So far, Heddy has her imagination to keep her busy. But news about her brother being injured and the mysterious man in Dr. Monroe's house have her wondering about things.

*********************************

I fall asleep to the muffled sound of my momma and daddy talking about Willis. I pray that Nonni comes to me tonight but she doesn't. I wake up tangled in my sheet.

My door creaks loudly as I open it. I can hear Momna downstairs making breakfast. I'm scared to go down there. I don't want to see her crying anymore. She cried all night I suppose. That's what mommas do when they're scared. I just hate that she's scared. Willis will be okay. I just know it.

He fell out of a tree when he was younger, broke both arms. Daddy took him on the ferry to the mainland where the hospital is. When he got home a few days later, Momma held him like he was a baby. She fed him, bathed him and sat with him, rubbing his brow until he just got tired of being babied. He started figuring how to get around and by the time he was ready to get the casts off, he could write his full name with a pencil clenched between his teeth.

"Morning, Ladybug," Daddy says as he dips the newspaper far enough to look at me. "You have any big plans for today?"

I walk over to lean against him. His arm slips around me. "I was gonna go look for sticks so we can build a fire on the beach. We haven't done that in a long time."

Momma pauses, from stirring the eggs in the skillet, long enough to interrupt me. "I need you to weed the garden, Heddy. It's been a while since you last did it."

My shoulders sag, but Daddy squeezes me. He leans over to whisper in my ear. "You do a good job weeding and I'll help you with finding the wood for later tonight."

I grin. "I'll start right after breakfast, Momma."

Momma looks surprised. "Why, thank you, Heddy. Are you hungry?" She plates the scrambled eggs and puts one of the sausage patties on my plate. "You want some milk?"

I nod as I sit. I scoot my chair over closer to Daddy. "You're mighty close, Ladybug. You planning on stealing my breakfast?"

"Maybe."

Daddy leans back as the plate is placed on the table before him. "Mmm. I'll fight you for this. This breakfast here, it's fit for a king." He lifts his gaze up to Momma and winks. Her face gets all pink like my teacher's does whenever Mr. Collette, the janitor, comes around.


***********************************

I watch as the sweat drips from the ends of my hair into the dirt. I wonder if my sweat will help the vegetables grow. Probably not, because sweat is salty. And one time I killed one of the tomato vines because I put a bucket of water from the ocean on it. I didn't tell anybody I did it. I just shook my head like Momma and Nonni as they talked about it, wondering why that plant died and the rest were healthy. I hadn't meant to hurt it. I figured we could get as much water as we needed from the ocean. We didn't need to waste the water from the well.

A little green snake is coiled up between the cabbage and the pole beans. I plop down in the dirt and reach for it. It opens its mouth, but it can't hurt me. He doesn't have any teeth. I scoop him up and his bright green body wraps around my hand.

"Don't be scared, little snake. I'm not gonna hurt you. You could be my friend. I could find a nice jar to put you on. Would you like that?"

He stares at me with his round black eyes. He's scared. My mind goes to Willis. Is he scared? Not having Momma or Daddy there with him. I remember how he cried when he fell from the tree. Crying out for me to go get Momma. When he got hurt over there, did he call out for them?

I let the snake go and watch as it slithers deeper into the garden. I stand and brush the dirt off my behind and look towards the house.

"I'm glad you let that little snake go. He didn't need to be put in a jar. We need him out here. He keeps the pests away. You look sad, Heddy, what's wrong?" Nonni asks. She is standing right at the foot of the path that leads to the beach.

"Do you think Willis is scared being all by himself over there?"

Nonni looks at me with calm eyes. "I suppose he is."

"Why can't they send him home?"

"Sometimes you have to stay at a hospital until you get stronger. Sometimes they let you heal until you are strong enough to rejoin your unit."

I scuff the dirt with my toe. "That's dumb. They should just let him come home. He could get better here and then go back."

Nonni laughs and it floats away on the light breeze. "That's not how things are done, Heddy."

I look away, suddenly feeling like Momma did, I guess. I press my lips together to keep from crying.

"You feel helpless, don't you?"

I ignore the fat wet tear that rolls down my dirty cheek. I nod.

"You can pray for him, Heddy. Pray for him and every other one of those boys over there."

"But not the Krauts, right?"

"We all come from Adam and Eve, Heddy. Just pray that this whole thing ends. Pray for peace."

I follow her to the beach, my feet sink into the warm sand with each step. I wade out a ways until the soft rhythmic waves kiss the bottom of my shorts.

"Dear God, let Willis get better and come home. Momma is so worried. I don't want her to cry no more." I yell towards the horizon.

I know God is up in heaven, but Willis is that way. Somewhere across that big ocean is my brother. Scared and alone, he is. I just hope he knows I'm right here praying for him.