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"Gentlee It’s been…it’s been a most peculiar…pleasure Or at the very least, it’s been an adventure I thank you for the use of your ship, and for your trust, if ever I earned any"
Si of his eyes, "Thanks for not shooting any of us"
She nodded, accepting that it was all the friendly acknowledgment she was likely to receive from the first , even to wish her farewell; and she took a deep breath She adjusted her hat, and then let it fall to rest between her shoulder blades, suspended around her neck by a red velvet ribbon
And she said to the captain, "Well, Captain Best of luck to you"
He said in return, "And to you, Belle Boyd"
As she walked away, doards the building that reared up darkly through the woods, she heard hiined--not in all my life--that I’d ever say"
She was nearly warht that she’d deserved it; and she honestly wished theeness of it
Down at the bottoe that crossed the stream in a tidy wooden arc, Maria made her way towards the dark spot--the hole h the Kentucky bluegrass The structure sucked everything towards it The creek flowed to it, the trees leaned its way, and the earth itself seeht of the place and all its horrible contents
She was drawn to it like everything else
She strode through the forest away from the Valkyrie and up to the unbelt under a tied shawl, hold her baggage firmly and with purpose, and announce that she was there to apply for a position as a nurse Maria scaled the low edge of the road and walked along it as if she had nothing to hide and no purpose at all which was not direct, friendly, and absolutely ignorant of e of any stripe
Out on the front lawn there were patients, here and there--or peopleas patients And behind them, Waverly loomed
It was a massive structure, made of brick frooyles, each one the size of a se, spaced evenly and facing forward, ape, faces watchful
Maria shuddered
And she sturdied herself, standing straight, adjusting her luggage, and strolling up the ay to the grounds The oyles, of course, and to reach it she was coravel road that wound its way forward Here and there, nurses, orderlies, patients, and perhaps a doctor or two gave her a quizzical stare; but she was deterh and luggage toted with dignity until she reached the front door
It was a doubled door with a round iron knocker and latch She ignored the knocker and tugged the right-hand door open She poked her head around its side and saw only a corridor that could’ve belonged to any sparkling new facility in any city, with any nuurneys were left against a wall A wheeled chair hunkered squatly at the end of a hallway; and here and there, a barefoot man or woman wandered from one roo her carpetbag on the floor and clutching both her handbag and the shawl at her waist She called out softly, "Hello? Is anyone here?"
None of the barefoot patients noticed her, or if they did, they did not feel moved to answer But a nurse in a fluffy, ivory-colored uniform manifested to Maria’s left and asked with a nurse’s unco firmness, "Can I help you?"
It was not a question, exactly It was a declaration that the nurse knew Maria was somewhere she really shouldn’t be, and an announcement that the hospital are of her presence It was also a warning, that this was a place of order and that disorder, and disorderly behavior would not be tolerated
The nurse was a petite, sharp-eyed woman with yellow hair tied up in a bonnet She did not look like the kind of wo into four words, but she also did not look like the kind of wo or backtalk
Maria neither dilly-dallied nor backtalked She asked, "This is a hospital, yes?"
"This is a hospital, yes"
"I’ve come in search of a job," Maria said
Without a beat, the nurse replied, "And I’ your pardon?"