Chapter ONE - Weebly

was sorry. The words caught in his throat. He climbed
to his feet, staggered to Holin’s side, and lifted the boy
into his arms. Pausing once more to look at Pitch, he
hurried down the lane, past Henry’s shop and his room.
At the next corner, he turned northward and bore the
boy back into the North End to Elli’s house.
By the time he reached her street he was exhausted
and weak. The houses here were as dark as they had
been on Cooper’s Alley. All except Elli’s. She would
be panicked, unable to sleep or eat, unsure of whether
to wait there with Clara or venture into the dark streets
in search of her son. Even from down the lane, Ethan
could see that candles shone in her windows, so that
pale shafts of light cut across the street, making the rain
sparkle. He saw her peer out into the night from the
nearer of the two.
She must have seen him coming. In the next
moment, her door flew open and she ran down the
steps, heedless of the rain.
“What’s happened to him?” she asked, her voice
high and strained. “Is he hurt?”
“I don’t know,” Ethan told her, breathing hard, his