But Jim didn’t say anything more, not when he parked the Valiant in front of the house after dark, not when he walked into the parlor where Leo lay on the couch with his A harp to get the newspaper, not even after he washed up and went to his bedroom. Leo was in his own room by then. He stood in his doorway and said down the hall loud enough for Jim to hear, “I gotta go for a physical tomorrow. A sergeant’s picking me up.”

But Jim didn’t answer. Leo heard the slight knock of his watch on the night table, then the bed springs, and the light switch. Leo gave him another minute or two but the house was quiet, so was the river. It’d gone down the last couple of days. On the way back from Springfield, the second time, Leo saw the easy chair that had been stuck under the covered bridge. It had floated to the pebbled beach at the Springfield line, where it snagged itself upside-down between boulders, its four short legs sticking up in the air.

Leo knew he would pass the physical. He wondered if he would get sworn in right then and there.

When Leo got up at seven Jim was already gone and he hadn’t left any breakfast, just his coffeepot, which was still warm when Leo touched it. But he didn’t need coffee. He looked over the kitchen, even the parlor, half hoping to see a note or something, anything from Jim. But there was none. At two minutes to eight, the sergeant drove up to the house in a light blue Ford sedan. It had white U.S. Government license plates, and it was funny, but Leo had been expecting a jeep. He also thought they’d be driving to a fort of some kind, but the sergeant chuckled when Leo told him that. He was chewing gum again, driving with both hands on the wheel. He wore an ironed pale green shirt, a dark green tie held in place with an American flag tie tack, and dark green pants with shiny black shoes. Leo had put on his work boots, jeans, and a clean T-shirt, but he felt a little dirty, a little too informal sitting there in the front seat as they drove south along the river in the sunshine. The sergeant blew a bubble and popped it.

“Nope, MEPS is down the street from my office. Convenient as instant coffee.”

“What’s that, sir?”

“Military Entrance Processing Station. We’ll do the whole meal right there. Your lucky day too, Doc Trudeau’s on call. You probably know her, she’s got an office in your town.”

“I’ll get sworn in after that?”

The sergeant blew another bubble and popped it. Leo could smell his aftershave.

“After the doc you’ll do an SI and prints, then you’ll see a CO and take the oath.”

Leo nodded like he’d understood what he just heard. They passed the Springfield line, and he looked out the windshield at the sun on the river.