Chapter 19Lina
Lina slipped from the shed when dawn was barely breaking. The need to relieve herself became overwhelming and she ducked behind it, out of sight from everyone. The damp smell of earth mingled with the more pungent one of her urine. Unfamiliar with pulling down pants rather than lifting up a skirt, it was tricky to avoid splatters onto the hems but she managed, shivering as the icy morning air hit her in the most private places.
The moon was still a pale half circle in the sky but the stars had already begun to fade. Frost glistened in the yard next door, which was less protected than the Englmaiers’. A light came on in an upstairs window in the house across the street. Lina gazed toward it longingly, but she doubted the old man living there would be more welcoming today th
