“But…” How would she get home? Walk, that’s how.

It took her an hour and a half to make it to her house. Her feet were sore and blistered, her whole body ached, and she was chilled, not to mention that she was twenty minutes late for curfew.

“Mary? Is that you? I didn’t hear Samuel’s car pull up.”

“Yes, it’s me, Mother. Go to bed. I’ll lock up down here.”

“Did you have a good time?”

“Splendid.” She hoped the sarcasm wasn’t evident. She dragged herself upstairs and ran a bath. A good soak in the tub. That would make everything better.

You’ve got to be kidding me. Nora lost her grip on the suitcase and it clattered noisily to the floor. The lobby of the only completed women’s dormitory was overrun with young women scrambling around, looking for a room to call their own.

A woman who introduced herself as the housemother approached. “Welcome to bedlam.”

“Thanks, I think. I was told to report here to get settled.”

“You and everyone else.” The housemother squinted to get a better look at Nora’s badge. “Oh, my.” Her eyebrows rose into her hairline. “Give me a second.”

Nora wasn’t sure what it was about the badge that seemed to get people’s attention, but she wasn’t about to question it.

“All right. It took some wrangling, but I was able to get you a spot to yourself. It’s on the second floor. Rosalie here lives next door. She’ll show you the way. Curfew is at ten o’clock sharp, unless you have shift work.  Otherwise, you’ll need my permission to be out past ten. Bathrooms are shared, so don’t tarry in there. You’ll have your own mail slot here in the lobby. Oh, and no men.”

Nora wondered if maybe she shouldn’t write it all down. There certainly seemed to be a lot of rules. “Yes, ma’am.”

“C’mon. I’ll show you the way.”

Rosalie, Nora noted, spoke with a very southern drawl. She would need to listen carefully to catch every word. “So, where’re you from?”

“Connecticut.” Was she allowed to say that?

Rosalie nodded, as if that made all the sense in the world. “I figured you for a Yankee.”

“Really? Why?” Despite her exhaustion, Nora was intrigued.

“The clothes. The accent. Heck, you sure aren’t from around these parts.”

That surprised a laugh out of her. “I guess I’ll need to work on blending in.”

“Nah. Different is good, I think. Connecticut is near New York, right? I always wanted to see New York. Never got there.”

Nora sized her up. “You’ve got your whole life ahead of you. I’m sure you’ll get there.”

“Honey, I’m from a podunk town in middle-of-nowhere Tennessee, about ninety miles from here. Knoxville is the biggest city I’ll ever see.”