Chapter 6
Jane drove along Erie Street toward Wheeler Street, then took that to Delaware Avenue so she could get back to Amherst without taking the expressway.
She said, “I’m doing something that I’ve never done before.
May and I live in a big old house that my husband—her father—inherited from his family.
His name is Carey McKinnon and he’s a doctor, a thoracic surgeon who goes to work every day at Buffalo General Hospital.
I trust him absolutely, but you and I are not going to tell him your legal name.
Nobody accidentally blurts anything out if they’ve never heard it.
Do you have a name you’d like to use temporarily? ”
“I like Kate.”
“Kate is not a close friend or a relative or something?”
“No. I think I must have heard it, liked it, and it stuck with me.”
“Then it’s good. There are popular names that are popular for people, and other ones that are popular for television characters.
Kate is both, but mostly a people name. You also need a last name.
That should sound familiar but not too popular, and not a name of an Indian family.
We want anybody who hears it to think anything but Indian. ”
“I don’t know. Johnson, Jenson, Jackson, Moore? Barnes.”
“Moore is good, and Barnes. The others might be too common.”
“Kate Barnes. Maybe Katie Barnes sometimes. It sounds more like my age.”
“Good choice.”
Jane drove for a few minutes, then said, “I should make it clear that I don’t usually lie to my husband.
I made sure he knew what I was doing before I married him, and he’s never told anybody anything.
But there are big reasons why I never want him to know anything that would help anyone find someone like you.
I want him to be safe, and I want you to be safe. ”
Jane thought about what she wasn’t telling her. Carey strongly disapproved of her life as a guide, and never wanted her to do it again. She said, “I’ve taken people away from their troubles since I was twenty and in college. Now I have May, and I never intend to leave her.”
“Nobody would want you to leave your baby.”
Jane looked at her. “Most people who need to disappear would. They’re going on a dangerous trip that I’ve already taken.
I know the way. I can do most of the things that have kept runners safe.
Even if I can’t go, I can help. I can invent a past for you.
I can get you set up somewhere that you want to live, get you to look the right way with the right clothes and things. I can teach you.”
“I haven’t got a way to pay you back for any of that.”
“Forget money.”
“How can I?”
“We don’t have to be like that. We’ll be like the old people.
They didn’t pay each other for things, they gave gifts.
What I give you starting today will be a present.
Years from now, a day is probably going to come when you’re feeling good about life.
You’re going to remember how scared you were for the past few days, and how vulnerable and lost, and how happy you are on that day.
Then, if you feel like it, send me a present. ”
“That’s it? A present?”
“Yes.”
“What kind of present?”
“People are different, so their gifts are too. The gifts tell me that they’re okay, and that they’re still living their new lives, making the most of their second chance. If you’re ever in that mood, you’ll know what you want to send.”
May began to cry again, and Clare spoke gently. “May, May, everybody loves you. Do you think your mother will let me go back and sit with you?”
“Let me pull over,” Jane said. She coasted to stop on the shoulder.
Clare got into the seat next to May. She said, “I can tell what’s wrong.
Here, let me open the baby bag. We’ll get you a new diaper and put you back in your seat and then we’ll talk.
” A minute later Jane heard Clare singing in Nundawaono, very softly.
Jane pulled the car back onto the road and kept going.
Jane recognized the song. It was music for the dance in the green corn ceremony, one of the annual feasts that the women of the nation traditionally hosted.
May was quiet, and she seemed fascinated.
A few minutes later Jane turned and drove slowly up the long driveway past the big stone house.
She pressed the remote control and the doors of the garage opened.
She pulled inside. “Carey isn’t home yet, so we have time to prepare.
You’re going to have to stay with us for a while.
Don’t forget that your name is Katie Barnes. ”
“What are you going to tell him I’m doing in your house?”
“He’s been after me to hire a babysitter to help me with May. You’re the first person I’ve met lately that I’d trust to do it.”