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“I never wanted it to begin with, Cas. I’ll be your eyes; you be my future. Together. Halves. Like always.”
My heart felt like a hawk on the thermals. A vision and a voice. “Yes.”
“All in favor of Casandra Willis as Sanctuary Bishop of New Charity, please stand.”
All I could hear was the sound of people rising to their feet, chairs scooting backwards.
“Cas,” he whispered. “It’s unanimous.”
EPILOGUE
Syd
The City, a month later, looks almost the same as I left it. I drive Cress, still extravagantly sculpted, but gutted of explosives, back over the pass. In the passenger seat sits Len, and on his lap my fully restored backpack, and one last gift from Becky, the rabies tag she picked up from off the floor of the Sanctuary.
There is no miraculous transformation. But the clinic does have lights and an influx of medications we’d scavenged from the New Charity clinic and sent ahead with Al Truax in Pi’s old barn-primer gray car while my leg healed.
My apartment has lights, too. Which means Mina and Buster stay up reading books until midnight. But I don’t mind.
Len and Al eventually settle in, after some back and forth, moving into the three-bedroom at the other end of the hall of our building. Agnes is over the moon about Len’s assistance in her project. Al might join the police force or a road crew, anything for a change of scenery. One night, I drag Len out to the roof to watch the sunset, carefully explaining how he would have made the very best Mr. Danny.
News ebbs and flows from New Charity. Progress and setbacks. The women who lead the community now—Cas, Jayne, Becky—are busier than they’ve ever been. But they’ve got help.
Linsey herded the Survivor camp horses back to the Turner Ranch and set up residence in Pi’s house, with my blessing, of course. The ranch is now the Turner Ranch Mental Health Center. Linsey—since revealing he’d once been a practicing psychiatrist—has been treating folks since the accident. He’s helped Cas a lot. And even though she may never regain her sight, she seems better now that she has the Foresight back.
Len seems equally better without. He doesn’t drink as much. Al reports that he sleeps through the night.
I have no doubt there will be more unfathomable losses ahead for all of us. But for now we quietly celebrate. I am a different woman than I was when I left my City. I was a young woman ready to give my life for my sense of place. But I don’t think the me of today would feel the same, my heart now split between two homes. All I know now is that I’d do anything to protect the people I love.
This is especially true with Mina. I’m not sure how I got so lucky. To have a friend. A child, even. I’m not sure how to be a mother except to love her firstly. And I do. Watching joy erode her suspicion, bit by bit, as she matures alongside the City makes me proud in a way I can’t put words to.
Mina sees people, situations, with a clarity not unlike Cas’s. And I wonder. Maybe she’s the beginning of a new people, a better people, a hopeful people. A people my mom and dad and Danny would be proud of. Or maybe we’re all better people, in spite of ourselves.
I will remember to marvel at the small things, too. Streetlamps on the corner. Dim, yet ever-present stars. The road to redemption. Simple gifts of friendship.
Danny was right. Things will make sense someday. Going away. Coming back.
Home at last.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The concept of home is one that is constantly evolving in my own experience. I owe a debt of gratitude to the friends and family who have provided homes for me—spiritual and physical—especially my family, the Siefkers, my CMC crew, Bob Quam, and fellow Christikoners.
Heartfelt gratitude to Jason Kirk, Britt Rogers, Ben Anderson, Scott Calamar, Phyllis DeBlanche, and the entire production team at 47North, including Faceout Studio for this stunning cover. Thanks also to my editor, Caitlin Alexander, who once again challenged me to find the brave and honest truths buried deep within the story, guiding the process with boundless patience and enthusiasm. My thanks, as well, to my agent, Cameron McClure, for her intelligence, selflessness, and honesty, and for pushing me to be better, stronger, and truer to my own work.
I am grateful to Jill Seidenstein, Malia Kawaguchi, Carla Dugas, Isabella David McCaffrey, Caren Gussoff Sumption, Rashida “Eddie” Smith, Ashlee Peters, and G. G. Silverstein for providing support and guidance through the writing of this manuscript. The book would not exist if not for the beta reads by Lauren Roy, Haley Isleib, Casey Blair, Cheryl Kahn, Wendy Russ, Stephen Parrish, and Yi Shun Lai.
Life outside writing continues on because of the support of my friends. Your support means the world to me near and far. And though I can’t possibly list everyone, I’d be remiss not to thank Selena Treister, for introducing me to the magical combination of canned tuna and corn.
In this project, I took the liberty of using the name of my sister Cassandra, and I thank her for its use. The rest of my family has also been integral to my success, especially my grandmother, my mother, and the extended array of Grieps, Siefkers, and Kobers.
Though I didn’t force my partner, Adam, to eat SpaghettiOs during the making of this book, I did subject him to many, many nights of equivalently suspect takeout in the extended process. For his infinite patience, love, and support I am ever grateful.
And thanks to you, dear reader, for taking this journey with me.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Photo © 2014 Jackie Donnelly
Author Camille Griep’s writing career has involved industries such as real estate, corporate marketing, financial analysis, and more. Now, dedicated more fully to her craft, she continues to be published in dozens of fiction and nonfiction magazines, in addition to serving as editor of Easy Street and senior editor at the Lascaux Review. She has also written an epistolary fairy-tale novel, Letters to Zell. She lives just north of Seattle with her partner, Adam, and their bulldog, Dutch. She enjoys thunderstorms, chrysanthemums, gin, bad television, and bears. Discover more at www.camillegriep.com.
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
EPILOGUE
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
ABOUT THE AUTHOR