River doesn't pull away, and after a moment her hands relax a little in his grasp. She closes her eyes for a moment, tears glittering on her cheeks and reddened eyelids, and reopens them to stare at a point near Simon's elbow.




"School," she whispers finally, and doesn't quite flinch.

"No doors, and, and she doesn't like it. It's not but it isn't."