Eurydice’s lips softened into a small, sympathetic smile. “So much thought and energy devoted to an absent person. Meanwhile, you spurn those who are present.”
Melissa shifted to hide her face behind her hair, and worked her tongue around her teeth, the way she did when she was upset. Her hands crept across her lap and she picked at the seams of her jeans. The candle flame tilted and shot a wisp of black smoke north, toward the farm. Eurydice sat up rigidly, tracking the smoke with her eyes. Outside, a twig snapped. Beck twitched and checked uneasily over his shoulder. Just a squirrel, he thought, or a rat in the compost pile, but he was seized by the irrational suspicion that another soul had entered the cabin and was observing them with sinister intent. His mother sensed it too; spreadi
