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my father was such a terrible person, so cruel to my mother, so unreliable. And why my mother took it.'' |
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"Exactly." Pierce did not sound proud. He looked at his booted feet and shrugged. "You were named for poor Mary, did you guess? There has been a Mary or a Maria or Mariah in each generation. As a reminder, though none knew the tale save me." |
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How incredible! thought Mariah. This entire tale amazed her. |
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Though no more than the fact that she'd traveled in time. |
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As they walked slowly now, Mariah looked toward the shrouded Point, still unable to see anyone. She wondered if Ainsley still lived. For Thorn's sake, she hoped so. But somehow he would need to pay for his sins. |
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As, apparently, Pierce had done. |
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They arrived at the pentagonal stone blockhouse, the very spot where Mariah had reached this time. |
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"I have a question," she said. "Whatever happened to Matilda, from the screenplay? Everyone else had a real counterpart here, but I took her place." |
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Pierce's grin this time appeared genuinely happy. "She was partly my fabrication for the screenplay," he said, "and partly you." Pierce paused, then continued, "Through the centuries, I was forced to wander this earth as a spirit, observing one pitiful generation of my descendants after another. But the forces who punished me thus also gave me the chance to find someone among my descendants courageous enough to come here and change everything so that all who followed could find happiness despite what I had begun. But there was no one . . . till you. I was permitted to speak in your dreams and then to acquire a corporeal form once more to meet and recruit you. You were the first descendant in all those years sensitive and brave enough to hear me, to change the course of history." |
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Such an honor, Mariah thought sarcastically. And then she considered for a moment. Perhaps it was. |
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"I had to find a way to intrigue you," Pierce continued, "and so I wrote the screenplay." |
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"Well, you did get my attention," Mariah acknowledged. |
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