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The troubled look on Sa

“What is it?” Howard asked again

Sam shook his head slowly His tanned face looked suddenly so much older than his barely fifteen years Howard had a vision of Saray and thin, face creased with deep worry lines It was a face marked by all the pain and worry Sam had endured

Howard had the sudden, ridiculous urge to offer Sam a drink He looked like he could use it

SEVEN

36 HOURS, 19 MINUTES

ASTRID STOOD GAZING down at the lake froht into the lake, of course, cutting it roughly in half The lake’s shoreline bulged out so that she could no longer keep following the barrier without going out of her way Anyway, soon it would be too dark to see the stain Time to turn toward the human habitations

The sun was down and a s in a circle of tents and trailers Astrid couldn’t see the kids around the fire, but she could see shapes occasionally crossing in front of the flames

Now that she was here she could no longer even pretend to suppress her e to see Sam Others, too, and she would no doubt have to endure stares and greetings and probably insults

All that she could handle But she was going to see Sa Sam

Sam, Sam, Sam

“Stop it,” she told herself

A crisis was co She had a duty to help her friends understand it

“Weak,” she muttered

The suspicion had been growing in her head that she was just co up with an excuse to see Sa for an excuse to back off and avoid her duty to help