I have to check.”

“Brenda, please,” Jacqueline said, and to my complete bewilderment, her plea was not oh please don’t discover my terrible secret, but rather, “please, please don’t make a mess.

That’s very fine milled and it goes absolutely everywhere.” I filed that away with all the other things that did not fit, and I knelt down on the rug and reached for the nearest bag, the one labeled E-14 in her careful little hand.

My fingers were still trembling.