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Amy took her hands to quiet them Yes, she replied Even then

From the pocket of her dress, Pim withdrew a notebook It was small but possessed the thickness of stiff parchht you this

Amy accepted it and opened the covers, which rapped in soft hide Here it was, page after page The drawings The words The island with its five stars

Who else has seen this? she signed

Only you

Not even Caleb?

Pim shook her head A film of tears coated the surface of her eyes; she appeared cos?

Amy closed the notebook I cannot say

What does it mean?

I think it means you will live; your baby will live A pause, then: Will you helproom, she found paper and a pen She wrote the note, folded it into thirds, and gave it to Piain, Amy went to the bathroom off the hall Above the washbasin was a ses that had occurred to her person had been felt rather than observed; she had yet to see herself She stepped to the mirror The face she beheld did not see felt herself to be: a woular face, pale unblemished skin, and deep-set eyes Her hair was as short as a boy’s, showing the curves of her skull, and bristly to the touch, like the end of a broo ordinariness; she ht have been anyone, just another woman in the crowd, yet it ithin this face, this body, that all her thoughts and perceptions--her sense of self--resided The urge to reach out and touch the , and she allowed herself to do so As her fingerin kind, a shift occurred This is you, her mind told her This is the one true A it to a condition of absolute motionlessness--that was the trick Ainary; it was the lake in Oregon where Wolgast, in their first days together at the caht her to swiradually the scene arose in her thoughts The cusp of night, and the first stars punching through a blue-black sky The wall of shadohere tall pines, rich with fragrance, stood regally along the rocky shore The water itself, cold and clear and sharp-tasting, and the downy duff of needles carpeting the bottom In this mental construct, Amy was both the lake and the swi its surface in accordance with her motions She took a breath and dove down, into an unseen world; when the botto motion Far above her, the ripples of her entry dispersed concentrically across the surface When the last of these disturbances touched their fingers to the shore, and the lake’s surface returned to perfect balance, the state she required would be achieved