"Overworked, underpaid, fighting too many fires," Elena suggested. "He doesn't have the manpower to do half of what he wants. I'm sure he's got plans for one somewhere, he just hasn't gotten that far yet."

She was going to sidestep the whole scared-or-not conversation, and not because she was conceding the point.

"Ask for their help," she said, lifting her shoulders easily. "Tell the older kids that you need some people to feed the plants, and some to hand out the beans, and so on, so you can get more food to the littler ones. Hell, it sounds like you need a bigger space, at that."