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stop visiting us, helping where he could. He seemed to think that he could solve our problems. He said that we weren’t alone. Many of the people he knew were scared all the time too, fed up with living in a world that felt like it was teetering on the edge of destruction. He said that they were pooling their resources to build what he called the Community out west, charting their own course just like people did so long ago. My parents liked the idea of uninterrupted land and sky, of a place where you could see trouble coming a mile away and deal with it before it ever made it all the way to your doorstep. Pioneer said that they could use my dad to help build the place there, since he was a structural engineer. Pioneer wanted to make it safe, so safe we would never need to leave.
    My dad left the city first. He moved with Pioneer and some of the others almost right away. My mom and I stayed behind to sell the house, the furniture, and anything we couldn’t carry with us on the plane. We began our new life with as little of our old one as possible, but I didn’t mind. My parents were acting a little more like themselves again. I felt for the first time in more monthsthan I could count that life was really starting for us. And I wanted it more than I could say out loud without feeling guilty for wanting anything after Karen.
    Mandrodage Meadows looked nothing like it does now. The basic skeletons of what would become our homes and the clubhouse were there, but mostly it was a large open field peppered with trailers and tents. I loved it. It was like one big adventure, like something out of a book.
    While my mom got us settled into our tiny trailer, unpacking our few things and making up the beds, I got out my sketchpad and started walking in a wide circle around the trailer. I didn’t want to watch her tuck Karen’s shoes by the front door. She called to me from the window and told me to stay close to our trailer, and I did, but I was itching to explore. So I sketched instead and tried to put all my restlessness and excitement onto the paper.
    “Hey, you’re the new girl,” a boy who looked about my age yelled from between two nearby tents. He was heavily freckled and his hair stuck up in a dozen different directions, but I liked it. Everything about him made me want towaye me wa smile. He jogged over to where I was.
    “I’m Will.” He held out his hand to shake mine, a weirdly formal thing for a kid to do. He seemed to be trying really hard not to scare me. It made me wonder how much he knew about my family already.
    “I’m Lyla,” I said quietly.
    Will bobbed his head, and we stared at each other for a moment before he laughed. “Wanna play?”
    I was a little shy. I hadn’t had many friends up to that point. I had mainly played with Karen before. I nodded and studied the ground.
    “Well, come on, then. The others are out at the lake playing ball. You ever play baseball?”
    I shrugged. “No.”
    “I’ll teach you. It’s not too hard.” Will reached for my hand to pull me along with him just as my mom opened the trailer door and peered outside. I thought she would panic and pull me inside with her, but instead she smiled faintly.
    “Looks like you’re making friends already, sweetie.”
    “Will wanted me to come play ball,” I mumbled—almost too low for her to hear. I was so sure she would say no. After all, I hadn’t been out of her sight for the better part of a year, but she surprised me by smiling a little wider.
    “I think that would be fun,” she said slowly. I looked up at her, studied the pattern of shadow and light in her eyes, and tried to decide if she really meant it.
    “I’ll just come with and read a book while you play. Give me one second.” Mom ducked back inside and I stared after her. She was going to let me play. Sure, she was coming too, but I didn’t care. I was going to be with other kids again. I put my sketchbook in the grass by the front door and skipped between Mom