The Second Life of Magnolia Mae Read Online Free PDF

them down. By the time you get out of school, they should be dry.”
    “All thirty at once?” Her eyebrows shot up.
    “No, two a day. That way if the weather turns bad, I can bring the two into the indoor arena.” He rubbed the back of his neck as he looked at her. “I was wondering what you were doing on Friday.”
    “Avoiding the dance,” she replied, gazing up at his dirt-smeared face. How could a man be so filthy and handsome at the same time? His strong jaw was even more prominent, and his blue eyes shone brighter than normal, if that was at all possible. But his hair was a mess. Still, she found herself looking at his lips, wondering if they were as soft as they appeared. What would it feel like to be kissed?
    “Would you… maybe we could…do you want to go to the game with me then the diner?” He kicked at a bit of straw that had not yet been swept up.
    She nodded her head and smiled. “That sounds nice.” Her hand touched his forearm briefly, then she pulled it away. “I better get this swept up. Jace will be here in a few minutes to get me.” She hurried off to find a push broom. He’d asked her out! She was going to go on a date with Bash, the handsomest guy she had ever seen.
    Magnolia hummed while she finished up her work and was all smiles when her brother pulled up in his old dented truck. She felt like she was floating on air the rest of the night.

CHAPTER SIX
     
    “ T HANK YOU FOR THE tartan. I will be able to make many warm blankets with this.” An elderly woman with a weather worn face peered at her with dim brown eyes. “So many need something to keep them warm this winter.”
    “We would be much warmer if we had real homes. Houses with fireplaces to keep the cold out. Doors to shut out the wind. We will find a place to settle down soon. I am tired of being chased away all the time.”
    “Dear one, this is the life that we have been given. What can you do to change this? Even you cannot command everyone about.” The old woman laid her wrinkled hand on top of Daciana’s.
    “Is there really nothing that I can do?” She let out a long exasperated sigh. “I could seek an audience with the king here to negotiate a trade for some land. We do not need much. Enough to farm, to live on. Enough for the families that are in our care. With a kingdom as large as this, would they truly object to allowing us to have some land, perhaps in a less populated region? I wonder what’s beyond that mountain. Perhaps a valley with soil rich enough for planting.”
    Her emerald eyes looked into the distance at the jagged peaks. She gathered it would be two weeks’ journey to get to the other side, not something they were unaccustomed to. They had been travelling for two hundred years, cast out of their own land. Here she saw a chance at a future for her people, one with no more wandering. With real homes and land to grow their own food. She’d longed for a chance like this her entire life. With her father stricken ill in his old age, she felt the need to settle down even more urgently than she had before. She would go to talk to the King of Marcello, if not for the love of all of her people, then for her father.
    “Do not go in assuming that he will deal with you fairly. You are a princess, but you are one without any land or great riches as far as he is concerned. He will want to know what you can offer in trade for this land that you want.”
    “I understand. I must try, Nonna.” She laid a gentle kiss on the old woman’s forehead then looked around at the families in the camp. There were several wagons and even more tents strewn about the clearing in the forest. It was time that they had a real home, and time for her to do what she could to make that happen.
     

     
    Word had travelled quickly about Bash and Magnolia going to the game together on Friday. All of Wednesday she’d gotten dirty looks from Sarah and her friends. When the final bell rang, she grabbed her bag, slung it over her