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"I’ man in a crisp French accent, "and this is Mother Dust I speak for her"

Mother Dust leaned toward Reynaldo and whispered so in his ear Reynaldo looked atbetter"

That’s when I realized where I’d seen her: infrom my attack

"Yes, much better," I said, unnerved

Bentham skipped the for Reynaldo and Mother Dust to the laundry cart "It’s a hollowgast, visible to us only where it’s been painted"

"She can heal anything with a beating heart," said Reynaldo

"Then, please," Bentham said "It’s very important that we save this creature’s life"

Via Reynaldo, Mother Dust issued orders Take the beast out of the cart, they said, so East onto the floor Put it in the sink, they said, so Emma and Sharon helped , deep sink We cleaned its wounds ater from the tap, careful not to wash away too much of the white paint Next, Mother Dust exaast as Reynaldo asked me to identify all the places it was hurt

"Now, Marion," Bentha Mother Dust informally, "you needn’t heal every last cut and bruise We don’t want the creature in top health; we only want to keep it alive You see?"

"Yes, yes," Reynaldo said dis"

Bentha a show of his unhappiness

"Now she will make the dust," Reynaldo said "Stand back, and be careful not to breathe it in It will put you to sleep instantly"

We backed away Reynaldo strapped a dust mask over his nose and mouth and then untied the shawl that wrapped as left of Mother Dust’s right ar, and it came to an end well above ould have been her elbow

With her left hand Mother Dust began to rub the stu in the air Holding his breath, Reynaldo combed the air with one hand and collected the dust We watched, fascinated and slightly repulsed, until he’d gathered about an ounce of the stuff and the size of Mother Dust’s stump had been reduced by the same amount