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Here, hobbled by misery, time crawled forward

There was nowhere to go and nothing to do She couldn’t leave Ant and go hunting for doves or jackrabbits Instead, she and her brother sat on the lumpy camp mattress and Loreda read The Wonderful Wizard of Oz out loud But the book, with its terrible tornado in Kansas, wasn’t as fantastic as it used to be, not when you were staying in a place that looked like a disaster zone In fact, Loreda thought it htmares

It was just past five-thirty PM when Loreda heard the familiar rumble of their truck She pushed Ant away and jumped out of bed

Outside, on the rutted road, a crowd of people alking this way

Mom pulled up next to the tent and parked Loreda waited iine and step out of the truck When Mom finally did exit the truck, she just stood there, hunched over, looking tired Defeated

“Mom?”

Mohtened quickly and smiled, but Loreda saw that it was a lie, that s

“I did laundry and soaked beans,” Loreda said, suddenly wanting Moe-ahead workhorse, who never cried or gave up, as never afraid “We can leave after dinner”

“I got a job today,” Mom said “I worked all day for forty cents”

“Forty cents? That’s not even enough to—”

“I know”

“Forty cents?”

“Noe knoe’re up against, Loreda We can’t spend as”

“Wait You promised we’d only stay one day”