there was a reason i hated these trees . his hand covered one of mine . say , for argument 's sake , that eric was right . then , as suddenly as he had kissed her , she was released . it might have been good luck . he asked her about it but she told him she bought it for herself . they have listened to her , and they believe her lies . then he took both her hands and drew her up to stand in front of him . patches of grass grew up between slabs of gray rock . 