Chapter 4
water streaming, questions drop
to the rhythm of a song
I left the Mudlands moving fast without really seeing. If I’d been in Henry’s position, I would never abandon my family. I would have worked for their welfare as long as I could, just as he had been doing. As long as I could. Was something keeping him from doing just that, as the Gunjabmi’s feared? He had to know what his letters meant to the family, how hard they struggled. It seemed unlikely he would take an extended mission, no matter the payout. Was he being forced to do something he didn’t want, or was it something else – a girl, maybe? Did he perhaps suffer from the same brand of thoughtlessness that Jonah had always exhibited, putting his own desires above family? I wasn’t sure which would be worse. The former coul
