the demons that make a person afraid are the hardest to cast out.

There was something irresistible about popcorn.

What a pity every child couldn't learn to read under a willow tree.

From that first moment, in a way she could never explain, the Meadows claimed her and made her their own.

All the way up the river she's been holding back somehow, waiting. Now you'll both have to wait. I'm not going to disappoint her, Kit. When I take you on board the Witch, it's going to be for keeps.

The impression of strength came from an extraordinary vitality that seemed to pulse in the very air around him

There is no escape if love is not there," Hannah had said. Had Hannah known when she herself had not even suspected? It was not escape that she had dreamed about, it was love.