`` and then ... '' and then she had quite lost track of what was happening , save that whenever she drifted to the surface of the fever , the boys were still there , talking to her and each other , the murmur of their voices a small anchor to reality and their hands never leaving her , stroking and smoothing and the sharp smell of gallberries cutting through the woodsmoke from the hearth and the scent of beeswax from the candle .