After feeding Berryanna and having a short moment alone in the room with no one to disturb them, Straw told her that her brother was frightened about what had happened yesterday. She suggested that Berryanna talk to him and get him out from under the table.
Berryanna stood in the dining room, one of the places in the mansion she hardly ever visited. Her steps slowed as she crossed the floor. The chair at the head of the table remained untouched, perfectly aligned, as if it had been waiting for years. She did not look at it for long.
For a second, she saw smaller hands gripping the edge of the table. Her mother's soft laugh. Her father's firm voice explaining things that once sounded so large and important. Apple kicking her lightly under the table when she talked too much. Her jaw tightened.
