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"Whenever she ran off like this. I would hear nothing or know nothing until the day she returned.''

"Once she sees how much trouble she's in, shell come hurrying back," Mama assured him, but he shook his head.

"Things are different this time," he muttered. "There's just too much resentment in her heart. I've made mistakes, many, many mistakes."

Mama assured him he hadn't, but he seemed inconsolable. During the next few weeks, he ate even less and less, lost weight, and developed dark circles around his eyes. He plodded along with his head down, his shoulders turned inward, going to work in a robotic, mechanical manner, and rarely brought home any interesting stories or told us about funny occurrences at the pharmacy.

"I know you're taking your vitamins," Mama told him. "but you need some of this, too."

Periodically she had him drink one of her herbal mixes designed to restore energy. Only, this time it didn't seem to be working as quickly as it usually did for others. including me.

Eventually. Dave began to miss work. He would wake up with a bad migraine, take the medicine he dispensed to others, then sleep most of the day. Mama gave him her own remedies as well, and sometimes they worked rapidly and he was up and about and back to work, but more often than not, he remained lethargic and, in any case, never seemed to regain the glow of happiness and enthusiasm with which he had come into our lives.

Whenever he did show an interest in something, especially something he might do with me, I quickly agreed. I took rides with him to get things for the farm, had lunch with him at a fast-food place, even though Mama hated them, and willingly left whatever I was doing when he asked me to join him. I even went for walks with him in the afternoon. He would stop to look at his former home and tell me how he had felt when they had first moved in.

"It wasn't much to look at when we first moved in. Betsy hated it, of course. but Elliot seemed excited enough about it. He wasn't the great help on the property you are to Sarah, but he wasn't depressed or negative. After a while, he did seem to get along with his new friends. That's true, isn't it?" he asked me, as if he wasn't sure. "Eventually he was happy here, wasn't he?"

"I would say so. yes," I told him.

That pleased him, and seeing him smile about anything these days was a boon.

"I didn't have anywhere near as wonderful a place to roam when I was a boy. Noble. I grew up in Newark, New Jersey. We lived in a nice town house, but we had no yard as such. My parents weren't wealthy people, but we were comfortable. I could go to the parks or take rides to go hiking, of course, but to just step out your front door and have all this" -- he waved his hand-- you're a lucky kid. Noble, a lucky kid. Your ancestors knew what they were doing when they settled here."

"Mama told us our great-great-grandpa Jordan's heart pounded the way a man's heart pounds when he sees a beautiful woman when he set eyes on this land. She said he fell in love with every tree, every blade of puss, every rock he saw and just knew he had to live here and work his farm here and build his home here," I recited. I had heard it enough times when Noble and I were growing up.

"Yes, well. I can understand the way he felt. I was very happy to find that house and so cheaply. too. Of course. I didn't know the full story about the previous owner and what people thought he might have done to your sister. but I think I still would have gone forward. I'm glad I did," He smiled at me. "Otherwise. I wouldn't have met your mother and I wouldn't have met you."

We were on another late-afternoon walk. This time we had followed an old trail through the woods. one I hadn't taken for some time. I was reluctant to do it now, but he was insi

stent. The trail was overgrown, but not enough to hinder our walk. I knew where it would take us, and that set my heart to thumping faster. It wasn't long before we reached the creek, not far from where my brother had died. It seemed the stuff of dreams now, nightmares.

The creek wasn't as full as usual, but it was as clear as ever, the rocks beneath the water gleaming in the afternoon sunshine. We saw small fish swimming in what looked like maddened and frantic circles and a turtle struggling to get to the top of a rock.

"He probably thinks he's climbing Mount Everest," Dave said, then took a deep breath. "You can breathe here. You can feel alive. Yes, you were a lucky kid, a lucky kid," he muttered, if only Elliot wouldn't have been as wild and reckless. We would have had some family, huh. Noble? You guys would have been brothers in the true sense of the word. Maybe together, you would have had a positive impact on Betsy.

"Oh, well," he sighed. They say life's an accident and death is an appointment you have to keep. Some things are just meant to be. What do you think?"

"I don't know." I really didn't.

"Right. Why should you be so philosophical at your age? You have your whole life ahead of you."

He paused and put his hands on my shoulders as he looked directly at me.

"I'd really like to be of some help to you, Noble. Maybe I can do one thing right. Please don't hesitate to confide in me if you have any secret desires, wishes, ambitions. I won't laugh at anything, and if you want it enough. I'll do my best to help you, even if it means convincing your mother. okay?"

"Yes. sir."

"Dave. Dave. Call me Dave or call me Dad, but nothing else."

I doubt that I could ever get myself to call him Dad. Perhaps in that respect. I was like Betsy, who could never get herself to call Mama Mother or Mom.

I just nodded and we walked on, talking about nature, about the vegetation, the birds, the weather, anything and everything but Betsy and Elliot.

Mama was surprised at how much I was doing with Dave these days. At first she said nothing about it. I thought she would think it nice, of course. I was giving him same comfort, but when we returned from our long walk in the woods this time, she was sitting on the porch waiting and she looked upset and annoyed. Baby Celeste was taking a nap.

"Where have you two been?" she asked immediately, making me feel as if we had missed an appointment.

"Oh. Noble showed me some of the prettier spots in the forest and around the creek. There's quite a long, empty field southwest. I never realized how close we were to Spring Glen either. You can see the highway from a rise just after that field I mentioned. We saw quite a number of deer, too, didn't we. Noble?"