DARK CLOUDS LOOM as we draw closer to the town, like a charcoal sketch of a roiling night. It’s still early morning, and the air is cool, and Em and Dougal sit quietly, for once, in their passenger seats. 

The curves of the road fall away as it shifts into a long, narrow stretch, the lone street threading through a tiny community. I take us past homes with wire fences, a hardware store, a grocery, a park. A picture-book version of settlement.