I wished I could explain it all to Molly. “Ezra’s gone to his we-gi-wa,” I told her. “He’s got it all fixed up again. I followed him there, the day when I was gone and didn’t get back till after dark.”
“But why?” she wailed.
“I think it’s because it’s where he lived with his wife,” I said. “They were happy there. I reckon he’s going back to try to be happy there again.”
Molly sniffled, appearing to be thinking about it.
“Maybe he’ll find another wife,” I said, adding, “same as Pa might do.”
She smiled a little bit at that.
“He’s not gone for good, Molly. He’ll come back to see us, I bet, and I’m sure Pa will let us visit him sometimes.”
“But it’s so far away,” she said sadly.
I thought of something Orrin Beckwith said to Honeywell one day. It had made me grin like a roast possum at the time, and I smiled, remembering it. I hoped it would make Molly smile, too.
“It seems farther than it is, Molly,” I told her. “But once you get there, you’ll find it ain’t.”
Also by Cynthia DeFelice
The Apprenticeship of Lucas Whitaker
Death at Devil’s Bridge
The Ghost and Mrs. Hobbs
The Ghost of Cutler Creek
The Ghost of Fossil Glen
The Missing Manatee
Nowhere to Call Home
Under the Same Sky
illustrated by Chris L. Demarest
Old Granny and the Bean Thief,
illustrated by Cat Bowman Smith
One Potato, Two Potato,
illustrated by Andrea U’Ren
The Real, True Dulcie Campbell,
illustrated by R. W. Alley
Copyright © 2006 by Cynthia C. DeFelice
All rights reserved
First edition, 2006
www.fsgkidsbooks.com
eBooks may be purchased for business or promotional use. For information on bulk purchases, please contact Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department by writing to MacmillanSpecialMarkets@macmillan.com.
eISBN 9781466893580
First eBook edition: March 2015