Had been near a cotton pickin’ year if my marks on the wall were true, and I’d really liked to see Ma and Pa again as I’d had an uneasy feelin’ ever since I’d been in that hole. From what I gathered that mornin’ from my little hidey-hole, standin’ on tippy toes on a couple of stacked apple crates so I could stretch my noggin and rest my ear right on the windowsill, he seemed pretty taken with Lucy over by the clothesline. I could see why, but he had to notice her well on her way to bein’ heavy with child. I’d learnt that Mrs. Dripp had quite a business for herself around there, gettin’ them girls who got in trouble and sellin’ off the babies to rich barren couples all over the state. I knew all about that—one of the good things about my bad situation was that I could hear the dinner conver
