“Yes, and the best news of all is that we found a little house in the country,” Sam continued. “Wait till you see it! It’s in the woods near the Tualatin River. It’s next to a farm and is completely surrounded by trees. You can get down to the river through the woods. Really nice.”

“When are you moving?” I asked.

“Tomorrow. Would you like to help?”

“Sure. I’d like to see it.”

They came around noon. I’d been sitting on the front porch for a while and had almost forgotten about them. A dark car came silently down the street and jerked to a stop in front of me. The doors on one side had been closed with rope. Sam and Carlotta’s pale faces flashed out at me through the dirty glass. I climbed in beside Sam.

“We had to coast in. I dropped the wires,” he explained.

Carlotta peered stiffly at the street through the spokes of the steering wheel. Sam leaned his head back against the dusty upholstery.

He grinned and said, “We have to clean up the cat shit before we go.”

My “What?” had three syllables.

“The landlady came by this morning and threw some kind of fit. We were still in bed, and she came right in and screamed at us.”

Sam’s eyes closed, reliving the pleasure of the memory. Carlotta glanced over and smiled at me.