18It was about four in the afternoon the next day when several things happened, nearly at once. The first thing was that while Annie and I sat on my porch, having lemonade and cookies after spending several hours boxing up my things in preparation for my move to Jim’s, Jen came tearing up the lane, shrieking something about Marbles.
“Help! Someone!” Seeing Annie and me on the porch, she made a beeline for us. “My sweet boy! Guys, I lost my sweet boy!”
By the time she bounded up the porch steps, Annie and I were on our feet, and Annie asked her what was going on.
With her hands on her knees, Jen had to take in a few gulps of air before she was able to respond. “I lost my Marbles. I lost my Marbles, you guys!”
I prayed that Annie wouldn’t make some sort of a joke, probably something abou
