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Calm, Solnyshko, calm, a woman’s voice directed. It was the same voice that had warned him not to stay during his first week at the estate.
“Who is that? Who’s talking to me?”
“Jericho, do you hear someone?” Marlowe. “Who’s in there with you?”
“A woman.”
Tell them nothing about me! the woman instructed. Talk to me only in your head. I can hear your thoughts.
But why?
You are in danger. You must get away.
What do you mean? Why am I in danger?
T
he past is a ghost. He is making a terrible mistake. You must stop him.
“Jericho? Are you all right?” Marlowe’s voice.
“Yes,” Jericho answered. At least, he thought he had. It was hard to tell. His edges were blurring into unreality. He was the water in the tank, and the water was Jericho. He was eternity.
“You mentioned a woman,” Marlowe said. “What did she say? Who’s in there with you?”
Say nothing, Solnyshko.
“No one. She went away. I mean, all the voices went away.”
“Okay,” Marlowe said, and Jericho could hear the disappointment in it. “We’ll try again tomorrow.”
Jericho heard the hinges on the tank creak. Marlowe was letting him out.
Thank you, the woman’s voice said.
Who are you? Jericho thought.
He sensed light spilling across his face, smelled the antiseptic room, felt hands reaching in for him.
My name, the voice said, is Miriam.
THE NEW JERICHO
The next afternoon, Jericho waited in the foyer, counting down the minutes until Evie arrived. He’d slicked back his hair with pomade and put on his best suit. From the garden, he’d snipped one red rose. The door chimes rang. “I’ll get it, Ames!” Jericho called out.
He opened the door and held out the rose. “Welcome.”
“Aww, Freddy, you shouldn’t have,” Sam said, taking the rose and threading it through the buttonhole of his coat. “This is so sudden! I don’t know what to say. Oh, okay. You’ve won me over, you big brute. The answer is yes.”
With that, Sam jumped into Jericho’s arms.
“Wow. You got even more giant… er. He’s a mighty oak of a man! My hero.”
Jericho put Sam down with a thud. It wasn’t just Sam. Henry had come along, too. “What are you doing here?”
“Golly. Don’t tell me I’m not welcome. I put on aftershave and everything. Smell.” Sam leaned his jaw toward Jericho. Jericho pushed him back, and Sam reeled for a second before catching his balance. “Holy-moly, that’s impressive. What’ve they been feeding you, Freddy?”
“I didn’t know you were coming. I thought it was just Evie and Ling.”
