Sharon rose and went back into the house to gather and pack the last few items to load into her car. She started a note to leave on the table for Louie, then changed her mind. Instead, she rang him up and told him to get breakfast going, she had some things to tell him before she left and would stop on her way out of the hollers. She didn't look back as she closed the door behind her for the last time. The cat was waiting for her by the car. She scooped him up and sat him down on the passenger seat as she slid behind the steering wheel. As the car bounced down the track through the pasture, she resisted the urge to look in the rearview mirror.


The sausage was sizzling in the pan and the bisguits were just out of the oven when Sharon arrived at Louie's little shack. They sat out in the swing suspended from a branch of the big white oakTaking care of the most pressing business first, Sharon reminded Louie to keep the lilac pot watered.

"Be sure to wait until it goes dormant in fall to transplant it. Don't plant it by the grave, plant it beside the gate going into the graveyard.

"I left food and water on the back stoop for Mjolnir, but he was no where to be found. He can't get back in the house now with it all locked up. Would you go up and check on him this evening?"

She had planned on telling Louie about last night's visitation. Somehow, though, she just couldn't bring herself to do it. She did ask if he had talked to Billy.

"Nope. And I don't want to, after all the things he said to me. I can't think why you would want to talk to him either, Sharon. We both know that farm ain't worth even a quarter of the life insurance policy Aunt Kathy left for him. I never thought he would be so greedy!"

"It's not about that, Louie - "

But Louie held up his hand and stopped her.