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Chapters (65)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. 1
  4. 2
  5. 3
  6. 4
  7. 5
  8. 6
  9. 7
  10. 8
  11. 9
  12. 10
  13. 11
  14. 12
  15. 13
  16. 14
  17. 15
  18. 16
  19. 17
  20. 18
  21. 19
  22. 20
  23. 21
  24. 22
  25. 23
  26. 24
  27. 25
  28. 26
  29. 27
  30. 28
  31. 29
  32. 30
  33. 31
  34. 32
  35. 33
  36. 34
  37. 35
  38. 36
  39. 37
  40. 38
  41. 39
  42. 40
  43. 41
  44. 42
  45. 43
  46. 44
  47. 45
  48. 46
  49. 47
  50. 48
  51. 49
  52. 50
  53. 51
  54. 52
  55. 53
  56. 54
  57. 55
  58. 56
  59. 57
  60. 58
  61. Acknowledgments
  62. About the Author
  63. Books by Bobbie Pyron
  64. Back Ads
  65. About the Publisher

He looks down at me and smiles. “How about you and me get dressed and go down for a little breakfast.”

I shiver with the thought of having Daddy all to myself. “Okay,” I whisper.

On the elevator ride down, I tell Daddy all about the girls in Troop 423 and how some of them had been worse off than us before they came here. “Carmen and her mom used to ride the subway all night and stayed in the library during the day. Alexa, her mom, dad, and baby sister lived in their car, Daddy,” I say, “for three whole months before they could get in to Hope House.”

I shake my head, thinking about having to live in a car with Dylan. “We sure are lucky, aren’t we, Daddy, that we didn’t have to live in a car.”

Daddy gives me a quick hug. “Sure are, baby.”

When me and Daddy get to the breakfast room, we see Mrs. Arista. She and her teenage son live on the second floor. She’s busy setting out the breakfast things. Everybody at Hope House has little and big chores to do. Our family will be setting up breakfast next Monday and Tuesday.

“Winter’s here,” Mrs. Arista says. She points to the TV up on the wall. “And lucky you, no school today!”

I look up at Daddy and grin. “I never thought about school being closed because of the snow. Maybe it’s not so bad after all.”

“Looks like we’ll have a white Thanksgiving too,” Mrs. Arista says, setting out the fruit bowl.

I frown. “Thanksgiving isn’t for a while. It’ll be gone by then, won’t it?”

Mrs. Arista rubs the steam from the window and shakes her head. “Maybe not, chica. It’s supposed to be cold for a long time.”

Daddy gets his coffee and doughnut, I get juice and cereal. We sit down in the corner.

I feel sick to my stomach. I push the cereal bowl away. All the happiness of no school today drains away.

“What’s wrong?” Daddy asks.

“I’m worried about the people in the park,” I say.

He frowns. “What people in the park?”

“People without a home.”

Daddy shrugs. “I imagine they’ve gone to the emergency shelter.”

I shake my head, feeling even sicker. “They can’t. They have pets. They’re not allowed in unless they give up their dogs. Or cats.”

Daddy studies me. “How do you know about these people?”

I tell him all about Ree and Ajax, Linda and Duke, Jerry and Lucky, but mostly about Baby and Jewel.

Daddy takes a sip of his coffee. “I don’t like you being around these kinds of folks, Piper. You don’t know what all problems they have.”

I can just see Ree narrowing her eyes, hear her say, “These kinds of folks? Just what do you mean by that?”