A CROWD GATHERED around us as Matthew and I came back into town. Father Leo, Odo, my other friends... Everyone wanted to comfort and bless me. And hear of my two years in the war.

But I pushed past them. I had to go to the inn. Its ruins... I sifted through the charred wood and ash, searching for anything that breathed of her, my Sophie-a piece of cloth, a dish, a last memento of what I had lost.

She spoke of you all the time, Hugh, Matthew told me. She missed you terribly. We all thought you were lost in the war. But not Sophie.

You are certain, brother, that she is dead?

I am. Matthew shrugged. When they took her she was already more dead than alive.

But you did not actually see her die? You don't know for sure?

Not for sure. But I beg you, brother, not to cling to false hope. I'm her flesh and blood. And I damn well pray she was dead as they dragged her out of here.

I met his eyes. So she maynot be dead, Matthew?

He looked at me quizzically. You must accept it, Hugh. If she was not then, I'm certain she was soon. Her body could have been left somewhere along the road.

So you searched the road? And did you find her? Has anyone traveling from the west come upon her remains?

No. No one.

Then there's a chance. You say she never doubted me. That she knew I would return. Well,I do the same for her.

I found myself in the part of the inn where our living space had been. Everything was cinder. Our bed, a chest of drawers... On the floor, I noticed something reflecting light.

I dropped to my knees, swept away ash. My heart almost exploded with joy. Tears welled in my eyes.

It was Sophie's comb. Her half of the one she'd placed in my hand the day I left. It was charred, broken; it almost crumbled in my hand. But in my blood, I felt her!

I hel............