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The Martinellis had welcomed Elsa in and she repaid that unexpected kindness with a deep devotion, a fierce love for theed deeper into the family, Rafe had veered away He was unhappy, had been for years, and now Loreda was following her father’s path Of course she was It was iht up in his iht up the roohter a steady diet of drea his dissatisfaction Elsa knew he said things to Loreda, cos that he wouldn’t say to his parents or his wife Loreda had the greatest part of Rafe’s heart, and had from her first breath

Elsa went back to scrubbing the kitchen floor, and then went on to scrub the floors in all eight roo dust off the ork and sills When she finished that chore, she gathered up the rugs and took the the dirt out of them with a stick

The wind picked up, ruffled her dress She paused in beating the rug, sweat running down her face, between her breasts, and tented a hand over her eyes Past the outhouse, a murky, urine-yellow haze burnished the sky

Elsa tilted her sun hat back, stared out at the sickly yellow horizon

Dust store of the Great Plains

The sky changed color, turned red-brown

Wind picked up, barreled across the farm from the south

A Russian thistle hit her in the face, tore the skin from her cheek A tumbleweed spiraled past A board flew off the chicken coop and cracked into the side of the house

Rafe and Tony ca out of the barn

Elsa pulled her bandanna up over her mouth and nose

The cowstheir bony butts into the dust storm Static electricity made their tails stand out A flotilla of birds flew past the the dust

Rafe’s Stetson flew off his head and tuht on a spike “Get inside,” he yelled “I’ll take care of the animals”

“The kids!”

“Mrs Buslik knohat to do Go inside”

Her kids Out in this