The Swallow family had already received the news, and the first to rush over was Rufus Swallow. By the time he arrived at the morgue, Trenton Smith and Tilly Flower had been there for barely ten minutes.
Crouching on the ground, Tilly was hugging her head and sobbing. It was the first time in his life that Rufus had seen Tilly cry like this. He was momentarily stupefied, then lifted his head to look at the body lying on the iron bed, covered with a white cloth.
He simply didn't have the courage to lift the cloth and take a look.
His gaze fell on that clump of hair hanging down, still stained with blood and tiny pieces of rock. He remembered the soft touch of her hair.
His vision darkened as he stared at that clump of hair, his mind filled with past images and light. Those fragments of memory were slicing through his nerves, causing his heart to wrench with pain.
