Part 10 (1/2)

She bit her lip, as if that could stopper her thoughts.

”Yes,” Charlie said. ”I can speak, but barely. I feel . . .” He gripped Eleazar's hand for support.

”He's very weak,” Eleazar said. ”I'm sorry if I startled you, my good woman. I do not wish him to be poked and prodded about during his recovery.Your doctor is examining him now.”

Doc Adams rose. ”The boy lives. He breathes. He speaks. His heart beats. His blood flows.”

Millie dropped to her knees. ”Praise be. Dear Lord, thank you . . .”

As she continued, Doc Adams explained which children could be resurrected. Eleazar took Charlie's hand and helped him from the coffin. He told Mayor Browning to fetch his wife and then announced that he would take Charlie inside to rest.Addie waited until they were gone, then scampered back across the roof.

Addie eased open the back door to the community center. Inside, she could hear Eleazar talking to his a.s.sistant. She closed the door silently behind her. While Eleazar was occupied, she'd speak to Charlie.Yes, he was weak, but she'd take up none of his time or his strength. She simply wanted to . . .

She didn't know what she wanted. What she expected. Only that she'd been robbed of the chance to see him before, and she would get it now. No one would take that from her now, and if something went wrong- It won't. He's back.

If something went wrong, at least she wouldn't lie awake, wis.h.i.+ng she'd seen him one last time. So she crept into the community hall while Eleazar spoke to Rene.

She hadn't even reached the kitchen door, though, before the conversation stopped.

”I need to rest now,” Charlie said, and she realized Eleazar hadn't been talking to his a.s.sistant, Rene, at all.

This would make things more difficult. Eleazar and Charlie were both in the front room, and the a.s.sistant was here somewhere, too.

It didn't matter. She would see Charlie.

She peered into the back room before she slid through.There were three coffins now, the fourth gone. Something caught her attention on the floor. An eagle's feather, under the table where Charlie's coffin had lain.When they'd picked it up, they'd let his treasures scatter.

Anger darted through her.Those things of Charlie's had been so important to his parents after he'd died. Now they were as they'd been in his life-useless clutter. How many times had his mother tried to throw out that eagle feather, saying it was filthy? It was treasured only after he was gone, like Charlie himself. His father had paid him no mind when he was alive-

Addie wiped the thoughts from her mind. Unchristian, Sophia would say.

She paused again, caught on that new thought. Preacher and Sophia. She hadn't even seen them after the resurrection.They'd been there, lost in the crowd. Were they regretting their hasty judgment? Looking for her to apologize?

Stop thinking. Start moving. Or you'll lose your chance.