Chapter 13 Summary

"The Last Lesson." The little girl tells Eddie that her name is Tala, and she points to one of the children washing the other with a stone. She tells him that their mothers used to do that for them. She finds the pipe cleaners in his pocket, and he twists some of them into a dog for her. Then she reveals to him that he caused her death in the fire when he was a soldier. She was hiding in the tent because her mother told her that she would be safe from the soldiers there. He is overcome with remorse and horror in the realization that he killed this lovely little girl. Finally, Tala hands him a stone and tells him to wash her, which he does. As he washes, the wounds from the fire vanish, and she becomes whole.

Tala wants...