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“I believe in you.”

“Belief isn’t enough, miss.”

She smiled. “My name is Miriam.”

“Okay. Fine. But this is gonna take more than belief. The timing has to be right, and I don’t know if it is. I think it is, but…”

Her smile faded. “Oh, it must be. It must! My little Tammy needs you so bad!”

“I know,” he said, finally looking at the baby. “That’s why I came. But I need something first.”

“Oh? Oh, yes.” She turned and pulled an envelope from her shoulder bag. She extended it toward Walt. “It’s not a whole lot, but it’s all I’ve got. And if it’s not enough…” She averted her eyes. “… if you want anything else from me, you can have that too.”

Walt looked at her as if she was handing him a timber rattlesnake.

“I don’t want anything from you but a promise.”

She stared at him. “A promise? What—?”

“This never happened. If this works, you’ve got to promise me that you will never tell a living soul about me. Even if it doesn’t work, this never happened, right?”

“If that’s what you want—”

“It’s what I need. If this works, people will notice, and they’ll want to know how and why and where and when and, worst of all, who. The who is me, and I just want to be left alone. So, do I have your word?”

She nodded. “Yes. Absolutely.”

“Do you swear on the life of your daughter?”

“I do. And if it makes you feel better, only a couple of people have seen Tammy. The doctor who delivered her is one, but I’ll never see him again. And my ma, but she already knows about you. I’ll hide Tammy away through the coming year, and won’t let anybody see her till her new arm’s fully grown. That way there’ll be no questions to answer.”

Walt sagged and seemed to shrink inside his coat.

“Okay,” he said, his voice barely audible. “Let’s get it done with.”

Miriam dropped the envelope onto the bed and began pulling at the folds of blanket around the baby. In a few seconds the fleshy little flipperlike flap that passed for the baby’s left arm was exposed.

Walt pulled the black leather glove from his right hand. Jack had seen his bare hand only once before … last month … with Cody …

He held his breath as Walt’s trembling hand inched through the air toward her. What would happen? Thunder? A flash of light? A weird glow?

The hand hesitated, fingers hovering an inch from the flipper. Then Walt took a deep breath and pressed his palm against it.

No light, no sound, but the baby stiffened and her eyes flew open as she began to wail. Walt snatched his hand back and stared dully at the baby.

“You did it!” Miriam cried over the high-pitched crying.

Jack wondered how she knew. Her baby’s flipper looked the same as ever.

Walt mumbled something as he turned toward the door.

“No. It worked. I know it did.” Tears streamed down her cheeks. “I felt it through Tammy. I’ll never forget that electric-shock feeling. You did it. Thank you, thank you!”

With the door halfway open, Walt turned and gave her a strange look.

“For what?” His gaze drifted to the crying baby, then he said, “Oh … yeah.”

They held the pose, Walt staring at the baby and Miriam staring at Walt for what seemed a long time, then he turned and stepped through the door.

Jack had been so mesmerized by the scene, he’d forgotten to move away from the window. He leaped off the walk and crouched behind the wagon’s front fender. Hearing Miriam’s voice, he dared a peek over the hood.

“Mister Ers—I mean Walt! Please come back. Tammy’s stopped crying and we can sit and talk. I just want to know how you—”

“Going home,” he said without looking back.

But Jack saw that he’d started walking south on 206. Johnson was north.

Miriam called after him a few more times, then gave up. Jack heard her sob as she stepped back and closed the door.

Jack’s brain was spinning from what he’d just seen. What had he seen? That was the question. Had anything really happened, or was it all in the minds of Walt and Miriam?

And where was Walt going? Had he somehow got turned around and lost his sense of direction?

Jack didn’t like