“He’s looking for a place for us to sleep tonight.” Ruth removed the girl’s backpack from her shoulder and placed it on her lap.
“Will he be gone long?” Aline asked.
“Non. He’s not going far.”
Aline stared into the rain and shivered.
Ruth placed an arm around her. “Did you eat the carrot top I gave you?”
“Not yet,” Aline said.
“You should eat some of it.”
“I can wait a little longer.”
Ruth patted the girl’s shoulder, small and bony. “My stomach is grumbling. Will you have a little of it with me?”
“All right. It’s in my backpack.”
Ruth unbuckled the backpack, reached inside, and felt something soft. She peeked into the pack and discovered Jimmie’s good luck charm.
Aline plucked the toy from the backpack and handed it to Ruth. “His name is Piglet. Jimmie gave it to me to carry for good luck. It was a gift from his sister.”
Ruth ran a finger over the pig’s oversize pointed ears, and a feeling of comfort swelled inside her.
“Jimmie told me that he’s a character in a book,” Aline said. “He’s small and shy, but he tries hard to be brave and beats his fears.”
Ruth looked at Aline, her caramel-colored eyes surrounded by dark circles. “You’re brave, like Piglet.”
A smile formed on Aline’s face. “That’s what Jimmie said.”
“Because it’s true.” Rain dripped from the bridge and fell onto Ruth’s skirt. “How about we put Piglet away to keep him dry.”
The girl nodded.
Ruth tucked the toy away and retrieved the carrot top. She broke a piece of the wilted, green stem and gave it to Aline.
The girl took a bite and chewed. “I thought you were going to eat.”
“I will in a minute,” Ruth lied. You are skin and bones and will need every morsel to keep up your strength.
Aline ate two more hunks of the greens and leaned back, propping herself upright with her arms. Her eyes grew glossy as she looked out over the rain.
“What are you thinking about?” Ruth asked.
“Maman.”
“Would you like to tell me about Blanche?”
Aline looked at Ruth and nodded, as if grateful to hear her mother’s name spoken. “She was smart, pretty, and artistic. Most evenings, she played songs on the piano for me.” She glanced upward to the bridge. “At bedtime, we took turns reading storybooks. Then she’d tuck me in, kiss me good night, and tell me that tomorrow would be a beautiful day.”
Ruth smiled. “She sounds lovely.”
Aline nodded. “She took me and my papa on lots of picnics at a duck pond, where she liked to paint. She usually brought a basket of cheeses, baguettes, and pears and plums, which are my and my papa’s favorite fruits. After we ate, we played a game of throwing small, flat rocks across the pond.”
Ruth tilted her head. “Skipping stones?”
“Oui,” Aline said. “It was a contest to see who could jump them across the surface of the water the most.”
Ruth folded her arms over her knees and listened to Aline describe the proper size and shape of a good skipping stone, and the method to toss them over water.
Aline drew a deep breath and exhaled. Her bottom lip quivered. “I miss them.”
Ruth wrapped an arm around her.
“My papa doesn’t know that Maman is dead,” Aline said. “He wrote to her every day while he was away in the army. It makes me sad to think that he might still be sending her letters.”
Tears welled in Ruth’s eyes.
“I pray that Papa is safe, and that I’ll see him again,” Aline said, her voice faint.
“You will. After this war is over, you and your papa will be together.”
Aline hugged her.
For quite some time, they sat quietly under the bridge and looked out over the stream. The rain gradually eased, and birds began to chirp from the trees.
“Someday,” Ruth said, breaking the silence, “I’d like for you to teach me how to skip a rock.”
