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here.”
    â€œIt’ll be okay, Bernie,” she said, and as she said the words, she almost believed them herself, because she found herself remembering something. She couldn’t have said what it was. It was more like a smell you recognize but can’t name. Something good had happened to her here. In all the craziness before Wayne went to jail, something good had happened here.
    It seemed ages before the door opened and Verna came out alone to the car. Angel was already steeling herself for a trip back to the city, but instead Verna said, “Okay. We can stay, but you kids gotta be quiet as bunny rabbits. Your great-grandma is an old lady. She won’t tolerate any of your screaming and carrying on.”
    â€œI don’t want to stay here,” Bernie said. His voice was quiet but stubborn. “I want to go home.”
    Verna ignored him. She was getting the suitcases out of the back and waving with her head for the children to follow her. Angel unbuckled them both and nudged her brother. “Don’t worry, Bernie. I’ll be here with you. Haven’t I always taken care of you?”
    â€œI don’t wanta...’’he started, then bit his lip and clambered down out of the cab.
    Angel pulled Grizzle off the floor. “Here,” she said. “You want to hold on to Grizzle? Just for a little while? I can’t give him to you. It would hurt Daddy’s feelings if I gave him away, but you can sleep with him for a while if you want to.”
    He grabbed Grizzle’s fat neck and buried his face in the blue plush. Angel took his free hand, and together they walked up the rickety steps, across the porch crammed so full of junk that there was only a narrow path to the door. “Stand up straight, Bernie.” She took a deep breath and stood up straighter herself. “We got to make a good impression.”

 
    Â 
    FIVE
Hansel and Grizzle
    They stepped through the front door into a hall. Ahead of them was a dark staircase, on one side a closed door, on the other an open one. “In here,” Verna called. They followed her voice to the open door. At first, neither of them saw the old lady. Although it was still twilight outside, the house was as dark as night. Angel blinked and looked around. It seemed to be a kitchen. The room was hot and stuffy, as though no one ever opened the windows. If they walked straight in they would walk into a table, so she stood still in the doorway, holding Bernie’s hand, waiting for Verna to tell them what to do. It was too easy to start off wrong in a strange situation. She wanted to warn Bernie not to whine or ask for a milk shake, but she didn’t dare speak out loud.
    â€œWho’s that, Angel?” See? She should have told Bernie to keep quiet, and now it was too late. Up until then his left arm had been squeezed around Grizzle’s neck in a death grip and his right hand tight in Angel’s hand, but he dropped the bear on the floor and let go of Angel’s hand at the same time. His curiosity had overcome his fear. “Angel, I said, ‘Who’s that?’” He pointed at something beyond the left side of the table.
    â€œShh, Bernie. And don’t point. It’s not polite.” Angel grabbed his outstretched finger, but he wrenched free and headed around the table for a closer look.
    â€œSo these are the kids, huh?” The voice was coming from a rocker tucked between a huge black woodstove, which didn’t seem to be lit, and a long, rough wooden counter with cabinets above and below and a sink three-quarters of the way to the opposite wall. The person in the rocker seemed to be bundled up in blankets. “Wouldn’t of known them.”
    â€œWell, you can’t really see them now, can you, Grandma?” Verna said. Her voice was fakey cheerful. “Don’t you ever pull up the shades?”
    The old woman shook her head. “You leave my shades be,