On Friday afternoon, Taylor practically skipped into Aunt May's hug. "My goodness, look at you! I'm glad to see you've got that spring back in your step, honey. Something good happen?"

"I'm gonna work on a project by the creek," Taylor said. "Can I borrow your wagon? My supplies are a bit heavy."

"Sure thing. Oh, and would you mind taking the cooler by the bayou so Lydia can feed Gus?" Worry creased the wrinkles around her eyes. "She's been down there all day and hasn't had a chance to come get it."

"No problem." Taylor's smile faded as she realized why her cousin had spent so much time there that day.

"How is she holding up?" Taylor's mom asked. "This time of year must be hard for her."

"Well, she's been mighty quiet the last couple days, but I think she'll be alright. Just needs some time to let her feelings out is all."

"What about you?" her dad asked as Pitch rubbed against Aunt May's legs and nuzzled her rabbits without so much as a hint of his usual hunting instinct. "We're here for you if you need anything."

"Thanks, Malcolm." Her smile didn't quite reach her tired, red-rimmed eyes. "Now that you mention it, I sure could use a hug."

Everyone came together in a warm group hug. Taylor reminded herself to give Lydia a great big hug too once she found her.

###

Like last time, the creek was teeming with kids and companions running around and having fun. One group lined the water and cupped their hands under the surface in an attempt to catch the fish that darted past. Another took turns on a tire swing. A girl cheered and laughed as her horse pushed the swing with its head.

"Hey, Tay!" Anna called out from under a massive oak tree as Taylor hauled a wagon loaded with art supplies, applesauce, and her aunt's cooler through the mud. Mason sat next to her with his back resting against the trunk, eyes closed as he enjoyed the shade. "You ready to get started?"

"Almost. I need to take some stuff over to Lydia real quick. Wanna come?"

They followed Taylor downstream. The creek soon flowed into a murky green bayou lined by cattails. Bullfrogs croaked as they hopped over turtles resting on driftwood. Taylor felt a pang in her chest as she remembered the last time she'd come to the bayou. Being there without Eliza felt as strange as going fishing without any bait.

Mason pulled his termites into a cloak around himself as mosquitos buzzed past him. "Careful guys. They seem hungry."

The girls followed his lead and gathered their insects around them as well. "I hope we find Lydia soon," Anna said as she pinched her nose. "This place reeks."

"Don't worry, she shouldn't be far. Gus's favorite spot is right over there."

Sure enough, Lydia sat hunched over with her feet in the water near a ragged rope swing. A blotchy mountain range of mosquito bites rose from her arms and face. It was only when Taylor got closer that she noticed the mosquito bites weren't the only things making her face red.

"Hey Lydia," Anna said. She glanced at the water nervously as a muscular, scaly tail sent ripples radiating out to Lydia's legs. "We've missed you by the creek."

"Haven't felt like going lately." Her snakes lay draped down her arms, so limp they would have looked dead if it weren't for their forked tongues occasionally flicking out.

"What's wrong?" Mason asked. Anna winced. "What? She seems upset."

"It's probably not the best time to ask," Taylor said.

"It's fine," Lydia said as she scratched a particularly big bump on her cheek. Her voice cracked like autumn leaves as she spoke. "My dad died a couple years ago. I always miss him, obviously, but since the anniversary of it is today..." She sniffed and wiped her eyes. "It's hard. It's really, really hard."

Taylor sat next to her, not caring about the mud soaking through her pants. "Remember when he taught us how to fish?"

"He said I got the catch of the day 'cause I snagged a tree." Lydia chuckled. "I know this sounds weird, but sometimes I almost forget he's not around anymore. It feels like he's always here. Watching me."

"I bet he is," Taylor said. She pointed to the pair of amber eyes watching them from the water's surface. "Gus is here, isn't he? So that must mean Uncle Charlie's here too."

"I'm pretty sure he only sticks around 'cause we feed him."

"I doubt it," Mason said. "Animals know when we need them. That's how I got my termites. I was having a horrible time because of some super loud monkeys at the zoo, and they flew over to drown the noise out for me."

"Maybe you're right," Lydia said with a small smile. "Gus has always been a good friend to me. When I was little, he'd let me ride him across the bayou. I'm way too big for that now, but I still know he'd never hurt me, not like other gators."

"How can you recognize him, anyway?" Anna asked. "I don't know about you, but I have a hard time telling gators apart, except for the albino at the zoo."

"He's got scars." Lydia pointed at the thin lines that crisscrossed around the alligator's snout. "When my dad met him, he had fishing line tangled around his jaws. Dad said it took days before he realized Gus was his companion and wasn't just following him 'cause he was thankful for getting that nasty stuff off him."

Taylor wheeled the wagon forward. "Do you think he's ready for lunch?"

Lydia chuckled as Gus's jaws parted in a crooked smile. "I'll take that as a yes."

She selected a turkey leg from the cooler and hurled it toward Gus. A spray of water hit them as the gator surged forward and snapped his jaws shut on the meat. "Do any of y'all wanna toss the next one?" They shook their heads. "Suit yourselves."

Within minutes, only bloody ice water remained in the cooler. Gus hauled himself onto the shore to bask in the sun.

"Thanks for checkin' on me," Lydia said. Her fingers and snakes rubbed the countless bites scattered across her. "I'd better head home. Mom's probably worried."

###

As she headed back to the termite mounds with her friends close behind her, Taylor couldn't help wishing there was more she could have done for her cousin. "Thanks for coming guys."

"No worries," Anna said. "She seemed like she needed some company."

Taylor set her canvas on a nearby tree stump alongside a rainbow's worth of paint tubes. Her flies lingered by the jar of applesauce she'd brought.

Anna took out a bag full of cookies. "Would you guys mind taste testing these? I'm trying to come up with my own recipe."

"I'd never turn down free cookies," Taylor said as she and Mason each took one.

The mushy, overwhelmingly sweet cookie practically dissolved in her mouth. She held up a finger to keep Anna from asking her anything as she forced it down. After what happened with Eliza, she needed to be careful not to lose her new friends too. "It's good," she muttered.

Anna cocked her head. "Are you sure?"

She nodded.

"What do you think, Mason?"

"Too sweet," he said. His eyes frantically searched for a water bottle or something else, anything else, to get the rest of the cookie out of his mouth as he shuddered. "Do you have anything with more of a crunch to it? It was way too soft for me."

"Jeez, Mason, do you have to be so harsh?" Taylor asked.

"Hey, she asked what I thought. I'm glad she let me try one, and I think the honey and applesauce mixed well when I could actually taste both of them. That didn't stop it from being way too sweet though."

Taylor didn't want to admit it, but she hadn't tasted the applesauce. The honey had completely masked it with its sweetness.

Anna jotted down a couple notes. "Thanks, Mason. It isn't easy trying to come up with my own recipe." She glanced at Taylor meaningfully. "I'll take all the feedback I can get."

As Anna brainstormed ways she could tweak her recipe, Mason set to work rubbing a fist-sized chunk from a termite mound with a piece of sandpaper. "Still working on getting the texture right," he explained as he attacked a particularly sharp edge.

Taylor sighed and opened a tube of black paint. She guided her flies to it before using an eyedropper to leave a trail of applesauce for them to follow on the canvas.

The flies zigzagged across the canvas, leaving a tangle of black footprints in their wake. The chaos grew and grew until a dark swarm dominated the middle of the canvas.

Next came the greens and browns of the bayou. A mosquito swarm's watery breeding ground took shape alongside a muddy bank.

Taylor's feelings were as dark and messy as her painting. Her flies weren't as bad as she'd initially thought, so why was there still a pit in her stomach? Eliza's absence echoed in the back of her mind, and loneliness gnawed away at her like termites in rotten wood.

It was only when the gentle shushing of sandpaper rubbing the termites' former home stopped that she looked up and saw Mason and Anna watching her. "I know it's messy," she mumbled.

"It reminds me of the mounds," Mason said with a smile. "All those little details are coming together to make something ten times cooler."

"I wish I could get my bees to be so precise," Anna said. She put a hand on Taylor's shoulder. "You okay? Those are some really dark colors you've got there."

"Don't worry," Taylor said. She leaned into Anna's comforting touch. "This part of the painting is about how I used to feel about my flies. I'll get to the brighter, happier stuff once this foundation dries."

"Ooh, like what?"

Warmth spread across Taylor's face as she thought about what she had in mind. "It's a surprise," she said.

That was the truth. Their friendship was still a surprise to her.