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The Scene of the Crime
“Take me to the scene,” Nuthatch said as we walked through the woods. I raised an eyebrow at him but continued in the direction of what had once been Verina’s home. I didn’t want to go back there at all, particularly not right now, not so soon, but he didn’t seem to be asking me whether or not I wanted to take him. So I kept walking.
He had eyed my staff for a long moment when I’d first entered the woods where he was waiting for me in the back of the house, but he hadn’t said anything. I noticed he didn’t carry one, and I wasn’t sure what to think of it. Grandma didn’t most of the time either, but since the forest had gifted me this staff, I tended to think it was because she wanted me to use it. If Nuthatch thought otherwise, I supposed he’d tell me.
We walked between trees and over the leaf-cov
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Ben took a deep breath, staring up at the ceiling. I pulled the blanket up over us. A chill had gone through my entire body at the admission of what he had just said, that he had died the night Verina had died. I had no idea what he was talking about, but he was about to tell me, and I was listening as intently as I’ve ever listened to anything before.“That night, when Verina had already hit Brice with that blow, I knew I had to do something, or she was going to kill him, and I wasn’t prepared to watch that happen. I know he’s never been my best friend, but he was beginning to mean something to you.”I wanted to interrupt and remind him that he means a hell of a lot more to me than Brice does, or anyone else, for that matter, but I didn’t say anything. The last thing I wanted to do was interrupt him and make him stop talking
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