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As we passed he returned grih his arthritic hands could hardly close around the stick There was soht; a defiance I adive up his post The last watch with the road, we s that shed their skins as alked: first the paint was singed away, and farther along the s had blackened and burst; next, the roofs were caving and the walls co down, and finally, as we ca Street, only their bones were left--a chaos of ti in the ash like tiny hearts beating their last We stood and looked around, thunderstruck Sulfurous smoke rose from deep cracks that fissured the pavement Fire-stripped trees loomed like scarecrows over the ruins Drifts of ash flowed down the street, a foot deep in places It was as close to Hell as I ever intend to find hts’ front driveway," said Addison "How fitting"

"It’s unreal," I said, unbuttoning h the soles of round fire," Emma said "They can burn for years Notoriously difficult to extinguish"

There was a sound like a giant can of soda being opened, and a tall prong of orange flame shot up from a seam in the pavement not ten feet away We started and jumped and then had to collect ourselves

"Let’s not spend one er here than we need to," said Eht to choose fro Street tere on the other, but we didn’t knohich hich, and between the s, and the wind-blown ash, we couldn’t see far in either direction Choosing at randoerous detour and a waste of ti tune drifting toward us through the fog We scuttled off the road to hide aers approached, their voices growing louder, we could :

The night before the thief was stretched,

the hangman came around

I’ve co to expound

I’ll strangle your neck and send you to heck

and cut off your arive you a riiiiiiiiide …

Here they all paused for breath, then finished with: "SIX FEET UNDER THE GROUND!"

Long before they eures took for gaily at their sides Even after a hard day’s work, the indo at the top of their lungs

"Bless their tuneless souls," E at the Ditch end of S Street, so it see froe We waited for theback onto the road to follow

We shuffled through reefs of ash that blackened everything--the cuffs of ht of Addison’s legs So, their voices echoing weirdly through the burned landscape Nothing around us but ruin Now and then we heard a sharp whoosh, quickly followed by a spout of flaround None erupted as close as the first one We were lucky--getting roasted alive here would’ve been easy

Out of nowhere a wind kicked up, sending ash and hot cinders skyward in a black blizzard We turned and covered our faces in an effort to breathe I pulled my shirt collar over h Emma took Addison into her arms, but then she started to choke I tore offquieted and I heard Addison’s muffled voice say "Thank you!" beneath the fabric

It was all we could do to huddle there and wait for the ash storthat even here, amidst all I’d witnessed in Devil’s Acre, startledcasual as could be, a handkerchief pressed to histhe dark because bea froing his sight-bea his hat I tried to reply but my mouth filled with ash and then so did one

As the wind began to die, we coughed and spat and rubbed our eyes until we could function again Eround "If we’re not careful, this loop will kill us before the wights do," he said Eedher ar her head into the hollow of aps were left between us, and I wanted badly to kiss her, even here, covered in soot from head to toe

Addison cleared his throat "I hate to interrupt, but we really should be getting on"

We unhooked our li Soon pale figures appeared in the fog ahead They werebetween shacks that encrusted the roadside We hesitated, nervous about who they ht be, but there was no other way forward