Clara’s expression softened whenever Anna called Thomas Papa even after all those years.
“What?”
“He said that cabbage saved us.”
Clara shook her head.
“No.”
Anna frowned.
“It led Samuel to the tunnel.”
“Yes.”
“And then you found us.”
“Yes.”
“So—”
“The cabbage didn’t save you.”
Clara took Anna’s hand.
“You saved yourselves long enough for someone else to notice.”
Anna considered.
Clara continued.
“People like giving objects too much credit.”
“A cabbage.”
“A letter.”
“A door.”
“What mattered was that you kept trying.”
“You took food because you needed it.”
“Then you tried to repay it because your conscience bothered you.”
“You crawled through cold earth because you were keeping your father alive.”
Anna looked down.
“I stole.”
“Yes.”
Clara never softened facts unnecessarily.
“And you were nine.”
“Both are true.”
Anna smiled.
“You always do that.”
“What?”
“Make two things true.”
“Most things are.”
That became something Anna remembered for the rest of her life.
Most things are.
Her father had stolen.
He was also desperate.
Samuel had been suspicious.
He was also kind.
Clara had been frightened.
She was also brave.
The hidden tunnel was dangerous.
It also saved lives.
The mysterious cabbage had looked impossible.
It had an explanation.
And sometimes explanations did not make events less meaningful.
They made them human.
Thomas eventually remarried.
A widow named Ruth with two sons.
Anna hated the idea at first.
Clara stayed out of it until Anna asked.
“Will she replace Mama?”
“No.”
“How do you know?”
“Because people aren’t bowls.”
Anna frowned.
Clara continued.
“You don’t remove one and put another in the same space.”
“Your father loved your mother.”
“He may love Ruth differently.”
“Neither love erases the other.”
Anna thought.
“Did you love anyone before Samuel?”
Clara smiled.
“Yes.”
Samuel, listening from the table, looked up.
“You did?”
Clara stared.
“We have been married twelve years.”
“You never told me.”
“You never asked.”
Anna began laughing.
Samuel looked offended.
“Who?”
Clara smiled mysteriously.
“No.”
“Clara.”
“Absolutely not.”
For three days Samuel complained.
Then admitted jealousy made no sense.
Clara found that adorable and never told him.
Their marriage itself had not begun with mystery.
Clara had come to the mountains after answering a practical advertisement from Samuel.
He needed a household partner after years alone.