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large willow tree with long, ethereal branches grew. She
grabbed her mother's hand and tugged gently. "Come on," she chided.
"You can't stay in here looking at a tree."
    She propelled her mother out of the bedroom
and into the kitchen and settled her into a slatted wooden chair,
then turned to the pantry and dug for something to turn into
dinner. After a quick search of the empty shelves she grabbed a
mostly full box of pasta and the remnants of a bottle of olive
oil.
    "How does pasta with garlic sound?" she
asked. "There's not a lot here, but I can stop at the store on my
way home tomorrow and pick some other things up for the rest of the
week." She pulled out a large pot and started filling it with tap
water without waiting for her mother to answer.
    Dina got up and came to stand beside Samara
as the pot filled. "Here," she said. She turned off the water and
took the pot from Samara. "I'll do that."
    She put the pot on the stove and turned the
burner on high, then reached into the cabinet and pulled out a
smaller pan for the garlic. "I know you think I'm crazy," she said.
"It's just that I remember when he planted that. It was such a
beautiful day.
    "You were four, and we had just moved into
this house. We watched him dig this huge hole, and then when I went
around front to get the tree, you tried to put all the dirt back."
She laughed softly. "You were such a mess! Do you remember?"
    She sniffed, and Samara saw her swipe her
eyes with a dishcloth before she tossed the garlic into the pan.
When she turned around there was a smile on her face, but it looked
thin and fragile. "There," she said. "That's done. Now tell me
about you. Tell me all about the first day of school."
    Samara weighed how much to say before she
answered. She didn't want to lie to her mother, but she definitely
didn't want to say some people seemed afraid to talk to her, and
she knew if she mentioned Lucian her mom would want to know every
detail. She couldn't talk about him yet; she wasn't ready. Their
whole conversation in the library had been so wonderfully surreal
she couldn't even explain it to herself.
    "Well," she said, "I'm working in the office
first hour. With Carin, do you remember her? We went to junior high
together. And I met a few new people..." She let her voice trail
off and played with the edge of a napkin. Dina was already gone,
staring into space. "So nothing too out of the ordinary," she
finished. "Just a regular day."
     
     
     

Chapter 18
     
     
    Lucian turned onto another side street and
rode the brakes. He was driving aimlessly, and his gas gauge was
hovering on empty. When he pulled up to a stop sign he glanced down
at the dashboard clock and was surprised to see that it was after
six o'clock.
    He'd been eager to start searching for the
key when school got out, but he had no idea where to begin. This
was his first mission, but he'd thought the way it worked was that
when he made himself willing and available he would be led to the
key. Or a clue. Or something.
    That hadn't happened. He hadn't come up with
anything. He had just driven around a lot, and now he was out of
gas.
    He could see the bright lights of a gas
station a few blocks away, and he pulled in to fill up. He had the
money and credit cards from Duncan in his wallet, along with his
new driver's license. He still wasn't sure where his license or
other personal documents had come from, or who had delivered them
to Duncan and Sofia's house. Or, for that matter, how his various
personal details had been selected. He assumed that this was one of
the jobs that members of the Light filled.
    Document production was just one of the many
functions that allowed angels to live undetected. Just one of the
many things he had yet to learn about. That was the great thing
about being a little more than human. Although he was forced
to accept the limitations of his body, the Guardians could supply
him with anything he might want or need.
    The gas pump had a small yellow