"First they take Taylor." she said. "and then
they try to take you." She looked at me. "See why you
must be vigilant, Celeste. This is partly your fault.
You should have paid more attention to him. You
have to heip me."
"I did. Mommy. I told him to come down from
the tree and not to climb higher."
"I don't mean that, Celeste. I mean the darkness,
the shadows, the evil. You must watch for it always,"
she said. "You have been blessed. You have been
given the eyes. Use them!" she commanded and left
us.
I sat thinking for a few moments. How was it
my fault? Was there something I had seen and
forgotten to tell her? A shadow, a shape, even a
strange sound?
"Mommy said read to me," Noble said
suddenly, folding his arms across his chest. "I thought you didn't like it when I read to you.
I thought it was boring."
"Mommy said." he repeated. "She said you
could help stop it from hurting," he added.
Could I? I wondered.
Maybe I could.
Maybe I did have the eyes.
I began with chapter one of Alice in
Wonderland, and before I had read five pages, Noble
was asleep again.
And he wasn't in pain.
7
Into the Woods