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Within moments, Jeb and the Dewey kids showed up A crowd formed around them

Elsa held her children’s hands They stood on thehys, and by the end, none of them cared that the local churches denied theed and dirty or that Christth in each other Elsa and Jean looked at each other as they sang the words be unbroken

When the , people looked each other in the eye for the first time in weeks, wished each other a merry Christmas

Elsa held on to her children’s hands as they walked back to the tent

Loreda stoked the fire, then poured two cups of coffee and handed one to Elsa

Ant dragged a stool and two fruit crates outside They sat in front of the tent, close to the stove’s warether tin cans and kindling and decorated it hatever they could find—utensils, hair ribbons, strips of cloth

Elsa pulled a small, muddied, crumpled envelope out of her pocket and opened the letter that had arrived last week, general mail at the post office

“A letter from Grandma and Grandpa!” Ant said

Elsa unfolded it and read aloud

My dearest daughter and grandchildren,

Another dust storm hit this week, and after that, a cold snap

It has been a tiresomely cold winter, I must tell you We are envious of your California warmth Mr Pavlov tells us you must have seen a palhts

Your grandfather thinks the soil conservation program shows pro drought, but after a light rain this

Still, thanks to the Virgin, the well is working We have enough water for the household and the chickens, so we carry on, hoping again for a crop The ten cents per acre we get froovernment has kept us afloat

Your last letter spoke of cotton picking I ine you in the fields, Elsa, butin these difficult times