A Killing Spring (31 page)

“They’re beautiful,” I said. “There’s a story about where crocuses came from.”

Neil sat down on the ground and began to take the burrs out of Chloe’s coat. “Do you want to tell it?”

I sat down beside him. “Yes, I think I do,” I said. “It’s about a woman named Demeter who had a daughter named Persephone.”

Chloe yelped, and Neil leaned over to reassure her.

“Persephone was a wonderful daughter,” I continued. “Very sweet and thoughtful. Her mother loved her a lot. One day Persephone decided she had to go to the underworld to comfort the spirits of the people who had died.”

“Like Kellee,” Neil said.

“Yes,” I said. “Like Kellee. But in the story, once Persephone was gone, her mother missed her so much that she decided that nothing would ever grow again.” Chloe leaned over and put her muddy head on my lap.

“She likes you,” Neil said.

“I like her too,” I said. “Anyway, one morning when Demeter was missing Persephone so much she thought she herself might die, a ring of purple crocuses pushed their way through the soil. The flowers were all around her, and they were so beautiful Demeter knelt down on the earth so she could see them up close. Guess what she heard?”

Neil shrugged.

“She heard the crocuses whispering, ‘Persephone returns! Persephone returns!’ Demeter was so happy she began to dance, and she made a cape out of white crocuses to give to her daughter when she came back from comforting the spirits of the dead.”

Neil lay down on the ground. For a while he just lay there, looking up at the sky with Chloe panting beside him. Finally, he turned to me and smiled. “I heard them,” he said. “I heard the crocuses whisper.”