A big bowl of stew is put in front of me along with a slab of corn bread even larger than the piece I ate this morning in my mother’s cabin. Next to it, Ahyokah places a cup filled with cider, smiling up at me as she does so.

“Wado,” I say, before I think. “Thank you.”

That makes Ahyokah’s happy smile even broader. It’s hard for me not to smile back at her, but I keep my face expressionless. I do not want her to think I like her or that I am going to treat her like a big brother. I do not have time for that. I did not come here to make friends with this little girl, but to meet my father.

I turn my attention back to the food. Everything looks and smells so good that my mouth is watering.

“Eat,” Sally says. “Put some meat on those long limbs of yours.”

“Eat,” my father says.

“Yes,” my little sister says in that irritatingly sweet voice of hers. “Eat.”

I eat.

CHAPTER 5

Ahyokah’s Friends

My father sits quietly, leaning back in his chair and not watching me as I eat.

I am glad of that. It is not just because it is always best to eat and then talk. You should always show respect for your food by giving it your full attention. It is also that it gives me some time to collect myself. I am uncertain and excited at the same time. Even though it has been a long time since I have seen my father, even though he left me, I am not feeling resentment toward him right now. Instead, I find myself liking him. His voice and his face are both so kind. I cannot understand how anyone could imagine him wanting to do anything to hurt another person.

I look over at him and he nods his head, a little smile twisting his lips as he does so.

Eat, he is telling me.

I eat.

I finish one bowl of stew. It has onions and turnips and chunks of beef, all floating in a thick brown broth. Of course it is not as fine as my mother’s cooking, but it is good.

“More, Uwohali?” my stepmother says, bringing the pot over to me.

“Wado!” I reply as I accept another bowlful and then hold up my empty cup so that my sister can fill it again with cider.

When I am done, Ahyokah tugs at my sleeve.

Leave me alone, I think.

But she tugs at my sleeve a second time.

I turn to look at her, even though I wish she would just leave me alone. I don’t want to spend time with her. I haven’t come here to get to know her but to learn something useful from my father.

“Are you ready to meet my dolls?” she asks.

I want to say no.