In the yard Pete and Tommy stood head to head, the one still in the cart shafts and the other trailing rope lines as if tied to the ground. Both swung heads to regard Norman as he came forth from the house. Steam rose from their nostrils and light ice lay prickling their raised coats. It had gone cold. The breaking river was a distant thing in the cold-stilled air. Norman was ready for the relentless deep thawing of April; ready for April altogether. What it was bringing. He went to Pete and lifted off the bridle with the makeshift reins and set it over one of Tommy’s hames. Freed, Pete went for the barn. Norman dropped the cart shafts from Tommy’s harness and went to the head of the horse and rubbed his bristled nose with one hand, breaking off the ice beads and warming it. He tilted his head back to look at the constellations: Orion overhead but swinging now to the south as well as the west. Wherever heaven lay, he doubted it was out among the stars. He didn’t know where it was. He didn’t touch the bridle but laid his hand along the muzzle of the horse and said “Step up” and took his hand away. The horse followed him to the barn.

The lamp wick was guttered and the chimney fouled with sooted smoke, the room weaving with shadow seeming to crawl the walls and sprawl away on the ceiling; the contraction that woke her was a hard stab that broke a gasp from her, waking her from a dreamsleep of contractions and constrictions, the feeling of not being able to get her breath and immediately as bad as they were it was better to be awake. She had slid down the pillow bolster and sideways and so righted herself quietly and squirmed to a body comfort. The room was empty of people but for Marthe who sat collapsed into sleep in the corner rocker. Leah lay in bed silent, taking long steady breaths against the next building pain, not wanting to wake Marthe or anyone, not yet, wanting to be alone with this while she could. When they came the pains were of such violence that they seemed to seize her and each left her with long moments of tear-eyed breathlessness. Then she would calm and gather toward the next. She thought to herself it was like having fatal hiccups and almost laughed aloud. It was nothing like that but the idea brought out a half laugh.