Tessie passed him a plate of cinnamon buns and said, “You notice anything different about me?”

“Well…” Ben Joe said. He frowned at her, and she frowned steadily back. Of all the Hawkes children, she and Ben Joe were the only blond ones. The others had dark hair, which they wore short and curly, and their eyes were so black it was hard to tell where they were looking. They were almost round-eyed, too, whereas Ben Joe and Tessie had their father’s too-narrow eyes. And there was something tricky about their colouring. At one moment they could seem very pale and at the next their skin would be almost olive-toned. But all the girls, even Tessie, had little pointed faces and small, careful features, a little too sharp; all of them wore quick, watchful expressions and their oval-nailed hands were thin and restless. People said they were the prettiest girls in town, and the ficklest. Thinking of that, Ben Joe smiled at them, and Tessie tugged at his arm impatiently and said, “Not them, me.”

“You.” He turned back to her. “You’ve gone and gotten married on us.”

“Oh, Ben Joe.” Her giggle was like Joanne’s, light and chuckling. “I’m only ten years old,” she said. “Don’t you see anything different?”

“Nope.”

“I’ve had my ears pierced!”

“Aha,” said Ben Joe. He took her face in his hands and turned it first one way and then the other, examining the tiny gold rings in her ears. “What for?”

“Oh, just because. Joanne and Susannah and the twins have pierced ears. Why not me?”

“Did it hurt?”

“Yup.”

“Did you cry?”

“Nope. Well, tears came out, but I went on smiling.”