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“Seven-year-olds are working in the fields, Mom”

“I know, Loreda, but…”

Loreda moved closer “I’m not deaf, Mom I hear what people say Winter in California is bad There’s no work We can’t get state relief until next April So the onlyin the fields It will have to get us through four months with no work and no relief money”

“I know”

“To to ith you”

Elsa wanted to say—to scream—NO

But Loreda was right They needed to save money for the winter

“Just for the suo back to school,” Elsa said “Jean can watch Ant?

?

“You know he’ll want to work, too, Mo”

Elsa walked away, pretending she hadn’t heard

BY JULY, THE WORK in the cotton fields had ended again; there would be no more until it was tirants walked or rode into the San Joaquin Valley More workers, less work The newspapers were full of outrage and despair on the part of the citizens, orried that their tax dollars were being spent to help nonresidents The schools and hospitals were overrun, they said, unable to survive the demands of sotheir way of life and being made unsafe by the wave of crirants

Elsa called an Explorers Cluband asked her children if they wanted to stay in the ditch-bank camp or follow the Deweys—and many of the camp’s inhabitants—north to the Central Valley to find work picking fruit As always, it was a difficult choice in which each of them are how precarious their survival was Spend money or save it

In the end, they rants s in boxes and tore down the tent and repacked the truck for travel They headed north behind the Deweys; in Yolo County, they moved into another field full of tents and set up ca Ant into the fields with her, but there was no choice She was a singleto stay alone all day, every day With all of theh to feed thes