The Home for Wayward Girls by Marcia Bradley

Author:Marcia Bradley
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2023-01-23T00:00:00+00:00

Fourteen

West of the Rockies

The ranch was quiet, almost too much so, after graduation. Elsie’s isolation had ended quickly. Loretta hoped William had truly backed off. Days later, the girls were busy at Mama’s house doing chores. Loretta took the chance to roam around the prairie. William was off in town doing whatever it was he did there. Loretta was caught in a whirlwind of emotions, at one moment ready to sprint and the next committed not only to Elsie, and staying until she was eighteen, but to each of the girls in the bunkhouse.

“Hey, Loretta, what are you doing?”

It was little Crystal.

“What are you doing?” Loretta asked in return. She stood by the chicken coop smoking one of the few cigarettes she had left in a pack someone had dropped outside the G&A. She felt pretty cool, almost stronger-taller-braver than anyone else with her cigarette in hand, a slow stream of smoke floating into the sky, which she hoped might lead to the answers she needed.

“Mama sent me to bring in eggs. Don’t know why me. I’d rather stay here with you.”

“Let’s take a walk.”

“Should we? Is it okay?”

“You know, Crystal, I have no idea what is okay, or what isn’t. Truth is, I’m tired of trying to figure that out.” Loretta ground her cigarette with her boot and stuck her hands in the pockets of her army fatigue jacket. “Come on, just for a few minutes.”

“Yes. I say yes. Let’s go.”

The two of them took a few steps, Crystal checked twice behind before Loretta said, “No one’s watchin’ us,” and they both laughed not because it was funny but because they could. They walked southwest to where the ranch prairie was framed by the more dense lodgepole pines, rocks, and trails that led into the backcountry.

“This is that place, isn’t it?” Crystal asked.

“What place?”

“Where you and Elsie talk about. Where you’ll run to.” Crystal stood still. She was barely past childhood, only thirteen, with hair that yearned for ribbons and bows, the look on her face a youngster’s beg for an answer.

“Yes.” Loretta saw no reason to lie. Crystal knowing where they’d run seemed a small concession. “We’ll head this way.”

“Tanya told me something. Made me kinda nervous.”

“What?”

“Said she’s going the same direction when she can. That whatever Loretta does is good enough for her.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll talk to her. Give her some advice.”

“Where will you go?”

“I’m not sure.” Loretta sat herself on a rock. Her feet tapped the ground. “That’s the thing about running away.”

“What’s the thing?”

“It’s that you don’t know. You can’t really be sure. You can try to get someplace, but then find yourself somewhere entirely different. Does that make sense?”

“When my daddy found me and that neighbor boy”—Crystal sat herself on a rock nearby, settled her skirt around her—“I was so scared.”

“I bet you were.”

“I’m never scared with you, Loretta.”

“With me?”

“You know, Loretta, I’d do anything you said. Anything.”

“Why? I’m no expert. I’m just like you.”

“No, you’re not. You’re going to get out of here.” Crystal kicked her feet when she made this declaration.

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