Harry stopped to clear his throat, blink his eyes. “So you may know that he never had a moment of fear or doubt and he was brave to the very end. He never knew it when he died, just like the rest of us never know when our time will come. You can surely be proud of him. I feel lucky to have been in the same company with such a fine Marine. We all wished we could have been so brave and cool as him. God bless you, ma’am. Nels Iverson, USMC.

“P.S. This is all the gear that he had in his pack—it wasn’t much because we’ve been on the move and can’t carry much.”

There was nothing more.

John cleared his throat. “Thank you, Harry,” he said. Wilma’s eyes were glazed; she was seeing nothing.

Harry busied himself folding the letter back into the envelope.

Jinny was digging in the box again. “Aw, it’s just a bunch a dirty ole Army stuff,” she said, like a kid disappointed at Christmas.

“Jinny!” John said.

“Well, it is!” she said. “I don’t see who’d ever want it!” Then she burst into tears.

Harry crossed the room and walked out the door, clutching the letter in his hand.

No one came after him. He didn’t expect them to. He wasn’t the one who’d been a hero. He’d never been a hero in his life. He’d never died for his country. How could he ever match that?

His mother had never seen him and she never would.

He went down to the dock and sat hugging his knees, watching the water, which was calm tonight, almost lavender in the light of the setting sun, the voice in his mind saying, She never will and I don’t care; he’s not coming back and she never will. After some minutes, there came a voice behind him. “Harry!” He turned. It was Stacy. She was holding what looked like another letter in her hand, and marching toward him like a fury. “Did you know about this?” she said. “About Chase and Mary?”

So there had been letters from Mary in the box. Harry turned from Stacy, and looked out at the water. “He’s dead,” he said. “My brother Chase is dead. Haven’t you heard?”

But Stacy ignored him. “She talked herself out of this mess, like she always does,” she said. “‘Oh, we were just good friends!’ They all believed her! But, Harry, in this letter it says they were engaged!”

Harry turned, surprised.