“The household supply list is on the dresser in my room.”

Nodding at Sasha, Riley pushed away from the table. “Got it. Fifteen tops,” she said and jogged off. How could she jog, Sasha wondered bitterly, to deal with the chickens?

“Might as well grab a swim before I play pool boy.”

Doyle rose as Sawyer did. “Fifteen minutes to add anything to the supply list, otherwise, you get what you get.”

Annika sat a moment after the others left, then looked apologetically at Sasha. “I don’t know how to laundry. Can you teach me?”

“Go ahead.” Bran waved them away. “I’ve got this.”

* * *

By the time she’d finished giving Annika a lesson on separating clothes, water temperatures, cycles, he’d nearly finished the dishes.

So she and her partner for the morning went out to the garden with hoes, rakes, shears, and a plastic tub from the shed.

They worked with Annika happily humming. She could hear the rumble of the lawn mower, the drone of bees, and the swish of the sea at the base of the cliff.

All so normal, Sasha thought, so everyday. Anyone looking at the picture would see a group of people tending to household chores. But they were far more.

She bided her time, noting that Annika caught on quickly to hoeing out the weeds, just as she’d caught on quickly to the basics of doing laundry.

But she’d clearly done neither before.

“So you have six sisters,” Sasha began.

“Yes.”

“You must miss them.”

“I do, but I’m happy here. Even though we have to fight, and some of the work is hard.”

“Six sisters,” Sasha repeated. “And you’ve never done laundry before.”

“Today I’m doing laundry.”

“So you had staff?”

Obviously puzzled, Annika straightened, mimed holding a tall stick. “Staff?”

“Not that kind. People. People who do things like laundry and cooking and cleaning.”

“Oh. We’re staff now.”

Annika bent back to her weeding, avoiding Sasha’s eye.

“You’ve never really said where you live.”

Annika weeded another moment, then stopped, turned to face Sasha again. “Will you be my friend?”

“I am your friend.”

“Will you be my friend and not ask what I can’t tell you? I can promise, I have nothing bad. It’s . . .”

“Like an oath.”

“Yes.”

“All right.”

Annika reached out to take Sasha into a hug. “Thank you. You taught me laundry.” She eased back, smiling. “I’ll teach you how to . . .” Bending over, she lifted her legs into a ridiculously fluid handstand.

“I think that’s going to take a lot longer than teaching you how to do laundry.”

“I’ll teach you.” Annika dropped down again. “And we’ll find the stars. When we do, and they’re where they belong, I can tell you everything.”

“All right. And whatever it is, we’re still going to be friends.”

After gardening and laundry, after supplies were put away and they ate the gyros Riley brought back from the village, Sasha had her first lesson in gun safety.