“Oh, and Renee Saucier died.”

“Yeah?”

“Overdose.”

Renee Saucier did not seem like the kind of person who would die the way a lot of people probably thought Justin was going to. “Wow,” Justin mumbled.

“Yeah.”

And they didn’t talk for a while. And thought about Renee Saucier being dead. And that wasn’t much fun.

When they got to North/South Road, Michelle stopped at the stop sign and had an idea. If she took a left and headed north, they would be in Canada in about forty-five minutes. And they’d be able to go to bars there. Legally. And that could be fun. “Ooh! Wanna go to Canada?” she asked.

“No.” The last time Justin went to Canada, he got beat up. Canadians are not as nice as everyone thinks they are.

“All right.”

Michelle stayed stopped at the stop sign at the intersection of the Road to Somewhere and North/South Road and thought about what else they could do for fun.

“Movies?” offered Michelle. There were movie theaters in Fort Kent and Caribou and Presque Isle.

“Nah.”

“How about Last Gas?”

That could be fun, thought Justin. Last Gas was a general store in Portage, and it was the last place to get gas or food or supplies as you headed west into the North Maine Woods and the Allagash Wilderness.

“All right,” said Justin.

Michelle pressed on the gas pedal and turned right and headed south onto South Road.

She turned on the radio, which was tuned to the classic rock station out of Presque Isle. “Stairway to Heaven” was playing. Because “Stairway to Heaven” is always playing on classic rock stations.

Uncle Clair loved that song. And had taught Justin how to play it on the guitar.

And Justin missed his uncle so much. And hoped he was climbing the stairway to heaven.

And then he couldn’t believe he had thought something so hokey. He didn’t even believe in heaven.

“How’d he die?” asked Michelle, saving Justin from his mawkishness. “Stairway to Heaven” had made her wonder if Uncle Clair was going to heaven, too.

“Heart attack.” A widow-maker heart attack, technically. The left anterior descending artery in Uncle Clair’s heart had become completely blocked. And that blockage is almost impossible for doctors to detect. And it’s often fatal. And strikes far more men than women. And when it does, wives become widows. Hence the name.

“Oh.”

And then Justin and Michelle didn’t talk for a little while.

And thought about Uncle Clair being dead.

And that wasn’t fun.

And then something really creepy occurred to Justin and he asked, “Where do you think they’re gonna store him?”

“Huh?”

“Uncle Clair. Where’ll they store his body, after the funeral?”

“I don’t know.” Michelle didn’t really want to think about that.

“’Cause the funeral service is tomorrow,” continued Justin. “But the burial service isn’t till May or June.” In northern Maine, if you die in the winter, you have to wait until May or June to be buried. Because that’s when the snow melts and the ground thaws enough to dig up the earth and plant crops and bury the dead. “Where will they store him from now till May? Or … June?”