There were certain things, learned so young and remembered so deep that they felt like little stones in the center of her mind.

It turned out that some crooked things looked even worse when straightened. Some tangled knots only made sense once unraveled.

There were certain things, learned so young and remembered so deep that they felt like little stones in the center of her mind.

He’d only ever seen a gun once, a smaller one on the hip of that old deputy, a gun he’d always figured was more for show. He stuffed a fistful of deadly rounds in his pocket, thinking how each one could end an individual life, and understanding why such things were forbidden. Killing a man should be harder than waving a length of pipe in their direction. It should take long enough for one’s conscience to get in the way.

Sometimes a thing needed opening before closure was found.

It was the hubris of each generation to think this anew, to think that their time was special, that all things would come to an end with them.

That's the problem with the truth," Darcy said. "Liars and honest men both claim to have it.