“It’s okay, Becky,” Lucy said. “Everyone understands. You didn’t have to give Jesse anything. It was nice of you to go to the party, even if you should have told me what was going on.”

            “I guess so,” Rebecca said, rubbing her naked wrist although no one seemed to notice. Lucy looked at her sternly for a moment, and Rebecca quietly said she was sorry for sneaking out.

            “Do you think we can go inside, then, Becky?” Lucy asked. “I told Dad we would call him back as soon as we had you home. You can even talk to Cameron, if he’s awake.” David started toward the door.

            “Can I talk to Mom, too?” Rebecca asked quietly. Lucy turned away from everyone quickly, but Rebecca could see her shoulders start to shake and knew she’d made her sister cry. David ran back inside the house, still leaving the front door open.

            Mr. Taylor took Rebecca by the hand that Lucy had dropped and knelt down again to speak to her. “Oh sweetie, it’s a really terrible thing that happened to your mom, but she died. The doctors at the hospital can’t do anything anymore—”

            “How come?” she asked, looking past him, but at nothing in particular.

“I don’t know, sweetie,” he said, and paused to think. “It’s like the magician, I guess,” he said with a deep and confusing sigh. Rebecca thought about rabbits in black hats and realized she didn’t have to feel so bad about them anymore, because Cameron was alive.

            “My mom’s a magician?” she asked, scrunching her nose.

            “No, no, that’s not what I mean,” Mr. Taylor said. “Sometimes we just don’t understand things, but they happen anyway. Sometimes we just don’t know the reason why….But Cameron’s okay, and so are Lucy and David, and your dad. And you can talk to them about your mom all you want. I’m so sorry, sweetie.” He gave her a quick hug, but she recoiled a little at the contact, and he stood up again. With steady insistence he led her back to the house. Lucy trailed behind them as they walked up the path to the door.

            Mr. Taylor brought Rebecca in and steered her to the living room couch. He sat down next to her against the armrest but didn’t try to hold her. Rebecca finally took off her party hat and laid it on the floor. Then she carefully unbuckled her party shoes and laid them next to it before curling across the couch, her head in his lap and her feet tucked into the crack between cushions. She tried to get her head comfortable, but her pigtails kept getting in the way.

            Finally she lifted her head, although her eyes were droopy, as if she was half asleep already. “Could you take out my pigtails?” she asked, unintentionally speaking in her tiniest little-girl voice. He set to work unfastening them immediately. Lucy came in soon, and Rebecca could hear her close the door and lock it shut. Then she could hear Lucy and David talking about something in the kitchen, talking about what they would tell their dad.

            Mr. Taylor undid the ribbons and the ponytail bands underneath, and then ran his fingers through her hair gently until her waves ran unbrokenly down her neck. With her hair loose, Rebecca settled her head back into his lap and was nearly asleep when he spoke. “What would you like me to do with your pretty ribbons?” he asked, weaving the red satin through his fingers.

            “You can have them,” Rebecca murmured, her eyes closed. “I don’t think I need them anymore.”



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