Girl in the Shadows (Shadows 2)

that I wasn't wrong to have that hope.

I followed Echo up because I saw in Mrs.

Westington's face that she would like me to do so to

be sure Echo didn't burst into tears and cry herself to

sleep. One of the most moving things I saw and

probably would ever see was when I stood off to the

side and watched Echo signing her bedtime prayer.

She did it slowly enough for me to understand she

was praying more for her mother than for herself. After she crawled into bed. I hung her dream

catcher and she smiled. Of course, she wanted to

know why her mother had not come home.

I explained that to be fair to her, she didn't

know her grandmother had made such a wonderful

dinner.

"If she had called, she would have known," she

correctly reminded me.

I nodded and, struggling for some excuse, came

up with the idea that she probably had met many of

her old friends again and wanted to renew her

friendships and catch up on the news. For now. Echo

accepted that. She gazed up at the dream catcher again

and closed her eyes with an expression of comfort and

self-assurance on her face. She hugged Mr. Panda.

too. I watched her for a while and then I went

downstairs. Trevor had zone to his own quarters. Mrs.

Westington was alone. She was listening to music and

knitting.

"I do it just to keep the arthritis at bay," she told

me. There was still a half hour to go before I would

meet Tyler at the motor home. so I sat with her. She