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Show WORTHING FARM/24 to live, grinding them into the soil. He twisted and twisted until they were crushed and split and broken. Then he stopped and surveyed the farm for the last time. I killed you, he said silently, because you would have killed me. Curse me if you will, I accept it, damn me to any suffering you want but I'll never come back here again. There was a sound behind him and he whirled. At the edge of the forest, peering around a bush, stood the little boy, Big Peter's son. His blue eyes flashed and he smiled. "They're looking for you at the inn," the boy said. Elijah remained silent, looking at the boy's eyes. "Are you all right?" In answer Elijah reached out his hand, and the boy took it. Elijah turned him so he could see the «tone. "There's writing on that stone," Little Peter said. Can you read it? Elijah asked silently. "No," said little Peter. "Except that it says Worthing, like the inn." Elijah gripped the boy's shoulder so tightly that it hurt and the pain made the- boy wince. "This is the speaking stone," he told the boy. "This stone has power over anyone who has eyes like mine." Little Peter looked up into Elijah's eyes and realized that their eyes were alike. Elijah's hand on his shoulder began to tremble. "There's a curse on us, Little Peter, because we have left the farm. But there's a worse curse even than that, and we carry it with us." |