The hard part is letting go of the guilt. Guilt for living I didn't even know I had."I reached across the space between us, and wiped his tears from h...s face, and then my own. "I know what you mean. Could you hold me Mike? I need to feel you holding me."He was across the couch and holding me, hugging me close before I finished, Whispering in my ear, "Shh, I have you. Nothing bad can happen now. I'm here. I won't let you go." Lots of other soothing meaningless words. He gently held my head. ”Behind the girl, another appeared, dressed and looking much the same, rather wan and a bit frightened. “This is Becky, Rebecca,” the first girl said. “My sister.”She bobbed up and down and how-dee-doed me. I put a crown on the counter and shepherded both of them off to a corner table along with three glasses and a pitcher of ale.“Tell me your story,” I asked Nancy. I patted Rebecca on her firm thigh, and she looked at me big-eyed.“Yes sir,” she said, nodding. “Our parents died of a fever along. She stopped, almost as if she didn’t know where to go. ‘Would you care to sit with me?’ Piper turned around with a slight smirk, ‘I’d like that.’ ‘So, how are you doing in your classes?’ Piper seemed surprised by my question as I’m sure she thought I would interrogate her about her issues. She settled in the chair next to me, ‘Not bad, though I was never great at math.’ ‘I can help with that if you need it.’ ‘I think I’ll be okay,’ Piper smiled. ‘But thanks.’ I’m not sure how to describe the. “What about that burning sensation of regret?”Smiling back Clara shook her head, pushed out the cigarette on the railing and threw it into the abyss. “Hasn’t set in yet. Right now I just want more.”“I feel we should get back inside, there must be a place in this house to be alone.”Clara moved away from the railing, locking her arms around his waist. “And I think we should stay right here, no one can see us.”Looking around Eric noticed she was right. The terrace lay a little lower on the hill.