Chapter Five
The next morning Marion asked Imelda to help her do laundry in the stream. They collected the boys’ spare clothes and a cake of black soap.
On their way down the valley to Hawthorne Brook, Marion said, “I need to tell you what happened. In the Dwarf Holes, then yesterday afternoon, and hopefully this morning.”
“At last,” said Imelda. “My curiosity was want to climb up my throat and choke me.”
Marion laughed and hugged her servant with her free arm. “Sorry. Too much to think about, let alone talk of. Now it is all too much to keep to myself.”
As they walked, Marion told Imelda about her experiences in the cave. She described the handsome young man, the summer wood, and how she’d met her mother in their displaced home.
While they washed the clothes in the cold running wate
