No Eye Can See
you think of that? Got to think of these things.” She crossed her arms over her breast. “Might not take to a foreigner as his wife.”
    “We're all foreign in this place,” Elizabeth reminded her. “I ain't never seen sand like this before or been surrounded by globs of rocks that look like hazelnuts rolled into cookie dough. Have you?”
    “No. But neither do I have promises to keep when I reach California.”
    “Your loss,” Elizabeth said. Then to Mei-Ling she said, “Dont you worry none, child. Your name means ‘beautiful,’ you said. So it's apt. Can't imagine a man not being happy with what you have to bring. Now all you got to do is tell the bees the new name you'll be using.”
    “Bees know. I tell them first,” she said and walked proudly away.

    Suzanne's heart beat in her throat, and she felt a throbbing at her temples. It wasn't fear, exactly, something else. Fury at their hovering over her, mixed with what? Her heart raced and her mouth got dry the way they did when she was asked to perform before an audience. There was no audience here—except herself. Her children and herself. She counted paces. Three hundred fifty-one, three hundred fifty-two. She fingered the cuts she'd had Mazy make on Pig's harness, each slice indicating one hundred feet. She wouldnt go farther than five marks before turning back. She'd be calm by then.
    “Mommy?”
    “Mommy can see you walking, Clayton. You're such a good walker.”
    “Mommy?” the boy said.
    “You're pulling on my hand making Mommy walk really fast. Can you see the baby on my back? Is he smiling?”
    “Baby?” Clayton said.
    He should have been saying yes and no and two or three words together for his age, she was sure of that. She remembered being told that she carried on conversations with her mother when she was two,and he was nearly three. “Yes, the baby's there. On my back.” She mustn't let her mind wander. Count. Talk. Walk. Calm.
    “Back?” She felt Clayton tug on her hand.
    “No, we dont have to go back yet.” She could hear the women in the distance, a horse snort and the oxen chomp as they ripped at grass. Seth said tomorrow they'd see clover, red top, blue joint, bunch grass, all kinds of feed. And they'd have fish for dinner. Her mouth watered. She swallowed just as Clayton broke free.
    “Clayton, come to Mommy,” she said not loudly, not wanting to alert the women.
    “I'll get him for you,” Mariah shouted. She heard horse's hooves behind her then. Would she never be left ahne!
    “I'm fine.” Suzanne turned toward the sound of the hooves, making sure she stood square. “You'll just make Clayton run faster. Stop, Mariah!” Suzanne heard the horse trot past her on Pig's side. She turned around and heard Clayton squeal. She felt her face flush with frustration. Then Mariah gasped. A grunt. A screech of hooves. Thumps. Then silence. She heard the sound of a horse trotting toward her.
    “Mariah?” No answer. “Clayton?”
    She'd have to let go of Pig in order to stop the big horse. Could she? Should she? Where was Clayton? She released Pig's harness and plunged her arm into the unknown.
    “Whoa, now,” she said. She imagined the animal, tried to remember where to grab. The horse bumped close, and she reached for whatever her hand could grasp. She held a clump of mane. She felt herself pulled along, her slippers skipping at the dirt. Pig barked. She hoped Sason stayed in the contraption. Dust billowed up to her nose. Dragged along, she pulled on the mane, yelled, “Whoa!” The horse stopped, so abruptly Suzanne's head jammed into its side. Sason hiccuped. “It's all right, baby. It is.” She patted the horse then, found the reins hanging from the bridle. She held them. “Mariah? Pig?”
    Silence. No bell sound. Her heart began to pound.
    She should call for help. But she so wanted to tend things herself.
    She heard a moan. “I hurt my ankle,” Mariah wailed. “Got the wind knocked out.”
    “Can you see

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