Free With Every Breath by BEVERLY BIRD

the conversation. "Is he dangerous?"
    Dolores laughed fully. "Oh, no. Do you remember the Wizard of Oz?"
    Maddie flushed. "Of course."
    A kindly look passed over Dolores’s face. "I was just thinking of the lion who went to see the Wizard." Suddenly Maddie understood. "The cowardly one." "That’s right. That’s our Hector. He’s on the police force, can you imagine?"
    "Now that makes me feel safer." She thought of Joe Gallen again. In spite of the anger that seemed to run right beneath the surface of him—or maybe because of it—it did make her feel safe to know that he was standing guard over the island.
    "Well, come along here," Dolores said. "This one was your room."
    She pushed open one of the doors to the left. The bedroom was small and pretty, done in yellow ruffles and gingham. The furniture was white.
    "Did it look like this then?" Maddie asked, because, once again, she felt no recognition.
    "Do you know, I don’t rightly remember how I had it done up then. It was a long time ago."
    Maddie took a deep breath. "Good."
    "Pardon me?"
    "Then it’s not just me."
    Dolores laughed again. "No, I guess not. The kittens are in my room, over here."
    She ushered her out of the yellow-and-white room, to the big bedroom on the other side. The last of the litter were in a small box tucked behind the radiator. Josh made a strangled sound and moved toward them, look-
    ing back at Maddie as though for confirmation that it was okay to touch them.
    Her heart thrummed. He’d made a sound. In that moment, Leslie Mendehlson’s stock went up dramatically in her estimation.
    "That’s why we’re here, honey," she told him, struggling to keep the joy out of her voice and failing. She didn’t want to pressure him with her own heartfelt need for him to be whole again. "You can have one. Pick the one you like."
    "He’s like you were, is that it?" Dolores asked.
    Maddie stiffened. She wondered why she felt such a fierce need to keep people from knowing what was happening to Josh. It was going to come out sooner or later, especially on nosy Candle Island. It was the guilt again, she realized. Because there on Candle, people would remember what had happened to her and blame her for the fact that it was happening to Josh.
    "Poor little thing." Dolores bustled over to him without waiting for an answer. "That one. honey? Yes, he’s friendly, isn’t he?"
    Maddie followed her. Josh had definitely made his selection. It was a tiny black-and-white male, and he was clutching it to his chest.
    "Do you have a name for him?" she asked deliberately.
    Josh stared at her almost accusingly. For a moment, a heartbreaking moment, Maddie thought he was actually going to put the kitten back rather than have to speak a name for him. He’d rather do without the kitten, she realized, than leave his quiet, safe place. But then his arms tightened protectively around the animal.
    Maddie breathed again. "What do I owe you?" she asked Dolores Carlson.
    "A good home, and the promise that you won’t dump him in the marshes when you leave here."
    Maddie’s eyes went wide. "Of course not!"
    Dolores shook her head. "We get a lot of artists here in the summer now. They come to paint and whatnot while the weather is good. You’d be surprised at how many adopt a pet while they're here, then just take off and go home, leaving the poor animal to fend for itself as best it can. That’s how I end up with so many of them."
    Maddie winced. "Well, that won’t happen with us." Dolores smiled. "Cookies, Josh? I’ve got some downstairs."
    They went back to the kitchen. Maddie was shocked when she looked at her watch an hour later and realized how much time had passed. Though she didn’t remember Dolores, she nonetheless learned to appreciate her kindness in a hurry.
    The woman told her about several of the islanders, but she was tight-lipped when it came to Gina and Joe Gallen. She said only that they were a "tragedy." Maddie was marginally annoyed with herself for even