Part 319 (2/2)

stood beside it, hands in his pockets, saying nothing. They had all

come home with her, her father, P.M. and his family, Johnno. Bev made

endless pots of tea.

Though no one spoke, she sensed the shock was wearing off into

bewilderment. There were questions that could never be answered,

mistakes that could never be rectified. Regrets that would never

completely disappear.

But they had survived, Emma thought. The odds had been against them,

individually and as a group, but they had survived. Even triumphed.

Rising, she walked out to the terrace where Brian was alone, watching

the sea. He would suffer, Emma thought. It was his nature to pull

problems into his heart and mourn, whether they were his or the world's.

Then somehow, he would Turn them into something to be played on guitar

or keyboard, with flute and violin. Moving to him, she rested her head

on his shoulder.

”He was one of us,” Brian said after a moment. ”He'd been with us since

the beginning.”

”i know.”

”When I saw him with his hands on you, I wanted to kill him myself And

now He watched the play of the early moon on the water. ”I can hardly

believe it all happened. Why?” He turned, taking her into his arms.

”For G.o.d's sake, why did he do it?”

She pressed hard against him, listening to the ebb and flow of the

sea. How could she tell him? If he knew the reasons, he would never be

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