"Does she know?" I gave her the letter a few minutes later. She still has it, as far as I know. We never discussed it, not even the part about Adriana..." I told her."Poor Adriana. I didn't know," Nicky exclaimed."Poor ... is not exactly the case, here," I replied. When Nicky didn't respond right away. I decided to keep my mouth closed as I waited for Nicky to process all the implications.Finally, she said, "So let me see if I have this straight. Adriana is a millionaire, but you haven't told her. " Don't worry about him," I said. If even a fraction of Mom's warningswere true I didn't want to mess with that thing. "I'm thinking if I'msupposed to meet this boy I'll meet him." You're supposed to," she said with absolutely certainty, "I've seenit."Across the garden and up the side of our bowl-like valley and over itsrim. This could become a tedious little half hour swim if you had to doit every day for years, but it was still totally new and fun to me.Ahead of us Shellcastle's skyline---if. If I did it, though, I would put him in a dangerous position, a positionvery like the one I was in now. He'd be a freak, a miracle. Who wouldbelieve his story about what had happened to him, that he'd suddenly lostsixty or seventy years of age? And if he did convince people, what wouldhappen to him then?Like in my case, it would probably be worth it to him. *Probably?* Morelike definitely.I'd drawn level with his house, and I stopped, looking at the it,considering. I wouldn't do it, I knew. It. "Don't worry, we still love you. I think you do a remarkable job of handling these kinds of emotional situations given who you are. Or am I wrong in thinking you struggle with this?"I looked at Jamie but she wouldn't meet my eyes. I took her hand and squeezed it. "It's alright Jamie, we already talked about this."Finally she nodded, "No, you're right, it's hard. Sometimes, like with this asshole, it's really hard. I want to hurt this guy so bad, Bob. I want him to suffer for what he did." Her.