The Fallen Woman's Daughter by Michelle Cox

Author:Michelle Cox
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Woolton Press
Published: 2024-02-15T19:26:39+00:00

Chapter 15

November 1932

Things changed dramatically after the departure of Mrs. Morris, who didn’t even bother saying goodbye and instead simply left in the middle of the night. The next morning, Mrs. Harvey herself appeared in the cottage, saying that not only was the Carrie Cort to be torn down immediately, but that she would be taking charge of Solomon until another matron could be found. Likewise, Mrs. Harvey had declared that from this point forward all cases of discipline would be routed to her.

The girls were at first terrified to have Mrs. Harvey as their new matron, temporary though it was, but they soon discovered that she was by far a more lenient mistress than they could have imagined. For one thing, she promptly did away with morning inspection, and secondly, she provided ice cream sundaes after dinner every Saturday evening, which, Agnes whispered once, was her trying to make up for all the abuse they had suffered. Whatever the case, Nora was glad of the respite. In fact, Mrs. Harvey was so accommodating and kind that for one long afternoon, Nora considered confiding in her about her worries regarding Ma. In the end, however, she decided against it. There was nothing Mrs. Harvey—or anyone, she felt certain—could do. She at least had Aunt Rita, she told herself, which was better than nothing.

Another visiting day had rolled around, and Nora sat across from her benefactress on the ancient horsehair sofa next to Celia, blowing on her cup of cocoa, but wishing she were outside with Billy and Lyle and Patsy, whom, she noticed after a furtive glance out the window, were playing in a big pile of leaves. Normally, Nora enjoyed Aunt Rita’s many lectures, but today she was having a hard time focusing on the chosen topic, which was the proper way to preserve peaches. Nora felt antsy and uneasy, though she couldn’t put her finger on why. Patsy had been acting strangely this morning, too, saying over and over that Ma was coming.

Nora had resisted the urge to yank Patsy’s hair as she wove it into tight braids. “No she’s not, Pats. How many times do I have to tell you this?”

“But she is, Nora.” Patsy tried to turn her head to look at her. “She really is.”

“No, she’s not. Just behave today,” she said giving one braid a tug. “Then we can play the game later.”

“Put bows in my hair!”

Nora sighed. “I don’t have any bows. You know that.”

“Yes, you do. You have those blue ones.”

“I only have one. I lost the other one.”

“Oh. Well, I’ll have one, then.”

“What are you going to do with one bow, Pats? You’ve got two braids.”

“Just give it to me, Nora. I want to look good for Ma.”

“Oh, fine. Have it your way, then. You always do,” Nora snipped and bent down to look under her bed. She drew forth a little bag, which she riffled through until she found a tiny blue bow. “Here.”

Grinning, Patsy grabbed it and clipped it to the top of her head.

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