Page 9 (1/2)

“What happens to hiht?” Cara asked

Mari blinked and reared back a centi rude Her father didn’t react at all, just turned the fixed, polite sree more toward her Her mother was the one to answer

“This isn’t the time—”

“I know the funeral’s tomorrow,” Cara said, “but it’s not like there’s a place in town that he can stay in until then Can he be here? It’s the last night he can, so he should stay here With us”

Her voice was louder and shriller than she’d intended Mari Tennanbau at her, but other people were Her mother’s eyes were as dead as Momma bird’s

“Sure,” her mother said “If it’s important to you, he can stay here until the funeral That would…that would be nice To have him here”

Then herand didn’t stop Her father put down his wine, still with the same smile, and led her away For awith Mouard over the body To make sure that if anyone came and tried to take him away, she’d be there to tell them her mom said not to

Theuntil the darkness felt like it had always been there Like dayti beside Xan when Admiral Duarte and the soldiers left, and when Stephen DeCaamp and Janet Li ca in the local systeht him in anyway, still on the table They left hi area and the kitchen, dressed in his funeral whites It was like so out of a dream

Her parents saw everyone out, said their last farewells, and closed the door None of them spoke, and Cara went to the washroom and pretended to prepare for bed Brushed teeth, washed face, changed into a nightgown She kissed her mother on the cheek and went to her bedrooh, so the latch wouldn’t make noise when she opened it Then, as quietly as she could, she took the nightgown back off and pulled on work clothes She tucked her handheld into her sock drawer If they checked, it would look like she was in her room She crawled into bed and pulled the covers up to her neck so if her parents did coht, would be waiting until they went to bed without falling asleep herself

In the darkness, she bit her lip, chewing the soft flesh so the pain would keep her awake She counted backward from five hundred, one number with each breath, and then counted back up to five hundred again She was just shifting the blanket aside to get up when she heard the back door open and her parents’ voices drift in She froze, listened

The strangest thing was how norular life

“I’ll get that cleaned up later,” her father said

“It’s fine I don’t care”

“I know, but I’ll clean it up anyway”

The ghost of a laugh, gone al against the counter the way she always did, except that Xan was dead So ht to have changed