Then he picked up the pencil and looked at Agnes with an expression that said very clearly that he was not getting his hopes up, that he had learned very specifically not to get his hopes up, but that he was holding the pencil anyway. Agnes Hollowell closed her eyes briefly, and she opened them and began to talk. It took 20 minutes to go through the preliminary requirements, and in that 20 minutes, something strange happened on the red hollow train platform. The younger children moved. Not obviously, not all at once.
But by the time Agnes was halfway through explaining the county documentation requirements to a branch with a torn torn jacket, who kept nodding like she was giving him a grocery list, Benny had drifted close enough to watch Wesley write. Then Eddie had come to stand beside Calder, not next to him exactly, but near the way a stray dog might position itself near someone who hasn't kicked it yet. The twins had let go of each other's arms for the first time in 3 hours, and Clara, who had spent the last 40 minutes holding herself very carefully still, was now standing with her arms at her sides instead of crossed over her chest. Jonah was still staring at the floor. Maisie was still asleep, but the nine children were arranged differently than they had been, and Calder noticed this, though he said nothing about it.
The home visit, Agnes was saying, would need to occur within. "You can come today," Calder said. Agnes blinked. Today I drove in this morning. The wagon's got room for everyone.
You come out, see the place. Tell me what you need fixed or added, and I'll get on it. Mr. Boon Agnes was trying a different approach now. The approach of a person who is explaining something to someone who is not quite understanding the gravity of the situation.
Even if the home were suitable, even if the paperwork were approved, you are talking about nine children. Nine. The county guidelines for single parent placements. How many is the maximum per guideline? Agnes stopped.
She had not been expecting that specific question. The formal guideline for a single parent placement, she said carefully. Typically recommends no more than she paused and something shifted in her expression that was almost uncomfortable. It recommends no more than she consulted her clipboard with somewhat more focus than necessary. She doesn't know," Wesley said quietly to no one in particular.
"I know the guidelines," Agnes said sharply. "Then say the number," Wesley said. His voice was still flat. "Still careful. " But there was something underneath it. Something that might have have been the 13-year-old version of defiance.
The version that comes out when you have nothing left to lose. Agnes looked at him. Then she looked at Calder. The guidelines, she said evenly, were not written with a situation like this in mind, which means they don't specifically prohibit it, Calder said. Agnes said nothing.
Miss Hollowell. He straightened up from the counter. I am not trying to make your job harder. I understand you have a system, and the system exists for a reason. I am telling you that I have a house.