We descended the wobbling ladder. Sara showed me the leader ewe, whose loyalty I would have to capture if I wanted to herd the flock. The ewe was blind in one eye, which was white and brimming over with scar tissue. Her other eye contained a horizontal rectangular pupil in a gold-colored round. Her large compliant head took up so much space. Her horns were warm, as though they were filled with blood. “When the weather’s good, you’ll herd,” Sara said. She looked out the window. “Today, for example.”

“By myself?”

We opened the barn doors and the sheep coursed out into the sloping meadows. “You’re going to have to do it when we’re away,” Sara said. “So you’d better learn.”

“I’ve never even met a sheep before today,” I said. The bleating flock slowly headed north, stretching and gathering. It was early afternoon.

“If you lose the sheep, you’ll lose the sheep,” said Sara. “So just don’t lose them.” She took off her scarf and wound it around my neck. “If it gets too cold, the sheep will find a warm hillside,” she said. “They’re good at that.”

“Don’t leave me,” I said. My hurt hand pulsed.

She took off her canvas jacket and draped it over my shoulders. “The more you dawdle, the harder it will be to catch them.”

The sheep had already disappeared over the ridge. I’d have to run to catch them.

“Stand in front of the ones that are going the wrong direction,” Sara said. “And if they don’t heed, shake a stick and shout. If you belong here, you’ll love it. Earn our trust.”

My wounded palm was hot, and I used it to try to warm my freezing fingers.

“You’re still cold?” she said. She took off her sweater and handed it to me. I didn’t want to accept it, but it was so warm in my hands. She took off her skirt, pulled it over her boots. She took off her turtleneck, exposing her prickled skin, her pale stained undershirt. She held her clothes out to me. I couldn’t look at her face, but then she turned and I wished I had. I no longer had any idea what she thought of me. I no longer knew whether I was safe. I wished Bay had been there to guide me.

Sara walked almost naked back down the long slopes.

CHAPTER 2

I’d met Bay at the bus stop three days before. I’d been taking a Greyhound from Asheville back to Durham. I was going to ask for refuge at Isaac’s squat, since I couldn’t tell my mother I’d decided not to enroll at the college I’d gotten into, in Virginia.