He was a sweet sort of kid. It was all the thin man could say.

Yes, said the secondgrizzled and beer-bellied from age. Yes, that he was. And a good bit more. Probably the most kindhearted soul Ive known. And will ever know, probably, said the first, but not darkly. It was true.

OFFICER OHLAN: You listen to me now, kid. Whats your name? [Elaina, have that on the record.] BOY: Trevor, sir. OHLAN: Trevor, for a smart kid youve done some stupid things. JAMESON [unknown given nm/rank]: How do you know hes smart in the first place then? OHLAN: Are you joking? [inaudible] For twelve hes a [expletive] smart kid. JAMESON: I know, but the rules were clearly explained to each block leader who in turn explained it to each block OHLAN: And he had the brains to break the rules for a [expletive] two years. JAMESON: Trevor, who put you up to this? TREVOR: No one, sir. JAMESON: No oneif Im a rats [inaudible]. OHLAN: Im telling you its brains. Trevor, do you know exactly what we can do? TREVOR: Yes, sir. JAMESON: What? OHLAN: Shut up, J. He doesnt need to repeat it. The transcript is going to review board, remember?

JAMESON: Review board [inaudible]. I want to hear it from the kid. Go on, Trevor. What can we do? TREVOR: I...uh...I dont know, sir. [inaudible] [non-verbal] OHLAN: Jameson. Be a professional. We want him in one piece for the trial. JAMESON: Trevor, are you ready to sign the written confession? TREVOR: No, sir. OHLAN: Kid, you can get yourself out of this business if you just tell us where they got off to. Thats all we need to know. Were not interested in punishing folks like you. Where did they get to? TREVOR: I cant tell you that, sir. JAMESON: I think its time to try more severe methods. Take Trevor out of the room, please. [Subject is removed from room.] [end]

The first one was a girl who looked like his sister, maybe six, maybe seven. She looked like a rag doll slumped lifelessly in her mothers arms, and only when the mother stepped into the light and kissed the thin girl on the forehead, she stirred listlessly and awoke looking upwards at her mother with faint recognition. Shell die if she doesnt the mother said with cuttingly harsh hopelessness as she looked up at Trevors parents and they stared back at her with distant glassy eyes that Trevor did not recognize, and they said robotically with one voice,

No. Absolutely not. Against the rules And in those six words Trevor felt the sting of rejection for a moment almost as though he had been the forsaken child. It was when he saw her walk out, head bowed, that he said he had to tend to the chickens in a moment, and as he had so often done to escape the wartime announcements that came on at night, Trevor slipped out unnoticed through the door and into the pale white snow. It was by the locked chicken coop that he found them, mother bent protectively over the tiny child. It was strange, he thought, that directly behind them was a fluttering poster, and though faded, it was recognizableit was a caricature, the ugly face of the enemy, and he looked back down at the mother and child and thought the poster was not a good match at all. When they saw him they rose slowly, frightened, but he put up his hands as if to show, he did not have weapons, and he unlocked the chicken coop with chattering teeth more from fear than cold. He shooed the chickens back into their cages. The mother stared at him, uncomprehending, stooped underneath the doorway of the chicken coop. They make a lot of noise at night, Trevor said carefully, but its warmer in here because theres mud chinks between the wood to keep the wind out. Ill just go get you some food and a blanket. He did not have time to see the mothers face before he turned and ran out of the small wood shed, but he knew that it would be something like relief, maybe, or perhaps a tiny bit of joyor was that too much? He snuck up the stairs unnoticed, but coming back downbrown wool blankets balled up in his hand, a few pieces of bread in the otherhe was accosted by his older sister. What do you think youre doing? she asked suspiciously. Nothinguh, just bringing this to Mom, Trevor said quickly.

She arched her eyebrow but said nothing, then said something very confusing, very softly They cant ask me if I dont know, and crossing herself piously, she walked slowly up the stairs. Trevors heart raced. With the bread crammed in his pocket and the blanket in his hand, Trevor awkwardly put on his winter coat. It would be big enough for the two to share, he reasoned, and running furtively out of the house, dashed back to the chicken coop. The mother took the bread hungrily, but the child only looked at it listlessly and stared up at the ceiling. Trevor wordlessly handed his coat to the woman and she wrapped it around herself and the child. The blankets she folded around them, so that they sat up against the wooden wall tightly swaddled, chickens starting at them distrustfully. My little sister comes to get the hens eggs at 8 in the morning, he said urgently. She cant find you here, otherwise shell blab about it and my parents will find out. Before she gets here, Ill come down and take you to a place I know in the forest. Ill bring more food. The mother stared at him with something like pity and a smile, and she whispered as he was about to leave, Whats your name? Trevor, he said shyly. You have a good heart, she said, and Trevor shook his head, embarrassed to receive praise. As he turned away, the little girl tapped him on the anklethe nearest part of his bodyand she said in that weary yet youthfully exuberant voice belonging only to six- or seven-year-olds, Im Lucca! and Trevor grinned, like he hadnt EVER at school or really even at home, with all the wartime announcements on, and then he wondered silently whether Lucca was really, truly who they meant when they said the face of the enemy.

December 27th The orphans managed to get to Gatton-en-Brie, Im pretty sure of that; the day Papa was at town for finance things I decided they were well enough to be moved; and so we did. I did, I guess I should say, but they were the ones moving; I just gave them the green light. I think Anacosta knows whats going on. I think she really wised up to it the first time, is it oneno, almost two years ago now. Ive had to answer awkward questions since from Mama and Papa, especially now with the block leader being so stingy with rations. Questions that are difficult to answerwhere has the food been going, why is there only half a loaf of bread leftand theyve gotten much harder to answer, the more people that come. I guess it might have been a bit much when I took half a loaf of bread. But it was so important for the twinsthe eightyear-oldsto get proper nutrition and its been hard, foraging at this time of yearin the spring, easier, but not now. Anacosta covered for me about the bread. I dont know why. But I only hope I havent dragged her into this. Because today our block leader looked straight at me when he re-emphasized the importance of not hiding so-called refugees from the peninsula; they were our enemies, they are our enemies, and our enemies they will remain. I guess he thought it probably sounded all cute and rhetorical and stuff, but it was really nasty. I dont like our block leader. Hes never met Lucca or Pinta or Tansy. He doesnt know that our enemies get cold in the wintertime just like us, or they want a roof over their heads and a place to sleep just like us, or they love their children as much as he does (well, loves his own children I suppose). Or does he know and just not care? Is this just a big strategystarving and killing and keeping out? I prefer to think that he just doesnt know. It means he could be convinced.

December 30th

Sooner than seems possible, itll be a new year all over again. Ill try to sneak some of Anacostas famous brandy cake to the folks, they need it and the good cheer more than I do. Ill just have to watch for the right time to do it. Ive been getting a bit jumpy now. I could have sworn I saw eyes tracking me but then I realized it was just an owl. I think. I dont think anyone could know what is going on, right? But somehow all I can think of is the way the block leader looked at me earlier...and his pale, scary owlish eyes.

Someone left the telly on, as people were bound to do, and the voice of an overly excited television host wafted over the speakers like the cloying scent of brownies from an oven. You must have been so tired! she exclaimed, dabbing her eye. I cant imagine...forty kilometers, just like that... The show host was a tall blonde woman, in a white suit dress and black peep-toe heels. She looked obscenely posh standing next to her guest, who was dressed plainly; a light blue summer dress, perhaps a size too big. The interviewee had the appearance of someone who had gone through hard times; her cheeks were slightly gaunter than most, and her armsthough not bonywere thin. I was extraordinarily exhausted, she said tremulously, but it was my mother that was really the warrior through all thisshe carried me, through the snow and unfamiliar roads, to try to find someone. Anyone. Those were strange times, you know, said the guest gravely. Even good people didnt necessarily have the courage to do the right thing. Even Trevors parents, is that right? Yes. Yes, I rememberthey said Absolutely not to my mother. Trevors mother especiallyshe said it the loudest. But I cant judge them too badly. Now that Im a mother myself after all, I suppose I understand...your children are precious, you dont want to put them in danger for their actions. But that was what made Trevor so incrediblethe fact that he didnt care about danger. He didnt

even think about it. She started to tear up. He just saw a mother and child that needed someplace to sleep and some food to eat. Do you think he saved your life? I know he did, said the interviewee, and one long tear ran down her face. I know he did. The show host woman looked happy with such a perfect wrap, and said in a half-whisper to the interviewee, Thank you so much, while clasping the womans hand. Were going to take a break now. You just heard three incredible stories of survival and hope from three incredible women; Marya Tetching, Bea Mallory, and Lucca Garnet. This is N15. Well be back in a moment.

And do you remember what he said to us? asked the thin man. Yes, said the thickset one. Of course. We asked him why... Why did you do it? Who put you up to it? groaned the thin man, running his hand through his graying hair regretfully. Oh yes, I remember that. We asked, do you know what could happen...? Did he know what could happen? I dont know. They paused. He was a smart kid, Jameson said awkwardly, as if to finally agree with what Ohlan had said all those years ago. He knew what could happen, Ohlan said decidedly. I think he knew. Then why did he do it? exclaimed Jameson.

Dont you remember what he said, Jameson? Ohlan asked violently. He turned to look the thin man in the eye. Dont you remember? He said, in twenty years they wont be asking why... Theyll be asking why not. Ohlan and Jameson were quiet, for it did not take a pithy statement or a single sound to express a simple, unsaid fact; it was twenty years later, and Trevor had been right. Smart kid, Ohlan said grudgingly. The two men were standing on a concrete ledge. It was a concrete ledge that had once been a jail, a jail that had once overlooked a city. The city that had once been gray with smoke from munitions factories and gas refining for tanks. The color had come in the garish posters glued onto apartment block walls. But somewhere, on the outskirts, toward the countryside, there had been a chicken coop and a cold winter night and a mother and her child, and another child who had saidtwenty years aheadwhy not?