Papa jub sham ko ghar aaye toh mummy nai papa sai kaha ki dadi ka call aaya tha unhone hume gaon bulaya hai papa nai kaha ki vo nahi jaa payenge unhon... office kai kam sai bahar jana hai mummy gussa ho gyi unhone kaha thik hai aap mana kar do phone par mai nahi mana kar sakti papa nai kaha thik hai mai mana kar dunga unhone dadi ko call kiya aur Kaha ki humlog nahi aa pyenge dadi nai kaha ki thik hai kam sai kam meri bahu aur mere pote ko toh bejh do papa nai kaha thik hai fir papa nai mummy sai. Two more trips outside and she had a pile of wood that should last well into the night and a few dozen twigs she had gathered from the path to place on top her small unlit pyre.Still humming to herself she reached up to the mantel shelf and lifted down the box of matches from under the clock. Her eyes moistened as she looked at the swan on the box that must have been lying in the same place for the last five years. A touch of mildew stained one corner as she slowly slid the box open and lifted. As long as she had her compass, she could track them through the subway tunnels. She might have to break a few walls, but who said discretion was the fun part of valour?Arthur carried the boy through the tunnel, flanked on either side by his fellow clay soldiers. The boy was still breathing, but awkwardly, like he’d forgotten how to. The boy’s pretty face was fouled with blood and red dust, contorted into fear; his short, black hair no longer neatly tousled. Jamie’s dagger was still in his. Part of me wanted to scream, ‘I told you so!’ Part of me wanted to ask, ‘Did you think I was kidding?’ My voice, after uttering that last word, wouldn’t allow anything else to pass my lips. Rendered mute by anguish, I continued on my way—without hesitation, but with heaping buckets of regret. In a twisted way, I took solace in the fact that a conflict that had gnawed at my soul for months was now resolved. Not resolved in the manner of my choosing, but the weight dissipated just the same. With.