Marcus looked behind him.
"Mom's in the kitchen."
"Okay."
Neither moved.
Then Marcus held up the photograph.
"Is this you?"
Daniel looked at it.
"Yeah."
Marcus pointed.
"That's my dad."
"Yeah."
"You knew him?"
"I did."
Marcus studied Daniel carefully.
"Was he brave?"
Daniel felt something tighten in his chest.
"Very."
"Mom says he saved people's lives."
Daniel looked at the photograph.
"He saved mine."
Marcus's eyes widened.
"He did?"
Daniel nodded.
Marcus stepped closer.
"How?"
Daniel hesitated.
Then sat down on the porch step.
Marcus sat beside him without being invited.
Daniel told him.
Not everything.
Not the worst details.
He explained there had been an attack.
He explained that Daniel had been trapped.
He explained that Elijah went back for him.
Marcus listened without moving.
When Daniel finished, the boy asked, "Were you scared?"
"Yes."
"My dad wasn't?"
Daniel smiled sadly.
"He probably was."
Marcus frowned.
"But he still saved you?"
"Being brave doesn't mean you're not scared."
Daniel looked at him.
"It means you do what you have to do even when you are."
Marcus considered this.
Then he looked down at the picture.
"I get scared at thunder."
Daniel remembered his mother's words.
"Pretending you don't doesn't make you less scared."
Marcus looked suspicious.
"Grandma told you."
The word hit Daniel.
Grandma.
His mother.
Marcus called Margaret Grandma.
Daniel looked away.
"Yeah."
Marcus smiled.
"She tells everybody stuff."
Daniel almost laughed.
The front door opened.
Emily stood there.
She had clearly been watching.
Daniel's expression changed.
Marcus noticed.
"I have homework."
He stood.
At the door, he turned.
"Are you staying for dinner?"
Daniel looked at Emily.
"I don't know."