All Things Must End (End of Volume)

The gentlemen in the rain continued forward, and a woman appeared ahead on the path between the gravestones.

She held a red umbrella in her right hand and a bouquet in her left, crouching before a newly erected tombstone. Her brownish-white hair looked faded, and she wore a thick autumn outfit. The red scarf around her neck looked very warm. Her ordinary braid made her look around twenty-five or twenty-six, but a closer look revealed an inexplicable air of age.

The woman was not on the path Shade and the Doctor had to take, with a stretch of lawn separating her from it. But Shade still stopped. The Doctor glanced at the woman placing flowers before the tombstone.

"A friend?"

"Not exactly. Just someone I know. Doctor, wait for me a moment."

"No problem."

Thus, one black umbrella remained on the path beneath the autumn rain, while the other headed toward Marylin Handel.

Joey Barton's soul stood beside the woman, looking at the tombstone. He soon noticed Shade approaching. He said nothing, merely turning to give Shade a slight nod. Shade walked over and saw the name on the tombstone:

Joey Desmond Barton

Died in the late autumn of Year 1853

For his beloved

Only when Shade drew close did Ms. Handel realize someone had approached through the rain. She set down the flowers and hurriedly wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes.

"Mr. Hamilton."

Faint gray lines, difficult to notice, marked her face. They were symbols of the death curse.

"You haven't left Tobesk yet?"

"Our train leaves in two hours. We're planning to spend the winter in Kasonlik."

Shade nodded. The simple tombstone bore only a name and the year of death. The ornate letters reading "For his beloved" likely served as its epitaph.

"I didn't