"I tried, Papa. I tried to be brave. I was very frightened, but I knew I could not stop or more might die. I only did my best." She was a child, at the end of all things, a brave, resourceful and intelligent child, but a child who had just had her world upended on her, no less.

She sighed, curling into his chest, voice softened by exhaustion. "I flew, Papa. Just for a little while. But I flew. It was perfect."