We watched in silence until Rondal came out of the ether. His eyes fluttered and he turned his head but seemed to look past us.

“Hey, brother,” Talcott said uneasily, “me and a couple of the boys will tote you back to the train in a little bit.”

“No!” I said sharply. They looked at me. “He wants to go on.”

“He aint in much shape to want, is he?” Talcott said.

“He dont want to go back to Charleston,” I insisted. “Just because his legs is paralyzed, that dont mean his mind is.”

“You think me and him could survive Justice County? Why, they’d shoot us in a minute. Assuming, of course, that Don Chafin didnt. Aint that right, Rondal?”

Rondal stared.

“I’m taking him to my Homeplace in Kentucky,” I said.

“You’re a-taking him? A little slip of a gal?”

“They’s got to be a wagon around here someplace, and a team of mules. I’ll take him right over the road.”

“Be a hard trip,” Dr. Booker said.

“No harder than getting him to Charleston.” I realized that I was crying and wiped my face with the back of my hand. “I’ll get him on the train in Logan.”

“Dangerous for a woman.”

“Anybody stops me, I’ll tell them he’s one of theirn. And I’ll carry me a gun hid. But I aint going back to Charleston, no more than he is. You know me, Dr. Booker, and you know I mean it. He’s the daddy of my baby, and I aim to take him home.”

“This here is crazy,” Talcott said.

“Ask him!” I was screaming. “He aint deaf! He’s a-listening to you! Ask him what he wants to do.”

Dr. Booker stepped close to him. “Rondal, listen to me. You understand me?”

Rondal nodded his head.

“I be straight with you, because I know you want it. You aint never going to walk again. It aint likely you’ll live long, but I cant say for sure. You could git the breathing problems on you and go just like that.” He snapped his fingers. “Or you could hold on a while. Could be a few years. Maybe the influenza will carry you off. But nobody knows for sure. Trip be hard either way you go. You’ll be susceptible. I’ll leave it up to you, son. You want to go with Carrie or you want to go back to Charleston?”

Rondal didn’t answer.

“You hear me, son?”

Rondal nodded. He closed his eyes. “Carrie,” he whispered. “Carrie, take me.”

Talcott threw up his hands. “Then I reckon I’ll have to come too, git myself shot at.”

“Hit will be safer for all of us ifn you dont,” I said. “I got my own way of doing things. You go on back to your wife and younguns. You can come visit him when things quiet down. Now if you want to help, go on and see if you can buy a wagon and a team of mules offn some farmer. And git me a jar of applesauce or something else soft while you’re at it.” I turned my back to him and pulled some money out of my dress, all Rondal had given me in case of an emergency.