Returning to the pack house on a cloudy evening, I relieved Oslo and Niko from guarding Muriel. The older woman was usually sleeping or reading a book or preparing food—strictly vegetarian dishes—and yearned to be outside in a way that reminded me of Billie. That evening, Muriel gazed out the kitchen window and I imagined the Jesper runt doing the same thing for the past eighteen years. My heart was in chronic unrest since I’d seen that side of Billie.

Muriel glimpsed me in her ...