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Edwin grinned at the girl's reply. 'Lots of places!' Like where? His grin, to his own surprise, lingered as he approached the barrow behind Jessamy. But at her question, Edwin's grin disappeared. No, he had not thought to bring any source of light. His hand slipped into his shirt pocket, where he had a flint and steel - it was for some reason just the sort of thing he carried with him - but that would do him little good with nothing to light. He was trying to think of a response that might rescue him from looking like a fool when suddenly a noise came from the barrow.
Edwin fought with himself frantically over whether it had come from inside the barrow or not. The suggestion that it was the wind did not settle his mind. If it was the wind, how could the sound be from inside the barrow?
"Does anyone have anything we can light?" he asked, trying vainly to make his voice even. "Anything at all?" He was not sure why he still felt it necessary to follow through with investigating this barrow, but part of him wanted to now more than ever.
One of the boys stepped forward enough to produce a few long wicks. Edwin lit one and held it in front of him and over Jessamy's shoulder. He was not sure how long it would take him to get himself to take even a step into the barrow, so after watching the flame flicker for a moment, it barely denting the shadows on the edge of which it hovered, he tossed the burning wick through the doorway of stones.
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