Anne caught me outside the hut, fiddling with my phone, trying to get a decent signal.
“Hey, Avery. You’re up early,” she said, arms crossed tight against her robe, almost straining at the fabric.
“Just telling Tim I’m okay,” I said. “Signal sucks here.”
She made a face. “Of course you’re okay. You’re here. Why wouldn’t you be?”
The signal held. I sent my text and looked up at her. “You shouldn’t be out here.”
“You weren’t inside when I woke. I got worried.”
There was a caw. A crow had joined the birds that gathered in the front yard. There were a few when I arrived. Birds have always been a fixture in these parts, but their number had swelled over the course of my visit, almost tripling by the time the crow arrived. They sat on nearby branches, nestled in the yard, worried at the bu
