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PROLOGUE

VIOLET AMBROSE WANDERED AWAY FROM THE safety of her father as she listened to the har of the leaves ently with the restless calls of birds and the far-off rushing waters of the icy river that lay beyond the trees

And then there was another sound So she couldn’t quite identify Yet

She was fa of this new, and nified She had been hearing sounds, or seeing colors, or s as she could remember

Echoes, she called them

She looked back at her father to see if he had heard it too, even though she already knew the answer He hadn’t, of course Only she could hear it Only she understood what the haunting sound foretold

He walked casually behind her, at his saht-year-old daughter as she ran ahead of hiain, carried on the breeze that sent crisp, golden leaves swirling around her ankles She stopped briefly to listen, but once it passed she continued on ahead

"Don’t go too far," her father dutifully called from behind her He wasn’t really worried about her out here These were their woods

Violet had practically been raised in this forest, learning about her surroundings, learning how to tell which direction she was facing by the lichen growing on the tall tree trunks, and knowing how to tell the time of day by the position of the sun…at least on those days when that sun wasn’t obscured by the glooht-year-old girl

She ignored her father’s warning and wandered off the path, still listening to that so her forward Her feet felt propelled by a will of their own as she struggled toshe could identify She stepped over fallen branches and walked through a sea of fern fronds that grew up froround

"Violet!" She heard her dad’s voice breaking through her concentration

She paused, and then called back, "I’h not as loudly as she should have, before she started walking again

The sound was getting stronger Not louder, but stronger She could feel the vibrations practically resonating beneath her skin now

This was hoith these things This was the way these feelings came to her They were indescribable, yet to her they made perfect sense

And when they called to her she felt compelled to answer