Her eyes were hot with fresh tears. She squeezed her tongue between her teeth to keep them from falling. Aye, Lory was hurting. Alice was. They all were. Anne too had been hurting for a long time, and perhaps it was that which brought the tears so easily in response to Lory’s words. Her own pain however was mostly that of seeing her loved ones hurt, and the pain of missing those that hadn’t made it: Mother, Tom, Simon,… Alice.

Did Lory not understand that Anne did not want to see her added to that list?

All jealousy was now forgotten. She stepped closer, drew her hand away and instead put her arms around her cousin carefully in a hug. “I know. We’re all hurtin’.” And she wished she could do something to take it away. But she couldn’t. She hadn’t been able to save Simon. She couldn’t help Alice. And she wasn’t even supposed to talk to Lory. “I’m sorry.”

For what? She didn’t know exactly. For the whole weight of it and for being unable to lift it.