Messenger by Lois Lowry

remembered how he felt after he had healed the puppy and its mother. He remembered the desperate need to sleep.
    â€œI reached where she is,” Leader said when he could speak again.
    â€œDid she know you were there? Could she feel you there?”
    Leader shook his head. “No. To make her aware of me would have taken more energy than I had. It’s so very far, and Forest is so thick now, to go through.”
    Matty had a sudden thought. “Leader? Do you think two gifts could
meet?
”
    Leader, still breathing hard, stared at him. “What do you mean?”
    â€œI’m not sure. But what if you could go halfway—and she could, too? So you could meet in the middle with your gifts? It wouldn’t be so hard if you only went halfway. If you
met.
”
    Leader’s eyes were closed, now. “I don’t know, Matty,” he said.
    Matty waited but Leader said nothing more, and after a while Matty feared he was asleep. “Frolic?” he called, and the puppy woke, stirred, and came to him.
    â€œLeader,” Matty said, leaning close to him, “I’m going to go. I’m going to get the blind man’s daughter.”
    â€œBe very careful,” Leader murmured. His eyes were closed. “It is dangerous now.”
    â€œI will. I always am.”
    â€œDon’t waste your gift. Don’t spend it.”
    â€œI won’t,” Matty replied, though he was not certain what the words meant.
    â€œMatty?”
    â€œYes?” He was at the top of the stairs now, holding Frolic, who still couldn’t manage the staircase on his own.
    â€œShe’s quite lovely, isn’t she?”
    Matty shrugged. He understood that Leader was referring to Kira but the blind man’s daughter was older than he. She had been like a big sister to him. No one in the old place had thought her lovely. They had been contemptuous of her weakness.
    â€œShe has a crooked leg,” Matty reminded Leader. “She leans on a stick to walk.”
    â€œYes,” Leader said. “She’s very lovely.” But his voice was hard to hear now, and in a second he was asleep. Matty, holding Frolic, hurried down the stairs.
    Â 
    It was late in the day by the time Matty was ready to go. It had rained heavily, and though the rain had stopped, wind still blew, and the leaves of the trees fluttered and revealed their pale undersides. The sky was dark, from the storm and from the approach of evening.
    He placed the packet of messages inside his rolled blanket. By the sink, the blind man was putting food into Matty’s backpack. He could not carry enough for the entire journey; it was too long. But Matty was accustomed to living on the food that Forest provided. He would feed himself along the way when what Seer packed was gone.
    â€œWhile you’re away, I’ll be fixing the spare room for her. Tell her that, Matty. She’ll have a comfortable place to live. And she can have a garden. I know that’s important to her. She’s never been without a garden.”
    â€œI won’t need to convince her. She’s always said she’d come when the time was right. Now it is. Leader could tell. So she’ll know, too. You said she has a gift.” Matty, folding a sweater, tried to reassure the blind man.
    â€œIt’s hard to leave the only place you’ve known.”
    â€œYou did it,” Matty reminded him.
    â€œI had no choice. I was brought here when they found me in Forest with my eyes gone.”
    â€œWell, I did it. Many have.”
    â€œYes. That’s true. But I hope it won’t be hard for her.”
    Matty glanced over. “Don’t put those beets in. I hate beets.”
    â€œThey’re good for you.”
    â€œNot if they’re thrown on the ground. And that’s what they’ll be if you put them in.”
    The blind man chuckled and dropped the beets into the sink. “Well,” he said, “they’re