Root: Part I, Chapter 12

While Hasta and Ivan conduct tests of her abilities, Ivan’s reservations about Juan cast a pall over what they learn. Meanwhile the noose around them all draws tighter.

For more on this project, please see “This Year a Serial Takes Root.”

12.0 Ivan

Ivan knelt in the north end zone of the football field, laying out blocks from Hasta’s backpack. He positioned each carefully on the goal line, setting them up in alphabetical order, each exactly four blocks’ width from its neighbors. It bothered him that a few of the letters …