He went through them fast, they were only 1 page long. I was so nervous I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t think I could look him in the face once...he knew how I felt. The bell rang, and immediately he looked at me, as the kids got up to go to lunch, he waved me over. Everyone took off to go say their last goodbyes in the halls and in the café, as I stood in front of his desk, nervous and shaking. I was hoping he would tell me that he would love to see me again. That he felt I was his favorite. One of their few commonalities was both women had a fierce Irish stubbornness — neither was going to be swayed. That night, while it was dark, the girls took their first step. Some years later, Kelly looked up Sister Sara’s quote. It was from Lao Tzu and the exact quote was ‘ The Journey of a thousand miles begins with one step ‘. Kelly knew she’d remember that for the rest of her days. It wasn’t going to be an easy trek — Reagan hadn’t thought things through and the nearly-16 year old had. At least as normal as it got around the house. Everybody seemed happy, even Robert's women. They were beginning to adapt to the situation, and found the attention that Robert lavished on them to be addictive. Tom could tell that after a week he didn't need to worry about any of them running. He was sure that they would have to be driven away with a stick. He mentioned that Robert might want to have his women take them in to Chinatown for some new clothes. Robert nodded and left Tom to handle. It wasn’t terribly accurate but he hadn’t thought it needed to be.There were only two main roads in Hasp. One ran east-west and the other north-south; both ran basically straight with only mild curves. The Town Hall was situated at the crossroads. The Red Guard had come in from the east, to take advantage of the rising sun. When their plans had gone to shit, they’d taken refuge in a small square about sixty yards east of the town hall, on the south side of the east-west road. The Blacksmith.