Page 207 - My FlipBook

T R A I L O F C R U M B S

wasn’t clear. She’d taken the bus to Bunches, still too early in
the year for the greenhouses that would spring up in grocery-
store parking lots. “They’re to plant in your garden later.
Maybe in the front bed?”
His chin quivered. He swallowed.
“Elgin, it’s the first day of March today!” She tugged on
his arm like a little kid. “It’s March. Spring is coming!” She
ignored the three feet of snow on the ground and the porch

thermometer at minus fifteen degrees.
He lifted his chin to still it, water smudging the blue of
his eyes. “Is it?”
“It’s March!” she said again for some reason. He stood
immobilized, staring at the plants. A hostage being told today’s
torture session was the last. “It’s March! March! March!”
Greta started clapping in time to the words. March,

March, March. Elgin smiled, one side of his mouth tugging
upward. She danced around the kitchen, clapping, chanting.
Elgin joined in the clapping, laughing with her. Ash stood by
the stove, his mouth hanging open. March, March, March.
February had passed. They had survived.
“It’s going to be okay.” She hugged Elgin, cradled his
bones. “We’re going to be okay.”
Ash looked away as they wiped their eyes, sniffled.
After a minute Elgin straightened and said, “This calls for

a celebration.”

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