Page 85 (1/2)

Kate nodded, enthralled

"Now, the king and queen, Elizabeth’s parents, had never stopped looking for her They’d codom besides But the tree was very well hidden Then one day they heard a ru in the forest with the fairies Could that be our daughter? they wondered And they did the only thing they could think of They ordered the royal woodsmen to cut down all the trees until they found the one with Elizabeth inside it"

"All of theood idea The woods were home not only to the fairies but to all kinds of animals and birds But Elizabeth’s parents were so desperate, they would have done anything to get their daughter back So the woods and queen rode out on their horses, calling her name ’Elizabeth! Elizabeth! Where are you?’ And you knohat happened?"

"She heard them?"

"Yes, she did Only the na to her any about her life But the fairy queen knehat she was hearing, and she felt pretty awful about it How could I have done this terrible thing? she thought How could I have taken Elizabeth away? But still she couldn’t make herself fly out of the tree to tell Elizabeth’s parents where she was She loved the girl too o ’Be very still,’ she said to Elizabeth ’Don’tcloser and closer Trees were falling everywhere All the fairies were afraid ’Give her back,’ they said to the fairy queen, ’please, give her back before they destroy the entire forest’ "

"Wow," Kate gasped

"I know It’s a pretty scary story Should I stop?"

"Uncle Peter, please"

He laughed "All right, all right So, the woodsmen came to the tree with Elizabeth and the fairies inside It was an especiallycanopy of leaves A fairy tree But as one woodse of heart The tree, you see, was just too beautiful to cut down I’m sure the creatures of the forest care about this tree as hter, he said It wouldn’t be right to take it away fro I love Everybody, put your axes down and go hohter, ill never see again It was very sad Everybody was in tears Elizabeth’s parents, the woodsmen, even the fairy queen, who had heard every word Because she knew that Elizabeth could never be her real daughter, no matter how hard she wished it So she took her by the hand and led her out of the tree and said, ’Your Majesties, please forgive irl of my own so much that I couldn’t help s with you I’ and queen said?"

"Off with your head?"

Peter stifled a laugh "Just the opposite Despite everything that had happened, they were so happy to have their daughter back, and so moved by the fairy queen’s remorse, that they decided to reward her They issued a royal proclamation that the fairies should be left to live in peace, and that all children of the realm should have one special fairy friend Which is why, to this day, only children can see them"

Kate was silent a moment "So that’s the end?"

"Pretty much, yeah" He felt faintly embarrassed "I haven’t really done this before How’d I do?"

The girl considered this, then said, with a crisp nod, "I liked it It was a good story Tell ot another one in me Aren’t you tired yet?"

"Please, Uncle Peter"

The night was clear, the stars shining down Everything was still, not a trace ofwith a power that startled hied to hold hiht, and Tifty too But most of all, Amy He loves you, you know The truth filled hio home and learn to be a father

"So, okay "

He talked and talked He told her every story he knew By the tione slack in his ar the flaps around her

"Are you cold, sweetheart?"

Her voice was soft, half gone "Nuh-uh"

She nestled against hiht, and closed his eyes Just another minute, and I’ll take her inside He felt Kate’s warainst his own, rising and falling, like long waves on a beach But a minute passed, and then another and another, and by that ti anywhere, because he was fast asleep

In the lavatory of the apothecary shop, Lucius Greer was shaving

The day, and ht besides, had disappeared under an avalanche of duties Awhich Eustace had attempted first to reexplain and then once more justify the lottery procedure for evacuation; the tallying of census data, which had revealed numerous duplicate forms, some made in error, others with deliberate intent by individuals trying to increase their odds of being chosen; a brawl outside the detention center when a group of three cols, half-starved after weeks of hiding in an unused warehouse, had attempted to turn themselves in, only to be intercepted by the ss over which he’d been asked to officiate when one of the JPs had taken ill (all Lucius had to do was read four sentences off a card, yet it surprised hihty it felt to say the of the evacuation support tea of their responsibilities in preparation for the first departure; and on and on A day of one thing and then another and another; Lucius couldn’t remember what or even if he’d eaten, he’d barely sat down all day, and yet here he was, past rizzled, hirsute face in thea blade in one hand and a pair of scissors in the other

He began with the scissors Snip by snip the wild torrent of his hair and beard fell away, their white leavings gathering on the floor by his feet like drifts of feathered snow When this was done he war it out, and lay it over his face to soften the bristles that remained He s, then went to ith the blade: first his cheeks, then the long arc of his neck, and finally his head, working backward from brow to crown to the base of his skull in short, measured strokes The first tiht before he’d taken the oath of the Expeditionary, he had cut himself in about twenty places It was commonly said that you didn’t need to look at the uniform to know a fresh recruit; all you had to do was look at his head But with tiotten the knack, and it pleased him to discover that he hadn’t lost his touch He could have done it blindfolded in the dark if he had to, yet there was satisfaction to be had in observing a ritual that after so many years still possessed the power of a baptise was laid bare, and when the task was complete, Greer stepped back to exa his hand over the cool pinkness of his rediscovered flesh and nodding with approval at the ie he beheld