We woke in the morning at the same time, raising our heads, listening for the sound of wind.
We heard nothing. We looked at one another.
Silence.
The storm had ended.
Surprisingly, Flora burst into tears.
Nickel sat up and put his arm around her.
“It’s all right, Flora,” he said. “We knew the storm wouldn’t last forever.”
“Can we still have a party?” Flora asked.
I left Flora in the pantry, “rummaging” (Nickel’s word) for frosting. Nickel scooped out old ashes from the fireplace and built a new fire for the day.
I lifted the door lever and went outside to stand in the quiet. Then I leaped through the deep snow, through the woods, around the pond, and out to the road where Flora and Nickel’s car had been. I stood looking down the road. The quiet was almost as loud as the noise of the wind.
The snow was high. No one had plowed. It was the longest stretch of white I’d ever seen—up and down the long road.
I listened, but there were no faraway sounds of cars or plow trucks.
Silence.
I turned and went back around the pond, heavy with snow. I passed trees with branches all white.
Then home.
I shook the snow off my body, then lifted the lever and walked inside.
Flora and Nickel looked at me.
“We can have a party. There’s time,” I said.
Ellie comes to take Sylvan back to the doctor. She brings me snacks.
Sylvan looks tired and weak, though he has been taking his medicine.
“I plan to talk to the doctor with you today,” says Ellie.
“Don’t be a nag,” says Sylvan.
“I have to be a nag. You have Teddy to care for.”
Sylvan looks at her as he opens the front door.
He looks at me then.
“Yes. I do,” he says softly.
When they come home again, I can tell they have been arguing.
“You should go to the hospital if the doctor says so,” says Ellie.
“Not yet. You get sick in the hospital,” says Sylvan.
Ellie lifts her shoulders.
“All right then. I’m leaving you with my cell phone. You can call my landline if you need me. And that’s that.”
No one speaks. Ellie and Sylvan stare at each other as if at war.
Finally Sylvan gives in.
“All right,” he says. “Leave the phone.”
And that is when I know Sylvan will not live long.
Ellie gives me a kiss on the head.
As she opens the door, Sylvan calls to her. “Thank you, Ellie.”
I see a flash of tears in her eyes.
Sylvan puts his hand on my head the way he does when we walk in the woods.
Then he goes to his computer with his tweed jacket still on.
He writes something and prints it out.
Then he goes to the couch where he sleeps all night long.
I don’t sleep on my red rug, even though a low fire burns there.
I sleep next to where Sylvan sleeps, waking to watch and listen to him.
At dawn he wakes.
He takes Ellie’s cell phone out of his pocket. He dials a number.
“Ellie? Please come,” he says.
He looks at me.
“Ellie will care for you. But I hope you find a jewel or two, Teddy.”
A jewel or two? What does he mean?
I lean against him.
“A jewel or two,” he repeats. “Trust me.”
And he closes his eyes, his hand still on my neck.
By the time Ellie gets there he is still.
Silence.
Much later Ellie finds Sylvan’s printed note on the desk next to his computer. Ellie reads it to me.
“Dear Teddy and Ellie,
You both made my life joyful.
I have left the cabin to Teddy with both your names there and on my bank account. Ellie, I know you will make sure Teddy is fine. And as you offered, you will be Teddy’s guardian to help him find a life with someone who hears his wise words.
I love you both.
Sylvan.”
Ellie puts her arms around me.
“We will both be fine,” she says, her voice quiet and strong.