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years now. That man owes me thousands of dollars in free pig. And Frank used to be a man of God, so I’m sure he’ll understand that I need to get myself out of whatever purgatory I’m floating in. Believe me,” he added, “he owed me much more money than you’ll take. We aren’t doing any harm at all.”
    Doing harm . What made something bad enough that it was harmful? Hard to say. Folks from up north thought Spanish moss was nothing but pretty, but Mrs. Grady wasn’t the only one taking a rake to her trees. People got scared, thinking the moss could take over their healthy trees and kill them. Nobody could seem to agree on whether it was a thing of beauty or a tree strangler, but I had a feeling that the moss didn’t mean anything. It just didn’t know how else to grow.
    Gulping back thoughts that shouted how stupid an idea this was, I crept around to Pastor Frank’s backyard. Easing the gate open wasn’t an option because Daddy told me Frank blocked it from the back with full kegs so that nobody could get in. I’d have to climb the ten foot tall fence.
    A finger tapped my shoulder. “ Hey ,” it whispered.
    My heart nearly shot outta my chest, and I turned around ready to lie, the excuse dying in my throat when I saw a dirty ponytail. “ You ,” I angry-whispered back. “What are you doing here?”
    Noni backed off a step, the hurt on her face switching quickly to annoyed. “What’re you doing? And who on earth do you keep talking to?” She sniffed the air. “If you’re a little nutty, that’s fine.”
    â€œYou’ve got a poor sense of timing, you know that?”
    She eyed the fence, then fixed me with a doubtful stare. “You gonna jump that?”
    â€œDo I look like I’ve got springs for feet? I’m climbing it. Quit talking and get out of here before you wake someone up. I’ve got a plan, okay? Now, go.”
    She stood her ground, studying me. “What’s over that fence?”
    â€œPlease?” I tried. “If you’ve gotta know, it’s a chicken guarding my traveling money.”
    She blinked in the moonlight, a goofy smirk fluttering at the edges of her lips, like she wasn’t sure if I was joking or just crazy. “ Our traveling money. We’re partners,” she said, smacking my arm. “Shake on it.”
    â€œWho’s that?” Daddy asked.
    â€œ Shh, not now ,” I told him.
    â€œYes, now ,” Noni said, thinking I was talking to her. “I’ll be down by the creek. Quarter mile, dark sheet. Can’t miss it. I’ll get outta your way, but you got to shake first, so I don’t go waiting for nothing.”
    â€œKeep your voice down!” I whisper-shouted. “Just wait a minute. I never said you could come.”
    â€œSure you did.”
    â€œOh? When’s that?”
    â€œWhen you confided in me about our traveling money just now.”
    â€œIt’s not our money, it’s my money.”
    â€œSince you’re about to hop a fence to get it and you’re shushing me like an old lady, I’m guessing it’s not your money at all. But I’m offering to share the guilt you’re gonna feel about stealing it by saying it’s ours . I’d say that’s pretty generous of me.”
    Good Lord, she was trouble. “And remind me what I get out of this partnership?”
    â€œI don’t know. A friend.” She waited with her bottom lip sucked into her mouth. Her arms wrapped around her waist, the same way May Talbot’s had done back by the hog shed. “And all those things I told you before—knot tying and stuff.”
    The girl’s arm bruise was clearly visible, and I saw that it circled her elbow the whole way around. It looked bluish purple in the moonlight. I wanted to know where that bruise came from. It looked like it had to hurt, but she wasn’t complaining.