Page 32 of Protecting the Flame

“Forty-six?” Mattie frowned. “That’s eight more than you need.”

Will pointed at a hole in the smaller of the two hinged portions. “That’s because this holder on the far left is for the helper candle.”

“Like the black candle for Kwanzaa.”

“Well, Hanukkah came first, but yeah. It’s called the shamash,” she said, picking up the thread. Shirer was German; Will had to be Jewish. Even if he wasn’t, he knew a hell of a lot. Why did that make her feel…well, not good, but better? No,less alone. “It doesn’t count as one of the nights. Its job is to light the other candles.”

“Cool.” Mattie made a get-rolling motion with a finger. “So, light them.”

“I don’t know. We should probably save them.”

“What for? We’ve got Burke’s firesticks,” Will said. “We’ll find wood, and we’ve got plenty of matches and lighters.”

“And you’re forgetting we’re going to get rescued. Besides,” Mattie added, “isn’t it kind of a miracle we’re all alive to be talking about this? I wish my mom would wake up, but she’s alive, and Joshua’s alive, and those are all miracles.” Mattie’s voice went a little watery. “Aren’t they?”

Will threaded his good arm around Maddie’s shoulders and pulled her close. “That is an excellent point.”

“Yeah. Okay.” She was not going to get out of this. She didn’t know how she felt about that either. The last time she’d lit candles, Ben was alive.

The multicolored candles were made of beeswax, the kind that didn’t drip and make a mess. Fitting a dark-blue candle into the hole for the shamash, she stucka white candle in the hole to the far right.

Mattie was watching closely. “How come you put it all the way out there?”

“Because that’s how you read Hebrew, from right to left. It’s not like English, which goes from left to right.”

“Did you know that Shamash was also a Babylonian solar deity?” Will said. “He held the power of light against the forces of darkness and evil.”

“That’s us, then.” Mattie looked solemn. “Maybe not against evil…Mr. Burke wasn’t bad or anything…but it’s really dark, and my mom won’t wake up, and I’m kind of freaked out.” She burrowed closer to Will. “I don’t want to be here, but if I have to be, it’s better than being here alone.”

Oh, boy, could she tell this kid a thing or two about that. Flicking a Bic, she held the flame to the shamash’s wick, which caught with a small pfft and spray of orange sparks before blooming in a hot-yellow flower. “There you go,” she said, using the shamash to light the first candle.

“That’s it?” Mattie’s eyebrows arched in surprise. “You don’t say anything? You only light candles?”

“That’s it.” Avoiding Will’s eyes, she reseated the shamash. The blessings were on the back of the box for the forgetful and even transliterated for the Hebrew-challenged, but she knew them by heart. “You can say yehi ’or, I guess,” she said with false heartiness. “That’s Hebrew for, ‘Let there be light.’”

“Is that all? Well.” Suddenly pushing to her feet, Mattie brushed past and headed for the cargo hold where her mother lay. “That’s not so much.”

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