“He fell silent, a silence with edges like broken glass that scraped across her heart.”

“In that moment her heart fell out of her chest. Like the glass filled vase he had brought to her, it dropped. It was shattered into a million small pieces.”

“And at last, the wicked Queen's spell was broken, and the young woman, whom circumstance and cruelty had trapped in the body of a bird, was released from her cage. The cage door opened and the cuckoo bird fell, fell, fell, until finally her stunted wings opened, and she found that she could fly. With the cool sea breeze of her homeland buffeting the underside of her wings, she soared over the cliff edge and across the ocean. Towards a new land of hope, and freedom, and life. Towards her other half. Home.”

“Each time it was like a stray bit of glass pressed into the softness of her heart, grinding, grinding, oh so silently until she no longer noticed when she bled.”

“Good God, what happened to ye?" Shelton dropped the bucket of water he was carrying, unmindful that it spilled across the barn floor."I fell." Dougal picked up a brush and began to groom Poseidon.Shelton gave a silent whistle. "Fell into what? A hammer?""Something like that.”

“Who's with her?" Roarke asked, though he already knew. It was just like her."With her? Oh, ah, hmmm. Webster."Silence fell, a clatter of broken bricks. Peabody folded her hands in her pockets and prepared for the explosion to follow."I see." When Roarke simply turned back to the screen and continued, she didn't know whether to be relieved or scared to death.”