We pushed down through the woods until we found a place where the elderberry bushes dipped into the high water. There was a honeybee hive on the far bank, the bees gone sleepy and slow this time of year. Lily and Karen peeled off their clothes and plunged in, scooping handfuls of water over Lily’s belly, whooping at the cold. I stripped down and followed them. Together, our bodies showed the marks of elastic waistbands, of chigger bites and peeling scabs, stretch marks, birthmarks, ingrown hairs, generous ripples of fat around thighs, jellied parts, furry belly buttons, sunburnt clavicles. Caked with grime, our toenails were sharp and filthy as hooves.

After, we sat on the bank.

“Why do you live at the Land Trust?” I asked.

“Because that’s where Karen is,” Lily said.

“I needed a place to stay while I went to nursing school,” Karen said. “They said I could build out there.”

“But why land that’s women only?” I asked.

“I used to think my trouble was that I didn’t want to live around men. That place brought relief for a while,” Karen said. “Now I’d just as soon not live around women, either. It turns out my trouble might be that I don’t want to live around anyone at all.”

“Even me,” Lily said. She laughed. Karen didn’t.

“My boyfriend said too much solitude is what drove Rudy crazy,” I said.

“Do you think Rudy’s crazy?” asked Karen.

I thought about how to answer. “I trust him with my life every single day that I work with him,” I said.

“That counts for a lot,” Karen said. “Maybe for everything.” She spat a wad of sticky saliva into the water, watched the current carry it away. Lily leaned back onto her elbows. Stretch marks traveled from her pubic hair to her belly button, pressed inside out.

“How long have you known Rudy?” I asked.

“Karen went to high school with him,” Lily said.

“Not really,” Karen said. “Neither one of us ever went to class.”

“How can you be friends with him?” I asked.

“We’re not friends with him,” Karen said.

“Well, we sort of are,” Lily said.

“We’re associates,” Karen said.

“I don’t think he has anyone else,” Lily said. “Except maybe for you.”