The hidden portion was small enough for Owen to call it nothing.
One wrapped piece of sound cheese. A bag of cut vegetables from the durable allotment. Bread brought from another meal, dry at the edge but still usable. All of it had been placed where Inez could reach it without asking at the communal table.
Jonah held the canvas bag open.
“It came out of the count.”
“I drove it here,” Owen said.
“So did Mara. So did Gideon.”
“And they got theirs.”
Mara stopped beside the sleeping-area entrance. Elise was in the next space, trying to rest after the comparison review. Asha had already moved the children away from the argument, but Inez kept looking back.
