The Elementals by Saundra Mitchell Page A

friends enough the world over to keep them through their travels.
    Until that very moment, in the hushed warmth of the train, Kate had never considered whether her family was poor or wealthy, or how they got by. They simply did, and now she suspected it was by a magic she didn’t possess.
    An uneven beat flickered through her heart, and she folded herself more tightly into the seat. The flicker raced through her again, and Kate couldn’t catch her breath. There was a weight pressing on her, and it threatened to flatten her completely. Reaching across the armrest, she nudged Mollie.
    “Are you awake?” she asked, knowing she wasn’t. Kate shook her again, shushing Handsome when he stretched his wings wide above them.
    Mollie wriggled a bit and mumbled, “What?”
    Leaning closer, Kate whispered to keep from waking the other passengers. “What sort of work do you think might suit me?”
    “You’re a director, goose.”
    “No, I mean until then.” The armrest dug into Kate’s ribs, and she nudged Mollie again. “It’s not a joke; we’ve got to get by until our reel is finished.”
    That made Mollie lift her head. “I thought we finished it this morning.”
    “The photography, yes.” Kate curled over the armrest, wishing very much she could lay her head on Mollie’s shoulder. “I’ve got to send it to Eastman to develop. It won’t take long, but . . . oh no.”
    Wary, Mollie sat up. “What?”
    “They have to send it back. What address am I going to give them?”
    Cutting Handsome a dark look, Mollie stretched herself in her seat until she was smoothed out and entirely awake. Though she didn’t seem worried, she was as serious as Kate had ever seen her. She asked, “How much do you have?”
    “A bit more than a hundred dollars. And it’ll cost fifteen dollars to have the reel developed, so figure that in.”
    Mollie scribbled in her palm with her fingernail. “A furnished flat is expensive. A boarding house is much better. Cheaper, and they feed you sometimes. Some of them do. We’ll say you’re my brother, so they won’t argue about renting to us. You look young enough.”
    An unnerved shiver ran up Kate’s spine. She hadn’t even considered that. There was so much to know, so many things to plan for, and it was suddenly, overwhelmingly obvious that she had not the first clue where to start.
    Fortunately, it seemed Mollie did. “We should buy a paper, first thing. There will be ads in the back. We’ll go through them all if we have to. It shouldn’t take long.”
    Some of the knot loosened. “What about jobs?”
    “There’s all sorts.” Mollie closed her hand and smiled. “If there’s a boardwalk, we should try there first. Even if it’s sweeping up or selling popcorn, it’ll be more fun than a typing pool.”
    “You’re so clever,” Kate said, her admiration spilling out in three little words. But it was all true. Mollie knew everything important. She was an extraordinary actress too.
    It couldn’t have been sheer luck that they met when they did. Kate had been going to Palais de Danse since the fair opened its doors; hundreds of times at least!
    It had to be fate that she’d found Mollie there on her very last visit. Or destiny, or providence . . . something more than happenstance, anyway. Muses didn’t sprout from fig trees; they didn’t fall from the sky.
    Catching Mollie’s hand, Kate squeezed it and swore, “This
will
be wonderful.”
    Squeezing back, Mollie relaxed against the window again. “I’m going back to sleep. Unless you’ve got another crisis brewing?”
    “I don’t, I swear,” Kate said. But she didn’t let go.
    It was a long way to Los Angeles, and she needed her lucky charm.

Nine
    Emerson stood at the back door, considering his boys.
    They wandered the yard in their uniforms, talking low and casting furtive looks at the house. The preacher was coming, and Marjorie’s parents, too. There were roses in the boys’ buttonholes, and a