Chapter One
A Sign on the Gate
The first thing Mera saw was the glove. It sat on top of a pyramid of fallen apples beside the orchard gate, small enough for a child, its fingers pointing toward the road. The fruit had been arranged with more care than anyone usually gave to bruised apples. She wondered who had made it, and whether they had meant it as an offering or a complaint.
Then she saw the notice nailed to the gate.
Mera set down her empty basket. The sheet had been fixed beneath the familiar wooden board that told visitors to take what they could carry and leave some for others. A fresh piece of paper, clean at all its corners, gave the date of a town meeting and a proposal to use part of the South Orchard for housing. A drawing beneath the words showed small roofs across the older rows. The meeting was soon. Nobody had told her a drawing existed.
She read it twice. The first time she looked for a mistake. The second time she noticed how many houses had been drawn.
Ina came up the path with a crate under one arm. She stopped beside Mera, read the paper, and put the crate down without its usual thump.
"You knew about this?" Mera asked.
"I knew Tavan was drawing something. I didn't know he had finished."
"And you didn't tell me?"
