ELLIE
The day takes me. I don't come up out of it once.
I do porridge, then I do the bowls. I take eleven of them out to the yard and push the rope swing under the beech tree. A girl called Nell tells me a story about a horse. It goes on for forty minutes and has no ending.
The smallest one throws up down my sleeve. I wash it out in the basin at the back and put the sleeve back down wet.
At four, all of them go down on the mats by the fire. The room is quiet for the first time since I walked into it. Marta sits on the bench across from me and pushes a cup of tea over.
"You're quick," she says. "Where were you before this?"
"Moon Wolf."
She makes a face. "Explains the accent." She drinks. "Well. Whoever sent you, I'll be having them send you again."
I look into the cup so I don't h
