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“Look at you!” Bess said “You look forty-five years old and you’re what? Twenty-t?”

“I think so,” Leah said tiredly It was the first ti her “Do you have any clothes for me?” she whispered lazily

Bess started to coain, but instead she went behind the counter and reached for cold ham, bread, and mustard As she set a plate on the table beside Leah, she took a seat across from her Out of the corner of her eye she saw Leah hesitate before touching the food “You even consider not eatin’ that and takin’ it back to them kids and I’ll cram it down your throat myself”

Leah gave a little quirk of a smile and tore into the food with both hands Her mouth full, her eyes downcast, she said, as if the answerto her, “Have you seen him lately?”

Bess gave the top of her sister’s dirty head a sharp look “You’re not still thinkin’…,” she began but stopped and looked back at the fire A flash of lightning lit the tavern

Poor Leah, Bess thought In many ways Leah was like their father, as stubborn and hardheaded as a piece of stone Bess could walk away and leave the little ones, but to Leah fa old man was part of her faoing to take care of the kids until the last one was old enough to leave No matter what happened, or as done to her, she refused to leave

And just as Leah re to a dream The dream wasn’t the one Bess had alanted: food, shelter, and warmth Leah’s dream was one she could never attain

Leah fantasized about one Mr Wesley Stanford

When Leah was a girl, Mr Stanford had coratitude for her answers, he’d kissed her cheek and given her a twenty-dollar gold piece When Leah had told Bess of the incident, there’d been stars in the young girl’s eyes Bess had iold on new dresses, but Leah had gone into a rage, screa that the coin was from her Wesley and that she loved hi to marry him

At the tiold coin hidden sol

ory wasted She began to wish this Wesley had given Leah a bunch of flowers She tried to forget about that coin, but sometimes she’d see Leah, plow harness about her shoulders, stop and stare into space “What you thinkin’ about?” Bess would ask, and Leah would say, “Hiroan and turn away There was no need for Leah to say who him was

Years later, Bess decided she could take no more of her father’s hideous temper and the constant work, so she left the farm and took a job across the river as a barhter and had forbidden her to visit the far the last two years, Leah had et the clothes Bess collected for her The townspeople wanted to help the desperately poor Simmons family, but Elijah refused to allow his family to accept charity

On her first visit to the tavern, Leah had asked after Wesley Stanford At the ti met all the rich plantation owners, and Wesley and his brother Travis were the wealthiest Bess had talked for thirty minutes about how handsome Wes hat a considerate man he was, how often he visited the tavern—and how happy Leah would be when they wereof a fairy tale, soht Leah had seen it that way too But a few h, Bess had told Leah that Wes had beco lady nahed before she saw Leah’s white face Under the bruises and dirt Leah looked as if her blood were draining away

“Leah! You can’t be serious about a man like Wesley He’s rich, very rich and he wouldn’t let a couple of…of, well a ‘lady’ likelike you in his second-best parlor This Miss Shaw is from his own class”