There was no rain this time, and the air was warm. Sabina sucked in large gulps of it, cleaning away the last of the haze of her fitful night. Curious, she thought to herself, there was no wind either. The morning was calm and still. Yet far in the distance to the east, more occasional thunder could be heard. She thought she saw tiny flashes of light too, but they didn’t look like lightning.

Slowly Sabina walked around the edge of the balcony, the grey light of dawn now beginning to show itself in the distance where the storm was.

She returned to the door, then leaned back against the wall, remembering the stormy night here with Matthew and how peaceful and good and warm she had felt all over.

She stood there a long time, dreamily turning many things over in her thoughts. When she came to herself she realized it was no longer dark. It was still early, but light enough to see out across the rural landscape. The orange glow of the sunrise had begun to gather itself along the horizon.

Something was wrong.

The sky was cloudless and clear. Above the approaching sunrise, the pale blue of what promised to be a warm summer’s day was beginning to show itself.

Still the thunder sounded, more frequent now, Sabina realized. But where were the clouds… where was the storm causing it?

And there was more wrong than just the cloudless dawn. The sounds were wrong too!

Gradually Sabina became aware that more and different sounds could be heard—deep rumbling sounds, as of the movement of huge equipment coming from somewhere south of them. And overhead she now realized planes were flying.

Though all the scattered and distinctive noises were muffled and in the distance, the quiet dawn had become filled with forebodings of terror.

Sabina’s heart began to pound violently within her breast.

It was all wrong… very wrong!

A chill swept through her body, and suddenly she felt very young again, alone and vulnerable… and afraid.

She turned and ran back through the door, flying through the corridors and down to the first floor. She did not even stop at her own room but burst straight into her parents’ chamber at the corner of the wing.

They were not there!

Sabina glanced around in panic. The door to the sitting room she shared with them stood open. She flew to it.

The sitting room, too, was empty. She saw her mother and father through the window, standing on the balcony. Calming, she walked toward them from behind.

Her father had his arm around Marion’s shoulder, holding her close to him. They both stood, still in their nightclothes, motionless, gazing, as their daughter had been, at the portentous events unfolding before their eyes and ears in the distant east.

Sabina approached and stood at her father’s side.