Ennis sank against the alley wall. This hadn't worked out like he had thought it would. After his sister'd got married and K.E. had died in a factory accident, life hadn't left Ennis many choices except to take to the street. He'd gone to the city, where he thought he might find a shelter or at least some free food, but those things seemed like fairy tails compared to the reality of being a starving teenager shivering in the damp of The Big Apple.

A warm body slunk down in the grime next to Ennis. "Friend," a young voice said, and without thinking, Ennis leaned against the body for heat. The boy leaned back against him. They fell asleep that way, without exchanging names or histories. As many times as Ennis had met homeless and runaways in the dark and lonely streets of the city that never slept, he'd never leaned against anyone to sleep. But he was awful tired, and, angel or devil, he couldn't care less who this boy was, except that he was warm.