Epilogue

APOLLO’S HOOVES CLOP SLOWLY ALONG THE DIRT road, while somewhere in the woods I hear the snap of twigs as Luna sniffs and hunts. I know she’ll bark before she goes running off, so I let her explore. She always seems to get more antsy around this part of the journey.

It takes five more minutes before I reach the clearing of Andrew and Jamie’s house—which has gotten much wider since the first time I was here about nine years ago.

I let out a sharp whistle. “Luna! Here!”

The black-and-white mutt comes bounding out of the trees, giving Apollo a wide berth because she knows he can get pissy when she follows too close at his legs.

The back door of the cabin opens, and Luna’s butt begins to shake like a counterbalance to her swishing tail. She lets out little whines of excitement, waiting for her command word.

“LUNA!”

And there it is. She bolts across the yard, then clambers up the steps to the deck and jumps onto Andrew, trying to lick his face. I climb down from Apollo, leading him over to the well, where I tie him up and bring up the bucket of water for him to drink.

When I get back to the deck, Luna has gone belly-up and stares at me, tongue lolling to the side of her open mouth as Andrew gives her belly scritches.

“One day, she’s just going to stay here,” I say. “Leave me forever for a life in the woods.”

“That’s because I love her so much and everyone at Bittersharp just enjoys the good job she does.”

I scrunch up my face. “Um, would we really say she does a good job?”

“Albie, don’t be mean to her. The jobs are good, she’s just awful at them, and that’s why I love her so!”

He’s right. She really is a terrible goat herder, hunting companion, security dog, etc. The only thing she’s good at is being dopey and adorable. Luckily, that means she gets to be my dog. Besides, the other dogs are good enough at their jobs to make up for her.

The back door opens again and Luna’s up in a second. She jumps onto Jamie, who quickly scoops her into his arms so she can lick his face.

“You shouldn’t let her do that,” I say. “Who knows how much deer shit she’s eaten on the walk here.”

Jamie groans but doesn’t try too hard to pull away from her before finally setting her down.

I take off the backpack and set it on the wooden table.

Andrew turns back to Jamie. “Babe, grab the bread and cheese. I’ll get some water.”

“Hold on,” I say, pulling out the jug of cider. “This is one of Nat’s new brews. She wants your opinion.”

Andrew wrinkles his nose. “Hopefully this one doesn’t taste like fermented onions like the last batch.”

Jamie shrugs as he goes back into the house and shouts back, “I liked it!”

Andrew shakes his head, giving me a sad look. “Fucking lunatic.”

Jamie returns with a wood platter of bread and soft cheese and three glasses, setting them on the table. We sit down and Jamie pours out the cider.

“Sláinte,” Andrew says, and we toast. The cider is tart and makes my cheeks clench. I flinch as Andrew lets out a “whoo!” “Tell her I like the sweeter stuff.”

Jamie shrugs again. “I like it?”

“You like everything,” Andrew says. “I’m going to find something you don’t like one day.”

“It’s your own fault for forcing hen of the woods on me,” he says.

“Did you not like mushrooms?” I ask.

“He hated them!” Andrew says.

“To be fair, what I hated was canned, rubbery mushrooms. And everything tastes better with butter.”

“Oh, right!” I lean over and dig back into the pack. I take out a wax-paper-wrapped slab of butter, a pound of flour, and a small tin. I slide the tin over to Andrew, who sighs.

“Thank you!”

“Gemma added eucalyptus oil,” I say as he opens the tin. He uses his right hand to take some of the balm out and rubs it on his left hand where his thumb is missing and the index and middle fingers have started to lock up.

“How is everyone doing?” Jamie asks as I rip off a piece of bread.

“Good. Raven’s due in a month.”

Andrew nods. “I have it in my calendar. Plus, I have a bet with Howie that it’s another girl.”

I laugh. “He says he thinks it’s a boy.”

Andrew snorts. “He thinks that every time. Howie’s a great girl dad. I don’t know why he’s trying so hard for a boy. You’d think four girls is enough of a sign from the universe.”

Jamie puts his glass of cider to his lips. “Has anyone heard from Jamar and Taylor?”

I shake my head. “Niki is talking about going to find them.”

“And Cara is telling her to stay put, right?” Andrew asks. Jamie reaches over and squeezes his arm gently.

“She’s trying.” I shrug. I can’t really blame Jamar and Taylor. They said they wanted to show their son, Eli, what the rest of the world looked like, but I’d bet that they just wanted some time away from Bittersharp. Maybe a way to show Eli where Jamar and Taylor met, where they traveled. The life they lived before he was in the world. And maybe that’s good for Eli, even if he is only five. I vividly remember things after the bug. But everything before is muddled.

Sometimes I remember my parents’ faces, but I don’t remember their names. If I try really hard, I can remember some scary parts from before everything fell.

But I do have one good memory of my parents. It was a holiday in the summer that we don’t even celebrate anymore. I had to have been maybe three or four. We sat on a blanket by a lake and the sun was setting. I remember it being exciting because usually I was in bed by the time the sky looked like that. I was tired, though, and wanted to go home. But then the sky exploded with lights, and it was scary, but none of the adults around me seemed to be scared. So I just watched. Dad kept asking me if I thought it was neat and I nodded, but that was a lie. I thought it was magic. Papa pulled me over into his lap while Dad said, “Ohh! Oh, it looks like the willow tree in our backyard! Wow, look, it’s a green one!” I remember a firework that looked like the willow tree in our backyard, but I don’t remember the willow tree.

“Well, keep an eye on her for us,” Andrew says. “If she says she’s leaving, tell her to come see me first. I’ll try to talk her out of it, or I’ll go with her.”

Jamie lets out a sound like he’s going to scold Andrew but stops himself.

“It’s fine,” Andrew tells him. “Between me and Cara, I think we can keep her calm. Things aren’t as scary out there as they used to be.”

I nod, remembering our own time on the road—and Andrew’s stories about him and Jamie traveling before they met us in the Keys. Everyone left after the flu knows we have to rely on each other if we want to survive.

Andrew continues, “Niki knows they’ll come back. Even if it takes a few years.”

Jamie reaches over and squeezes Andrew’s arm again. A show of agreement.

“Anyway,” Andrew says, attempting to wave away the bad vibes. “What about you? Masie didn’t want to join you today?”

Jamie laughs. “Yes, you made her feel very welcome last time.”

Andrew looks offended. “I was very welcoming. It’s not my fault she doesn’t understand my sense of humor yet.” He looks at me. “She does know I like her, right?”

“I told her you do, but she definitely thought you hated her.”

“Great, now I have to be on my best behavior.” He frowns as if it’s the worst thing we could ask of him.

“Well, don’t do that,” Jamie says, putting cheese on a piece of bread. “You’ll scare her off for good.” He hands the bread to Andrew, who takes it and bites into it.

We talk until the sun falls below the trees, then they walk me over to Apollo. Jamie gives him a soft pet and feeds him the end of the leftover bread.

“See you guys next week, right?” I ask.

Jamie looks to Andrew. “What’s next week?”

“Howie and the Hornblowers concert.”

I snort. “That is not their name.”

Andrew shrugs. “It should be. ‘The Bittersharp Band’ needs to workshop their shit before they take the show on the road.”

“Raven’s going to have to let him fulfill his dream of a nationwide tour after his fifth daughter is born and he has a mental breakdown.”

Jamie and Andrew laugh.

“Say goodbye, Luna.”

She gets pets from Andrew while Jamie hugs me goodbye. Then they swap. Andrew wraps his arm around me.

“Love ya, Kid.”

“Love you, too.”

I climb up onto Apollo, then whistle for Luna to follow. She runs ahead on the path. I look back to see Andrew and Jamie standing at the clearing, waving goodbye. Their arms around each other.