{"product_id":"2940013768857","title":"A White Bird Flying","description":"It was the first Tuesday in August.  The Nebraska heat rolled in\u003cbr\u003eupon one like the engulfing waves of a dry sea,--a thick material\u003cbr\u003esubstance against which one seemed to push when moving about.  Two\u003cbr\u003ewomen, standing by the back porch of a house in the north end of\u003cbr\u003eCedartown, commented wearily.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Hot.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Awful.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe one, gingerly holding between her thumb and forefinger an egg\u003cbr\u003ewhich she had borrowed from the other, made feeble attempts to pull\u003cbr\u003eherself away.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Too hot to bake. . . .\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"I'll say.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAfter an interim of dull silence, she effected the threatened\u003cbr\u003ewithdrawal, and started down the path toward her home.  But she had\u003cbr\u003enot gone a dozen feet until she stopped, turned back, and called to\u003cbr\u003ethe other in the low mysterious tones of the chronic tale-bearer:\u003cbr\u003e\"For the land sakes!  Look there.  There goes Laura Deal.  I do\u003cbr\u003ebelieve she's goin' over to her grandmother's house the same as she\u003cbr\u003ealways did.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAnd the other, in equally semi-excited voice (it takes little to\u003cbr\u003ebring on an animated conversation in the north ends of the\u003cbr\u003eCedartowns of the country):  \"Yes, sir!  She is.  Did you ever!\u003cbr\u003eAnd her grandmother just buried day before yesterday.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFor a time the two stood watching the young girl pass by and down\u003cbr\u003ethe elm-shaded road, but when she approached the gate of the house\u003cbr\u003eto the north and turned toward it, they were looking discreetly at\u003cbr\u003ea petunia bed.  Their conversation, however, was not of those\u003cbr\u003efunnel-shaped blossoms.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"She's turnin' in the little gate and goin' up the path between the\u003cbr\u003ecedars.  Do you suppose she's goin' IN the house?\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"On my word, I believe she is.  And they ain't a soul there . . .\u003cbr\u003enot a soul.  Christine Reinmueller even took the cat home with her\u003cbr\u003ewhen she come over to feed the chickens.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"That twelve-year-old girl . . .\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\". . . is the oddest.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"You'd think she'd kind of . . .\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\". . . at her age.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Just day before yesterday . . .\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\". . . BURIED.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNeither one made a complete sentence nor waited for the other to\u003cbr\u003espeak.  Their conversation was rather a duet, the parts similar and\u003cbr\u003ein perfect rhythm.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"She's got the key . . .\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\". . . all by herself.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Well, on my soul!\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\". . . kind of spooky.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLaura Deal, having unlocked the side door of the old house behind\u003cbr\u003ethe cedars and disappeared from view, the two loitered expectantly\u003cbr\u003efor a time; but when she did not reappear, they reluctantly\u003cbr\u003ereturned to their labors, with special attention to the sweeping of\u003cbr\u003eeast porches.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLaura softly opened the side door of her dead grandmother's house,\u003cbr\u003estepped in, closed the door gently, and stood with her back to it.","brand":"WDS Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47068920447216,"sku":"2940013768857","price":2.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940013768857_p0.jpg?v=1763590021","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940013768857","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}