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“She’s probably calling the police,” Loreda said “She’ll say we’re vagrants Or worse”

A few moments later, the wo a co toward the on the hardwood floor She came to a stop in front of Loreda Close but not too close

Please, Elsa thought, tightening her hold on Loreda’s hand, be kind to irl

At the sae man in a brown suit ca cardboard box

“This is my husband, Ned,” Betty Ane said

“I understand,” Elsa said “You and Ned want us to leave Go back to our kind”

Ned pulled the hat off of his head “No, , but nothing like it is now” He offered her the box “Here’s some coats and sweaters and such Winter can be cold here There’s a shower in our bathroom Hot water Why don’t y’all help yourselves? A hot shower and new clothes can be a hty bit of help in hard times”

Betty Ane sirl who needs a new hairstyle for her first day of school Lord knows thirteen is hard enough without all of this” Betty Ane gave Loreda an appraising look “You’re a real beauty, doll Let ic”

TWENTY-THREE

Loreda sat in the tufted velvet chair and stared at her reflection in the mirror Betty Ane had cut Loreda’s black hair in a precise line along her chin and then coaxed it into waves that cascaded down from a deep side part Her face, scrubbed clean with scented soap, was deeply tanned from work in the cotton fields A new purple dress accentuated the startling blue of Loreda’s eyes, and Betty Ane had talked Elsa into letting Loreda put a little pale-pink color on her lips

“I forgot what I looked like,” Loreda said, touching the silky tips of her hair

Betty Ane stood behind her “You irl I’ve ever seen” She turned “Elsa Your turn”

Loreda hated to get out of the chair It felt ical, a portal to a what-if world where ditch-dwellers turned into princesses

Her legs were a little shaky, to be honest In the irl she’d been before all of this A dreaotten all of that?

It gave her a newfound, or refound, hope, but it fed the anger in her, too She thanked Betty Ane and moved away froed places