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Unable to e a reply, Mary turned away, silent, and headed for the bathroory children

THIRTEEN

45 HOURS, 36 MINUTES

SAM KNOCKED AT the front door He didn’t usually do that Astrid had told him many times he could just walk in

But he knocked, anyway

It took her a while to answer

She must have just come from the shower Astrid worked out after dinner, when Little Pete usually liked to watch DVDs Her blond hair was plastered down her neck, strands of it swooping down across one eye to give her a vaguely piratical look She earing a bathrobe and carrying a towel

“So You ca back, eh?” Astrid said

“Would it help if I were on hands and knees?” Sam asked

Astrid considered that for a h”

“I didn’t see you all day”

“It would have been surprising if you had I wasn’t interested in being seen”

“Can I come in?”

“Are you asking if you est ability ‘May’ is proper when the question is one of permission”

Saet me hot when you do that”