[Section opener]
Meg
Chapter 19
I never could keep awake in a moving car.
I sit up and get my wits back straight and take in my surroundings. The tall man in the
gold-wire glasses is driving this car, and his redheaded wife is asleep on the door. Music is
playing soft from somewhere, though that could just be in my head. A big day will do that to a
person.
The man glances up at me in a little mirror, then back to the road. I got to say, he does
look surprised. Went to pick up a baby and ended up with a eleven-year-old girl in back of his
car. You and me both, mister.
He drives us past fields thick with bright white cotton and some also just growing the
good color green. I can tell we been driving for some time by the way the sun is pulling low and
orange in the sky, and by the fact that I will need to use the water closet soon.
To keep my mind off it, I try and concentrate on what these people want with me. They
look well-off enough to have a kitchen maid already, but maybe they got a crop to pick or kids to
look after. I would think even rich people like free help, maybe more than regular. Keeps them
rich.
When I spot the first real house coming up in a while, I sit forward and ask, Excuse me,
sir, is that where you live?
The man checks I did not wake his sleeping wife and says, No, it’s not that one.
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