Page 25 of Dream Weaver

I picked up a crayon, pulled up a stool beside Claire’s, and sat, blocking her view of Abby pacing outside.

“Here. Let me draw you a train.”

“A train?” Claire didn’t sound too interested.

“Uh-huh.” I lined up several sheets of paper and started sketching. “A special one.”

Claire leaned around me, barely paying attention. “How special?”

My first thought was a circus train that she could fill with animals. Then I got a better idea based on what she’d said the previous day.

“It’s a train that rescues animals and brings them to Sedona.”

And, whew. That got her attention.

“A rescue train? Cool.”

“Yep.” I drew a long line of flat freight wagons, one per sheet of paper. “I’m not very good at drawing animals, though. Can you help?”

She nodded eagerly.

“So, what animals go in the first wagon?” I asked.

Horses, of course. She even had names for them.

“This is Domino, and there’s Annie…”

I nodded, leaning in so she couldn’t see Abby gesticulating dangerously. If hands were knives, Jay — whoever he was — would be chopped into a hundred bloody pieces.

Claire’s second compartment was more of a dog kennel, while the third carried alpacas.

The next time I looked up, Abby was off the phone. She stood staring — or glaring — into the distance. She’d wrapped her arms around herself and was stroking her own arms, the way folks did when they needed comforting. Sedona’s mesas and peaks rose in the background, making her look tiny. Fragile, even.

My heart tore a little.

I’d never seen anyone so…so…

Alone,my bear filled in sadly.Lonely.

I burned to step over and make that hug a little more comforting. But Abby barely let me near her anvil. She sure as hell wasn’t going to let me close to her body.

All I could do was add another sheet of paper to Claire’s train. She filled a fourth and fifth wagon — greyhounds in one, pit bulls in another— and devoted a sixth to elephants. Asian elephants, the kind with small ears.

Outside, Abby rolled her shoulders, composing herself. Then she stomped back inside.

I inched away from Claire, working on the principle of never coming between a momma bear and her cub.

Abby’s eyes darkened, seeing me there, but they brightened again when she focused on Claire.

“Why don’t you show your mom the train?” I whispered.

Claire scooped up the papers and scampered over to Abby. “Look, Mommy! I drew a rescue train!”

Abby’s face was a mask, but a moment later, she cracked and kneeled to hug Claire.

“What a beautiful picture, sweetie.” She barely looked, but that didn’t stop her voice from wobbling.

I turned away, giving them space. I couldn’t help hearing, though.

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