“Jody! Jooodee!” Sam called from below. “Where are you?”

“Up here, Sam!”

“What the…? How did you get up there?”

She looked down from her tree-branch. “What kinda fool question was that? I climbed, a course!”

“I thought you were scared of heights.”

“It ain’t scary ‘less the wind’s blowin.”

He gave a smile and shook his head. “What’s with the accent? You sound like you should have a banjo on your knee.”

She gave one of her raucous fits of laughter. “I hafta channel Scout Finch to climb a tree. ’s just somethin I do.”

“Why Scout Finch?”

”’Cuz! She’s brave!”

He gave a laugh. “Well, Scout, are you going to come down from there?”

“You just don’t like having to look up to me for a change.”

“No.”

“Just come up here, then.”

“What, you stuck?”

“No!” she shouted indignantly.

She made an awkward descent, trying to remember how she’d gotten up in the first place. Just as she was on the home stretch, the last bit, she fell. They lay on the ground convulsing with laughter.