And so here I am, Granny, almost at the end of the story.

Imagine how surprised I am to find that you are the one I am writing it for.

And speaking of surprise, you will not be surprised to learn that Reverend Obertask is better at dealing with telephone operators than I am.

I stood beside him in his office at the Good Shepherd Church while he talked to all the wrong Clarkes and then to the right Clarke — Raymie’s mother.

And then, finally, Reverend Obertask said, “Hello, Raymie Clarke. There is someone here who needs to speak to you,” and he handed the phone to me.

And the very first thing Raymie said to me was that Archie was there with her!

She said he showed up at the back door and yowled until they let him in, and he has stayed there. He hasn’t left the house at all. And Raymie believed that I would show up again, too.

“When are you coming back?” said Raymie.

I had to tell her that you were gone, Granny. And that you were not my granny to begin with, and that you had picked me up in an alley, and that my parents were not the Flying Elefantes and that my real parents were unknown to me, and that I was not, after all, afraid of heights. I told her everything.

And then I had to tell her I was staying in Georgia.

“What do you mean, staying?” said Raymie.

“I mean I am going to live here with the Allen family.”

“But what about us?” said Raymie.

I started to cry then.

The sun was shining into Reverend Obertask’s office. It was lighting up his walrus whiskers and the perpetually joyous dust motes.

And a long way away in Florida, Raymie was crying, too. I could hear her.

Reverend Obertask cleared his throat. He said, “You know, people in Florida visit people in Georgia quite frequently.”

I took a deep breath. I said to Raymie, “You could come see me. All of you could come see me. I am only one state away.”

They came to visit a week later.

Mrs. Clarke drove Raymie and Beverly and Buddy and Archie over the Florida-Georgia state line. She said that it was like being in charge of a traveling circus to have all of them in one car, but they came.

And Burke Allen and Betty Allen and I have gone to visit Beverly and Raymie and Buddy in Florida.

Archie, King of the Cats, goes back and forth. Sometimes he stays with me, and sometimes he stays with Raymie, because he is a cat and he does what he wants to do.

Clarence the crow is starting to trust me. He comes when I whistle. He has not yet landed upon my shoulder. But he will, Granny. He will.

I have respected your wishes. I have not come searching for you. But I have crossed the Florida-Georgia state line many, many times since we last spoke, and I look for you every time I cross over. I know that you will not be there, but I look anyway.

And I dream about you.

In my dream, you are standing in front of the vending machine from the Good Night, Sleep Tight, and you are smiling at me, using all of your teeth. You say, “Select anything you want, darling. Provisions have been made. Provisions have been made.”

I am so happy when you show up in my dreams and say those words to me.

Thank you for picking me up in the alley of the Louisiana Five-and-Dime.

Thank you for teaching me to sing.

I don’t know if you made it to Elf Ear or not. But I want you to know that there is no curse of sundering upon my head.

I love you, Granny.

I forgive you.