decided to sew a pocket on each side so that the little boy who wore them could keep his hands warm, too. Benyamin and Ashur had been given the task of weighing each load of wood, charcoal and wheat brought to the orphanage on mules. The mule drivers unloaded the bundles or bags and the boys weighed them in a big scale that dangled from a post in the yard. Miss Shedd was there to record the weight of every load so she could pay the men exactly the right amount. Some of them argued with her, wanting more money, but she never gave in. She pointed to the ï¬gures she had written down. The men stared at the numbers. None of them could read, but they shook their heads and argued some more. Then she told them that the orphanage could only deal with honest suppliers. If they wanted more business they should take their payment and go. âShe never shouts but she never backs down,â Benyamin told Samira. âAnd sheâs a woman. The men are very surprised.â He shook his head. Samira thought he was surprised, too. The boys stacked the wood and charcoal and covered the stacks with canvas. They carried sacks of wheat into the schoolroom and piled them between the sewing and the shoemaking. Then they put big trays on the ï¬oor and emptied grain onto each one. Eight women came to clean the grain and each had one of the younger children working next to her. They had quick ï¬ngers and sharp eyes, Miss Shedd said. Their job was to look through the grain and pick out pebbles and chunks of mud. Once in a while one of the children forgot and tossed a pebble at another child, only to have his hand slapped by the woman beside him. When the grain was clean, the boys poured it back into the sacks and took it to the storage building, where it stayed until it was taken to the mill to be ground into ï¬our. One afternoon after Samira had been sewing for several hours, Hanna said, âYouâve done enough for today. I brought some almond cakes. Take one for yourself and one for your brother, too.â Samira took the small golden cakes and thanked Hanna. This was a real treat. Something a little sweet with the rich taste of almonds. She nibbled on her cake and went in search of Benyamin. He wasnât hard to ï¬nd. He was sweeping loose dirt out the door of the little storage building and was happy to stop. âThis ï¬oor isnât just dirt,â he said. âIâve found a part thatâs made of wood.â Samira handed him the almond cake and went to look. Houses never had wood ï¬oors. She bent over the place where Benyamin had swept away a thick layer of dirt. The wood underneath was old and splintered. With her ï¬ngertips she scraped away more dirt and found a small round hole that might have been made by a nail. âBenyamin, come and look! I think there was a handle here. This isnât a ï¬oor. It could be the door to an umbar.â Benyamin came and squatted down. His ï¬ngers found three more holes. âYouâre right,â he said. âThe handle is long gone but itâs deï¬nitely a door.â âCan we open it?â âNot by ourselves. It will have to be pried up. Iâll go and tell Miss Shedd.â Miss Shedd came at once. âAn umbar! I hope youâre right, Samira. We need more space for our winter food supplies.â She stopped for a moment, looking at nothing in particular. âI remember going into the umbar at the mission with my mother and sneaking some almonds while she scooped wheat from the big sack.â She gave her head a little shake. âGo and tell the men who are unloading wood for the window frames that we need them to come with a crowbar and a lantern.â When the door was pried up, Miss Shedd lit the lantern and held it over the hole in the ï¬oor. They could all see stairs leading down into darkness. âWe have to go down,â she said. âIâll go ï¬rst to be