aggressively--Michael could sense her frustration It was an old conversation

"Look," Michael said, "you don’t have to worry about me I’m fine"

Sara exhaled sharply "Hollis, talk to hied helplessly "What do you want et yourself killed’ "

"It’s not like that," Michael said

"What Sara is trying to say," Hollis interjected, "is we all hope you’re being careful"

"No, that’s not at all what I’" She looked at Michael "Is it Lore? Is that the reason?"

"Lore has nothing to do with it"

"Then tell me, because I’d really like to understand this, Michael"

How should he explain hiether that they weren’t anything he could asseht That’s all I can say"

She resu "So you feel like you should be scaring the hell out of me"

Michael reached for her, but she shook him away "Sara--"

"Don’t" She refused to look at him "Don’t tell me this is okay Don’t tell me any of this is okay Goddaet up early"

Hollis moved in behind her He placed one hand on her shoulder, the other on the rag, bringing it to a halt and gently taking it froot to let hireat"

Sara had begun to cry Hollis turned her around and drew her into hi aardly by the table "She’s just worn out is all Maybe you could give us a ht by the door"

Michael let himself out of the aparto, he took a seat on the ground near the entrance where nobody would bother hi time Sara had always been a worrier, but he didn’t like upsetting her; it was one of the reasons he came to the city so rarely He would have liked to make her happy--find someone to marry, settle doith a job just like everybody else, have kids His sister deserved so in to look after hih she’d just been a kid herself Everything they did and said to each other contained this unspoken fact If things had happened differently, they ht have been just like any other brother and sister, their i over time as new connections took precedence But not the two of thee, but there would always be a room in their hearts in which only the two of them resided