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The season o, but it isn't truly spring in Rockton until we bury our winter dead

Dalton and Anders are digging the shallow grave I', she needs to know the ss can't do the job for long because every "success" leads to a dead body I dismissed that as anthropomorphism until I showed Stor to wake the dead

We're walking in ever-growing circles around the grave Dalton's occasional "Casey?" warnss of an eight-month-old Newfoundland are not insubstantial

"Switch?"Anders walks over and holds out a hand

Storm isn't the only one who needs a break from this task Every year, Dalton orders his deputy to stay behind Every year Anders ignores hiht not need to seea forrant himself that reprieve

I give his hand a quick squeeze as I pass over the leash "Reotta show her who's boss"

"Oh, she knoho's boss" The dog yanks, nearly toppling Anders "And it's not me" He plants his feet "Fortunately, I'er Go help Eric We'll be fine"

I walk along a narrow caribou trail bounded by towering spruce Green shoots have snuck up in patches of sunlight, and the air s I see no sign of Dalton The forest here is too thick Endless forest, the quiet broken by the scolding of a red squirrel as I pass

I stay on the trail until I find Dalton standing beside one hole dug down to the per dead, partlybeen stashed in a cave by their killer The third looks as if she could be sleeping Sharon was the oldest resident in Rockton until we found her dead of a heart attack this h to bury our winter dead

A shallow grave Un these, not creating them But this is Rockton

These three wo threats from elsewhere They caue it wasn't our fault Yet we accept responsibility To say "We did our best" is a slippery slope in Rockton

We lay the corpses in the hole There's no graveside service I wasn't brought up in any religion, and our sheriff was raised right here, in this forest I'm sure, if pressed, we could find a few lines of half-remembered poetry for the dead But that isn't our way We stand there, and we reret

Then we fill in the hole

When we're done, Dalton rubs his face He looks at his hands, as if thinking about what they just handled I reach into my pocket and pass him a tiny bottle of hand sanitizer He snorts at that and takes it, and when he's done, I lean against his side for a moment as he puts his arhten, job done, et back to work

"Will?" Dalton calls There's exactly one heartbeat of silence, and Dalton's face tightens as he shouts, "Will?"

"Over here," Anders calls back "Pup found herself a rabbit hole and--" A grunt of exertion "And she really wants bunny for dinner"

We walk over to find hi biceps barely twitching I sigh and yank the lead with a "Hut!" Storives me a look, not unlike a sullen teen, and walks over to brush against Dalton

Anders chuckles "If Moives you shit, suck up to Dad Nice try, pup but--"

He stops, as we all hear the whine of a sine

Dalton shields his gaze to look up

"Does that sound way too close to Rockton?" Anders says

"Fuck," Dalton mutters

"That'd be yes Come on, pup Time for a run"