The Light That Answers

She took her father's storm lantern down to the shingle after dark, feeling foolish, and raised it three times toward the sea.

For a long moment nothing happened. Then, out on the black water, the far light dimmed — once, twice, three times — and steadied.

Mara stood very still while the tide came in around her boots. Somewhere behind her, in the dark tower, something that had been silent for nine years began, faintly, to hum.