Sacrament

'Well?' Jacob said.

The fire had almost gone out. Another few seconds and it would be too late. The room would be given over to darkness, and the face in front of Will, its symmetry and its scrutiny, would be gone. That thought was suddenly too much to bear. Will looked back at the moth: at its wheeling legs and its flapping ante

CHAPTER XI

'I'm cold,' Sherwood moaned for the tenth time. 'So go home,' Fra

The moth was large, and though Will held its wings tight-closed, its fat, grub-like body wriggled wildly, its legs pedaling the air. It repulsed him, which made what he was about to do easier. 'You're not squeamish, are you?' Jacob said. 'No...' Will replied, his voice far from him, like somebody else's voice. 'You've killed insects before.' Of course he had. He'd fried ants under a magnifying glass, he'd cracked beetles and popped spiders, he'd salted slugs and sprayed flies. This was just a moth and a flame. They belonged together. And with that thought, he did the deed. There was an instant of regret as the flame withered the moth's legs, then he dropped the insect into the heat, and regret became fascination as he watched the creature consumed.

'What did I tell you?' Jacob said. 'Living and dying ...' Will murmured, '... we feed the fire ...'

At the Courtroom door, Fra

Will didn't even look up at Steep. He was still watching the fire devour the body of the moth. 'Is it always like this?' he murmured. 'Like what?' 'First the cold and the darkness, then the fire pushing it all away, then more darkness and cold-' 'Why do you ask?' Jacob replied. 'Because I want to understand,' Will said. And you're the only one with the answers, he might have added. That was the truth, after all. He was certain his father didn't have answers to questions like that, nor did his mother, nor any school-teacher, nor anybody he'd heard pontificate on television. This was secret knowledge, and he felt privile ged to be in the company of somebody who possessed it, even if they chose not to share it with him. 'Do you want another or not?' Jacob said. Will nodded, and took the moth from Steep's fingers. 'One day won't we just run out of things to burn?' he wondered. 'Oh my Lord,' Mrs McGee said, appearing from the shadows. 'Listen to him.' Will didn't look at her. He was too busy studying the cremation of the second moth. 'Yes, we will,' Jacob said softly. 'And when everything's gone a darkness will come upon the world such as we can none of us imagine. It won't be the darkness of death, because death is not utter.' 'A game with bones,' the woman said. 'Exactly,' said Jacob. 'Death is a game with bones.' 'We know about death, Mr Steep and me.' 'Oh indeed.'

'The children I have carried and lost.' She moved behind Will as she spoke, reaching out to finger his hair lightly. 'I look at you, Will, and I swear I would give every tooth in my head to call you mine. So wise-'

'It's getting dark,' Steep said.

'Give me another moth then,' Will demanded.

'So eager,' Mrs McGee remarked.

'Quickly,' Will said, 'before the flame goes out!'

Jacob reached into his pocket, and pulled out another moth. Will snatched it from his fingers, but in his haste he missed catching hold of its wings, and it rose above the table.

'Damn!' said Will, and, pushing back his chair, along with Mrs McGee, he stood up and reached for the tinder. Twice he snatched at the air, twice he came away empty-handed. Enraged now, he wheeled around, still grabbing for the moth.

Behind him he heard Jacob say: 'Let it go. I'll give you another.'

'No!' Will said, jumping to snatch the creature out of the air. 'I want this one.'

His efforts were rewarded. On his third jump his hand closed around the moth.

'Got it!' he cried, and was about to deliver it to the flame when he heard Fra

'What are you doing, Will?'

He looked up at her. She was standing at the Courtroom door, her shape murky and remote.

'Go away,' he said.

'Who's this?' Jacob said.

'Just go,' Will said, suddenly feeling a little jittery. He didn't want these two parts of his life talking to him at the same time; it made him dizzy. 'Please,' he said, hoping she'd respond to civility. 'I don't want you here.'

The light was guttering out behind him. If he wasn't quick about it, the fire would die completely. He had to feed it again before it went out. But he didn't want Fra

'Go on!' he shouted. His yelling didn't move her, but it intimidated the hell out of Sherwood. He fled from Fra

Fra

'Rosa...' Will heard Jacob whisper behind him, '... the other boy... and glanced out the corner of his eye to see Mrs McGee retreat into the shadows, in pursuit of Sherwood.

Will's head was spi