Amanda POV

I wrung my hands together, standing in the living room of the to-be evicted house. Everyone in their nightwear ran down the stairs.

"Out, we need to clear the place," Mrs. Nash ordered. A boy my age stopped half-way down the stairs, his green eyes widening sadly.

"What's going on?"

A little girl reached out and grabbed the back of his nightshirt, scared. His little sister, I assumed.

"If you didn't know, BOY," Nash spit out the word like it was disgusting to say. "Your parents haven't exactly done a good job on paying the bills. So, you're being evicted."

The little girl gasped and looked up at her brother. "Finn..."

The boy, Finn, wrapped one arm around her and brought her close. "We're not going."

"Lawrence Finnigan Whitman you do not have a choice," his mother scolded.

Finn hesitated before taking his little sister's hand and leading her down the rest of the stairs. He walked past me and our eyes met, my eyes pleading for forgiveness. All I saw in his eyes were hatred.


Willa POV

I parked my bike outside of the soup kitchen and went inside. "Willa! Nice to see you again," the lady who ran the place said. "It's quite early."

"I assumed there would be a lot of people in the morning, Ms. Pimperduck," I grinned. "So I thought the more people here, the better."

Ms. Pimperduck laughed. "I've heard good things about you, Willa. The people seem to really like you."

"Oh, I'm just here to help," I said, bowing my head and blushing.

"Well, then, get to it!" Ms. Pimperduck clapped her hands. "Those people won't feed themselves!"

I pulled back the curtain and stepped next to another lady at the counter, picking up a loaf of bread and handing it to the customer. I looked around at the others, who had their heads bowed to respect the people's privacy, and I did the same. I much preferred to look at the people and smile, but I was afraid to offend them.

I peeked out from behind my hair that curtained my bowed head, scanning the lines for a red-headed boy. I found a few, but none where Mr. Philby. I suppose he wouldn't come here again, since he got bread yesterday, but still. I couldn't help but hope to see him. He was the only one who talked to me. I pray to find more people like that strange boy.


Maybeck POV

"What?! Already? I'm not ready!" Charlene babbled. I took her umbrella and shut it, tucking it under one arm and grabbing her wrist with another. The train had started to pull out of the station and accelerate. I ran, pulling Charlene behind me.

"Look!" I yelled, grabbing a handle and pulling myself onto the open train door. I turned and saw Charlene, still running for it. I reached out both my arms and grabbed her under the arms and pulling her up like she weighed nothing.

She fell against me, panting. "How exhilarating!" she gasped. I pulled her into the shadows and leaned her against the wall of the car. I looked around and saw a bunch of boxes. Of food?

I took this time to study the girl beside me. Her big, poofy pink dress, her pink umbrella, and her fancy hairdo gave away most of her story. A rich little blonde girl, not troubled at all by the Stock Market Crash. However, I was, and I was hungry. I looked back at the boxes and decided to crawl over and open it.

"It's full of bread!" I gasped.

"This train is probably delivering it to a soup kitchen," Charlene said, brushing the dirt from her dress.

I reached in and pulled out a loaf. "What on Earth are you doing?" Charlene gasped.

"'M hungry," I grumbled before taking a bite out of the loaf.

"That's stealing!"

"They wun' miss one loaf," I shrugged.

"Surely a poor man who the bread was going to will miss it!"

"That poor man should be me," I tapped my finger on my bare chest to emphasis. "Besides, no one takes my money. They dun' seem to realize Negros get hungry too."

"Please don't call yourself that," Charlene practically begged. "I find the term Negro so derogatory. It's almost as if saying you aren't human at all!"

"Tha's what everyone else seems to think," I grumbled.

"Another thing, your grammar is horrid. Who taught you?"

"No one, ma'am. I learned from listenin' to people's conversations. I try, I really do," I took another bite out of the bread.

"Well, someone ought to teach you," Charlene said. "And someone ought to teach you not to steal."

"I have no other choice," I waved the bread in her face. "This is my first food in a week."

"How about this? Next town we reach we buy you a shirt. And maybe some pants that aren't all ripped up and dirty," Charlene said, studying my outfit. "And we'll buy you a meal, a real one, as long as you stop stealing bread. And then I can help you with your grammar."

"I dun' need your charity, princess!" I growled at her.

"I'm just trying to be kind," Charlene said calmly, staring at me. "I am a lady, after all."

I sighed. "Look, 'M tired of this. This box car is gettin' stuffy. Wanna go to the top?"

"Pray tell, top of what?"

"The train. Duh."

Charlene gasped. "You mean ride on top of the train car? Isn't that terribly dangerous?"

"You wanted adventure, right?"

A grin slowly spread across Charlene's face.


Sorry I seem to be favoring the Charbeck story more than anything else, but it's my favorite. And the other stories will get exciting too!

Anyway, please review! n.n

Thanks!