The War that Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

arm. “I’ll keep it for you, Jamie,” she said. “Ada, I’ll take care of Butter. I
promise. I won’t let his feet grow long again.”
Mam pushed Jamie through the gate.
Susan said, “No.”
She said, “You don’t have to go. Ada. Jamie. You can stay with me. I’ll fix
it. I promise. You can stay.”
Mam scowled. “Think you can steal my kids, do you?”
“I’ll go to the police,” Susan said. “They’ll listen to you, Ada. They’ll
listen to us. You can stay.”
The pause that followed this seemed to last a lifetime. Mam sucked in her
breath. Jamie snuffled. I looked at Susan and I said, “You didn’t want us.”
Susan looked straight back at me. She said, “That was last year. I want you
now.”
But Jamie was holding Mam’s hand. The police might let me stay with
Susan, but they’d have no reason to take Jamie from Mam. Mam never locked
Jamie up.
I said, “I can’t leave Jamie.”
Susan looked back at me and very slowly nodded. Mam muttered
something under her breath. She yanked Jamie down the road. I followed.
When I looked back Susan was already on the other side of the garden wall,
unbuckling the girth of my saddle. She didn’t look up. She didn’t say goodbye.