Chapter 29
“Okay,” said Astrida, “This is what I have.”
I was sitting up on her couch and leaning over a coffee table with a blanket around me. The sun was just starting to rise outside, and the sky was a heavy blue with a hint of light behind it. Back on the east coast, I would have heard the seagulls squawking outside at that hour. Here on the Great Steppe, I heard nothing except a few passing cars.
A bowl of steaming tomato soup had just come out of the microwave, placed in front of me by a determined Astrida. She seemed to be convinced that tomato soup was an essential part of my recovery, although I doubt she could have said exactly why. I ate it slowly, while she sat in the chair across from me and talked. She seemed excited, like I had given her a fun little project to work on in
