Marigold ran so fast it made her lungs hurt. The water had given her a surge of energy. She ran the dirt road until her heart felt like it was going to pop. Then her strength left her. All at once.

She stopped and fell in the dust again. Her leg muscles throbbed and her stomach was sour.

“I’m coming, Maggie.”

She forced herself upright but only made it a few feet. She fell face-first onto the road. Dust got in her mouth. There was nothing she could do. She could not will her legs to move. The hunger had finally caught up with her. And she believed this would kill her.

She cried. But no tears came out. She was too dehydrated. Through some kind of stubbornness, she’d hoped she was wrong about God. She hoped something heavenly would watch over her baby—whether she believed in it or not.

“Please,” she whispered. “You can kill me, but take care of Maggie.”

And in her haze, she thought she saw someone. He was tall, lanky. His hair was red on top, white on the sides. She could see him. She’d never seen him before.

“Brave girl,” he said. “Such a brave girl. Rest right here, brave girl.”

She was not brave. She knew that.

“I’m stupid!” Marigold shouted through tears. “Not brave. I’m so stupid!”

“Rest, brave girl,” he said. “You’re such a brave girl.” He stooped beside her and patted her hair.

Then he disappeared.

So this is how it will happen, she thought. She would die from exhaustion and starvation and there would be no coming back. Then a feeling overwhelmed her.

“I’m sorry, Maggie!” she forced out. “I’m so sorry. I’m sorry.”

But the hateful sky didn’t care how sorry she was. It only laughed at her.

The redheaded man disappeared.

She was alone.

And her world went black.

Seven
Wonder Boy

The caravan of vehicles rode the dark highway outside Greensburg. The flat fields were so big and long it was like riding on a light-colored sea. Coot had never seen the sea. All he’d ever known were dry fields, water shortages, hacking dust coughs, malnourished cattle, and poverty.

And storm clouds that were made entirely of dirt. Storms so black they shut out the sun and only left a lightless hell behind them.

But tonight wasn’t dusty. In fact, he could see the stars in the violet sky. That was a rarity in this part of the world. Often, dust clouds blocked out the stars so that the night sky looked like muddy pond water. He’d forgotten how magnificent the stars were.

In the back of the covered trailer, Coot sat on a cot. A lantern on a hook above his bed rocked, making the shadows inside the trailer move from side to side. The wagon bounced with the curves and bumps in the road.