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thought. She reminded Jessica of a hothouse flower, as if she’d gone from bud to bloom without much flowering in between.
    Olivia was led out by a male nurse. The name on his badge said Eric.
    â€˜Sometimes it happens like this with children,’ Eric said. ‘They sort of tailor their suffering to the situation. They can just up and decide to feel it later.’ Eric urged Jessica to get both girls seen by the hospital psychiatrist in the coming weeks. ‘Standard procedure for Katrina victims. If they lost their parents the way they say, these kids are gonna hurt and pretty bad too.’
    The girls were quiet on the way home. Olivia curled herself up against her sister’s shoulder in the back of the car. In the mirror, Jessica could see Ashleigh peering out at every blown-away door, every broken window or house-frame, as if they were signs she alone was able to read.
    â€˜You alright back there, Ashleigh?’ Jessica asked.
    â€˜Sure,’ Ashleigh replied.
    â€˜When the hurricane made landfall here, it wasn’t so bad, as you can see. It got worse towards Alabama. Panama City was pretty much prepared for what it got. You see my bamboos in the nursery?’ Ashleigh nodded.
    â€˜Saved the whole place. Bamboo bends with the wind, see. Better than stone. And it protected everything inside. All the plants and flowers. All my stock.’
    â€˜Bamboo wouldn’t have stopped the water though, Mrs Lawson. Coz nothing stops water. Water is real patient. I seen what water can do. I only beat it coz…’ Ashleigh stopped short, flung herself back against the seat and sighed.
    â€˜Because what, child?’
    â€˜Well, because I got in touch with my own strength. I pulled it out of me. I had to.’
    Once again, Jessica was struck by Ashleigh’s grievous words and gravity of tone.
    â€˜What does the T stand for in your name?’ Jessica asked, as if it might offer up some kind of clue to the child’s severity.
    â€˜I don’t rightly know. Troy, I think. I guess they wanted a boy,’ Ashleigh replied.
    *
    Night fell on Panama City in late September around six. After the store closed, Jessica would usually make a light supper then walk around the nursery doing jobs in preparation for the following day. She’d repot plants knocked over by the wind or by children running down the pathways. Sometimes she’d find a racoon or fox scavenging and shoo it back into the bamboo. The bamboo attracted a lot of rats, too, as they liked to bed down in the dense undergrowth. Occasionally, if Jules were home and wasn’t drunk, he would come out and help her align the saplings and shrubs, and then, if the day had been dry, they’d water the plants together. Then Jessica would put on the garden lights and sit back in her favourite chair. She loved the night sky over the Gulf of Mexico. In the moonlight, the water was emerald green, the sky a deep lapis lazuli blue.
    Jessica went to the trays of new shoots and began to carry them towards the store. Before she’d shifted the second crate, Ashleigh came out of the house and began to help. Jessica saw that the girl was strong, built like a boy, broad and thick at the shoulders. Ashleigh carried the trays to the porch where Jessica wanted them laid out in a line so that they could be priced up and ready for sale in the morning.
    â€˜Don’t you have a boy, Mrs Lawson?’ Ashleigh asked.
    â€˜I do, but he’s out of town. You’ll meet him soon enough, though boy he is not.’
    â€˜What’s his name?’
    â€˜Jules.’
    â€˜If I had a place like this I’d never leave.’
    â€˜It’s good to travel to places, Ashleigh. Jules – my boy – he likes to get out, that’s all.’
    â€˜You travel much, Mrs Lawson?’
    â€˜A little. I wanted to do more. But with the business, I guess I didn’t get the chance,’ Jessica replied.
    â€˜Maybe you thought