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shot.
    â€œMaddy? You’ll feel better soon. I’m here. Could you get some water, Kiddo? And is there any ice? We need to keep the ankle from swelling more.”
    I go over to the food basket for water. I grab the ice pack.
    The bear has gone now. The deer move into the woods. The bobcat still sits by the log.
    His eyes shine in the dusk.
    Henry builds up the fire again.
    â€œDid you eat dinner?” he asks.
    I shake my head.
    â€œMaddy fell before we ate. You used the ice pack for Maddy, so I threw the hamburger into the woods for the animals. Maddy made baked beans.”
    â€œThe beans will keep,” says Henry. “I have nachos in my backpack for dinner. And cheese to melt over the fire.”
    Henry and I sit next to each other on the ground, leaning against one of the logs. The bobcat has gone. Maddy’s eyes are closed. Her foot is propped up on the pillow I use for sleeping. Henry has made a splint.
    Ellie comes over to lie down next to Henry.
    â€œEleanor,” says Henry softly. “She found me. She pushed my front door open, and there she was.”
    Henry strokes Ellie’s head.
    â€œAnd when I didn’t get up from the kitchen table, she pulled my shirt with her teeth and tore it.”
    â€œEllie did that?”
    â€œShe wanted to let me know she hadn’t just come for a visit.”
    â€œAnd you found the note tied to her collar?” I ask.
    Henry shakes his head.
    â€œIt had fallen off,” he says. “She picked it up by the front door and brought it to me.”
    Henry looks at me.
    â€œThat was very smart of you to send Ellie,” he said.
    â€œI couldn’t leave Maddy alone. Or Ellie with . . .” I wave my hands, and Henry knows what I meant.
    â€œWith the raccoons, the rabbits, the bear, the deer, and the bobcat?”
    I laugh. Henry laughs, too.
    â€œI’m hungry,” says Maddy suddenly. “And I don’t think nachos are very healthy.”
    â€œThe painkiller shot is working,” says Henry. “And this from a woman who once served the Kiddo doughnuts for dinner,” he says louder so Maddy can hear him.
    He gets up and goes over to Maddy. He hands her a water bottle.
    â€œA few sips, Maddy. You can eat in a bit, but not too much. I don’t want you to get sick.”
    â€œI already feel terrible,” says Maddy. “A little sicker won’t hurt.”
    â€œIt will, believe me,” says Henry. “I’m your doctor. And a very good doctor. Listen to me.”
    â€œHow will we get down the hill?” she asks.
    â€œI’ll carry you,” says Henry. “It will be quite romantic.”
    Maddy blushes.
    â€œI’m glad to see color in your cheeks,” says Henry with a smile.
    â€œLook!” says Maddy suddenly. “A shooting star!”
    We turn and see the star cross the sky. Then another.
    â€œI told you,” says Maddy. “Didn’t I say you’d see that?”
    Henry sighs.
    â€œMaddy’s better,” he says.
    Henry melts cheese over the fire, and we spread it on nachos on paper plates. He gives Maddy a small plate.
    The lantern light falls over the clearing, and the fire flickers on our faces.
    â€œHenry?”
    â€œWhat, Maddy?”
    â€œDid you see my friends?”
    Henry doesn’t answer right away.
    â€œYes,” he says finally. “I saw them.”
    Maddy’s quiet.
    â€œRobbie?” she says.
    â€œYes?”
    Maddy takes a breath.
    â€œWhen your mother was very little, her father went away and left us.”
    Henry and I look at each other.
    â€œI never knew that,” I say. “Someone should have told me that.”
    â€œI’m telling you now. She loved her father, and he just up and left. In some ways, after that, she never quite trusted people in the same way. After all, they might up and leave, too. But she had her violin. And that violin didn’t let her down. She could trust that