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them, but not like she’d had before.
    When she got to the hospital, Shade found out that their esteemed mother had decided to come to get them. The staff was in a tizzy because Brenda Shell had accused them of kidnapping her precious children right out from under her “sitter’s” care. She claimed that everyone was out to get her, that they were trying to make it difficult for a single mother to raise her own children, on and on. The staff was used to this kind of bull shit from her type. The staff had been upset because the kids had been sobbing and not wanting to go with her. They had wanted to keep the poor little souls.
    Shade was upset that they had not kept them there. She tried hard not to take it out on the nurses. But sometimes, she really hated dealing with the Brendas of the world. The type of people who felt as though the world owed them and that the system was set up just for their usage. Shade knew that everyone wasn’t like that, but Brenda just brought out the worst in her.
    Shade and Brenda had had a go around about two weeks after Shade had started bringing stuff for the kids. She had just found out that Brenda was selling the food she was giving the kids for drug money and not making sure her children were properly cared for. She had confronted Brenda about it, but not in a very smart way, she knew now.
    They had nearly come to blows when Shade’s abilities had gotten a little heated and had thrown Brenda across the room without Shade touching her. And as it happened with drunks and dopers, she bounced rather well instead of breaking bones. After that, Shade started meeting the kids in the lower stairwell and fed them there rather than taking anything up to the actual apartment. That wasn’t the last time they’d been toe to toe about the children, but it was the scariest.
    Brent had never commented on the different arrangements when Shade had asked him to meet her down under the stairs instead of outside the apartment door. He just started bringing himself and Becca down whenever Shade gave him a little push to leave the apartment. Shade figured there was no harm in the little magic she used, not when it was a benefit to him. Neither Shade nor Brent’s apartment had a phone and she only called to him when there was food.
    Shade decided to scope out a few of her regular places to see if they needed any extra help for the day. She started out by going to the places she knew would pay honest wages for honest work. It was not as though Shade never had money, she just didn’t have a steady income. It was difficult without the address everyone wanted. But what was worse, as far as employers were concerned, was that she didn’t have any identification either, not even a social security card.
    Over the two next weeks, she was able to get enough work to get some much needed supplies while keeping an eye on the kids. Getting the food to them proved to be easier after that night, but Shade knew that it was only a matter of time before their mother started neglecting them again, or worst yet, selling them.
    Her first purchase was a used coat and some boots. She was also able to get a sub-zero sleeping bag at the Army/Navy store, something she had never had before. The guy at the shop, Melville, was a really sweet older gentleman and he had saved it for her behind the counter. He had told her if she hadn’t have come in soon, he was going to go looking for her to give it to her personally. He had always been really nice to her, even before she had helped him out once when he had locked his keys in his car. She had used one of her abilities to pop the lock, but he thought she had used the coat hanger he had given her. There had been no harm done in helping him this way and he’d been good to her since.
    Shade purchased herself another knife while she was at it too. This one heavier with a thinner, longer blade than the others, sharper too. Then a few personal items from the local Wal-Mart—deodorant,