Just as I Am Read Online Free

satisfactory.”
    Daisy listened politely, but inwardly she wished the woman would stop talking long enough to offer directions. She didn’t have time to spare. Maybe it would be better to seek out Dinsmore’s on her own.
    Apparently the nanny suddenly realized she hadn’t answered Daisy’s question because she slapped her hand to her cheek. “Again, I must apologize, miss. I spend so much time with my darling little Susannah, who doesn’t talk at all except to coo and burble, that when I find someone who is able to talk in return, I tend to ramble on and on.”
    Daisy understood. After Robby left, she hadn’t had anyone near her age at the orphanage. She missed their long talks in the evening after the chores were finished and things were growing quiet.She couldn’t wait to talk to him again. Before the nanny began another long string of words, she prompted, “The factory …”
    “Catch the south-going trolley. It’ll cost you a nickel, but it beats walking. Especially when you’re toting a bag. Ride the trolley four blocks to Anthony Street, then hop off and go two blocks east.” She used one hand to continue to bounce the pram and the other to point first south and then east. “The factory sits on the corner of Anthony and Second. It’s a big reddish-orange brick building. You can’t help but see it, because it fills most of the block, but mostly you’ll know it because of the smell.”
    She drew in a deep breath, closing her eyes as if savoring the air. “What we’re smelling now is nothing compared to what you’ll smell when you get close.” Setting the pram in motion, she shot Daisy another beaming smile and called over her shoulder. “Welcome to Sinclair, miss, and good luck with your new job!”

Chapter 4
    T hanks to the helpful nanny, Daisy located the chocolate factory and chose a bench near the street to sit and watch for Robby. A sweet aroma escaped the hinged, open windows and hung like a curtain over the entire area, making her stomach quiver in hunger. The cheese sandwich she’d purchased from a vendor when the train stopped at the Newton station hadn’t been enough to fill her. She hoped Robby would be hungry when he emerged so he wouldn’t resist when she suggested finding a diner.
    A large clock anchored on the factory’s brick wall showed the time, allowing her to count the minutes. The closer the hands drew to three o’clock, the more excitement built in her middle. She closed her eyes and imagined Robby as she’d seen him last, dressed in the fine new suit of clothes provided by the Jonnsons for his going-away, a burlap bag of belongings thrown over his shoulder, and a wool cap settled jauntily over his thick waves of wheat-colored hair.
    If she pressed her memory, she could even hear his voice echo through her mind. “You’re a good kid, Daisy, an’ I’m gonna miss you more than Ma Jonnson’s apple butter on fresh-baked biscuits. Once I’m settled, I’ll write to you, an’ you’d better write back, you hear me?” She’d assured him she would, and she’d kept her promise. In every letter he’d continued to proclaim how much he missed her, so she knew he’d be happy to see her. She couldn’t wait to see his face light in pleased surprise.
    She watched people—men, women, youngsters—plod toward the factory and enter a pair of wide-open doors at the front of the building. Some swung pails in their hands, and others held packets in the crook of their arms. The women all wore aprons over their dresses and ruffled mobcaps on their heads, signifying them as workers, but the men’s trousers and shirts reminded Daisy of the farmers back in Brambleville. The arriving workers created an entertaining parade, and the time passed swiftly.
    As the big hand on the clock shifted to point to the twelve, a buzzer blared so loudly Daisy nearly fell off the bench in surprise. At the same time a pair of doors opened, and workers spilled out, a throng of talking, laughing, and