Breath rasping in and out with the aftershock of fear, I began to brush away the bits of wood and leaves from Raphaella’s hair, willing myself not to think about what I had just witnessed. I pried the ankh from her grip and hung it around her neck.
“Are you all right?” I asked.
She straightened her soaking-wet clothing and touched the now bleeding scrape on her forehead. “I think so. What about you?”
“I’ll have a few bruises tomorrow. I thought we were in for it.”
“Me, too.”
“Wait here.”
To give myself time to think, I crossed the creek and walked back up the path, retrieving the box and our two backpacks. I helped Raphaella into her pack, handed her the box, and slipped into mine.
“That was incredible,” I said, shaking my head. “How did you know what to do?”
“I didn’t. I was in the creek, soaking wet, and the idea just slipped into my mind. The four elements, water, earth, air and fire.
“You had them completely under your control.”
“Not really. The important thing is that they believed I had some sort of power.”
“Well,” I said, looking around the darkening forest, “it seemed to work.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever been so terrified.”
I took her hand, which was trembling almost as much as mine. “Let’s go,” I said.
By the time we got to the rail fence on the edge of the churchyard, a light rain had begun to fall. We retrieved our raincoats and a shovel from the van.
Nothing marked Jubal’s grave, but I had seen Hannah kneeling there, so I knew exactly where it was. The sod was as tough as leather, but beneath it the earth was easy to dig. I went down about three feet, placed the box in the hole, and looked at Raphaella.
“No. There’s nothing we can say,” she assured me.
I buried the box and replaced the sod, stamping it into place firmly. The air warmed up noticeably. The grave was almost invisible. In a week, no one would be able to tell that someone had been digging there.
“Well,” I said, “they’re together again.”
Dirty and wet and sore, we headed toward the van. As we crossed the grassy churchyard, Raphaella put her arm around my shoulders.
“You know what?”
“What?” I asked.
“You are a good man, Garnet Havelock.”