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"This property’s been in my dad’s family for close to a hundred years," Cub said, as if that htest Dellarobia took a bite of her supper, trying to be patient with her husband’s view of things Next he’d be bringing up the logging contract Who knew, maybe Mr Byron would be interested in man talk She couldn’t read him very well She reached over and tried to wipe Cordie’s face, but the wild child batted the napkin away, singing "nananana" The artistic teer-paint with cheese sauce on the tray of her high chair,circles Landscape of a planet with two suns, by Cordelia Turnbow

Everyone had stopped speaking for the moment In the conversational pause Dellarobia heard ht to turn off It sounded like so About once a week she threatened to cut off the cable, but they had a weird package with Bear and Hester that made it essentially free Also Dellarobia doubted the fas These companies mainlined you

"They eat poison milkweed, too," Preston piped up "Tell hiht, they eat uess Not the butterflies, they don’t have chewingnectar fros, they lay thes hatch out as caterpillars, those babies will eat nothing but poison leaves"

Preston added breathlessly, "And when they, when they eat that and grow up, it turns the butterflies poison, too So nothing will co and eat them!"

"Poisonous or distasteful to birds," Dellarobia corroborated, quoting from memory

Ovid crossed his arms over his chest and ly at Preston "What a s fellow A little bird tells ht at Preston--"that you are a scientist"

"They’re also called King Billies," Dellarobia said "That’s what people call the with her five-year-old for thisBilly, I have not heard that one," Ovid said He turned his chair a little toward Preston and asked in his lilting way, "Now, tellWhy do you suppose a butterfly would fly so far to join his companions in the winter?"

Preston put down his fork and closed his eyes, the better to engage every brain cell Finally he gave it a shot: "He’s lonely?"

"A reasonable hypothesis," Ovid replied "His friends are very dispersed, you know They fly all about They cover a large territory So, coht? An extra good wife, fro to be thinking about dat, of course," Ovid winked at Cub "But one day, when you have a car--" He rolled his eyes and whistled "Then you will knohat I mean"

Dellarobia was taken aback at this turn of the conversation, and prevailed upon herself to keep heras he shoveled in the calories over there Cub seehtly out of the loop His normal self, in other words

Ovid continued, "Why else do you suppose he o so far? So far south, to be precise To the sunny land of Mexico?"

"To keep warame show

"So they will not freeze, exactly Really, Preston, I like your thinking And now, look at it another way What if he is really a creature of warm, sunny places? Like iven s that interest me a lot What if the butterfly does this also, but he cannot endure the frosty winter? Then ill our friend do?"

Preston giggled, glancing at his mother "Buy a coat?"

"If only he could But he is a butterfly" Thethe sides