The man removed a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his face. He started to laugh. “Just what in the heavens is all this?”

“I just want to touch it,” Marigold said. “I won’t hurt you.”

“Now just wait a minute, darling,” he said.

“I promise.” She inched closer to him. “I just wanna touch it.”

The buzzing in her head and chest became so strong she could not feel anything but the vibration of it. Her hands became so hot she could hardly bear the pain of it. She touched him and could feel the muscles in his back popping beneath the skin. He let out a grunt, then a sigh. And it happened. He tensed his muscles and forced himself straight. His spine became erect. His shoulders aligned. His neck was no longer hunched forward.

She stepped back from him. The buzzing in her had stopped. Her hands were cold again. She fell to her knees. An exhaustion overwhelmed her, and she found it hard to breathe.

“Go,” said Marigold. “And sin no more.”

Thirty-Seven
Highwayman

Pete drove on a dusty highway, following behind Paul’s truck. They were moving again. That last time they’d been on the move, he’d been a boy. But now he was a fourteen-year-old, and that was practically the same as being an adult. His mother slept in the passenger seat. The vehicles loped along short hills, weaving through the countryside like a wagon train.

Thus far, autumn had stolen too much from them. One dog and one steady job. The tobacco farm had all but dried up since the war began. And now it was working its devilry on his mother, who didn’t seem capable of doing anything but coughing and sleeping. Eulah had developed a cough that had been with her for six months and only grown worse.

He draped his arm out the window. The whole world was dried and faded. The grass was gold; the trees were changing colors. Pete’s mother rested her head against the window. Her eyes were shut. She breathed softly. He could hear her wheezing. Sometimes during her sleep she coughed so hard she couldn’t breathe. She was getting too lean for her frame. Her skin was paler. Her body was weaker.

Pete squinted through the windshield. The pollen on the glass was so bad he could hardly see. So much yellow dust filled the air, it was obscene. The large sheets of yellow fell from the sky like an eerie rain. Some people were allergic to the dust. Others could breathe it in with no problems. But it didn’t seem to bother Pete, Reese, or Ruth. It crippled his mother.

Eulah coughed again but did not wake up.