How I managed to eat four pancakes, three pieces of bacon, a bowl of raspberries, and drink four cups of coffee, I do not know, but when I was done, I was a little proud of myself. Eating in the face of adversity. That had to be a little-praised skill, and I felt as if I had regained control.
But once we’d finished our breakfast, we had to do the work of buying books for our new employers, and I suddenly regretted my appetite. I didn’t, however, regret my quick thinking to get rid of the wire. Now, though, my light-pink shirt was stained brown, and I couldn’t very well conduct business in a coffee-stained shirt.
“I need to change,” I said as we helped clean up breakfast, as much to protect the wire in the napkin that Beattie was guarding ferociously as for any other reason. “I’ll just ru
