When she saw it, she felt her eyes widen in interest, and a surge of something in her chest. She liked this thing. Claire liked this thing.She picked ...t up, gingerly, holding it between her thumb and forefinger. It was heavier than she expected, and she had to depress the soft, yet firm, material it was made of, to keep control over it.It looked harmless enough, but what she was feeling inside told her it wasn't harmless at all. Her body had a visceral connection to this thing.Cindy had told. I know it's not the same thing, and I grew out ofit. But I thought you ought to know."Dana nodded slowly. "I think it's more of the same thing than youthink," she said. "You had an older sister, too. You had the same urgeto dress up. Did you stare into the mirror like I did? Did you thinkabout being pretty?" Endlessly," I laughed. "I was one ugly girl." I bet you weren't," she said. "Did you like it?" Kind of," I said. "It was a little ... naughty. Taboo, you know? Thepanties felt wonderful.. "You sort of look like me," I said.She stared up at my face. "Not really. Your hair's black. Mine's brown."I looked more carefully at Lily's hair. It was dark brown, almost black. "What color hair does your sister Ella have?" Brown. Like mine." Are you sure? The last time I saw her she had blonde hair." She dyed it."Lily and I finally ended up at the front of the line. She got a sausage roll and a bottle of orange juice while I got a meat pie as well as a bottle of orange juice. In the school. " Well, I hardly know where to start. It's been such a strange day. I keep thinking it's some sort of dream I'm about to wake up from. Let me talk about Elspeth." She took the girl's arm and gave it a congratulatory squeeze. Elspeth gave a gratified nod of acknowledgment."You know," said Laura reflectively, "colleagues often told me that one of the humbling things about teaching at a place like Cambridge is that, no matter how good you are, sooner or later you'll have a student cleverer than.