Chapter 1

"Mama, quit pulling!"

"Well hurry up then, Trevor!"

"Ok, ok!" The boy picked up his pace, matching his mother's on her hurried path. She dropped his sleeve as he caught up with her. They walked along toward the market, Trevor's short steps coming quickly compared to his mother's lengthier strides. The late summer sun beat down on Trevor's neck. It made him hot and uncomfortable, but made patterns and rhythms from the shadows of their legs which mesmerized Trevor for a while.

The shadows passed over a stick which Trevor picked up and began dragging behind him, making a line in the dirt road. Without meaning to, Trevor slowed down again, listening to the sound of the stick against the road, a white noise hiss interrupted by short pauses as the stick skipped over rocks and pebbles. He moved the stick left and right as they walked, making long curves in the dirt. He turned around to look at the line receding back the way they had come.

"Trevor!" His mother's tone was unmistakable. Trevor dropped the stick. I'll get it on the way back, he thought, forgetting that on return journey his arms would be full of groceries, and hurried to catch up with his mother again. She grabbed hold of his sleeve once more and did not let go until they reached the market.

The market in White Sands was small, as was the town. Perhaps a dozen stalls, selling the produce of the season as well as the year round reliables. Potatoes, corn, apples. Cheese in wheels and wedges. Eggs and chickens. Hogs and goats if you asked for them, although the season for piglets and kids was long past. Trevor followed his mother from stall to stall, waiting patiently while she selected her produce and exchanged coins with the vendors. He sighed quietly as she got into an argument with one of the vendors, bored and eager to get back home so he could play. Trevor's eyes wandered lazily around the familiar market, mildly enjoying the pleasure of watching people who don't know they're being watched.

Something moved near a stall piled high with red and yellow potatoes, snapping Trevor's eyes in that direction. But, no, there was nothing there. His mother, having won or lost her argument, continued through the market. Without thinking Trevor went to the egg lady's stall, because that's always where they went next. His mother began selecting eggs while asking the wrinkly old egg lady whether she would have any chickens for sale this week.

The flash of movement caught his eye again. Trevor turned, in time to see a child's hand pull a potato off of the pile and disappear behind the stall. He wanted to go see who the kid was. He had only caught a glimpse, but the kid didn't seem like anyone he knew. Whoever it is, he thought, they should steal something better than a potato.

But he knew his mother would yell if he ran off, so he only watched and waited. A moment later he saw the kid again, moving to another stall. It was a girl, skinnier than any kid Trevor had ever seen. Her arms looked barely bigger around than the stick he had been dragging. She wasn't wearing a thing, unless you counted the rind of dirt covering her from head to toe. Her knees were almost black with it.

Trevor stared, unsure how to respond to the girl's nakedness, or her brazenness as she walked right up to the apple cart, took an apple, and began to eat it. The small potato, still in her other hand, looked untouched. Neither the woman selling the apples nor her two customers paid the girl any mind. No fair, Trevor thought, I never get free apples! His mouth watered, imagining the crunchy snap of the apple, its juice refreshing in the day's heat. He wanted to walk over and take one for himself, but he knew that wasn't going to happen. If he were to try taking an apple, he'd get yelled at, his mother would have to pay for it, and he'd end up with extra chores. It wasn't fair.

"Mama, look!"

"Not now Trevor."

"Mama, who's that girl?"

"A moment, Trevor!" She finished with the egg lady and turned to respond to Trevor's insistent tugging at her. "What is it?"

"Look, over there! That girl just stole an apple!"

"What girl?"

Trevor rolled his eyes. "Right there!" he pointed, "standing next to that lady!" Trevor's mother looked, but didn't seem to see her. Trevor couldn't believe it. Were his mother's eyes going? He pointed more vigorously. "She's right there. She's eating an apple, and she doesn't have any clothes on!"

His mother looked at him, asking with her eyes if this was some kind of joke. Trevor nodded earnestly back at her, and she looked again. Slowly, she said "I don't know who that girl is, Trev." She stood, taking Trevor's hand, and walked toward the girl. The girl saw them coming, and ran behind the stall leaving her apple to fall to the ground. Trevor's mother put her finger to her lips as the two of them followed the girl. She motioned for Trevor to pick up the apple. It only had a couple of small bites taken from it. The tooth marks were small, too, smaller than his would be. He ran his tongue over a gap in his own teeth where one had fallen out just a few days before.

When they rounded the apple vendor's canvas-walled stall, they saw the girl sitting on the ground, huddled into a ball pressed against back of the stall, willing herself to be invisible to them.

"Can I help you, honey?" Trevor's mother asked. The girl pulled herself in tighter, seeming almost to shrink before them. She looked terrified. She looks like a little rabbit, Trevor thought, the way they just freeze hoping not to die when you come for them.

"Trevor, give her the apple back."

Trevor brushed some dirt from the apple, and slowly held it out to the girl. She shut her eyes tight and turned away, as though Trevor and his mother might really vanish as long as she could pretend they weren't there.

Trevor's mother lowered herself slowly to her knees, saying "It's all right. I want to help you. Where are your mama and papa?" She used her bedtime story voice, all calm and soothing. She took one of the girl's hands--the one not still gripping the potato in white-knuckled fear--gently unwrapped it from around the girl's knees. She took the apple from Trevor and slowly put it into the girl's hand.

"Would you like your apple back? I see you picked a very good one."

The girl opened one eye, just a fraction, then the other. She took another tiny bite from the apple, and relaxed almost imperceptibly. Trevor watched the girl, his eyes tracing down the ribs showing in her side, and took a furtive glance between her legs. It was true! Girls really were built differently than boys! How do they pee, he wondered?

"What's your name, honey?" his mother asked. The girl said nothing, ignoring them in favor of the apple. His mother took the girl's chin in her hand, turned her head to face them. "My name is Jedith. This," indicating Trevor with a nod of her head, "is Trevor. What's your name?"

The girl's eyebrows furrowed a bit, and she cocked her head in confusion. Jedith patted herself on the chest, and repeated her name slowly while the girl watched. She patted Trevor's shoulder, and said "Trevor" equally slowly. Then she patted the girl's knee and shrugged a question.

The girl took the apple from her mouth and said, haltingly, "Ar.. Ar- mo- nay."

"Armon…" His mother gave the odd sounding name a try, slowly. Then, "Oh, Harmony! Your name's Harmony! That's a lovely name. Harmony, where are your mama and papa?" Harmony only shook her head slightly, putting the apple back to her mouth. "They're not here, you mean? Or you don't know?" Harmony shook her head again. Jedith sat back on her haunches, considering.

"You carry these, Trev," she said, handing him the basket with their groceries. She looked at Harmony and said "Well, we can't leave you here," scooping the girl up in her arms. "You come home with us, at least until we can sort out who you belong to."

Jedith walked quickly. Trevor struggled to manage the unusually large burden--he normally only carried half the groceries--while keeping up with his mother and not breaking the eggs. About a mile later they were home. His mother talked to Harmony the whole way, her voice keeping the child calm. Or, Trevor couldn't tell, maybe it was the apple keeping her quiet. When they got home, Jedith made Trevor put the groceries away, put water over the fire to heat, and drag the wash basin in from the shed.

When the bath was ready, Harmony had to be coaxed into it by degrees. Trevor watched as Jedith took the apple core from the girl, who had warmed to her and so gave it up easily enough. The potato, however, was different.

"All right, Harmony, now let me have your potato." Jedith held out her hand, motioning towards the vegetable. Harmony shook her head no and clasped it with both hands to her chest.

"Honey, I'm going to give you a bath. You don't want your potato to get wet, do you?" She indicated the water. Harmony considered by turns the water and her potato.

"I wonder, child, do you understand a word of what I'm saying? Please, give me the potato." Harmony twisted to the side, protecting the potato with her body. Trevor watched as his mother waited patiently, hand outstretched, hoping to outlast the girl's resolve.

"Trevor," she said, not taking her eyes off the girl, "quit staring. You're making her nervous. Go over to the trunk and find one of your Papa's old shirts for this girl to wear." Trevor went off to the foot of his parents' bed, opened the trunk, and began rummaging through it. His father's shirts would be huge on the girl, probably hang down to her ankles. As he picked a shirt with a tear in one of the shoulder seams, he heard the girl cry out in anger. He stood up to look and saw his mother prying the potato from the girl's hands. She had to stand to hold it out of Harmony's jumping, grasping reach.

Harmony wailed in protest while Jedith tried to calm her down. "It's all right, it's all right! I'll put your potato right here for you," she said, carrying both it and the girl over to the kitchen table. She put the potato right on the edge where Harmony could see it from the washtub. Harmony's screams faded to sobs. "You can have it back after we get some of this dirt off of you, how about that?" Harmony twisted in Jedith's arms, reaching for the potato as she was carried to the washtub.

Trevor fetched soap, a scrub brush, Jedith's hairbrush, and the old shirt as his mother asked for them. She scrubbed Harmony from head to toe while Harmony sobbed, her eyes never leaving the kitchen table. Trevor had an urge to go take the potato--not that he had a plan for what to do with it--but knew he'd catch an ear full, so he did nothing.

As his mother soothed and scrubbed, Trevor couldn't help but wonder about the girl. Who were her parents? Not, he figured, anybody in White Sands. It wasn't that big a place, and Trevor knew everyone in it. By sight, anyway, if not by name. Why wasn't she wearing any clothes? Why was she so skinny? The terrified rabbit look on her face kept popping into his mind. Why was she so scared? Trevor watched his mother bathe the girl and was glad, even relieved, that he had left her potato alone. It was hers after all, even if she did steal it, and it was all she had.

When Harmony was dry, cleaner--her knees still needed work--and dressed, his mother kissed her on the forehead and said "Trev, you look after her till Papa comes home. I need to start on supper. I'm late already. Don't go too far." She stood, taking her hands off of Harmony. Harmony ran straight to the kitchen table to reclaim her potato. "Don't worry, child," Jedith said, "I'll make enough supper for you, too."

Trevor held out his hand and waited until Harmony took it. "Come on. I'll show you outside." They went outside into the late afternoon sun. Trevor showed her where the woodshed was, and showed her the hatchet his father used to split the wood. He pointed down the road and told her about White Sands. He pointed left of the sun and showed her where she could just see the ocean, orange light playing on the tips of the waves, between a couple of hills. He showed her behind the house, where Jedith kept her garden.

Harmony was fascinated by the garden. Trevor named the things his mother had planted in neat rows, while Harmony squatted down to feel the contours of the mounded soil. She walked into the garden. "No!" Trevor called to her. "Mama doesn't like it if we walk in the garden!"

Harmony paid him no mind as she made her way between the plants. Trevor reached for her, to pull her back, but she was too far away. Should he get her out of the garden, or to stay out of the garden himself? He stood nervously on the border of the garden, unable to decide which was the safer course of action. But, Harmony hadn't stepped on any of the plants yet. Maybe mama won't notice. He watched, urging her in hushed tones to get out of the garden, as--no!--she knelt down.

"No, Harmony! You'll get dirty! Mama will know you were in the garden!"

Harmony ignored him. She set her potato down, and pushed both hands into the dirt. The soil yielded easily as she scooped dirt into a neat pile, leaving a hole. She put the potato in the hole. She replaced the soil, and patted it gently with her tiny hands. She muttered something that Trevor couldn't quite hear, stood up, and made her way out of the garden. She looked immensely pleased. It was the first smile he had seen on her, and he couldn't help smiling along with her as the joy of it replaced all thoughts of being caught in the garden.

He took her hand again as she returned to him. "Let's brush the dirt off of you, Harmony. Mama doesn't like for us to track dirt into the house." She allowed him to dust her off without complaint. Trevor couldn't understand. It was like she was a different child, now. Calm, comfortable being with him, with being at his house. Everything's ok now because she planted her potato? Trevor didn't understand, but he was happy for her and began to wonder, to hope, that her parents did somehow live in White Sands after all. Trevor was surprised to catch himself thinking, she's kind of nice to have around. He realized he would be sad if her parents were just passing through. He didn't want her to leave and never see her again.

"Come on," he said, to banish the thought from his mind, "let's go wait for Papa. He should be coming home soon." He led her to the front of the house, to sit on the doorstep where they could see down the road. He pointed towards town. "Remember I told you that the town is that way? That's where Papa will come from." If Harmony understood him she didn't let on, watching a bug crawl across her foot instead. They sat in silence for a few minutes.

"What was that you said in the garden? I thought I heard you say something. ‘Vahay pulley me too' or something like that." She turned, and gave him a quizzical look. "Is that what you said? What is that?" Harmony said nothing, but turned back to play in the dirt at their feet. "I guess you don't talk very well yet, huh?" There was more silence, and Trevor had his answer.

The two of them sat, playing idly with twigs and pebbles, waiting for Trevor's father to return. The sun dropped to the west, and as it began to be painful to look in that direction, Trevor saw the familiar outline of his father crest the hilltop nearest their house. He waved to his father, who did not return the greeting. Trevor looked again. Usually his father waved back but today he looked to be carrying something. Trevor pointed him out to Harmony. She glanced, but paid no more attention than that. Not that Trevor had really expected her to.

When his father got nearer, Trevor took Harmony's hand and stood to go meet him. "Come on, Harmony. Let's go see Papa." Trevor could sense Harmony's shyness returning as they neared the unfamiliar man, and she shrank behind him.

"Hi Trev! Here, help me carry these packages, will you?" Trevor's father bent down so Trevor could take the smaller parcel of the two that he was carrying.

"Hello Papa. What's in them?"

"Oh, nothing much. Some things your mother asked me to get."

"Papa, this is Harmony. Mama and I found her at the market today."

"What?"

"Right here, Papa. See, she's wearing one of your old shirts." Trevor led a reluctant Harmony out from behind him. Trevor's father looked down, confused, and then jumped back startled. He fumbled the second package in his surprise, and it fell to the ground.

"By Aran, Trevor!" he exclaimed, "where did she come from?"

"I don't know. We got her at the market."

"I mean, where was she hiding? Just now?"

"Nowhere, Papa. She was standing right here, holding my hand."

"Hrm," he grunted, "I didn't see her is all." He picked up the other package, warily eyeing Harmony. "What did you say her name was?"

"Harmony."

"All right. Hello, Harmony. Did you just move to town?"

"She doesn't say much, Papa."

"Well, send her home now. I'm sure your mother has supper on about now."

Trevor started to answer, to say that he was pretty sure Mama meant for Harmony to have supper with them, but didn't. He had a feeling it was best if Mama explained it. He could tell Mama liked the little girl. I like her, too, he thought, surprising himself again. He hoped his father would feel the same way. He took Harmony's hand, and carrying the smaller package under his other arm, followed his father home.

"Who's the girl, then?" his father asked, when they got home.

"Her name's Harmony. She's staying with us tonight," his mother said, and left it at that. His father gave a noncommittal "Hrm" but didn't challenge her. Trevor was sorry that Harmony had startled him before, and worried that he wouldn't like her as a result.

Trevor's father eyed Harmony suspiciously all through supper. Aside from Jedith's fawning over her, helping her with her dinner, it was an unusually quiet meal. Trevor could tell that both of his parents wanted to discuss the girl--although probably for different reasons--but didn't want to do it in front of her. Or me, he thought.

Harmony turned out to be a picky eater. She wouldn't touch her meat, which was ok with Trevor as he got to eat her helping, and refused potatoes after the first bite. She ate a slice of Mama's brown bread with some butter, though, and seemed to enjoy it well enough.

After supper, Jedith made up a bed for Harmony from some old blankets while Trevor cleared the table. She sat with Harmony in her rocking chair and hummed to her softly. Trevor could remember, dimly, his mother doing that with him when he was little. He wished he could join them there in the rocking chair, but with his father's mood, he decided not to draw any more attention to Harmony himself. When Harmony was asleep, Jedith put her down and put a blanket over her.

They sent Trevor to bed shortly after that, although Trevor knew it was earlier than normal.

"But Mama! It's not even dark yet!"

"Don't argue, Trevor. It's been a busy day. You get off to bed now."

Trevor gave her a little scowl, but did as he was told. Jedith bent down to give him a little hug. Telling him nothing he hadn't already figured out, she added softly "Go on now. Your father and I need to talk about some things."

Trevor shucked off his trousers and shirt and got into bed. It wasn't cold enough at night to keep the shirt on, yet, and wouldn't be cold enough for some weeks to keep all his clothes on at night. He lay down and closed his eyes. He tossed and turned for a bit, listening intently to anything his parents might be saying. He could hear his mother washing the supper dishes, and his father sitting in front of the fire. When he judged that a convincing amount of time had passed, Trevor stopped moving about and did his best to appear asleep. But tonight, he was going to stay awake listening no matter what.

Jedith finished the dishes, and Trevor figured his acting job must be convincing when his father said "So, tell me about the girl."

"Trevor spotted her at the market, while I was buying eggs. Oh, Dannel, the poor thing is skin and bones! She didn't have a stitch on, either."

"She was walking around naked at the market?"

"I know, I wouldn't have believed it either. But I saw it for myself. The poor thing." Jedith recounted the story, pretty much as Trevor remembered it, of the trip to the market and of bringing Harmony home.

"Dannel, can we keep her?" Trevor's heart skipped a beat.

"What's in your mind, woman? She's a girl, not a stray puppy!"

"But she's obviously orphaned, and--"

"How do you know that? Have you asked around? Even a little?"

"No, but I can just tell, Dannel. She doesn't speak a word. We got her name out of her, but that's all. Look at her, she must be five years old, at least. Maybe older. If she were somebody's daughter, she'd be talking up a storm. You remember how Trevor was at that age."

"Maybe she's addled."

"She is not addled! You look in her eyes and tell me that. She's a sweet girl, she just needs a home."

"Hrm." Dannel grunted, and said nothing for a moment. "I'll ask around tomorrow and--"

She cut him off. "Dannel…" Her voice quavered, and Trevor wondered if she was starting to cry. He opened his eyes just a fraction to peek.

Trevor's father gave a heavy sigh. "Go ahead and say it. I know you want to."

Jedith sobbed, saying "It's just-- Trea-- and Harmony's about the age she would be, and-- She's a gift, Dannel! Can't you see that? She's a gift!"

Trevor's mind flashed to the small plot behind the woodshed, with the small headstone. He hadn't shown it to Harmony, as he usually avoided the place himself. The place his mother visited often, but always returned from sad. Trevor always did his best not to think about it, but now, listening, he remembered a dim time years ago when his mother got big, and then there was a baby, but then the baby died and they put her out behind the woodshed, and his mother cried and cried and it made Trevor cry too… He shut the memory out.

"I know, love," his father said. His voice was softer now. "I know. I miss her too." Dannel paused. Trevor ventured to open his eyes for just a glimpse, and saw both his parents looking to where Harmony's makeshift bed lay. "She is fair like our Trea. I cannot deny that." Trevor could hear his mother choking back her sobs. She turned her face into his chest, and Trevor closed his eyes. He hated seeing her cry. "All right," said Dannel.

"Thank you," Jedith said, her words muffled.

"Maybe you're right. Maybe she is a gift. But I have to ask in town tomorrow; it could be she's somebody's child. Maybe somebody new in town."

"There can't be. I would have heard."

"Probably you're right, but we don't know that yet. We have to accept that someday, someone might come to claim her. And if that happens, we cannot keep her. We'd have no right."

"That won't happen," Jedith said. "I just know it."

In the morning, Trevor's parents told him that Harmony was going to live with them, assuming her parents didn't turn up. Trevor tried not to let on that he'd been listening. "Ok."

"She's going to be your sister, now, Trev."

"Ok," he said, and nodded solemnly that he understood. But secretly, inside, he was happy.

For Trevor, the first weeks with Harmony were a mixed bag. At first, he resented the attention Jedith showered on her, even though he truly was glad she was his sister now. But she soon warmed to Trevor and his parents alike, and his resentment melted away. She looked up to him the way little sisters do to their big brothers, which pleased Trevor a great deal more than he could really account for.

Trevor's friends didn't mind her tagging along either, and participating in their games. She was so quiet--not like some of his friends' sisters, who bickered with them, squealed a lot, and ran around being a nuisance--that neither Trevor nor his friends ever minded her company. Although hide-and-seek quickly fell out of favor with them, as Harmony always won. Trevor was the only one who could ever find her, and that, he suspected, was because she let him. Indeed, she showed an uncanny knack for diverting attention from herself.

As he got to know her better, Trevor began to wonder about the time before she lived with them and about what had happened to make her so uncomfortable with simply being noticed. The question frustrated him, as he seemed doomed to wonder about it forever; even after a couple of months with them, Harmony still hardly spoke a word. She learned to say "Mama" to get Jedith's attention, and to say "Trev", but everything else she communicated silently by pointing.

Quietness aside, Harmony thrived under Jedith's care, and soon lost her bony look. For her part, Jedith was overjoyed to have a daughter, and delighted in altering their home and their lives to incorporate the new child. She arranged a permanent bed for her. She made--and even bought!--clothes for her. She did her best too to cook for her, although Harmony nearly drove Jedith mad at times with her uncommon selectiveness in what she would eat. Still, Trevor could not recall his mother ever being so happy. His father, too.

Trevor loved his new sister. Indeed, before autumn had dropped its last leaf Trevor could scarcely remember the time before Harmony.

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