jump back landed me in the sunlight again, so I could no longer see inside, but I could still hear the music playing. And above that came a voice, calm but forceful enough that I could hear it clearly from outside the house.

"Note said to just leave it."

My mouth opened again to reply, but nothing came out. My feet stepped slowly backward and I somehow navigated the porch steps in reverse. I threw a leg over my bike and was back to the main road before I knew it. My head cleared as I pedaled back toward town and I replayed the incident on the farmhouse porch.

I wondered how many kids in school even knew where Miss E. lived, let alone had actually been there. Granted I hadn'thurt that she wasn't coming over to comfort me. I'm ashamed to admit it, but I dragged out my cry for an extra minute or so giving her time to put her arm around me or say, "There, there, it will be OK." But she didn't. When I lifted my head and wiped the tears off my cheeks with the palms of my hands, I was surprised to see Miss E. still picking at the remains of our picnic, gazing at the sky, and looking like her thoughts were far away.

I was about to say something when she sprung to her feet faster than I would have thought she could. "Well, I suppose I should take a look at that engine and figure out if we'll be flying