"Sira," said a worried Daran. "What were... are you alight?"The small shoulders shook. Daran realized the girl was crying. With a gently hand on the s...oulder, he guided her to her feet and led her away from the swearing bunch of captured pirates. Still holding the bloody knife, she refused to raise her eyes to meet his."That..." began Sira, her voice shaking between sobs. "... that was... I recognized his face..."At once, Leah threw herself on the other girl, wrapping her up in a hug of. He ran back to the car.Em was miffed. "You know, you could have warned--" Buckle up," Alex said as he did so himself. He jammed the car into reverse; the tires hopped as they lurched the car around. Alex left it pointed diagonally, right at the gas station's price sign."What the hell is..." Em started, then trailed off when she saw the truck. She scrambled for her seat belt. "Go, go go!" she shouted as she yanked the belt, so hard it locked halfway out. "Just go!" Wait." There was an entrance. Our little road trip served its purpose of expunging some of the stress out of us. We burned out more of it with a trip to the PX in Pleiku. We went to the PX as a team, three Americans escorted by six small, fierce, heavily armed highland tribesmen. Needless to say, everyone, Vietnamese and American alike, gave us a wide berth.I bought a resupply of legal pads and large envelopes at the PX. I wrote Megan at least two letters a week. In return, she wrote me at least as often. Her letters were. "Her picture was in all the stores. Why did she sell out?" Oh, she didn't. They merged with Rotor Systems. She is on the board of directors. The new headquarters are in England. Not that I am complaining."Talk then shifted to include the Shoemakers who had felt sidelined. Henry noticed Annabeth Lowell's finely tuned perception of other people's feelings.At this point, Jill Lowell excused herself reluctantly. She had a dance date and she had to change. She came down half an hour later all dolled.