onger than

as the afternoon wore on. The forest didn't press in the way it had at night.

ugh that I could feel his presence without having to look at him. There was an ease to it th

said eventually. "Because

faint, noncom

ds on itself. Everyone knows who you are

then. "And who ar

y eyes. "Someone agreeable. Someone who

t word

trees. "They don't like

like people who want

ghter from him-surprised, as if i

to see one another in the street. About the way the priest spoke as if guilt were a shar

d, tasting the word. "Th

r says it like he's

eplied. "Before he stop

, heavier this time b

the adults going quiet when the radio came

htened slig

we couldn't hear them anyway. As if not saying

ow?" h

m," I said. "That it's contained. That

th his fingers. "Violence n

to watching for danger. The way his eyes tracked movement without effort. Protectiv

ked quietly, "that all of

e sharply. "Wh

the grudges no one admits to carrying. As if the

ent for a

"That the land holds on to things. That

through my chest at that-not co

to stay," I

prised me wit

He only nodded, as if I'd f

he replied. "But leaving do

nd by something neither of us had asked for. The forest hummed softly ar

od, he offered me his

ook

like the ground steadied beneath us-as if

't men

er di

this was becoming someth