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we’re here.”
    “Larry is why you’re here?”

    Daddy glanced at Sgt. Pinkham. “Larry? Are you talking about the squirrel?”
    “He may be any old squirrel to you, but to me, he’s my friend Larry. Like I said, my family’s far away, and I don’t get out much.… Hey, buddy.”
    “But how can you tell who is who?” Keisha asked.
    “Because they do look different if you pay attention. Larry’s tail looks like it was dipped in brown paint.”
    Larry chirped at the humans watching him, almost as if to say,
Don’t bother me now—I’m busy.
Then he proceeded to eat his apple. Keisha watched, amazed. Larry gnawed his way around the apple core,turning the fruit with his finger-like paws and then flipping it upside down to get at the bottom. All that was left before he dropped it and scampered away was the stringy piece in the middle. He’d even eaten the seeds.

    “Hmmm.” Daddy rubbed his chin. “Very interesting.”
    “Uh-oh.” Keisha pointed to the hospital entrance. “Razi found someone else to almost run into, Daddy.” A man had rushed out of the building and nearly collided with Razi. As Razi chattered away—not unlike the squirrel—the man watched him with a puzzled expression.Keisha bet he was wondering what a little kid was doing tap-dancing on the hospital steps in the middle of winter.
    “Stay here, Key.” Daddy ran over to Razi and struck up a conversation with the man. They shook hands. From the way the man clapped Daddy on the shoulder, Keisha thought they must know each other.
    “That’s the director of the facility. Lieutenant Washington. Former Navy man. Good guy,” Sarge told Keisha. “A little too much spit and polish for my taste, but a good guy.” Sarge used his hands to re-position his leg. “Mmmm, that’s better. My stump was falling asleep.”
    Keisha stole a glance at the place Sarge’s leg must have been cut off. She could see the outline of the “sleeve” that he’d been describing earlier.
    “Want me to explain it?” Sarge asked her, patting the bench to invite Keisha to sit beside him. “My experience is that kids have a lot of questions about amputations, but they don’t think it’s polite to ask.”
    Keisha nodded. Sarge was right. She never would have asked on her own, but she was curious.
    So Sarge told her how the shrapnel had damaged not just the bones but the tendons and, even more important, the arteries. “Arterial flow, they call it. It’s how the blood circulates through your body, and the blood iswhat delivers the oxygen. My arteries were so damaged that it was like my foot had trouble breathing.” Sarge burst into a hearty laugh. “That sounds strange, even to me. But maybe you have a question I haven’t thought of.…”
    He was right, of course. Keisha had about ten questions, but she wouldn’t dare—
    “Ask one.”
    “What do you miss being able to do most?”
    “That’s easy. Climbing. I did a lot of rock climbing before I joined up.” Sarge smiled at the memory. “What would you miss the most?”
    “Jump rope.” The answer came automatically to Keisha, but then she wondered if that was true anymore. “Maybe,” she whispered.
    “Why maybe?” Sarge scooted closer to Keisha. “If you don’t mind my asking.”
    Later, she told Wen she couldn’t believe she was telling a perfect stranger about her biggest problem. But he had such a kind look on his face while she explained her jump rope worries that it was easy.
    After Keisha finished, Sarge said, “That is a big problem. I’d like to think on that one, if I may.”
    “Okay,” Keisha agreed, but it didn’t seem like a very big problem compared to Sarge’s.
    They sat in silence, watching Lt. Washington showRazi how to do a military salute. After Lt. Washington and Daddy shook hands again, Razi tore down the steps and over to Keisha and Sarge.
    “Lt. Washington wants me and my dance class to perform for the troops!” Razi was so excited he almost slipped on the