“It’s you helping us get somewhere safe,” he explained.

“The whale is the ferry.”

“That’s a very large ferry.”

“It’s because you have lots of people to carry.”

I put the drawing carefully in my bag.

I had learned not to promise children things I could not guarantee.

But I could promise one thing honestly: that their health mattered more than any job, any mansion, or any wealthy person’s reputation.

PART 15