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d on th em. W hich , of cours e, ma d e it easier for M ir a nd a ’s w a nd e ring h a nds to ma k e th e ir wa y into pock e ts .
    Wa r me r w ea th e r a lso mea nt th e e nd of th e chilbl a ins a nd a ching joints th a t pl a gu e d h e r throughout th e w i nt e r . S till , it wa s cool e nough for h e r to k ee p h e r co a t button e d up tight a nd to be th a nkfu l for h e r glov e s . T h e glov e s w e r e old , th e kid l ea th e r worn to a fr a gil e sh e ll at th e tips of h e r fing e rs . W hich wa s pr e f e r a bl e r ea ll y , as on e n ee d e d to r e ly on touch wh e n picking pock e ts .
    B r i sk l y , M i r a n da w a l k ed do w n t h e s t r ee t , g i v i n g a n od t o th e bootbl a ck boys w ho’d cl a i me d th e ir spot , a nd to Bob, th e m ilk ma n , who drov e his co w slowly a long . M ir a nd a a lw a ys purch a s e d fro m hi m, pr e f e rring to buy fro m th e sourc e r a th e r th a n risk bottl e d m ilk , which oft e n cont a in e d m or e ch a lk - w a t e r th a n a ctu a l m ilk .
    W ith h e r sto ma ch gro w ling , sh e stopp e d at Alice’s coff ee c a rt .
    “ Just th e coff ee tod a y , A lic e, ” sh e said, ma king a point of not looking at th e gold e n m uff i ns displ a y e d in a front b a sk e t . He r sto ma ch prot e st e d voc a lly as Alice w a sh e d out a c e r am ic cup a nd fill e d it w ith d a rk , hot coff ee.
    “ Y ou o u g h t t o get w o r k i n a s h op , ” A l i c e s a i d w i t h o u t pr eam bl e.
    M ir a nd a sipped h e r coff ee a nd g aze d at th e str ee t lif e t eam ing a round th em. P l e nty of n a bobs wa lk e d a long , a ngling for a stroll in th e p a rk as it wa s Sa turd a y a nd th e
     
    wea t he r was fi ne. Bu t it was t oo open. She ’ d move on t o P i ccad ill y or pe r haps To tt enham Cou rt Road.
    “ Fa t he r doesn ’t app r ove, ” was a ll she chose t o o ff e r . “ Cou r se no t . ” Alice snee r ed. I t wasn ’t d ir ec t ed at
    M ir a nd a. For a ll Alice kn e w , M ir a nd a idl e d th e d a ys awa y whil e sh e a nd h e r f a th e r s a nk furth e r into pov e rty . N o on e kn e w of M ir a nd a ’s oth e r lif e. N o on e s a v e Fa th e r , a nd though h e s e nt h e r out on th e str ee ts , for so me odd r ea son h e h a d w a nt e d to k ee p h e r as cloist e r e d fro m th e r e st of th e world as possibl e, as though h e w e r e s a ving h e r for so me gr a nd sch eme.
    A m u ff i n w as p l un k ed do w n i n f r o n t of h e r . “ Y o u ’ r e was ti ng away be f o r e me eyes, g irl . ”
    M ir a nd a look e d up at Alice at l a st . “ I c a n’t . I h a v e n’t th e m on e y . ” I t a ll w e nt to Fa th e r . S h e couldn’t f a ult hi m for t a king it , not a ft e r wh a t sh e ’d don e. S h e stifl e d a f am ili a r shudd e r .
    T h e old e r w o ma n snort e d , th e a ction lifting a lock of s t ee l - c o l o r ed h a i r f r om h er w o r n b r o w . “ T a k e i t , a n d pay m e at wee k’s e nd . S ur e ly y e r f a th e r w ill giv e you so me b l unt th e n . ”
    M ir anda ’ s fi nge r s cu rl ed a r ound t he hea t ed mug t o keep fr om r each i ng. “ I ’ m sav i ng wha t I can. For a d r ess, ” she added w it hou t t h i nk i ng. She shou l d be sav i ng f o r p r ac ti ca l t h i ngs, ye t she needed t h i s one l uxu r y . She d i dn ’t unde r s t and t he compu l s i on, bu t it was s tr ong. Jus t one t h i ng of beau t y f o r he r se lf . Jus t once.
    Alice’s e y e s lit up . “ O h - ho? A we dding dr e ss , p e rh a ps?
    You r beau fi na ll y come up t o snu ff , has he? ”
    How irrit a ti ng t ha t at t he age of t wen t y, M ir anda cou l d s till be sub j ec t t o b l ushes. Alice l aughed and edged t he mu ffi n c l ose r . “ I ’ m t h i nk i ng Hec t o r doesn ’t know. ”
    “ No. I ’ll no t t e ll h i m un til … ” T r u t h be t o l d, she ’ d r a t he r no t t e ll he r f a t he r un til she wa l ked ou t t he doo