“What do you mean? What is Mister Elk?”

Their courage expended, Otis and Lotus looked at each other and turned and ran out of the cabin. As if that were a signal, the dam broke, and outran all the other children. After a moment Sarah followed them and stood at the door perplexed, watching them scatter. Without thinking more about it, she followed the general direction they had taken to the slave quarters, where she presently found herself at the Overseer’s house. Arms folded, Clovis stood in her front yard in an easy slouch, watching her two youngest sons playing at marbles.

“Good morning,” Sarah said. Clovis turned a bland face to her without speaking, her eyes acknowledging her, just. The boys stopped playing and stood watching their mother with knowing looks. “Is Roman sick?” Sarah asked.

Clovis shook her head briefly.

“Is he here?”

Clovis widened her eyes, managing to look both blank and mocking. The boys began to giggle. She did not know them well, because they never came to her school.

“Where can I find your husband?” Sarah asked.

Clovis gave a sharp barking laugh and again shook her head, at which the boys doubled up with laughter. Letting their knees buckle, they fell to the ground and whooped and hollered and rolled about in a parody of uncontrollable mirth. Ignoring them, Sarah turned and walked to the big house, entering the back way. Seeing her agitation, Lovey followed her into the office, which continued to be used as such after Deborah’s death.

“What is it?” Lovey asked.

Sarah told her what had happened. Lovey nodded, as if she were not surprised. “So,” she said, and waited.

When Sarah had given herself a minute to think about it, she said, “Tell Plumboy to go find Roscoe and ask him to come here to me directly.”

Lovey went out. Sarah took a book and tried to read to pass the time of waiting, but she could not attend to it. The ticking of the clock seemed unnaturally loud, as it always did when her nerves were in discord, and she looked at it too often. Five minutes, ten, thirty—fifty minutes passed. She had not turned a single page when she put the book down and went hurrying through the wide hall and breezeway to find Lovey. She saw her in the near distance standing in the kitchen garden talking to Tobey, whose sole work was the tending of the vegetables and the herb garden. Lovey broke off when she saw Sarah and came to meet her. “Well?” she said.

“Did you send for him?”

“Of course I did.”

“Yes. But it is an hour since, and he has not come.”