Leah fingered the curl at the end of her waist-length braid, and a thrill ran through her. Oh, to have things of her own. She couldn’t believe the boardinghouse placed only two girls in a room, and she had a bed all to herself.

“That’s Gate 1.” Darlene pointed out the window.

Cars and trucks and buses lined up at a booth with a sign that read “Camp Forrest.” Although the camp had been named for Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest, the pine trees framing the entrance still seemed appropriate.

Darlene fluffed her blonde curls. “Remember to stay away from the POW camp. I can’t believe they brought over a thousand Germans here last week. Gives me the willies.”

Leah shrugged. Since the Allies had captured hundreds of thousands of Germans and Italians after the victory in North Africa, the prisoners had to go somewhere. “I’m sure the enclosure is secure.”

Darlene wrinkled her pretty nose. “Oh, fiddle! I forgot to ask for you. I was meaning to find out where the library is.”

Leah blinked at her roommate. Darlene had worked at Camp Forrest for a year. How could she not know where the library was? “Miss Mayhew’s letter said it was between the service club and the sports arena.”

“This is your stop then. That’s the service club.” She tapped Leah’s arm. “If you need me, I’m at the PX at Avenue G and 26th.”

“Thank you.” Leah slid her book into her canvas schoolbag and squeezed past Darlene.

“Lamb to the wolves,” Darlene muttered.

Leah smiled. A lamb could never have survived the orphanage.

She stepped off the bus, and pine-scented heat settled on her. A long two-story white frame building marked “Club 1” rose before her.

Leah passed groups of khaki-clad soldiers who cast sidelong glances that declared she didn’t belong.

Oh, there it was. A smaller white frame building, too plain for the splendors it housed. All library buildings deserved to be as glorious as the one in her earliest memory.

A soldier stepped out of the library, as grand as an Indian chief with his strong features and high cheekbones and a complexion even darker than her own. He slipped on a cap over shiny black hair, and his gaze landed on her.

Leah held her breath. She’d been caught staring.

He gave her the same bewildered look the other soldiers had, but then he tipped his head in a thoughtful way and descended the steps. “Pardon me, miss. Are you lost?”

Men never talked to her, and her gaze swung to the library. “Oh no. I’m found.”

“I reckon you like libraries.” His accent sounded more cowboy than Indian, and he had a nice deep chuckle.

“They’re my greatest joy. After the Lord, of course.” She didn’t think she’d ever seen such dark eyes, yet they shone with warm amusement.

“Glad your priorities are straight, young lady.”