I wish this hadn’t made me angry. But I was angry: she seemed weak and I was, in those days, only interested in strength. “Queen, tell me the truth,” I said. I hadn’t gotten any answers from her yesterday. I couldn’t count on Bay, who was gone half the time. I needed to know if Dice would lie to me. If he was that far above the rules. “Did you run over your own mother with a car?” My heart was beating so hard I felt like it was dragging me back and forth.

“That,” she said, “is a crazy question.”

“Dice told me that you did.” She wouldn’t meet my eye.

“Did he, now?” she said. “Jesus.” She took her time maneuvering her sphere of butter, which hadn’t melted on her cool hands. She pushed her hair back and butter glistened on her cheek like varnish. “He only told you that to turn you against me,” she said. “Punishing me, I guess. He hasn’t liked me since Cassie and I tried to run away.”

“And why was it,” I started, panicky that someone could hear, “that you and Cassie tried?”

Queen paused. I could hear a sheep’s call, and I felt all-consuming tenderness. Oh, I loved the family, the land. Nothing she could say would make sense. My heart was against her.

“She wanted to bring it all down,” Queen said. “Dice has done things that just aren’t right, that’s what she said. He’s negligent, she said, he doesn’t care about people.” Queen took out the roll of wax paper and started cutting it, sliding open scissors down into the shining paper, which made a sound like a gasp. “That scared me.” Queen smiled. “I only got as far as the road, but you know how dirty we always are. We’re so easy for the dogs to track. Cassie got a bit farther.” She stacked her paper rectangles and began folding up a piece of butter.

“What happened next?” I asked despite myself. I did not want an answer.

I watched Queen shape the butter, then fold up the paper edges into perfect corners. Her hands reminded me of my mother’s hands: she had been so good at wrapping presents at the knickknack store. She’d been so good at curling up the ribbons against the scissors into masses of shiny ringlets.

Queen was silent for a long time.