Total pages in book: 17
Estimated words: 15404 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 77(@200wpm)___ 62(@250wpm)___ 51(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 15404 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 77(@200wpm)___ 62(@250wpm)___ 51(@300wpm)
I don’t know what’s been in the air these last few months, but girls have been dropping in to our small community with no warning, most of them out of place in some way or another. Doesn’t matter how much I try to make sense of it, nothing really fits, just how she doesn’t seem to belong here.
"I did my best with it," Kim remarks, as she brushes her hands over the fabric, trying to straighten it out. "I...I don’t think it looks too bad..."
"No, it doesn’t look bad," Lucy assures her. "But you should get something that fits a little better, I think. Don’t you, Cade?”
She glances around at me, and I glare back at her for a moment. She knows that I was raised better than to argue with her when she turns to me for help, especially when there’s a girl who needs it too.
"I don’t know much about clothes," I reply, honestly. Lucy rolls her eyes skyward, her back to Kim so that she can’t see her reaction.
"Sure," she replies. "But you can take her down to Mrs. Yang, right? Get her fitted for something?”
"Oh, that’s okay, I’m not going to be here for long enough to need that," Kim protests, and Lucy waves a hand, brushing her off at once.
"And we don’t have the money for it," I remind her.
"We’ll take your old clothes and sell them for scrap," Lucy replies firmly. "And trust me, Kim, you’re going to need something – my dresses won’t fit you and we can’t have you wandering around looking like that..."
Lucy plants her hands on her hips and looks over at me.
"So, Cade," she continues, a grin playing at the corner of her lips. "Why don’t you take Kim into town? Show her around a little?”
I stare at my sister for a moment, wondering if she is really going to try and make this happen – but I can tell from the look on her face that she has no intention of backing down. If there’s one thing that Lucy inherited from our mother, it’s stubbornness, and I’m not going to get her to drop this anytime soon.
"Guess I could," I reply, and Kim manages a small smile.
"Thanks," she murmurs. "I, uh – I guess I should wash up..."
"No, you need to eat first," Lucy fusses, as she heads to the stove. "You haven’t had anything since you got here, you must be starved..."
I notice that Kim doesn’t seem to put up much of a fight anymore, like she has come to understand that she is going to be stuck here for at least the time being.
She takes a seat at our dining table, perching on the chair that our mother used to sit in, twisting her hands in her lap – and I can’t help but feel a little sorry for her. As much as I hate to admit when my sister is right, there’s no denying the fact that it must be tough for her, being dropped out of time like this, no warning, no explanation, no nothing.
Doesn’t mean that I am any happier about having her here. But I’m not going to see her out on to the street when she’s so clearly in need of help.
Especially when those green eyes glitter in the light the way they do.
CHAPTER 3
Kim
"How far is it to town from here?" I wonder aloud, as Cade and I bump along in the cart on the way to the nearby settlement.
"A few more minutes," he replies, half-glancing over his shoulder towards me. His sister must have spoken some sense into him, because he seems a lot less reticent with me than he did before. Perhaps he’s finally figuring out that I haven’t dropped in from another time just to make his life that much harder, the way he reacted when I first turned up.
"Thanks for doing this, by the way," I offer him, hoping I can keep the conversation flowing. I spent most of last night tossing and turning, trying to piece together what the hell happened and how on earth I am going to get out of it.
But I’ve concluded that, whatever it is, I’m up to my ears in it now, and the best I can do is accept it. Might be a slightly more extreme version of the break I had intended to take before, but hey, maybe it’ll do me good.
At least, that’s what I have to tell myself if I don’t want to go crazy.
"Needed to pick up some things anyway," he replies gruffly. I press my lips together to keep from shooting back with some smart comment about how he could at least pretend not to hate my company.
But I have to remind myself where and more importantly, when I am – I can’t just be the same woman I was before, not if I want to get along without causing trouble.