“Oh no.” Dad clears his throat and puts an arm around me. “That’s not why at all. My father was always talking about whether us boys had the gift. Then Lincoln did, and my father made a big fuss over it, but Braggy didn’t and I worried I wouldn’t, either. It was a hard thing wondering if I would let our father down, and I wasn’t having you troubled that way.”

“Would you have minded if I couldn’t dowse?”

“Will you care any less about Birdie if she can’t dowse?”

“No.”

“There you have it. It’s certainly good, but it’s not everything.”

“One more thing.” I speak into his ear. “Before Lincoln drilled, I put the little stone that Dr. Morgan gave me on the bottom of the drill bit. I think it helped bring the water.”

“I’d never have thought of that. I wish I could have seen the gusher.”

I almost say I think the stone might also be what helped me find the water and I’m not a real dowser, but it feels good to have Dad’s arm around me.

I check the room to see if Braggy is there. He’s sitting on a folding chair next to the desserts and holding a plate with three different slices of pie. He waves to me, stands up, and addresses the group.

“No surprise to me! With Bower Brothers Well-Drilling, water is their business. When they drill, wells fill! Three generations, make that four generations now, at your service.”

After his speech, Braggy sits down again and holds his plate in the air.

“Get yourself some pie, Henry. See, I’m trying the apple, the blueberry, AND the pumpkin. Don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings by not choosing their pies.”

Along one wall of the living room there’s a stack of cardboard boxes that weren’t there before I left with Lincoln this morning.

“What’s in those?” I wonder out loud.

“They’re for your family,” Mrs. Gaucher answers. “We know you had to leave your house in a hurry, so people donated what they thought you could use. There’s clothes, boots, winter coats, even some toys for Birdie in that one there.” She points to a big box at the end.

The box with toys in it has a stuffed cat that’s white and orange and black.

“Look, Birdie.” I lift it up to show her. “Someone sent a calico cat for you.”

She glances at it and shakes her head. I find another stuffed animal in the box. It’s a purple parrot puppet. If James was here, he’d make the puppet say something funny, but I try my best.

“How about this one?” I put it on my hand and make the parrot’s mouth open and close. “Hi there, Birdie, I’d like to be your friend.”

Birdie turns her back on it.