Veronica got the papers and spread them out on the coffee table. The women pulled their chairs in closer. Those farther back in the room, the half dozen lesser members, stood in the spaces in between.

Miranda had done good. She was their mole in the nurses’ smuggling network. She also happened to be Adelaide’s first cousin. It was through her that Adelaide had the inside scoop on the Canadian schools and what they were offering. And it was a good offer. One that, depending on how this went, she might take them up on.

“Okay, so we have enough vehicles lined up to take the whole group?” Elizabeth asked.

“Three minivans, a pickup, and my Fiat,” Veronica answered.

“Excellent.”

“That car is ridiculous. Looks like a regular-size car took a dump.” Adelaide had had quite enough of Little Miss Uterus today. She couldn’t wait until things got back to normal and they could go back to shunning her for getting knocked up before she had her braces off.

Elizabeth chose to ignore the comment. They had work to do if they were going to pull this off. “Miranda went to great lengths to infiltrate the network,” she said. “She has assured us that the next delivery to Albany Station will be Wednesday at precisely noon. Of course, we will be there well before then. The route is not often used, and I had Frank take care of the stationmaster already. Turned out he hadn’t been paid in over a month so it didn’t take too much cajoling.”

Frank was Elizabeth’s husband. He could cook a decent croque monsieur and was quick with his checkbook, so they’d enjoyed a lovely fifty-year union. Now they had four children and six grandchildren. Elizabeth’s life was full. Starting MOMS meant keeping that fullness healthy. Frank was getting odd lately, and she was worried about the possible side effects of the dream meds. It was either that or senility.

“Do we know how many we’re getting?” one of the lesser MOMS inquired.

“It is unclear at this point, but we do know it’s going to be more than one individual, so we don’t have to worry about being too…fragile.” Elizabeth thought that was a lovely way to put it.

“And the nurses they’re traveling with? What do we do with them?”

Elizabeth settled against the cushions and adjusted the gold rings on her fingers. “Well, dear, I suppose we let them go, and the conductor as well. No use in harming them. What they’re doing is illegal, so there’s no need to worry about any of them going to the authorities. And it would be just dandy if they kept right on doing their jobs so we had more deliveries to look forward to.”

Veronica sighed, pulling back from the group huddling around the map and the handwritten schedule.

“What is it, dear?” Elizabeth asked her quietly while the conversation continued about who was bringing guns and who would be riding with whom.

“It’s just…” She winced. It was hard to even imagine participating in violence. And what if there were children? “It’s just, if we do this, aren’t we no better than the rest?”