“And?” He glanced at Helen and held his breath, feeling the familiar knot tighten in his chest, feeling his breathing grow labored and short, the race of adrenaline along his limbs. The line was silent for a long moment, and for a second he thought it could only be bad news, that there was nothing else that would make a man pause in such an uncomfortable way. Then he heard Olmstead’s voice again, and all the fear dissolved into blessed relief.

“When can you start?”

CHAPTER THREE

Jessica Pierce was an especially bright four-year-old.

Sometimes she even surprised herself—things just seemed to come to her, like that day she found Daddy’s drawings of THE PLANT and copied them in crayon, labeling everything like it was in the pictures—even though she couldn’t read or write. Or the time she found the toolbox in the corner of the garage and took her tricycle apart, piece by piece, saving everything in neat piles for Daddy when he came home. He wasn’t too happy that time, but he let her help put it back the way it was.

Sometimes, she felt the need to fix other things. Like her dolls that weren’t lined up perfectly all in rows. Or her clothes that weren’t stacked by the right shade of pink in her dresser. When that feeling came, she couldn’t rest until she put things right. She knew Mommy and Daddy didn’t always like that, but she couldn’t help it if something needed fixing. It was a big deal, because she couldn’t sleep until she was done.

And sometimes, though only once in a while, she could tell when things were going to happen. She would tell Mommy, and Mommy would smile and say she was PERCEPTIVE. She thought that was a good word, and practiced saying it over and over. She usually had fun on those days when she was PERCEPTIVE.

Today was one of those days.

Daddy had come home from the store in a very good mood. Jessie could tell because he had brought flowers for Mommy, and she laughed and he picked her up and swung her around and around, and then he grabbed Jessie and swung her around too, until she got so dizzy she couldn’t stand up when he finally put her on the floor. Daddy had gotten his job last night, and they were moving to some place very cold. She knew it was a cold place because Mommy told her later to wear her sweater, and they didn’t pack jackets, they kept them out for the trip. Jessie’s was on her bed, waiting for her, her Care Bear jacket with its pink and blue hearts. She had picked it out herself last Christmas from the big store in the mall, and it was the best jacket she had ever had.