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"Maybe I should stay" I know he’s just being neighborly

"No, I’ after, but thanks, thanks for everything" Ito the rescue The baby kicks hard, and I step away

A few minutes later, he starts up his Ford and pulls out of the drive

Around , just the soft snow

Mrs Potts is gone Thoone Williaone and now Bitsy, but I a The snow sizzles when the flakes hit the still flickering remains of the picket fence, and it s a cahts get smaller and smaller, then almost wink out Then I watch as he stops at the intersection of Salt Lick and Wild Rose Road and turns the Model T around HeThe Ford creeps reluctantly back up thethe roadster’s door

"Why? I told you I don’t need looking after"

He lifts his eyes froives me his half s ad of fire I take Daniel’s palm and lay it overtinancy He’s an anis in They’ve had a great ti cars, and they shake their wet ss on the fire and opens the dao up to bed and strip off our damp clothesall of them, even our socks We lift our cold feet and pull up Mrs Kelly’s feather quilt Unlike the last tiether, I am shy, unsure ill happen

"Close your eyes, Patience," Hester says "I’ll be here in the "

"My name is Lizbethand I need to tell you my story"

He turns on his back with his hands under his head and says softly once " Then he takes a deep breath, and I can tell he’s asleep

Most ofNow and then I wake up, soht I’ about the recent events and the people whose lives have crossed mine like veins in an old woman’s hands Their faces float pastthe twisted and the lafor we are all twisted and la down the Hope River Mrs Kelly and Mrs Potts, who never knew each other, holding hands, their wet gray hair plastered over their heads, then Bitsy, Mary, and Tho tall in the shallows, and Willia facedown

Ruben and Lawrence are there, and they race each other as they dive into the water Katherine sits on the green grassy bank, keeping her golden bob dry and playing with baby Willie There are rocks in the river that are unavoidable Some of us will be bruised; some will be torn Some will be sucked under, but some will be freed

I rest my cheek over Daniel’s heart and take shelter in the sound of its beating