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Before she fully understood what he was doing, Jack had realoshes and peeled the heavy canvas duster off of her and pushed her into the spray of water, fully dressed

Elsa tilted her head back, let the hot water run through her hair

Jack pulled the shower curtain shut and left her

The water at Elsa’s feet turned black with the mud She stripped out of Jack’s clothes—probably ruined now—and reached for the soap in the dish and rubbed it in her hands Lavender

She washed her hair and scrubbed her skin until it tingled When the water began to cool, she stepped out, dried off, and wrapped herself in the towel Stea in the room She washed Jack’s clothes in the sink, then draped the shirt and pants and her undergarments and socks over the towel rack and returned to the bedroom

Clean sheets

What a luxury

Maybe Jack was right A short nap ht help

Elsa thought of all the laundry she’d done in her life, the joy she’d always taken in hanging sheets to dry, but never until now had she fully, deeply appreciated the sheer physical pleasure of clean sheets on naked skin The fresh smell of lavender soap in her hair

She rolled onto her side and closed her eyes Within moments, she was asleep

TWENTY-SEVEN

When Loreda woke up, she didn’t knohere she was

She sat up slowly, feeling a cloud-soft les; it sht aroma, and they hadn’t had lavender soap in years

The flood The ditch-bank camp

It ca past the