A Place to Belong Read Online Free Page A

else, he missed it as, with a sigh, he dropped immediately into sleep.
    Later, mixed with the dreams that murmured through his mind, Danny felt a pair of strong arms lift him and pillow his head against a hard shoulder.
    “Da?” he whispered. Danny could picture his father smiling, nestling his chin against Danny’s curly hair. “Da,” he said again.
    “I’m here,” a deep voice whispered. “Go to sleep. Everything’s all right.”
    Danny could feel himself being tucked into bed, the quilt snuggled under his chin, and a rough hand stroking back the hair from his forehead. He heard the door shut and slid back into his dreams.

4
 
    W HEN D ANNY AWOKE , he was confused. His body still felt the constant jolting motion of the train, but he was in a warm bed, a quilt pulled up around his ears and sunlight streaming into his face. “Mike?” he mumbled and reached out for his brother.
    His fingers bumped the chest hard enough to wake him. Now he remembered. Mr. and Mrs. Swenson. The drive to their farm. Peg crying in the night. Curling up to sleep at the foot of her bed.
    But now he was in his own bed.
    Danny could hear people moving and talking downstairs. Was Peg with them? As fast as he could, he clambered into his clothes, splashed his face and hands with cold water, and flung open his door. The door to Peg’s room was open, and the bed was neatly made.
Oh, no!
Danny thought. He was the last one up!
    He clattered down the stairs and ran into the kitchen, stopping short as Olga, Peg, and a tall skinny girl with blond hair and big eyes stared at him.
    “Lazy, lazy stay-abed!” Peg chanted, but Olga smiled and held out a welcoming hand.
    “You needed your sleep,” she told Danny, “and now you need a good breakfast.”
    Peg jumped up and down. “I had an orange!” she shouted. “A
real
orange! And Gussie is going to bring me a kitten, a black one with white paws, and Mama combed my hair and she’s going to make me a rag doll so I’ll have company when I go to bed, and I’m going to name the kitten all by myself, and—”
    From all Peg’s prattling, one word had stood out, hitting Danny like a blow to the chest. “Peg!” he interrupted. “You called Mrs. Swenson
Mama
.”
    Peg stopped, surprised. “That’s what she said I could call her.”
    Danny could feel his face turn hot and red, but he couldn’t stop. “We already
have
a Ma.”
    “I know that,” Peg said. “Ma is our Ma, and Mrs. Swenson is our Mama. It’s different, see?”
    Olga put an arm around Danny’s shoulders. “I didn’t know it would upset you, Danny. We’ll think of another name, something easier to say than
Mrs. Swenson
.”
    Peg’s lower lip drooped. “I like to call you
Mama
,” she insisted.
    Danny looked Olga square in the eyes, took a deep breath, and said, “Sure, it’s a good name. Peg should call you that if it pleases the both of you. It’s just that it took me by surprise, and there’s so much to get used to. I didn’t mean to—to—”
    Olga pulled him forward, at the same time giving his shoulder a reassuring pat. “You and Gussie haven’t been introduced,” she said. “Gussie comes in each day to do many of the household chores. She’s a fine girl and a good help, and we feel very lucky to have her.”
    Gussie gave Danny a broad, lopsided grin. Danny guessed that she wasn’t much older than fourteen, buther arms were hard and muscular, and as they shook hands, her grip was a strong as a man’s. Danny tried not to wince as he pulled his hand away.
    “I would have been here yesterday when you come,” Gussie said, “but the widow Pratka chased me off soon as I’d cleaned all the vegetables for her. She said she’d do the rest of what needed to be done.” Gussie’s grin became even wider. “The widow Pratka likes to take charge of everything and everybody.”
    “Now Gussie,” Olga said. “Ennie Pratka is a good, caring woman. She only wants to help.”
    “She needs another husband,