e lived in to be a very bad  first er, I  into a deeper ion to eat or drink a feo bed. Most of t in tic state, a  lasted from December ts moist embrace, and for many  a peep of sun reac sealed us in, but trance alloo penetrate. t and froze into slick crusts t stered under pressure.

    In time o territory, looking for food became a daily preoccupation. tself o a tenuous o forage tioned us not to roam too far, so   of bark, robins breast, a roast skunk. e imagined all  visiting town.

    quot;I ootaste of ice cream,quot; Smaolac to a mean supper. quot;Or a nice yello;

    quot;Raspberry jam,quot; said Speck, quot;on .quot;

    Onions c;Sauerkraut and pigs feet.quot;

    quot;Spagti,quot; Zanzara began, and Ragno finis;;

    quot;A Coke and a smoke.quot; Lucted y pouch.

    quot; you let us go?quot; asked C;Its been so long, Béka.quot;

    t sat above us on a ty dynamite crate. ed granting liberties every time ake Blomma and Kivi onig be back before daay off take no c;  ;And bring me back a bottle of beer.quot;

    t  delay. Béka s t per outern o meet ttled into to t step aretcrees created a general sense of unease about our absent friends.

    After to to sleep, Luc me company at trance in a quiet vigil. quot;Dont tle treasure.  see, t be seen. till ts t;

    e c, a crasrees aic inguiso t, strained in tion of tion. Lucruck a matc torc at trance. ttered in t  into ligepped carefully to scent of blood on t, t;gt;ui torc, and ted our progress. A fox snapped its jas prey, and o t. Fanned out like glass in a kaleidoscope, black-and-reruggling urkey, to tance, and above us in trees, toget to one another.

    Onions, Kivi, and Blomma still  returned om. Sted to ;Last of t; so tening morn as I gave curned late t afternoon,  come orn bet a searcy or ing inside t.

    quot; do you mean, keeping us ; Speck demanded. quot;You told t  looking for t; S of us into pairs and mapped out four different approaco too keep   direct patomping grounds, and Ragno and Zanzara follohs.

    Cook an ancient artery, blazed by t ran parallel to ter ted in its course. It seemed more likely t Onions, Kivi, and Blomma aken anotrail ter cover, but ayed vigilant for any movement or otions tprints or broken brancimes cepped out onto t stints. Anyone driving across t linked to toed us in t, and I often  look like from so far above. Ants, probably, or little c. Co une at once familiar and strange.

    quot; is t song?quot; I asked opped to get our bearings. Far aug pusoy.

    quot;C;

    quot; is C;

    Sed a strand of ;Not  least ts w ;

    quot;;

    S;Caug is C;

    quot; boy is t? t;

    ance at t, I could see she was blushing.

    quot; you tell me?  anyone ever talk about ;

    quot;Aniday, alk about cry to forget everyt to cer memories.quot;

    A far-off cry  out, a brief alarm t signaled us to make e and rendezvous. e dropped our conversation and follo, alone and crying in an empty glen. Soo confused and distraugo find es to  down beside Onions and draped his arm around her shoulders. Kivi and Blomma were gone.

    to toreets as t reetlamps and storefront signs cast ed dark, serving as beacons for to navigate told t to  being seen by people in t;ere invisible in t; s, tole sugar, salt, flour, and a netted sack of oranges, tas in an alley outside of tore. Sneaking in test visit.

    quot;Everyt,quot; Onions told us. quot;tain is gone, ter and all t spin you around. And no more booter, and tubs of penny candy are gone, too. Instead, t for babies. Diapers made out of plastic t you ttles and cans of milk. And iny jars of food, all goosure of test baby in t potatoes t look like red mud. And smoosurkey and ced to taste every one, and ;

    I could picture ted and spray jars strehe floor.

    A car pulled up outside and stopped in front of ture  s its beam along terior, and  to t, slipped on ts, and sent ttering across t door opened, and tepped inside. One of to t;t; Onions sed for to run, but Kivi and Blomma did not move. tood side by side in ted for to come and get them.

    quot;I dont kno;It  s  t in ting for it to . t, and Blomma raised one o  t look afraid at all. Like t.quot;

    Onions  botolen goods. Instinct set in, and sy streets, raffic, never looking back. ted oo ted nearly all day to return aking a route t skirted treets. ed.

    quot;?quot; Béka asked ; did ;

    quot;Somebody must old t; Onions s;Somebody w;

    Béka took ed ; be?quot; raig me, as if accusing me of a heinous crime.

    quot;But I didnt tell—quot;

    quot;Not you, Aniday,quot;  out. quot;took your place.quot;

    quot;C; said Ccions. e trudged e o grieve. e took t of t t beoic and impassive, accepting t saying next to not summer and into tions revolved around finding meaning in t to convince us t a betrayal  t to get us and t it ter of time before Kivi and Blomma s urn, t us doook a more tful view.

    Luc;ted to leave, and it ter of time. I only  t sent off to live in a zoo or put under tist.quot;

    e never hing.

    More ted  s a feeal ao sleep in relative peace and luxury beneato our books and papers. e read translation, Clytemnestra in igones ing of eart. terbury and lives on t of y in all of Sons angels and auroctle, yaasies of Keats. Sein. Rip Van inkle sleeping it off. Speck insisted on Austen, Eliot, Emerson, tes, Alcott, Nesbitt, Rossetti, bot  up to t age, che books like a pair of silverfish.

    Sometimes, Speck o me. I  a beat, s ened me from t;t; S me to tears over Ben Jonsons dro. S;t Brigadequot; and tennysons quot;Ulysses.quot; I loved tcer season. In time ened in t of t sometimes all I could see  space,  from t ty years togeted ao so say a word and break my .