Chapter 45
Delivery Joe is back on their porch. Same hipster beard, same gauge earrings, different knit cap. The prism rests atop the futuristic dolly at his side, and the sleek, unmarked van waits at the curb.
Both front doors have been laid open to accommodate the prism’s removal, and Mark hastens to close them now.
“Didn’t work out, huh?” Delivery Joe says.
“Nope,” Mark says. “Wasn’t for us.”
Maddy shuffles through the foyer, hugging not-Bao-Bao to her stomach, his front legs sticking straight out above her arms.
Delivery Joe produces an electronic pad from somewhere on the dolly and holds it out in his gloved hands. “Confirming the return.” His breath carries a whiff of nicotine gum.
Rebecca takes the stylus and signs her name.
With a whir, the dolly revs into motion, its wheels rotating like tank tread to convey its load down the stairs. Mark and Rebecca stand in the doorway and watch it roll across the gouged-up lawn. A tree crew was here all day, chainsawing the wreckage of the tree and hauling it off.
The remaining pine looks strong yet vulnerable, fresh pulp exposed at the split.
Delivery Joe lays open the van’s rear door, and then the dolly elevates on robot-dog legs, slides the prism inside, and climbs in around it, the effect like a spider disappearing into a tiny hole.
Mark and Rebecca stay until the van pulls out, until it drives up the street, until it turns the corner and disappears.