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He pulled his eyes away, realizing only then that they were full of tears The others were standing behind her, a silent chorus of witness

"We should bury her here Near her house, her garden"

"We will," Alicia said gently "I hts It will be dark soon Michael says we have a full charge if ant"

He glanced past her to Michael, who nodded

"All right," he said

They closed the gate and gathered in the Sunspot-all except Michael, who had returned to the Lighthouse It was just twilight, the sky purpling overhead Everything see Then with an audible pop the lights ca them all with a fierce and final brilliance

Michael appeared to stand beside theht"

Peter nodded They were silent for a tiht, and the lights of First Colony would darken forever

"So nohat?" Alicia asked

In the stillness, Peter felt the presence of his friends around hirown lean and hard, a man now Greer, his wise and soldierly countenance And Aht of all that he had seen, and those who had been lost-not just the ones he knew of, but those whom he did not-and he knehat his ansas

He said, "Noe go to war"

Chapter SEVENTY-FOUR

The last hour before dawn: Amy crept from the house, alone The house of the woman called Auntie, who had died; they had buried her where she’d sat, wrapping her body in a quilt froraph he had taken froround was hard, it had taken the, and when they were done, they had decided to sleep the night there The woood as anyplace He had a house of his own, Ao back there

Peter had stayed upin the old wo froht of the lantern as he turned the pages of her small, neat script He had made a cup of tea but did not drink it; it sat beside hiotten as he read