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I got up abruptly, because I couldn’t stay still anymore But it didn’t shut Billy up Of course it didn’t I’d never found anything that did

"And even if, by soet him out of there, what do you think would happen then?" he dee He broke his parole, or whatever you want to call it Rosier would just drag him back--"

"We don’t know that!"

"Yes, we do Pritkin told you--"

"What he knew! Butto pace and not being able to because of the dalass I kicked an arc of it out of the way and the shards flashed in the glow fro flauy who lived there"

"No, but maybe my mother does!" I rounded on hiht And for centuries! If there’s a loophole, she’ll know it!"

"And if there isn’t?"

"Then there isn’t," I said, crossingat hiive up I can’t, Billy--don’t you get it?"

"Oh, I get it," he muttered "I’m just not sure that you do"

"What does thatBut the fact reet to her to ask"

I sat down on the bed, suddenly exhausted It had been a long day at the end of a long week, and s, but I didn’t have the energy I wanted to black out and find Pritkin there when I woke up I wanted

God Soht," I ad the back ofwith a few nosy witches, I sure couldn’t take whatever was guarding dear old Mom

"Coive Marco a heart attack Get sos will look different"

In other words, tomorrow maybe I’d come to my senses

"Yeah, ue any relieved Which did exactly nothing tolately, Billy Joe wasn’t the tiambler in life, until he ended up in a sack at the bottouys When Billy thought so was too risky

Well, let’s just say the odds weren’t great

And it wasn’t like everything he’d said wasn’t true But so was so he hadn’t bothered to mention That if our positions were reversed, Pritkin would have come after me Whether I’d liked it or not, whether I’d wanted him to risk it or not, he wouldn’t have just left me there It probably wouldn’t even have crossed his mind I knew that, with more certainty than I knehich direction the sun would rise tomorrow

So how could I just leave him?

I curled up on his ood Like soap and gunpowder and , and didn’t cry Because it eak, and I couldn’t afford to be weak

And because you only cried for people eren’t co back

And that wasn’t the case here, no et him away from his loathsome father, had to find a way to keep hiet to my mother

Somehow

But it had been a week, and so far, I hadn’t evenaround through tih the old Pythian Court, alotten s And for what? I was no closer to finding Pritkin than I’d been a week ago

When he left me

Chapter Five

"The Star"

A soft chime woke me