Before I could respond, Eli walked to the cliff and scrambled up, using rocks and roots for hand- and footholds. He stood up beside me and brushed his hands on his pants. “See, simple. You can just jump down and climb up.”

“Okay, but we need to go now,” I said, starting to turn.

“Can you imagine what it would be like if you didn’t have to protect yourself for even one day?” he asked.

I glanced over and saw that he was looking back at the brook in the ravine.

He twisted around, eyes daring, smiling. “I take it back. Imagine you didn’t have to protect yourself for one hour.” He lifted his finger. “Imagine that for just that one hour there was nothing to protect yourself from. Nothing to fear. Can you even imagine it?”

I tried, but I couldn’t. And I couldn’t because the very idea of living without fear was like trying to live without truth. Fear was a constant friend that protected me, so why would I try to imagine living without it?

“Then you could be like this beautiful brook, flowing without a care,” Eli said, motioning to the water. “Wouldn’t that be something? Try it, just for a few seconds, right now.”

I followed his eyes and for the first time wondered what living in such freedom would be like. For a moment, I could actually imagine not having any fear at all. It would be like heaven on earth.

Careful, Grace, Bobbie’s familiar voice whispered. Don’t let him trick you into trouble. I could see her in my peripheral vision, hidden in the shadow of a tree. Her words snuffed out my calm.

Eli glanced in her direction, but when I followed his eyes, she was gone. Had he seen her? Impossible. Only I saw her. Hadn’t that been proven?

“Oh, I almost forgot,” he said, digging into his pocket. “Look what I found.” He held out his palm. Perched in the center of his hand was a small golden stone, catching the light of the sun and shining as bright as the blue wonder in his eyes. “It was hidden in the muddy water. Ben and I used to search for buried treasure. Usually in the darkest places. Isn’t it amazing?”

My heart ached at his mention of my father. I blinked. Did Eli know Ben was gone? No, he couldn’t. I should tell him, but I didn’t know how to say it.

The boy was turning the stone in his palm, smiling at its beauty. But the moment he looked up at me again, his face fell. Tears welled in his eyes.

He knew, I thought. It was as though he’d read my mind the way Bobbie did. We stood there for a moment, heartache filling the space between us.