“That oak has been there all my life,” Aldi said. “Used to shade out my granddad’s barn, now it shades that garage. I remember when the hollowness came to it. It was a lightning storm, and the water’s just poured in ever since.” He looked at me again, as I realized I had been waiting for him to do. “I was your age, maybe a little older.”

“How old do you think my age is?” I asked.

“I’d put you about twenty-eight or so,” Aldi said.

“Closer to forty,” I said.

“The older I get, the younger people look,” Aldi said.

“But you see my point,” Rudy said. “Better I do it than one of these fucking Asplundh guys.”

But Aldi was still looking at me, and I could see that his eyes were wet. I found that I wanted to touch him, to pinch his shoulder just a little, feel that fragile bone, but I knew that would embarrass both of us. Still, when Rudy was back up in the tree, I added another log to the fire.

“You got kids?” I asked him.

“One son. Grown,” Aldi said. “He steers clear of me. We don’t get on. When I remember that man as a baby, I wish that baby was still around. I could have stayed near that baby forever. But now, most adults I don’t care for.”

“I know what you mean,” I said. “I had an uncle who made me feel like myself, but he died and now it’s just my aunt. We hardly know what to say to each other. I haven’t made it back to visit in years. It’s hard to see the point.”

“That’s it? No man? No kids of your own?” he asked.

“Perley’s about as close to having a kid as I’ll ever get,” I said.

“You miss him?”

“I try not to get too attached to people,” I said. “No point in being disappointed. But Perley, he decided for me. He decided for me that he and I were attached.”

“Some things are impossible to argue with,” Aldi said.

“We’re going to get him back,” I said. “They won’t get away with this.”

“What about you and Rudy?” asked Aldi. “I took it you two were going together.”

“Rudy and me? No way,” I said.

At the end of the day, Rudy rappelled down to us, fumbled in the cold to unclip his harness. He clanked over in his spurs to stand by the fire while I coiled his rope.

“She’s powerful, like a basketball player,” I heard Aldi say.

“Helen?” Rudy said. “Anyone clumsier, I haven’t met them. That’s how come I don’t let her climb.”

“All the same, I like the way she moves,” Aldi said.

“Back off,” Rudy said. “She’s not interested.”