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egg money in the jar. Count it out. See if it’s enough for new shoes.”
    “But, Mama—”
    Mrs. Trent lifted her eyes from her needle for the first time. “Go ahead,” she said, nodding firmly toward the corner cupboard. “No daughter of mine is going to shame the family by having worn-out shoes on her feet.”
    Anna laid aside the hem she was stitching in a newly sewn skirt and rose to do as bidden.
    I wonder what she was saving the egg money for? she thought to herself as she moved to the cupboard.
    There wasn’t quite enough money in the jar.
    “Well, we can spare a few of those hens,” Mrs Trent said. “I was thinking of selling a dozen or so anyway. Take too much feed to get them all through the winter.”
    It’s spring, Anna wanted to say, but she held her tongue.
    “Tell Pa we need to make a trip to town. And tell him that we need to put a crate on the wagon for some of those hens.”
    But as Anna moved toward the door, her mother changed her mind. “Never mind,” she said, “I need a stretch. I’ll tell him myself. You go get yourself changed and ready to go.”
    She started toward the kitchen door and then turned to speak again, “An’ while you’re at it, get a pair of those fancy stockin’s.”
    Reluctantly Anna moved toward her little bedroom. She felt terribly guilty that so much time, attention, and family money were being spent on her. She was so undeserving. What would she do with all the fancy new clothes after the trip to the city? Folks in the area wouldn’t be expecting her to be so dressed up—not even for Sunday church. It did not occur to Anna that she would be dressed no differently than the neighborhood girls her age.
    She changed her clothes, loosed her braids, and pinned the long tresses up in soft swirls. Mrs. Angus had shown her how to pin her hair, and her mama had her practicing. It made her look a mite older—more her real age—than the braids. But it also made her face look even smaller, and her blue eyes seemed to dominate her face. The only thing it didn’t do was to make her long, straight nose diminish in size. Anna wished with all her heart that it would have.
    Before leaving her room she reached for a book. If she was making the long trip into town, she might as well take full advantage of the time. She could even read to her father. He liked to discuss her new-found Bible knowledge almost as much as she did.

    It was late afternoon by the time they returned from town. Anna’s new shoes were tucked safely in her lap. She had not released them all the way home, even though she and her father had enjoyed a vigorous discussion about Armageddon.
    Her mother was in the yard. Anna wondered if it was coincidence or if the older woman could not wait to see the purchase.
    “Did you get them?” Anna was asked as soon as the wagon had stopped rolling.
    Anna lifted up her little parcel and nodded her head in agreement, her eyes taking on a shine.
    The shine in Mrs. Trent’s eyes matched Anna’s. “Bring
’em in,” she said with a nod of her head.
    Brothers began to come from this direction and that, and they all seemed to have the same question. “Did you get ’em?
Did you get ’em, Anna?”
    Then the shout changed to, “Put ’em on! Put ’em on, Anna. Let’s see ’em!”
    “Go ahead,” said Mrs. Trent, nodding her head toward Anna’s bedroom door. “Put them on—with the stockings—and try them with that gray-blue suit and the frilly blouse that you’ll be wearing to the graduation. Go ahead.”
    Anna went to her room, excitement making her heart pound. She slipped out of her clothes and lifted the lovely white blouse with its generous lacy collar and cuffs from its peg. She had never expected to own such a garment. She could scarcely believe it was hers even now. She slipped into it and carefully did each button. Then she let the beautiful gray-blue skirt slide over her head and settle into place at her waist. Her fingers fumbled with the hooks in