Marion slipped down the side of the horse, running to Jakin. She had seen him fall, and she heard Charlie coming behind her. Only part of her mind comprehended that the townspeople were surging past her, to the man who had shot Jakin, and she could hear different guns going off. In seemingly slow motion, she finally reached Jakin, and took in the blood around him in one glance. His eyes met hers, and as she kneeled beside him, she took the hem of her dress, and wiped the blood from his mouth that was coming out. He seemed so fragile, so weak. She felt Charlie beside her, heard him say something, but didn't hear exactly what he said. She felt someone trying to lift her up, and take her away, but she shrugged them off, and leaned closer to Jakin. His eyes seemed to take on a dull glow, and then she leaned even closer to him, as he whispered,
"I wonder what happens in our time if you die here."
"Oh Jakin, please, please don't go. You will be all right. You must!"
However, he was slipping away, and she knew it. His body grew still, and when she thought he was gone, he gave her one last faint smile, and then closed his eyes. Tears filled Marion's eyes, and then she let out what was coming up in her mouth, a cry of anguish, and of devastation. It poured out, filling the dusty town of Water Rose, entering every person's ears and body that stood there.
Marion said there, and she says it still, that she had never felt so tired, and so sick before. She stayed by Jakin's body until the town clock struck 1:00, and as soon as it did, she rose from the ground, and walked away. It was the hardest thing she had ever done, and as Charlie said when he saw her, "It looked like death was on her face." Charlie walked to her, took her in his arms, and just held her. She buried her head in his chest, and cried some more. She saw someone carefully taking Jakin's body away, and wondered how she was ever going to tell her mother what had happened. She found out later that the mayor had been killed, but she had almost expected it. What she had not expected, was for her brother to die.
"We caught Bart and his men at the hideout. He came not too long after the drawing, and it was all easy enough. He gave up without a fight." Charlie told her. She had debated on telling Charlie where they had really come from, and then decided not to. She was not sure what his reaction would be, he would probably just think she was still traumatized from her brother's death. She was. She almost felt as if she had died that day. Have you ever heard of one twin getting hurt, then the other twin feeling somewhat the same pain in a different place at the same time? Well, Marion rather felt that way. She had not experienced any physical pain herself, but it had been a different sort of pain, deep inside her.
It had been three days since Jakin had died, and Marion was still trying to overcome the sadness. She was out looking at Jakin's grave. He had a simple wooden cross for a marker, and Marion couldn't keep the tears from rising once again. She closed her eyes, and when she opened them, she saw a wooden door standing upright in the grass. All by itself, not supported on anything. Looking inside the door, you could only see black. Marion knew it was the way home, and she stepped towards it, and then abruptly stopped. Jakin. She could not just leave! But she had to. She couldn't leave her mother and father forever. Closing her eyes and sniffing back the tears, Marion took one last look at her brother's grave, and then stepped forward.