10
Beware the ides of March.
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, JULIUS CAESAR
Sanittie Laust—no, that wasn’t the name on her original birth certificate—was sitting on the ground close to the creek, watching those still at the landing site work.
When we first arrived here, I had no problem telling the guy taking our names what my name is. She smirked. What parent in their right mind names their kid Hortense Winifred Lausvinchenco? Thank God I changed it as soon as I was old enough.
Her parents hadn’t argued much while she was growing up, but what a row it had caused when she brought up the reason for her name.
“You were named after my sister!” her mother had said, tears streaming. “She died at an early age.”
Probably from the prospect of living her life with a name like Hortense.
“Are you happy n
