Death shrugged, slightly miffed at her answer. “You’re not missing much. Places are places and humans are humans, everywhere they live.”
“I don’t think so. I want to believe there is a better sort—at least better than I’ve experienced,” she challenged.
Death snorted. “I can assure you they’re not.” His mind wandered to the men he’d seen south of here who had set whole towns on fire to dominate those they thought inferior, leaving only destruction in their wake. Nothing about those men was worth saving, but it hadn’t been their time. When it was, Death would have something special for them, indeed. They would learn that no one was crueler than he.
“What about me? What have I ever done to anybody?”
Death’s gaze swept over her, studying her like he was seeing the core of who she was, deep in her marrow. It was true. She’d been born in bondage during this godforsaken time. Her soul, for all its ill treatment, was still pure.
This fact didn’t fit Death’s plans, so he conveniently ignored it.
“You are only one person. Millions more are wretches, waiting for their chance to inflict themselves on other humans. Living is more trouble than it’s worth.”
Her mouth fell open with shock. “How can you say that? Of anyone,youshould know how precious life is.”
“It’s because I know that I am an authority.”
Nella shook her head forcefully. “Then you don’t understand it at all. Life, I mean. I’ve seen my fair share of trouble and terribleness. But Mama always reminded me there’s still love to be had, even in humans, even in this terrible place.” No doubt she meant the plantation she and others had been forced to labor on. “There’s family ... even if they’re gone. There’s the people we love and who love us ... even if it’s all just memories. There’s the things we leave behind. It’s the only way my people survived this hell. Holding on to dawn. All you have to do is pay attention.”
He quirked his eyebrows at her spirit. Even while dying, even in the face of all the horror she’d endured, she was willing to disagree with Death himself. “So, I can’t see people’s goodness?” he asked. “And you ... could show it to me? Is that what you’re saying?”
Her eyes sharpened with clarity. “Let me live—and do this life over again. I’ll show you. It’s all around us.”
Death scoffed, but her proposition surprised him. She hadn’t lived long enough to see the fallacy of her words. If she’d existed as long as he had, she’d see this was the only conclusion. She, born enslaved, should know better than anyone.
But he paused as he considered her bargain. Many prayed to him for this sort of rescue, though he’d never answered. “So, you would like to live?”
She glanced at him. “Yes.”
Death was strangely animated; he’d never had to share his thoughts, let alone his plans, with anyone else. He played it out in his mind. It was an exquisite solution. “I’ve grown quite weary of humans. I could collect your soul and bring you to the new world, and that could be your new life.”
“What new world?”
“The one that will be created after I destroy this one,” Death said as a matter of fact.
She lurched up, eyes wide, using the last of her energy. “But you can’t do that. What about all the people? My brother, Silas? He’s out there somewhere. You’re going to kill them all?”
He frowned. She didn’t seem to appreciate the simplicity of the plan. “Precisely the point. I am quite sure there is no one and nothing redeemable among them. It will be good to start again,” he explained. “You would see if—”
“I bet I wouldn’t!” Nella’s chest heaved at her effort. “There’s me, Silas, my late mama, and surely others. We all can’t be as bad as you say.”
“I assure you this is the case.”
“I’ll find proof. I’ll show you what you cannot see. Give me a second chance ... a new life.”
Keep her living ... on the earth as it existed. Death thought it over. Could she do it? Make him care about them? Show him something he didn’t already know? Her arrogance amused him. “So, if I save you, grant you life, you’ll bring me this evidence you speak of? And I will decide if humanity should continue its existence?”
Her eyes widened, but she nodded. “What kind of proof do you want?”
What kind, indeed?His eyes dropped to the slim yellow volume.
Death grinned, more excited about this than anything he could ever remember. “Like your book—you’ll be Crusoe. Record your adventures, show me that man is redeemable—worth saving.” He hadn’t paid much attention to the inane scribblings of humans and their vain attempts at remembrance. But this would be different. This would be written for him, and only he would know.
“What’s the catch?” Her eyes narrowed. “There’s always a price.”
Nella continued to amuse Death. He thought she might not have seen much of the world beyond the Carter plantation in Georgia, but she knew that fundamental rule of life: There must always be an exchange for a deal to be honored. “I will give you the second chanceyou seek. A true chance outside of the shackles of this current existence. Several lifetimes of freedom and a gift to help you be understood, no matter where you might land. And you will write for me. Prove your lofty ideas about redemption and love—”
“What do I lose?” she interrupted.
