Atonement, For Your Cruelty — Chapter 21

DID SHE COME OUT TO READ A BOOK?

WHAT SHOULD I DO...

DID YOU HAVE A SAFE TRIP...?

I WAS TOO FLUSTERED EARLIER, SO I COULDN'T GREET YOU PROPERLY.

SHE HAS SUCH GOOD MANNERS.

I DID. HAVE YOU BEEN WELL?

WHILE YOU WERE AWAY, THE MANSION STAFF ACCOMMODATED ME, SO I WAS ABLE TO DO WELL.

YOU DIDN'T LOOK LIKE YOU WERE DOING VERY WELL TO ME.

THAT... TODAY, I MADE A BIT OF A MISTAKE...

WHAT MISTAKE?

IT WAS THE FLOWERS THAT WERE LAID ON THE GRAVE...

I DID PUT THEM BACK, BUT...

HMM.

DOES IT HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH YOU OUT OF NOWHERE SCATTERING SALT?

YES, BECAUSE SOME BAD LUCK WAS CLINGING TO IT.

BAD LUCK? DID ABEL ALSO BUY THE FLOWERS?

NO, HE HELPED ME BRING THEM AND PLACE THEM THERE.

...WELL, DID YOU THROW THE FLOWERS AND STOMP ON THEM OR SOMETHING?

NO, IT'S NOT THAT, BUT...

HE USED HIS FOOT TO CLEAR AWAY THE FALLEN LEAVES ON THE HEADSTONE...

...WHY IS THAT A PROBLEM?

...IF I WERE A GHOST, I FELT LIKE I WOULD FOLLOW HIM AROUND.

WHAT IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?

...DO I LOOK STRANGE AGAIN?

THAT ASIDE, WHAT DOES SALT HAVE TO DO WITH IT?

THEY SAY SALT PURIFIES GHOSTS.

BACK HOME, I WOULD GRAB A HANDFUL OF SALT FROM A JAR AND SCATTER IT.

I HAD NEVER SEEN SALT IN SUCH A SMALL CONTAINER BEFORE, SO I WAS A BIT FLUSTERED,

BUT SALT IS SALT, AFTER ALL.

THAT'S FASCINATING. IN MANY WAYS.

BY THE WAY, YOU ASKED HOW MUCH 500 MILLION KERTE A WEEK WAS,

AND YET YOU ONLY SPEND THAT MUCH A DAY? I HEARD YOU ONLY SPEND A FEW THOUSAND KERTE.

...YOU HAVE PROVIDED FOR ME SO ABUNDANTLY,

SO I ONLY BUY NECESSITIES LITTLE BY LITTLE...

THEN,

DID YOU BUY THAT AS WELL?

PARDON?

IT'S AN OUTFIT I HAVEN'T SEEN BEFORE.

AH,

I,

T-THAT IS...

WHY IS SHE GETTING THIS FLUSTERED OVER SOMETHING SO TRIVIAL?

ON THE DAY I FIRST SAW HER, I SAW FAR MORE THAN THIS.

IF I WERE TO BRING UP THAT DAY,

I WONDER WHAT KIND OF EXPRESSION SHE WOULD MAKE.

GO AHEAD.

I... THEN... GOODBYE...

IT IS A STRANGE THING.

THAT SCENT THAT SHOULD HAVE CLEARLY FADED AWAY.

IT IS FLICKERING WEAKLY ONCE AGAIN.

THAT SCENT, LIKE FORMLESS MOONLIGHT,

REMINDS ME OF THE SECRET FACE OF THE WOMAN I WATCHED HIDING IN THE SHADOWS OF THE MOON,

AND THE SUBTLY HARMONIOUS SHOULDER LINE WITH HER SHARPLY REFINED COLLARBONES.

THE SOFT, SWELLING OUTLINE BENEATH HER SHEER WHITE NIGHTGOWN...

IT BRINGS TO MIND HER DANGEROUSLY THIN ANKLES, WHICH WOULD SURELY FIT IN A SINGLE PALM.

SMALL,

AND WHITE.

MOONLIGHT THAT HAS NO FORM, YET EXISTS.

IF I WERE TO MOLD THAT INTO A PERSON...

WHY DID I COME OUT HERE, CURIOUS ABOUT WHAT...

DOING THIS...

AH,

IS IT SEXUAL FRUSTRATION?