CHAPTER IV : The Way Out

On our way out, Mia stopped an old security guard near the entrance. She asked him about the hallway behind the cabinet. 91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDuq4Dz2AaI

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The guard looked towards the galleries. 91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrzsxlZQUbT

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"Three lights?" he asked. 91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq9sh9WTEOT

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Mia nodded. "And three paintings." 91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpzTUsp1H11

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"We took those paintings down years ago." 91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡif9i5jgdsB

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Daniel opened his mouth, then closed it again. 91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXX9uTu5YNs

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"Why?" Mia asked. 91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxNlVRW6K5V

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The guard rubbed a thumb along the edge of his name badge. 91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIODbklLchw

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"People kept coming back to see them. A few were here almost every day." 91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ2x9geNhvF

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Mia gripped the folded leaflet. "But there were other visitors in there. An elderly couple. Two women. One had a red scarf." 91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEz1vVRCXhz

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The guard's thumb stopped moving. 91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSjwCL6CveX

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He looked past us, towards the rooms we had just left. 91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr8vsetrlbb

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"Some still come," he said. Then he looked at Mia and Daniel. 91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDEzQKpEXOE

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"Did any of you stand under the lamps for a long time?" 91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0gOFNc46tO

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Mia and Daniel looked at each other. Neither of them answered. 91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAAyoiaQZJC

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Then he wished us a pleasant afternoon.

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*  *  * 91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH4NhdAJ9as

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None of us went back. 91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnNbF4RT2eB

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For weeks afterwards, I thought about the woman in the red scarf. Oliver had spoken to her. We had all heard her say, “It’s a lamb.” 91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXelefkEu4v

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But she was never talking to Oliver. 91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTSFivwoHJ2

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She was talking to the wall." 91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCsY7DkKd5T

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Months later, Mia told me she still dreams about the woman in the snow. 91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU0lcW9xl4i

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I still have the photograph. I don’t need to open it to remember where Daniel and Mia should have been. 91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy3mKQxl24R

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And, since that afternoon, I have a habit I can’t seem to shake it off. 91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWFKm02bPoZ

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Whenever someone stops beside me in a gallery, I look at them first. If I didn’t hear them approach, I move away. 91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpOANNgXQIt

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I remember the women in that hallway. How easily we stepped aside for them. How we listened to them talk, never thinking to question whether they belonged there. 91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhUnl8kAVNC

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They looked like ordinary visitors. 91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0awpabckwP

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I still visit galleries. Sometimes I go alone. 91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7o3DAEZ6wJ

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But if someone beside me starts describing something I can’t see, I don’t stay to hear the rest. 91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQUZbU5LLHW

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