“He saved all of us that morning.”

“He did,” I said.

Noah pushed down on the right pedal and rolled smoothly across the brick driveway toward the front sidewalk.

He steered along the concrete curb, keeping his chin up and his eyes clear on the path ahead.

The front tire cut a straight line through the dry citrus leaves lying in the gutter.

He turned the bike around at the corner, making a wide, easy arc under the low green branches.

The red frame glided through the cool shade of the big orange tree, bright and steady in the morning light.

Noah laughed out loud as he coasted back toward the grass where Lily sat clapping her hands.

His bright red bicycle coasted safely through the dappled shade of the tree by the front driveway.