No meal was served. Everyone was on her own. Well, Madeleine Froment thought she as stood inside the school entrance staring out the window, in truth only she was on her own. The students had their families to go to, and so did the other teachers. Indecision swirled in her mind as turbulently as the wind outside, which was coughing up papers and dust in the street. Should she return to her cold empty room? Or visit a bright, warm café, which she could ill afford? Or go to the Martins’? Madeleine blinked to hold back a tear. Wednesdays used to be her favorite time with Clarie. They could linger over a modest lunch without fear of being interrupted by the judge. Even then, although Clarie invited her, Madeleine sometimes felt she was imposing. And now, no one invited her, because Clarie didn’t really talk any more. Madeleine clutched her heavy school bag to her chest, going over everything that had happened in the last few days. And then she knew. She must go to Clarie. In a few hours it would be exactly a week since they had laid her baby to rest.
