"They're too old for that."
"Yes."
"Then why?"
"Because they never heard your voice at bedtime."
The room made space for the answer.
"They're too old for that."
Katherine picked up the book.
At first, her reading sounded careful and formal.
"Little Fox walked beyond the oak tree..."
She cleared her throat and tried again, slower.
The girls did not look at the pictures.
They watched her face.
The girls did not look at the pictures.
Katherine noticed after the third page.
Her eyes moved between them, uncertain now, stripped of the practiced lines she had brought to the door.
Halfway through, she reached a note beside a painted river.
Amelia's first nightmare. Would not explain it. Held my shirt until morning.
Katherine stopped.
Amelia waited.
Her eyes moved between them.
After several seconds, Katherine continued.
Her voice became rougher near the final page, but she finished every sentence.
When the little fox finally found home beneath the roots of an old tree, Katherine closed the cover.
