Kelty! the Voice shrieked. Wake up!

The coughing had stopped, and Kelty lay motionless and still.

And cold.

Ever so cold.

Moments l e n g th e n e d

and soon the Voice began to fade. Kelty breathed shallow and small, and while snowflakes fell all around, the fell too upon her eyelashes and nose and ears, and did not melt.

And the snow fell and fell fell fell...

When Papa Nico arrived, a clot of town's folk at his heels, Kelty lay like a statue under a single pale blue light.

"No," he whispered.