“Dinner ain’t, but I’ll get you something. Plenty. Platter ham and eggs and a quick fry. Cherry cobbler’s done. I’ll fix you some.” (Cherry cobbler is shortcake with a soul.)

He ate enormously at the kitchen table, she hovering over him.

“What’s the news, Dewey?”

“Ain’t none.” He ate in silence. Then: “How old was you when you married Pa?”

“Me? Say, I wasn’t no more’n a kid. I gotta laugh when I think of it.”

“What was Pa earning?”

She laughed a great hearty laugh, dipping a piece of bread sociably in the ham fat on the