"I didn't mean to do anything like this!" Mr. Culpepper wailed. "I didn't mean to destroy anyone."
To Marc, the room and his thoughts became clear in the same moment. He gazed at Mr. Culpepper's anguished face and smiled. Perhaps the little man deserved the remorse he was feeling; perhaps it was his just payment for tampering too much with the natural order of things. Still....
"I'm sure she's all right," Marc said. "She probably just wandered out when you weren't looking. She often does. Sometimes she just drifts away for whole months at a time. I wouldn't worry about it."
The little man looked up, smiled with relief. "She's so pretty," he said. "She's an awful heller but she's such a pretty one."
Two days later Marc was sitting at his desk, going through the morning mail, when Memphis opened the door and came in.
"The boys are here," she said.
"Boys?" Marc asked, looking up.
"You know. The applicants for the messenger boy job. There are several waiting. Shall I send them in?"
Marc dropped the letter in his hand and gazed absently out the window. "Oh, all right," he said. "Run them through."