Hanna knew that those buttons were costly. The button box held similar ones; she could picture the compartment, a third of the way down on the right-hand side. Miss Walters—she chose them for her own pleasure. They’re not too showy, but whenever she wants, she can look down and see them catch the light.

Somehow, Miss Walters reminded her a little of Mama. Maybe because Hanna wanted badly to see reminders of Mama and so seldom did.

At midday, most of the students went home for their noon meal. Hanna had brought her dinner pail because she did not want to walk through town with the other pupils on the way home to eat.

Two of the twenty children stayed and ate at their desks; Hanna guessed that they lived outside town on a homestead claim. Like the other towns in Dakota Territory, LaForge was surrounded by parcels of land, each 160 acres. People—usually men—would “claim” a parcel by filing their intention with the government and paying eighteen dollars. They had to farm the land and live on it half the year for five years, after which they had “proved” their claim and would own the land.

Hanna recalled the words of a popular folk song:

Uncle Sam is rich enough to give us all a farm!

Then she thought of the Indians she had met, and wondered, as she often had before, why Uncle Sam was allowed to give away land that wasn’t his in the first place.

Even though only two children remained at their desks for lunch, Hanna guessed that many of the other students lived on homestead claims as well. They would be staying in town for now, to go to school, and would move out to their claims when the term was finished.

As the hour came to an end, the older girls returned and gathered in the schoolroom. Having heard them recite their lessons earlier, Hanna now knew the names of the students in her class. Besides Dolly, the girls were Bess, Margaret, and Edith. Bess’s last name was Harris, so she would be Mr. Harris’s daughter. The boys were Albert, Ned, and Sam. Hanna guessed that Margaret and Albert were siblings—they looked so much alike.

Bess and Ned were the best students. Edith smiled the most.

Hanna sensed something else, too.

The other girls don’t like Dolly.

Bess, Margaret, and Edith stood in a cluster at the window, watching the boys play ball outside, with Dolly standing a step apart. Hanna stayed at her desk, her reader open in front of her, although she wasn’t reading. She was thinking.

The girls might not like Dolly because she’s spoiled. So I could be right about that.

Or she could be perfectly nice, and they’re mean to her for some other reason that might not be her fault.