Chapter 24: The Light at the Gate

I picked Mina up, and she put her arms around my neck.

The boy in front of the light waited for us without moving.

Behind him stood a man and a woman, both dressed for work, with their hands at their sides.

I knew them. I had seen them once, in the marshal's report, as a line of type.

I walked toward them through the fog with my daughter on my hip.

Nobody followed me. I heard Alessio take one step, and then stop.

The ground under my feet turned from gray to pale gold as I came close to the light.

The boy looked at Mina.

He was ten, and he had a crayon stub in his shirt pocket.

"Is that your bear?" he asked.

Mina looked at him over my shoulder.

"His name is Biscuit," she said.

"I like it."

"You can hold him if you want."

She held the bear out, and the boy took it with both hands, very carefully.

The woman beside him smiled.

She had a plain, tired face, with a streak of flour on her sleeve, and she looked at me for a long time.

I put Mina down on her feet.

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