Nick’s knife wound was bleeding again, and Beth tended it, carefully sewing back where the threads had broken. Lori tried to calm Maggie and a disgruntled pig, which had been disturbed from its dinner. Neither of the men seemed disposed to talk about what had happened. After accompanying Nick back to his blankets, Morgan disappeared again without words. Nick was unusually sullen, bearing the pain of restitching with clenched teeth. As Lori comforted a still frightened Maggie in her arms, she kept her eyes on her brother. Something vital had drained from Nick, and a twisting pain snaked through her. She wondered what had happened now to plunge him into such despair. She squeezed Maggie affectionately and asked her to help look for Nick’s harmonica. They finally found the mouth organ, a bullet stuck halfway through it. There would be no more music from that source, and it had been one of Nick’s most treasured possessions, a gift from years back. She whispered to Maggie, telling her a story until Beth finished doctoring Nick and moved over to Lori to take Maggie in her arms.
