I waited for him to say something more, but he was quiet.<br />"Was there something you wanted?" I asked.<br />He didn't answer right away, but I could feel him struggling, so I waited.<br />"If I asked you something, would you tell me the truth?"<br />It was my turn to hesitate. "I don't know everything," I hedged.<br />"You would know this. When we were walking... me and Jeb... he was telling me some things. Things he thought, but I don't know if he's right."<br />Melanie was suddenly very in my head.<br />Jamie's whisper was hard to hear, quieter than my breathing. "Uncle Jeb thinks that Melanie might still be alive. Inside there with you, I mean."<br /> Melanie sighed.<br />I said nothing to either of them.<br />"I didn't know that could happen. Does that happen?" His voice broke and I could hear that he was fighting tears. He was not a boy to cry, and here I'd grieved him this deeply twice in one day. A pain pierced through the general region of my chest.<br />"Does it, Wanda?"<br /><br />"Why won't you answer me?" Jamie was really crying now but trying to muffle the sound.<br />I crawled off the bed, squeezing into the hard space between the mattress and the mat, and threw my arm over his shaking chest. I leaned my head against his hair and felt his tears, warm on my neck.<br />"Is Melanie still alive, Wanda? Please?"<br />He was probably a tool. The old man could have sent him just for this, Jeb was smart enough to see how easily Jamie broke through my defenses.<br />Jamie's body shook beside me.<br /> Melanie cried. She battered ineffectually at my control.<br />But I couldn't blame this on Melanie if it turned out to be a huge mistake. I knew who was speaking now.<br />"She promised she would come back, didn't she?" I murmured. "Would Melanie break a promise to you?"<br />Jamie slid his arms around my waist and clung to me for a long time. After a few minutes, he whispered. "Love you, Mel."<br />"She loves you, too. She's so happy that you're here and safe."<br />He was silent long enough for the tears on my skin to dry, leaving a fine, salty dust behind.