Cotton Song
by Tom Bailey (Shaye Areheart Books, $24)

" 'Sally, are you out there?' The woman scanned the fields and woods again. 'How long's it been since you've eaten? You need to eat, Sally. I'm going to leave this bag of food for you--fried chicken and potato salad. Eat and stay hidden as good as you are now, you hear? Don't come out again for anybody else but me. You've got to trust me, Sally. I'll come back by for you on my way home this evening. I imagine you'll be hungry again by then. I'll bring supper with me.' The woman continued to search the fields. Sally lay still, holding on to her stomach to keep it quiet waiting for her to go. Finally, the woman gave up. She set the bag on the top step and clipped back down the stairs into the yard. She started the engine and swung the black car about in a wide circle, sending up a ring of dust. Sally trailed the tail of dust she made driving away until it faded from sight. She knew it couldn't be a trick, because she could follow the woman's car in the dust for as far as it went. She waited while the dirt settled back to earth and the sky cleared blue. Sally looked down in time to see the fox, following his nose, trotting for the porch. 'Hey!' she yelled, stumbling up and slipping, her legs and arms locked from lying still for so long. She jumped up again, scrabbling after two rocks, which she held tight in her fists--suddenly feeling hard carp-mouthed enough to eat the fox itself." --excerpted from the book