About her dreams. About how she wanted to do this for her father. How he deserved this prestigious honor.
Julian shifted his weight from one foot to the other and listened.
Then her words stopped and she swiped at her cheeks. “I’m sorry. That was very rude of me to just blurt all of that out. But thank you for listening.”
An idea formed. Perhaps hecouldbe the one to save Anna from this mess. Then she would care for him even more.
“Maybe this will get your mind off it.” He held up the potato sack.
“Another lesson in gardening?” She lifted her chin and shoulders. “I’m all ears.”
He dumped out the contents of the sack.
“Oh my.” Her hand flew up to cover her nose and mouth.
Granted the three dead squirrels and five gutted fish weren’t pleasant to look at—or smell for that matter—but wait until she understood. “One of the first things my mother taught me in the garden was how the circle of life fed all of us.” She looked a little green. Did she think he intended this as food for her? “Don’t worry, I didn’t bring this for us to eat.”
Keeping her hand in place, she muttered, “Good.”
“You see, these dead things planted in the ground will make your garden even more beautiful and lush. Beauty comes from death. Don’t you think that’s poetic?”
“I’m trying not to smell it, but yes, I could see how that is poetic.” Her voice sounded funny with her hand over her mouth.
He pulled out the hatchet he’d strapped to his waist and chopped up the squirrels and fish skin and bones.
“Uh...” She stood up. “Excuse me.” Running over to a couple scraggly bushes, she retched.
“Are you not feeling well?” Maybe she was sick.
“Just tell me when you’re done.”
“With what? The chopping or the burying?”
“Um, yes.” She paused. “Both.” Her back was to him.
His mother had always chopped up animals and gutted fish in front of him. So it couldn’t be indelicate. Maybe Anna had a queasy stomach?
So he talked the whole time he chopped. About how the animals decaying would nourish the ground. It would be so good for her blooms.
“That’s wonderful.” Her voice was weak. “Thank you so much for thinking of me.”
“I’m excited for you to love gardening as I do.” He couldn’t keep the eagerness from his voice. Once he buried all the chunks, he stood up. “All done.”
She turned and sent a smile his direction ... but it didn’t reach her eyes.
Yeah, she was probably getting sick.
All the more reason for him to help her feel better by dealing with her problem.
twenty-one
“How sweet to live in sympathy of kindred spirits, to work and live and love together in perfect sympathy...”
~Earl Douglass
SATURDAY, JULY6
At the ticket office in Green River, Joshua squeezed his nephew’s shoulder. “Go ahead, Caleb.”
