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How had he come to be here? Had he set out in search of the the way, or was it the reverse? Was it Mausae? To say goodbye?

What was home to Galen Strauss?

Alicia and Peter rolled the corpse onto a tarp and dragged it away from the house They had intended to burn it, but Mausaht have been a viral, she said, but he was my husband once He didn’t deserve what happened to hiive him that

So that hat they did

It was late afternoon on their second day at the farathered in the yard except for Theo, as still confined to bed and would, in fact, reested that they each tell a story of sole at the start, since he was not someone any of them except for Maus had known all that well or evenso funny or loyal or kind, while Greer and Amy looked on, witnesses to the ritual By the tinificant had occurred, an acknowledgment that, once ht have been a viral, but the person they had buried was ababy Caleb, who had fallen asleep She cleared her throat, and Peter saw that her eyes were damp with tears

"I just want to say that he was a lot braver than people thought he was The truth was, he could barely see at all He didn’t want anybody to kno bad it was, but I could tell He was just too proud to admit it I’m sorry I deceived him like I did I knoanted to be a father, and e to say, but I think he would have been a good one I wish he’d had that chance"

She fell silent, shifting the baby to her shoulder and using her free hand to wipe her eyes "That’s all," she said "Thanks for doing this, everyone If it’s okay, I’d like aMaus alone Peter ascended the stairs to the bedroo stretched before hiht he had at least three cracked ribs All things considered, he was lucky to be alive

Peter moved to the ith its view of the yard below Maus was still standing by the grave, facing away The baby had awakened and begun to fuss; Maus was rotating back and forth on her hips, one hand cupping the back of Caleb’s head where it lay over her shoulder, trying to settle him

"Is she still out there?" Theo asked

Peter turned to his brother, whose face was pointed at the ceiling now

"It’s okay if she is," Theo said "I was justwondering"

"Yes, she’s still out there"

Theo said nothing ?" Peter ventured

"Like shit" Theo ran his tongue along his fractured teeth "It’s these teeth that bugshould be I can’t get used to it"

Peter let his eyes drift out theagain; the space where Maus had stood was empty Fro, then opening again, and Greer stepped out, carrying a rifle He stood a moment, then crossed the yard to the woodpile by the barn, balanced the rifle against the wall, took up the axe, and began to split logs

"Look," Theo said "I know I let you down, staying behind"

Peter turned to face his brother once more From elsewhere in the house now, he could hear the voices of the others, gathering in the kitchen

"It’s okay," he said With all that had happened, Peter had put this disappointo "Maus needed you I would have done the sa"

But his brother shook his head "Just let e, what you did I wouldn’t want you to think I didn’t notice But that’s not what I’e is easy, when the alternative is getting killed It’s hope that’s hard You saw so out there that no one else could, and you followed it That’s so I could never do I tried, believe me, if only because Dad seemed to want me to so badly But it just wasn’t in lad when I figured that out"

He sounded alhtness had come into his brother’s face as he’d spoken

"When?" Peter asked

"When what?"

"When did you figure it out?"

Theo’s eyes flicked upward "The truth? I think I always knew, at least about ht at the power station when I saw, really sahat you had in you Not just going outside the way you did, because I’m sure that was Lish’s idea It was the look on your face, like you’d seen your whole life out there I chewed you out, sure It was stupid and it could have gotten us all killed But mostly I felt relieved I knew I didn’t have to pretend anyhed and shook his head "I never wanted to be Dad, Peter I always thought the Long Rides were crazy, even before he rode away and never came back I couldn’t see the sense in any of it But now I look at you, and A about any of this makes sense What you did, you did on faith I don’t envy you, and I know I’ to worry about you every day of my life But I a else?"

Peter was too astounded to answer All he could host that saved us Ask Maus, she’ll tell you I don’t knohat it is, but soht ere all dead I didn’t just think it, I knew it The sa over us, taking care of us Telling us that as long as we’re here, we’ll be safe" His eyes met Peter’s with a haunted look "You don’t have to believe riood," he said, flopping his head back down to the pillow "Because I believe in you, brother"

For the ti nowhere Sara said that Theo’s leg would need at least sixty days before he could even think of walking, and Mausa and painful labor Of all of them, baby Caleb was the only one who seemed coht and open, looking about He had sweet smiles for everyone, but for Amy most of all Whenever he heard her voice, or even so much as felt her presence as she entered a roo his ars

"I think he likes you," Maus said one day in the kitchen, as she struggled to nurse "You can hold him if you want"

While Peter and Sara watched, Aently placed Caleb in her ar Arab her nose with his tiny fingers "A baby," she said, sh "That’s what he is, all right" She pressed a palroaned "Boy, is he ever"

"I’ve never seen one" Aazed into his face Every bit of him was so neas as if he were drenched in so liquid "Hello, baby"

The house was too small to accommodate everyone, and Caleb needed quiet; they carried the extra mattresses out andsince there had been such activity here? Sincein it? By the river, great bra in the sun; the water jumped with fish Each day Alicia returned fro fro-eared jacks, fat partridges, soroundhog and tasted like venison She carried neither gun nor bow; all she used was a blade "No one’s ever going to go hungry as long as I’m around," she said