The Great Pyrenees dogs found her in the morning and sounded the alarm. She came riding up, sitting behind Gemini on the spotted horse. I stared at her in awe. I was a bit drunk, and so happy to see her I found myself laughing and wiping tears from my eyes. Her hair was long and wavy and suddenly I could see why Dice had named her Queen. She looked cocksure and dangerous. She dismounted and kissed the horse. I dreaded the punishment she’d be in for, returning like this. Maybe she had some bargaining chip, a whole lot of cash, the governor’s head in her satchel.

Dice came out. “Well, Queen,” he said. “Have you traveled far?” The air seemed to ripple off his back.

Queen said, “I have a warning.” I felt she’d planned out this speech—she spoke more quickly than usual. “They’re going to try to buy you out and if you don’t say yes they’re going to arrest you. The builder is friends with the governor.” She had lost a tooth, one of her canines.

I glanced at Dice. I was surprised how glad he looked to have her back. “I know,” he said. He was so good at staying in control. “Thank you.”

“So I thought, fuck this,” Queen said. “I want to fight them.”

“Exactly,” Dice said. He looked around at the family that had gathered. “Cooperation, consistency,” he said. “They won’t displace us.” I believed him completely.

Sara sent Queen to the dairy and me to the lower compost pile. And at lunch it became clear that they were trying to keep us apart. Queen sat next to me, then Sara called her away again.

We sang after dinner. Queen led “The Great Day.”

I’ve a long time heard that the sun will be darkened.

That the sun will be darkened in that day.

O sinner, where will you stand in that day?

Queen sang the alto part. She was so beautiful. I knew everyone saw it too. She kept her hand high for the hold, then slashed it down to continue, and at the end of the song we broke into laughter because we’d sung it so well.

Afterward Sara sent her to the hayloft. We still hadn’t had a chance to talk.

* * *

After lights-out, when the breathing in the long house had gone regular, I crept to the barn. I wore my nightgown and my boots. I stepped on the sides of my feet. No one guarded the door.

I climbed to the hayloft and found Queen. Her lantern was on. She lay open-eyed on the visitor’s mattress.

She stood and embraced me. She didn’t smell clean. “Just who I wanted to visit,” she said.

“I wondered if I would ever see you again,” I said.

“I was always planning on coming back.”