#lie tree

“When every door is closed, one learns to climb through windows. Human nature, I suppose.”

“My father will never understand or forgive me. But I can understand him, and forgive him in time. And that is probably enough.”

“Hope is a dangerous thing for a scientist,” Agatha said coolly.”

“People were animals, and animals were nothing but teeth. You bit first, and you bit often. That was the only way to survive.”

“It could be kindness. Faith felt hollow at the thought. She had needed kindness before, and had received none. Now it was too late and she did not know what to do with it.”

“She knew that if you wanted somebody to believe something, there was no point forcing it down their throat. Far better to give them a hint, a glimpse, a taste, then snatch it away from them. The faster you ran, the more they would give chase, and the more likely to believe the hard-won information when they caught it.”

“Her mind spent a few moments in cold, helpless free fall, before her anger spread its wings and buoyed her up again.”

“Howard’s voice tugged at Faith. He did not want to be alone, she knew it. His world had ended just as hers had, and he did not understand how or why and the phantasms of his own mind were bellowing at him from the dark places. But when Faith thought of opening the door she felt terror. There was a pit outside, filled with his fears, his confusion, and his misery, and if she fell into it she would tumble down, down, down, until there would be no Faith left for solving mysteries, or righting wrongs. She would lose this strange wild fire, and right now she needed it.”