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Mrs Hyde cooed over hi hi that had been tucked under the other child’s arm "Thank you so much, NurseHere, let me dip into the travel fund and see--"

But Mercy shook her head, having come to a decision on the matter "No, please That’s not necessary All I did was tie up his foot It’s not a big thing, and he’ll be all right"

"Please, I insist!"

But Mercy hehed and gave up "If you won’t take any money, that’s fine But listen, dear," she said--which Mercy thought sounded strange co froh to be Mercy’soff in Meht," she said

Mrs Hyde rifled through her bag once more and pulled out a sharp white card with her naend, "The Cor for All Types" Beneath that was listed, "Knoxville, Chattanooga, Memphis"

She said, "This is my restaurant Or, they’re my restaurants, mine and my sister’s"

"You have your own restaurants? I didn’t know" She knew of some free colored men ned property in Rich like this

Mrs Hyde shrugged "There used to be laws about it, but those laws are getting looser And there’s ways around the the card and reading it "You’ve got three of them?"

"The one in Memphis just opened last year We started in Knoxville and worked our est," she said proudly Then a sly look crossed her face She added, "You’re a southern girl, I can see that plain as day But I bet you never had anyone but your rew up on a farm We had far to catch on She said, "You, and your sister--I guess you used to be--" She stopped herself froers because suddenly it seemed impolite, or maybe she only felt outclassed She continued, "You used to do all the cooking for the rich ladies, in the plantations"

Mrs Hyde winked at her "So around as eured we could do better on our own My sister Adele, she wrote our first cookbook, and it sold like crazy! Then ent into business together, thinking we could make the food ourselves and sell it just as easy"

"Nice!" Mercy exclaienuine admiration "And it’s called the Cormorant? Or all three of them are?"

"Mm-​hmm It’s a franchise, that’s what it’s called And you listen to ain "You take this card, and you show it to the host at the Me you want, and I’ll take care of it"

Mercy said, "Gosh, thank you--Itravel food for the last few days, and I don’t ht about now"

Mrs Hyde patted her ar up my Charlie"

The nurse left with the card, and returned to her original seat in the forward car

Memphis was only a few hours ot off and people got on The train filled up and emptied out in unequal measure, since , Kimball, Selmer, or Somerville

But eventually the Memphis station rolled into view, a beautiful white beaux arts building that looked like ashe’d seen in Tennessee thus far, day or night, city or countryside Fort Chattanooga was a arrison, and every stop in between had featured shit ain, if only to admire it before she could enter its undoubtedly hallowed halls

The train pulled into its slot with a squeal of the brakes that pinched the track all along the vehicle’s length, and Mercy stepped out into a crowd that flowed riverlike along the platfor travelers froain, and cooler, which the nurse found disorienting It felt as though her entire life had been lived from dusk to dawn ever since she learned of Phillip, only tiptoeing around the edges of sunset or sunrise, and sleeping or traveling all day

She stretched, then turned her neck to and fro to let it pop and spring back to its usual position Her satchel was heavy in her aruns; she slung it over one shoulder, under her cloak The cloak felt allad to have it--she knew that--and, anyway, she didn’t want to carry it<ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7451196230453695" data-ad-slot="9930101810" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true"></ins>