43
A safer place to stay. Oxford. January 1976.
Only when they turned onto Banbury Road heading north did Emilee relax. The fog and flurries lifted and closed back in, enough to read street names. She closed her eyes and her hold on the child softened. She savored the comfort, the warmth, the protection. It was impossible to shake the cold. She unbuttoned her coat and nestled the child inside, covering them both with the tail ends.
The wipers labored across the iced windshield. She found the screeching reassuring. Perhaps it was the assertiveness of how it dealt with flakes and flurries and ice in its path—without hesitation, without flinching. It did what it was designed for, created for.
Why had she never noticed how synchronized the two blades worked? Two partners. Two soulmates. Th
