She opened the door of her dressing room, walked out onto the magically lit stage and danced for hours for her delighted audience. XXX She had been too tired to care. She’d crawled into bed and slept fitfully for a few hours—her mysteriously aching leg muscles and the itching of her insect bites keeping her from getting much rest. When the school band lurched into “Pomp and Circumstance” and the seniors filed in, looking simultaneously dignified and silly in their black robes and mortarboards. Jane rose to her feet and applauded along with the rest of the audience.
Then her eyes found Peter and she felt a momentary sadness, realizing that this ceremony was bringing Peter another step closer to the day when he would be leaving Ridgeton—and her—for Ohio. Then she shook it off;
