By the time she stumbled her way through the dark bedroom to the wall switch, she’d cracked her elbow on the dresser and stepped in a fresh pile of cat vomit.‘Shit. Shit.’The offending cat materialized when the light came on. She was sitting near her little surprise, blinking her startled pupils down to pinheads.‘Puck, you puke,’ Iris muttered, then hopped on one bare foot into the bathroom and stuck the other one in the sink.The water was freezing. Iris sucked air through her teeth when it hit her foot. It would take long minutes for hot water to rise two floors from the ancient heater in the basement, and she didn’t have extra minutes this morning. New water heater. It was first on the list of home improvements she might be able to afford now. That was something, at least.Even the sound of running water couldn’t drown out the breathy wail of the wind around this north corner of the old farmhouse. Icy pellets of sleet dived out of the dark to tap at the bathroom window, where a layer of frost had built up on the inside wooden sash again.
