Page 86 of The Last Stars in the Sky

I will always, always be grateful to her. I will always make sure my daughters remember her. And it’s for her sake that I have to think of the future because she would have hated to die in vain.

“So, what now?” I ask, the words a challenge, and we all look around at each other, a silent question in our eyes, so much unknown in front of us.

“It’s four hundred miles to Buffalo,” Daniel states. “We have enough gas, and hopefully enough food. There’s a good chance we’ll be able to get there.”

“And if we run into guys like those again?” Mattie asks, her tone suggesting it’s only a matter of time.

Daniel straightens; his tone, when he speaks, is steely. “Then we fight because there’s nothing left to lose.”

A chill of fear steals through me, along with the burning fire of determination. I’m afraid, but I am brave. I stand up, drawing Mattie and Ruby up with me, my two wilderness girls. With my other hand, I reach over and take hold of Phoebe’s.

“Then let’s get going,” I say firmly, and Daniel smiles faintly in response. Maybe one day he’ll tell me what he did that now seems so unforgiveable; maybe one day we’ll help to forge a new world from the ashes of this one. But first we have to begin—here and now, starting down this wild, lonely road, not knowing where it goes.

As Mattie and Ruby get into the car, I turn back toward the cottage one final time, and I imagine I can see the last clouds of ash scudding across a pure blue sky.

Then I get in and start driving.

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