Chapter 2
The woman stood in the bakery doorway like she owned the whole street.
Tall.
Blonde.
Sharp.
Her white coat looked too bright against the dirty wall behind me.
Sophie pulled me closer instead of moving away.
“Aunt Celeste, she’s hungry,” Sophie said.
The woman’s eyes landed on me.
They were not just cold.
They were angry.
Like my hunger had insulted her.
“I can see that,” she said. “And if you touch every stray you find, you’ll bring disease into your father’s house.”
I flinched.
Sophie stood up.
“She’s not a stray.”
The woman stepped forward and grabbed Sophie’s wrist.
Sophie winced.
I saw it.
The way her face tightened.
The way she tried not to cry.
Something inside me moved before I could think.
“Let her go,” I said.
My voice was small.
But it was there.
Celeste looked at me like she could not believe the sidewalk had spoken.
“What did you say?”
I swallowed.
“You’re hurting her.”
Her mouth twisted.
Then she lifted her hand.
I thought she was going to slap me.
I closed my eyes.
But the hit never came.
A man’s voice thundered from the end of the alley.
“Celeste.”
Everything stopped.
I opened my eyes.
A black car had pulled up by the curb.
A man in a dark coat stood beside it.
He was tall, with tired eyes and a face that looked like it had forgotten how to smile.
Sophie tore free from Celeste and ran to him.
“Daddy!”
He caught her, but his eyes stayed on me.
Then on the bread in the snow.
Then on Celeste.
“What happened?” he asked.
Celeste laughed too quickly.
“Nothing. Sophie wandered off again. I found her feeding some street child.”
The man looked at me.
I wanted to hide.
I wanted to run.
But my legs were numb.
Sophie grabbed his hand.
“Daddy, she was freezing. Nobody helped her.”
His face changed.
Slowly.
Pain moved through it.
“What’s your name?” he asked me.
I looked at Celeste.
She was staring at me now.
Not angry.
Afraid.
That made my stomach twist.
“Ella,” I whispered.
The man took one step closer.
“Ella what?”
I shook my head.
“I don’t know anymore.”
Celeste snapped, “Elliot, we are late.”
He ignored her.
He crouched in front of me, keeping distance like he was afraid to scare me.
“Where are your parents?”
My throat closed.
“My mama went to get work. She didn’t come back.”
“When?”
I looked down.
“I don’t know. Winter came twice.”
Sophie gasped.
Elliot’s jaw tightened.
Celeste grabbed his arm.
“We can call a shelter. This is not our problem.”
He pulled his arm away.
“She is a child.”
“She is not your child.”
The words came too fast.
Too hard.
Elliot looked at her.
So did I.
Celeste’s face went pale.
A car horn sounded in the street.
People kept walking.
The world kept moving while mine cracked open.
Elliot turned back to me.
“Ella, are you hurt?”
I shook my head.
Then nodded.
Then shook my head again.
I did not know how to answer.
My stomach hurt.
My feet hurt.
My chest hurt from being scared all the time.
Sophie knelt beside him.
“Please take her home, Daddy.”
Celeste’s voice sharpened.
“Absolutely not.”
Elliot stood.
“This is not your decision.”
Celeste stepped close to him and lowered her voice, but I still heard.
“You do not know who she is.”
Elliot stared at her.
“And you do?”
For one second, Celeste said nothing.
That silence scared me more than her shouting.
A police siren wailed far away.
I grabbed the half loaf and tried to stand.
“I can go,” I whispered. “I’m sorry.”
Sophie cried, “No.”
My knees buckled.
Elliot caught me before I hit the pavement.
His arms were warm.
Strong.
I should have fought.
I had learned not to trust grown-ups.
But I was too tired.
As he lifted me, my sleeve slid up.
Cold air hit my wrist.
Elliot froze.
His eyes locked on the small silver bracelet tied there with dirty string.
It had been my mother’s.
A tiny oval charm hung from it.
Inside was one word.
Mara.
Elliot stopped breathing.
“Where did you get this?”
I tried to pull my hand back.
“My mama gave it to me.”
His face drained of color.
“What was her name?”
I looked at Celeste.
She shook her head once.
Tiny.
A warning.
My heart began to pound.
I whispered anyway.
“Mara.”
Elliot’s arms tightened around me.
Sophie stared at her father.
Celeste stepped backward.
May you like
Then Elliot turned toward her with a face so cold it frightened even me.
“You told me my sister’s baby died.”
