DANTE

Noa said her first word on a Sunday morning.

It was Bis.

We knew immediately what it meant because she was pointing at the window when she said it and Biscuit was visible in the courtyard below, being led out for his morning walk by one of the stable hands, large and unhurried and entirely himself.

Kira looked at me.

I looked at Kira.

"The horse," she said.

"The horse," I agreed.

Noa said it again, satisfied, her point unwavering, the case she was making clear and complete in her ...