Mama hands me Dylan’s SpongeBob backpack, his red superhero cape, and Ted the Shark. I sling my backpack over one shoulder, Dylan’s over the other.

We step off the bus. Mama sets Dylan on the ground while she checks to make sure we have everything. Two suitcases and one duffel bag.

I look around and up. I’ve never seen so many people and so many tall buildings. Even when we stayed with Mama’s cousin in Baton Rouge, it wasn’t like this.

“Look, Piper!” Dylan grabs my hand and clutches it hard. There, off in the distance, are mountains so high, they look like they’ve surely punched a hole right through the sky and into heaven. I feel myself light up inside. Ever since I read My Side of the Mountain, I’ve wanted to see the mountains. Be on a mountain like Sam Gribley.

I squeeze his hand. Just like Dorothy when she first sees Munchkinland, I say, “Toto, I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore.”

4

A New Day

“Oh Lord, let me get these old bones moving

one more day.”

Jewel says this each and every morning

as she stretches her legs

arms

fingers

back.

Baby wags his bit of a tail

and pulls back his lips in a toothy smile

as he does every morning.

A frisky breeze

skitters across the grass, bringing

delicious scents

to Baby’s nose.

The sweet smell of rotting leaves.

The bitter smell of acorns.

The musky smell of squirrels.

Squirrels!

Baby runs tight circles

around and around and around Jewel,

yipping with delight.

A brand-new day to see old friends

and make new ones.

A new day to explore the city with Jewel.

Always with Jewel.

What could be better?

Baby does not understand why sometimes

the smell of sadness and confusion

spools from Jewel.

Like now.

Baby twirls and spins

on back legs.

Jewel laughs.

She lifts Baby and kisses the white patch

on the top of his head.

A patch shaped like a snowflake.

“Look, Baby,” Jewel says. “Just look at the world.”

And Baby does.

Trees, swings, picnic tables, a pond,

wet leaves carpeting the ground and

in the distance

tall buildings

and farther still,

mountains.

Baby licks Jewel’s chin and squirms in her arms.

Let’s go!

5

Signs

Outside the bus station the wind is cold. It seems like the farther we’ve traveled from home, the colder it is.

“This just doesn’t make any sense.” Daddy looks at the piece of paper in his hand, then up at the street signs, then back at the paper. “Three Hundred Eighty-Six West, Two Hundred South,” he reads out loud. He shakes his head. “What the heck kind of address is that?”

“I’m cold,” Dylan whimpers.

Mama wraps Dylan’s red blanket tight around his shoulders and strains to pick him up. Mama’s kind of small, so it’s not easy for her to lift him anymore.