Chapter 12

⁠​​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​​‌‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​​​‌‌‌​​​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​​⁠Near the last of November there was a circle around the moon foretelling the wet weather. The downpour held for ten days, the pregnant sky slate-colored, the deluge continuous. Muck and soggy manure were deep now in stables and yards and paths. When Ellen went out to her chores she would wear Anton’s discarded rubber boots. Maria and Frankie had sickened when the rain first began. They were lying