Part 4 (1/2)

I threw it into the river She turned to watch it float a moment on the surface of the water, then sink slowly as it et shi+t like that anymore,” she said sorrowfully ”Why did you do that?”

'ret busted and spend the next seven weeks in soan to fill with tears 'Touch uidedthe tears froood,” she whispered

Anne came down from the abute We ainst the pave cries Afterward she was very quiet and lay there looking up at me as I pulled my jeans up around my hips and snapped the buttons She reached over for her pack, pulled out soot up and pulled up her own jeans

”It feels so good in there, I don't want to lose any of it,” she said ”Better than anything I can do in my head”

I didn't answer

She reached for my hand ”Jonathan Do you think maybe Fm in love with you?”

I looked into her eyes There was a bright and shi+ning contentment in them ”No,” I said shortly ”You're not in love with me You're in love with ray-blue pall of exhaust fu heavy in the air over the road We waited for a break in the traffic, thenthe traffic roar by

She pushed long, dahty akeady”

I nodded

”Maybe we can find some shade and cool off a bit first?”

I led her over to a cluround under theivens ”Grass dehydrates hed ”You'll have to pace yourself”

She smiled at me I pulled at my beer and looked out at the road The early trucks had already gone, and the highas filled with coainst the heat and sht The little cars had their ide open, their occupants hoping to escape the heat with the speed, although in the ht

”Where are we heading?” she asked

”West Virginia,” I said, without thinking

”Why West Virginia?”

”Good a place as any,” I said ”Besides, I've never been there”

I didn't tell her that that here my father had come from Near a town named FitchvUle, which I had once found on an AAA map I wondered what it was like, because he nfever spoke about it at all Now, suddenly, I knew I had to go there, even though I hadn't realized it when I left the house this ot tothe pack behind my shoulders and looked down at her ”Ready?”

She reached into her pack and pulled out a floppy-brimmed felt hat, which she stuck on her head ”How does it look?”

”Beautiful”

She got to her feet ”Let's go”

An hour later ere still hanging our thu on her pack, her face flushed and warave it to her

”It's not as easy as it looks in the arette for ot to pee,” she said

”Over there” I gestured to the cluht as well get used to it,” I said

She fished some Kleenex from her pack and disappeared behind the trees I turned to watch the road Traffic was lighter now that the er cars, an to shi+mmer in the heat haze

I heard her coiant Fruehauf trailer crested the hill and came down the hill toward us Autonal Then I heard the hiss of its powerful air brakes as it slowly ca us from the sun

I watched the door open silently outward froround The voice came from a man I could not see ”You kids want a ride into town?”

I felt her restraining hand on my arm, but the voice I heard was not her voice ''Daniel Paw toV us to walk/

I shook her hand angrily off my arm ”We suah do, mistuh,” I said

But now his sense of caution had returned He kept very low to the ground, his fur blending into the shadows The bouquet of the fennel was stronger now, but since it ithin reach, he was able to contain his hunger until he was sure of safety He waited until the wild pounding of his heart returned to normal, then moved very slowly into the acacias

He found the cluster of fennel a few yards froan to scratch at the earth to loosen the juicier,stalk in his front paws and sat up on his haunches, holding it in front of his nose Tentatively, almost delicately, he nibbled at the shoot It was thehe had ever tasted It was also the last For just at thatalmost fifteen yards away Their eyes met for a brief second; then, before he could react to the explosion of fear within him, the 22 bullet ripped into the cortex at the base of his neck, shattering his spine He flipped backward into the air, dead before he touched the ground

Daniel Boone Huggins let the echo of the gunshot and the faint wisp of s forward to pick up the dead rabbit He lifted it by the ears Already the eyes were glazed and empty Carefully he tied it to a leather loop around his waist; then he knelt carefully and studied the creature's tracks

Quickly he grabbed a handful of the fennel shoots and began to retrace the rabbit's trail A few minutes later he was in the field on the side of the hill opposite the clump of bushes froround Carefully, soundlessly, he loosened the thong and placed the rabbit in front of the hole with the fennel shoots around him

A moment later he was on his haunches about twenty yards aaiting It would be only a question of ti his ins sat on the rickety wooden front steps of his house, his jug of evening squeezin's beside hi his eldest son come toward him ''Any luck?” His voice was rusty from lack of use

”Two rabbits,” Daniel answered

”Let's see 'e around his waist and held them out to his father The older man hefted them for a moment, then returned them

”A mite scrawny,” he said ”Fittin' only for stew”

”The drought ain't been ame either,” Daniel said defensively

”I'm not complainin',” his father said ”We take what the Good Lord sees fittin' to give us”

Daniel nodded It would be the first meat they would have had in more than a week

”Take it roun' to your maw an' tell her to make it ready fer the pot”