Starcrossed (Starcrossed 1)

to eat granola bars and daydream. After a few months of dealing

with Helen?s uncharacteristic disobedience, Jerry finally caved and

gave her permission, as long as she didn?t lean out over the railing.

He?d even built her a waterproof chest to store things in.

She opened the chest and dug out the sleeping bag she kept in

there, spreading it out along the wood planks of the walk. There

were boats far out on the water, boats she shouldn?t be able to hear

or see from such a distance, but she could. Helen closed her eyes

and allowed herself the pleasure of hearing one little skiff as its

canvas sails flapped and its teak planks creaked, way out on the

gently lapping swells. Alone and unwatched, she could be herself

for a moment and truly let go. When her head finally started to nod

she went down to bed to give sleep another shot.

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She was standing on rocky, hilly terrain, blasted so hard by the

sun that the bone-dry air wriggled and shook in streaks, as if

parts of the sky were melting. The rocks were pale yellow and

sharp, and here and there were angry little bushes, low to the

ground and lousy with thorns. A single twisted tree grew out of

the next slope.

Helen was alone. And then she wasn?t.

Under the stunted tree?s crippled limbs three figures appeared.

They were so slender and small Helen thought at first they must

be little girls, but there was something about the way the muscles

in their gaunt forearms wove around their bones like rope that

made Helen realize that they were also very old. All three of them

had their heads bent, and their faces were completely covered by

sheets of long, matted, black hair. They wore tattered white slips,

and they were covered in gray-white dust down to their lower

legs. From the knees down, their skin grew dark with streaks of