Laura Bickle

“I ran my fingers over the black ink. "They're holy to you."Alex flexed his fingers. "They are now.”

“What did you come for?" he murmured."For you.”

“Men are essentially useless for the difficult things in life. For births and deaths, one clearheaded woman is more useful than a half-dozen men.”

“Maybe now that Elijah was feeling well enough to be interfering in my business, he'd also be well enough to look after his own chores.”

“God cannot be with everyone. Not everyone is right.”

“His eyes widened. "You didn't go back to town, did you?""No. I went to church.""Ah, well. That explains it," he blurted. "I mean...well...Two hours of sermons is enough to dim anyone's sparkle.”

“I began to murmur the Lord's Prayer in thanks."Shit," Mrs. Parsall said.”

“Shoulders slumped in defeat, I turned to walk away. The drugstore had caved under the force of my criminal will, but the Coke machine was virtuous. Inviolate.”

“I was afraid to be Outside alone, without Elijah. But, no matter what, I would have to get used to his absence. I would have to prove to him and to myself that I could.”

“I wasn't threatened by fantasy.”

“God smiles on those who quietly do his dirty work, my girl.”

“I was a hypocrite. When the roof came down, it was going to fall on me first.”

“You have done well, Katie,” Frau Gerlach said. “You would make a fine midwife someday, if you ever wished to learn.”I cast my eyes down, exhausted and shy and afraid and proud all at once. “All I have managed so far is to be a midwife to the puppies.”She reached out to pat my cheek with a bloody hand. “God smiles on those who quietly do his dirty work, my girl.”

“I think I’d rather be branded than submit to some of the things that you have to.” He said this without spite, just a soft statement of fact. “I’m not strong enough to do that.”

“I wanted the syrupy taste of this small rebellion. And this stupid machine was denying that bit of freedom to me . . . just like everyone else.”

“There was a difference, I had decided, between knowing and believing. And I wanted both.”

“For me, that was love. Tangible. Love was what was in front of me, not a distant fantasy.”