The Empty Glove

Nine maiden's garlands hang in the rafters of a doomed church, each bearing a paper glove lettered with a dead girl's name — except one, blank since 1782. Eliza Sowerby, letter-cutter and widow, has been hired to catalogue every inscription in the valley of Grindley before the reservoir swallows it. Naming the nameless is her trade and her comfort. But the empty glove was left empty for a reason, and the hand that fills it will be claimed.