and then the sound of
an impact, a short,... | huobingqing's Blog

and then the sound of
an impact, a short, explosive breath, and a muttered
word in a gruff, low voice

Then slow footsteps, getting closer

They flattened themselves against the wall and
stood motionlessThe footsteps stopped briefly, and
there was another gruntThen the steps continued, but
seemed to be fadingIn a moment, from a distance,
there was another sound: the chink of a key turning in
a lock, and the click of a latch opening

Lina made an astonished face at DoonSomeone had gone down the roped tunnel and opened the door!
She put her mouth close to Doon's ear"Shall we try to
see who it is?" she whispered

Doon shook his head"I don't think we should,"
he said

"We could hermes kelly handbag just peek around the corner

It was too tempting not to tryThey crept forward
to the place where the tunnel turnedFrom there they
could see the entrance to the roped tunnelHolding
their breath, they watched

And in a minute, they heard a thump and click-- the door closing, the lock turning--and footsteps once
again, this time quickA long leg stepped over the
rope, and the person it belonged to turned and walked
awayAll they saw was his back--a dark coat, dark


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untidy hairHe walked with a lurching motion that
struck Lina as somehow familiarIn a few seconds, he
had vanished into the shadows


When they came up out of the Pipeworks, they
stripped off their boots louis vuitton duffle bag and slickers and hurried out
into Plummer Square, where they flopped down on a
bench and burst into furious talk

"Someone got there before us!" said Lina

Doon said, "He was walking slowly when he went
in--as if he was looking for somethingAnd he walked
fast when he came out

"As if he'd found something! What was it? I can't
stand not to know!"

Doon jumped upHe paced back and forth in
front of the bench

"But how did he get the key?" he asked"Did he
find Instructions like the ones you found? And how
did he get into the Pipeworks? I don't think he works
there

"There's something familiar about the way he
walks," said Lina"But I don't know why

"Well, anyhow, he opened le dix balenciaga that door and we can't,"
said Doon"If it does go somewhere, if it does lead out
of Ember, he'll be telling the whole city pretty soon"If he's found
the way out, we'll be glad, of course," he said glumly"It
doesn't matter who finds it, as long as it helps the city


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"That's right," Lina said

"It's just that I thought we were going to find it,"
said Doon

"Yes," Lina said, thinking how grand it would have
been to stand before all of Ember, announcing their
discovery

They sat without talking for a while, lost in their
own thoughtsA man pulling a cart full of wood scraps
went byA woman leaned from a lighted window on
Gappery Street and called out to some boys chanel quilted bags playing in
the square belowA couple of guards, in their red and
brown uniforms, ambled across the square, laughing
The town clock rang out six deep booms that Lina
could feel, like shudders, beneath her ribs

Doon said, "I guess what we do now is wait to see
if there's an announcement

"I guess so," said Lina

"Maybe that door is nothing special after all," said
Doon"Maybe it's just an old unused supply closet

But Lina wasn't ready to believe thatMaybe it
wasn't the door out of Ember, but it was a mystery
nevertheless--a mystery connected, she was sure, to
the bigger mystery they were trying to solve


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CHAPTER 10

Blue Sky and Goodbye

Lina slept restlessly that black chanel handbags n