Chapter 24: The First Thaw

Lorna knelt in the mud at the pack line, with her white gown black to the knees.

Behind her stood a truck with its tailgate down.

Luther lay in the bed under a blanket.

His shoulder was wrapped in rags, and he was grey.

Thane stopped me at the edge of the road with a hand on the back of my chair.

He did not push.

He only waited to see what I wanted.

"Luna," Lorna said, and her voice was hoarse. "Please.

"The wound has gone bad. I've done all I can, and I have nothing left to do it with."

"You told me nobody else in the valley had hands like yours."

"They're shaking."

"I can see."

I looked at Luther.

He opened one eye and looked back at me, and for the first time he said nothing.

"Hoyt will drive you to the highway," I said.

"There's a hospital two hours north. They'll see him."

Lorna's face crumpled.

"Thank you," she said.

"Don't," I said. "I'm not doing it for you."

"Then why?"

"Because I'd rather he had a bed than a ditch. Because it doesn't cost me anything."

Hoyt was already walking toward the truck.

He did not look at Luther, and he did not look at her.

"You can't ever come back," I said.

"Not to the Stone. Not to the creek. Not to Redwater land."

"I know."

"Then get up and go."

She got up.

At the door of the truck she turned.

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