Mrs. Turner, who sat straight-faced and still stared straight ahead, suddenly appeared to smile. Her tight lips turned up ever so slightly at the corners, as if being raised by books.

"Still glad you came here, Miss Wills?" she asked. "Just remember that it was your doing that got you here, not mine. The committee out voted me."

Lisa was stunned. "But I thought…"

"Thought nothing! You're much too young to think. You thought you had buttered me up. Nonsense! I wasn't fooled for a second. I was against Sutton from the beginning, and I'm still against it. But it's out of my hands now, young lady. Now you're your own responsibility. And if you end up in a mess, just remember who's to blame – yourself and that foolish committee." Lisa felt like strangling the old bat, but she just sat there, speechless. She was beginning to feel afraid again. As Mrs. Turner spoke, dirty clouds blocked out the sun, and the limestone bluff above Sutton once more pressed down upon Lisa, threatening to bury her.

CHAPTER TWO

Mrs. Turner was gone, headed back to Parcher, Lisa's home for as long as she could remember. The old bat had lost no time in catching the first available bus out of Sutton.

"Good luck," the old turkey-face had said before turning away to board her bus, and for a moment Lisa had felt a sobbing pressure in her chest. Take me with you, Lisa had felt like saying. I've made a mistake. But Lisa knew that that would do no good. She had determined her own fate. She'd done everything possible to get herself sent to Sutton, and now that she was here, there was no turning back, no turning back unless she were to run away. And then, where would she run to? She'd already run away from Parcher more times than she could remember.