A Mother's Love, A Daughter's Fury

He was trimming the hedges along the back fence that bordered the state park,

s weathered hands twisting the brim of his

wn woods just beyond our property line. That' s where the f

didn' t know what they were looking for, but a cold dread settled deep in my bones. I was just a kid, bu

s reports and came without even calling my father. She held my hand, her grip firm and steady

ther whispered, though her voice lacked conv

part of the woods. It was too wild, too

d become stars, so they can watch over you. I looked out the window, past the flashing lights, up at the evening sky. I t

ired face. He spoke to my grandmother in low tones in the living room.

tective said. "From the preliminary identif

made a small,

" she

e gentle. "But it wasn' t from natural causes. The terrain is

eeded care. He' d made it sound like a quiet, sterile

ave shown her something, because my grandmother gasped. "It' s a

one I was framed for losing. It w

faked disappearance. It was something dark and ugly, orch

cher. They carried it out of the woods and loaded it into a van. The van was plain

range urge to run after it, to stop it, to tell them they had made a mistake. Th

see her in the sky, but the lights from the police cars washed e

elt small and impossibly alone. My father was somewhere with his new partner, celebr

o carry. My stomach hurt. My head ached. I wrapped my arms around myself, but I couldn'