Natalie Babbitt Quote

So, said Tuck to himself. Two years. She’s been gone two years. He stood up and looked around, embarrassed, trying to clear the lump from his throat. But there was no one to see him. The cemetery was very quiet. In the branches of a willow behind him, a red-winged blackbird chirped. Tuck wiped his eyes hastily. Then he straightened his jacket again and drew up his hand in a brief salute. Good girl, he said aloud. And then he turned and left the cemetery, walking quickly.Later, as he and Mae rolled out of Treegap, Mae said softly, without looking at him, She’s gone?Tuck nodded. She’s gone, he answered.There was a long moment of silence between them, and then Mae said, Poor Jesse.He knowed it, though, said Tuck. At least, he knowed she wasn’t coming. We all knowed that, long time ago.Just the same, said Mae. She sighed. And then she sat up a little straighter. Well, where to now, Tuck? No need to come back here no more.That’s so, said Tuck. Let’s just head on out this way. We’ll locate something.All right, said Mae. And then she put a hand on his arm and pointed. Look out for that toad.Tuck had seen it, too. He reined in the horse and climbed down from the wagon. The toad was squatting in the middle of the road, quite unconcerned. In the other lane, a pickup truck rattled by, and against the breeze it made, the toad shut its eyes tightly. But it did not move. Tuck waited till the truck had passed, and then he picked up the toad and carried it to the weeds along the road’s edge. Durn fool thing must think it’s going to live forever, he said to Mae.And soon they were rolling on again, leaving Treegap behind, and as they went, the tinkling little melody of a music box drifted out behind them and was lost at last far down the road.