“I hope so.” I thought about little, skinny Laura with her sun-damaged skin and hair. What did we really know about her and her life? “Remember I told you I dreamed about someone being forced on the elevator? Maybe it wasn’t a dream.”

“But nobody else heard anything, Mama.”

“Your egg’s ready, Haley,” Frances called.

“Go get your breakfast, honey,” I said. “I’m okay.”

And I was. Just very sad.

In a few minutes she was back. “Here’s the protector of the turtles, the defender of the nests.”

Sophie Berliner giggled as she followed Haley onto the balcony. She was wearing her usual black robe which, the more we got to know the child, didn’t seem so strange.

“How did last night go?” I asked. “See any turtles?”

“Two. We marked two nests.” She and Haley sat down at the table, Haley with her eggs, Sophie with orange juice. “My dad thinks one of them is too close to the water so we may move it back farther in the dunes. We have to get someone from the Wildlife Service to help us, though. It has to be done just right.”

“But won’t the mama turtle get upset if it’s moved?”

Sophie gave me a look that I can only describe as disgusted. “She lays her eggs and leaves, Mrs. Hollowell. Turtles don’t sit around on their eggs like chickens do.”

“Sounds like the perfect setup,” Haley said. “Just lay the eggs and leave.”

“Well, they’re okay unless rattlesnakes or ghost crabs get them,” Sophie said.

Haley took a large bite of scrambled eggs. Had she no shame? “Ummm, good. You want some, Mama?”

I shook my head no. “Rattlesnakes? There are rattlesnakes on the beach?”

“Millicent said those woods over on the bay are full of them.”

“Do the turtles lay their eggs on the bay beaches, too?” Haley asked Sophie.

“A lot of them do. That’s one thing Millicent hated about them building those houses over there. She said the turtles have a hard enough time as it is.” Sophie propped her feet on her chair, the black robe tight around her knees. “Did you know they cry when they lay their eggs? Real tears.”

At this, Haley put her fork down and pushed her plate away. “Because they’re hurting?”

“Millicent says they’re not. She says she thinks they’re marking the nests with their tears.” The child stopped for a moment. “Said. Millicent said.” She loosened her robe and stood up abruptly. “Anyway, my mom’s coming in today, and she’ll take me tonight. But if you’d like to go, I’ll call you.”

“That would be wonderful, Sophie,” Haley said.

“You have to be absolutely quiet and you can’t have a light.”

“Okay.”

“Once they dig their nests and start laying their eggs, you can shine a flashlight on them. It’s like they don’t even see the light then.”