XI

“I’m cold,” Sherwood moaned for the tenth time.

“So go home,” Frannie said.

“On my own? In the dark? Don’t make me do that.”

“Maybe I should go in and look for Will,” Frannie said.

“Perhaps he’s slipped, or—”

“Why don’t we just leave him?”

“Because he’s our friend.”

“He’s not my friend.”

“Then you can wait out here,” Frannie said, looking for the breaking-place in the hedge. A moment later she felt Sherwood’s hand slip into hers.

“I don’t want to stay out here,” he said softly.

In truth, she wasn’t unhappy that he wanted to come with her. She was a little afraid, and therefore glad of his company.

Together they pushed through the mesh of the hedge, and hand in hand climbed the slope toward the Courthouse. Once only did she feel a little shudder of apprehension pass through her brother and, glancing toward him in the murk, seeing his fearful eyes looking to her for reassurance, she realized how much she loved him.

The moth was large, and though Will held its wings tight-closed, its fat, grub like body wriggled wildly, its legs pedaling the air. It repulsed him, which made what he was about to do easier.

“You’re not squeamish, are you?” Jacob said.

“No . . .” Will replied, his voice far from him, like somebody else’s voice.

“You’ve killed insects before.”

Of course he had. He’d fried ants under a magnifying glass; he’d cracked beetles and popped spiders; he’d salted slugs and sprayed flies. This was just a moth and a flame. They belonged together.

And with that thought, he did the deed. There was an instant of regret as the flame withered the moth’s legs, then he dropped the insect into the heat, and regret became fascination as he watched the creature consumed.

“What did I tell you?” Jacob said.

“Living and dying,” Will murmured, “we feed the fire.” At the courtroom door, Frannie could not quite make out what was going on. She could see Will bending over the table, studying something bright, and by the same brightness glimpsed the face of the man sitting opposite him. But that was all.

She let go of Sherwood’s hand and put her finger to her lips to keep him quiet He nodded, his expression surprisingly less fearful than it had been in the darkness outside. Then she turned her gaze back in Will’s direction. As she did so she heard the man on the opposite side of the table say, “Do you want another?”

Will didn’t even look up at Steep. He was still watching the fire devour the body of the moth.

“Is it always like this?” he murmured.

“Like what?”

“First the cold and the darkness, then the fire pushing it all away, then more darkness and cold—”

“Why do you ask?” Jacob replied.

“Because I want to understand,” Will said.

And you’re the only one with the answer, he might have added.

That was the truth, after all. He was certain his father didn’t have answers to questions like that, nor did his mother, nor any schoolteacher, nor anybody he’d heard pontificate on television.

This was secret knowledge, and he felt privileged to be in the company of somebody who possessed it, even if they chose not to share it with him.

“Do you want another or not?” Jacob said.

Will nodded and took the moth from Steep’s fingers. “One day won’t we just run out of things to burn?” he wondered.

“Oh my Lord,” Mrs. McGee said, appearing from the shadows. “Listen to him.”

Will didn’t look at her. He was too busy studying the cremation of the second moth.

“Yes, we will,” Jacob said softly. “And when everything’s gone a darkness will come upon the world such as we can none of us imagine. It won’t be the darkness of death, because death is not utter.”

“A game with bones,” the woman said.

“Exactly,” said Jacob. “Death is a game with bones.”

“We know about death, Mr. Steep and me.”

“Oh indeed.”

“The children I have carried and lost.” She moved behind Will as she spoke, reaching out to finger his hair lightly. “I look at you, Will, and I swear I would give every tooth in my head to call you mine. So wise—”

“It’s getting dark,” Steep said.

“Give me another moth then,” Will demanded.

“So eager,” Mrs. McGee remarked.

“Quickly,” Will said, “before the flame goes out!” Jacob reached into his pocket, and pulled out another moth.

Will snatched it from his fingers, but in his haste he missed catching hold of its wings, and it rose above the table.

“Damn!” said Will and, pushing back his chair, along with Mrs. McGee, he stood up and reached for the tinder. Twice he snatched at the air, twice he came away empty-handed. Enraged now, he wheeled around, still grabbing for the moth.

Behind him he heard Jacob say, “Let it go. I’ll give you another.”

“No!” Will said, jumping to snatch the creature out of the air. “I want this one.”

His efforts were rewarded. On his third jump his hand closed around the moth.

“Got it!” he hollered, and was about to deliver it to the flame when he heard Frannie say, “What are you doing, Will?” He looked up at her. She was standing at the courtroom door, her shape murky and remote.

“Go away,” he said.

“Who’s this?” Jacob said.

“Just go,” Will said, suddenly feeling a little jittery. He didn’t want these two parts of his life talking to him at the same time; it made him dizzy. “Please,” he said hoping she’d respond to civility. “I don’t want you here.”

The light was guttering out behind him. If he wasn’t quick about it, the fire would die completely. He had to feed it again before it went out but he didn’t want Frannie watching. Jacob would never share what he knew—that knowledge that only the wisest of the wise understood—while she was in the room.

“Go on!” he shouted. His yelling didn’t move her, but it intimidated the hell out of Sherwood. He fled from Frannie’s side, off down one of the passages that led from the courtroom.

Frannie was furious. “Sherwood was right!” she said to him. “You’re not our friend. We followed you in case something had happened to you—”

“Rosa . . .” Will heard Jacob whisper behind him, “the other boy . . .” and glanced out the corner of his eye to see Mrs. McGee retreat into the shadows, in pursuit of Sherwood.

Will’s head was spinning now. Frannie shouting, Sherwood sobbing, Jacob whispering, and worst of all, the flame dying and the light going with it—

That had to be his priority, he decided, and turning his back on Frannie, reached out to put the moth to the flame. But Jacob was there before him. He had put his entire hand—which he had made into a cage of fingers—into the dying fire. Inside the cage was not one but several moths, which caught alight instantly, their panicked wings fanning one another’s flames. An uncanny brightness spilled through Jacob’s fingers, and it occurred to Will that he was not seeing anything natural here: that this was some kind of magic. The light washed up over Jacob’s face and flattered it into something beyond beauty. He didn’t look like a movie star or a man on a magazine cover: He wasn’t all gloss and teeth and dimples. He was burning brighter than the moths, as though he could be a fire unto himself if he wanted to be. For an instant (this was all it took) Will saw himself at Jacob’s side, walking in a city street, and Jacob was shining out of every pore, and people were weeping with gratitude that he came to light their darkness. Then it was all too much for him. His legs gave out beneath him, and down he went, as though he’d been struck a blow.