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“Why, we don’t,” Hope said in surprise when Ellen had gathered up the courage to talk to her. She glanced worriedly over her shoulder at the cluster of girls she’d been talking to, whose heads were bent together as they whispered. “We’ve all known each other forever. No one really moves to Seaton, you know.”
“No one? But what about the mill? Or the quarry? Lots of people work there.”
Hope wrinkled her nose. “Oh, yes, but...”
Ellen stared at her. “But what?”
“They’re different, aren’t they? Practically like gypsies. They come and go and I don’t even know if their children go to school at all.”
“They might have to work instead,” Ellen said sharply and Hope shrugged.
“In any case, I don’t think you’d get many of those children here. They probably have their own places. Mama doesn’t even like to go to the store when they’re in there.”
“She doesn’t sound like a very nice person,” Ellen said sharply. “My father worked in a rail yard.”
“Did he?” Hope’s eyes were wide. “Oh, I didn’t know!”
Somehow Hope’s apologetic ignorance didn’t make Ellen feel any better. She’d thought people couldn’t be that much different the whole world over, but now she wondered. She might have left Springburn, but could Springburn leave her?
Ellen walked home alone that afternoon, dragging her feet through the dust. She knew Aunt Ruth would scold her for dirtying her shoes, but somehow she couldn’t dredge up the effort to lift her feet.
School, that great, shining promise, now seemed just another thing to dread. Even Hope, her one possible friend, had apologized and run straight back to a bunch of girls who had sashayed past Ellen, their noses in the air.
Why couldn’t she fit in? She knew she was different, and she was even willing to change herself a bit if necessary. But Ellen possessed a deep and glum certainty that it didn’t matter. The problem was, everyone else knew she was different, and they wouldn’t let her change. At that moment America didn’t seem so wonderful after all, and Ellen almost wished herself back in Springburn, amidst the clamor and coal dust. At least there she’d known she belonged, even if she hadn’t wanted to.
FIVE
A few weeks after school started, Ellen woke up in the night to a ferocious storm. Rain lashed the window and thunder cracked overhead. She stood by the window and watched the trees lining Main Street bend and sway in the wind. She wondered where Da was. Had he reached New Mexico yet? Was it raining there? Did it even rain in the desert?
Ellen doubted it. She’d looked on a map at school, and New Mexico was far, far away. As far away as Scotland was, only separated by an ocean of land.
It wasn’t until the rain pattered to a stop that Ellen heard the low murmuring of voices downstairs. It had to be the middle of the night, but Ruth and Hamish were obviously awake. Hesitating only a moment, Ellen opened her door and tiptoed downstairs.
“I don’t know what she expects us to do,” Ruth said, her voice as strident as ever. They were sitting in the kitchen, and Ruth’s long, silvery blonde hair was bound in a plait that lay over one shoulder.
“I expect she just wants some help,” Hamish replied mildly. “Five little ones all down with the scarlet fever. It sounds bad to me.”
“They’re over the worst of it, apparently,” Ruth replied, “or so it says in the letter. I don’t suppose her good-for-nothing husband helps at
all!”
“There’s nothing wrong with Dyle,’ Hamish said, “except that he’s Irish.”
Ruth harrumphed, her sharp eyes glancing over Hamish’s shoulder to rest on Ellen’s toes, visible under the kitchen door.
“Ellen Copley!” she called. “Come in here at once! How dare you eavesdrop on us?”
Ellen came forward reluctantly. “I’m sorry, Aunt Ruth. The storm woke me up and I heard voices downstairs.”
“And you didn’t think to make your presence known?” Ruth replied with one eyebrow arched. Ellen hung her head.
“I... I didn’t think.”
“That’s not a surprise,” Ruth snapped, and Hamish held up one hand in appeal.
“Ruth...”
“Well, she’s hardly the brightest child!” Ruth replied, her glance raking over Ellen. “Still in the younger class, and Mr. Phillips has no plans to move you up at all, or so he told me when he came into the store. Seems to think you need a lot of help.”
