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7
Prologue
A
nderson
C
ounty
, t
exAs
 —1870
t
--old Mdh Hs blld h hds o sss sh cd h oo. “H Ells! Gv  bck luch buck hs s!”
“Oh, I’m sorry, Meri. Did you want this?” His voice dripped
scs s h dgld h sll pl  o o h.Sh lugd o , bu h hds  ol  s h oldbo schd  w d ossd  ov h hd o hs sck-
ering brother. Meredith ricocheted between the two, never
qu s ough o g o h  g o h .Wh ws sh lws h o o g pckd o? Mdh
stomped her oot in rustration. She thought she’d gottenenough o a lead today ater school, but Hiram must have
b wchg o h. H’d hd  ou o h v sc h
amily moved to the area last spring. Probably because the
ld h bough usd o blog o hs bs d’s l.
“Meri, Meri, quite contrary,” Hiram sang in a ridiculouslyhigh-pitched voice, skipping in a circle around her and swing-
g h luch buck bck d oh. A goup o gls coud h bd d soppd o gggl bhd h hds.
 
Short-Straw Bride
8
Mdh skd o hlp, bu h jus sood h skg
and whispering behind their schoolbooks. Even Anna Leigh,
her desk mate and the one girl Meredith thought a riend.
Ag s poold  h s, bu Mdh blkd hw. Sh’d o l H w.“You’  bull, H Ells.”“Yh?” H soppd skppg d gld  Mdh.“Wll, ou’  cpbgg’s dugh.”
“My papa’s not a carpetbagger. He’s a teacher, just like
ou ss.”
Hiram’s ace scrunched up like a pumpkin that had started
o o. “M ss chs wh kds. No good-o-oh’dks.”
Meredith raised her chin and repeated the words she’d
heard her ather say countless times. “They’re reedmen. And
h hv jus s uch gh o l s ou do.”
“I those
reedmen
were still slaves, like they oughta be,
 Joey Gordon’s pa wouldn’ta been killed by Yankees, and Joey
would sll b h.” H glowd d sod owd h,hs boos poudg o h h. Mdh scvl -
treated a step beore she remembered she wasn’t araid o him.
“You w hs supd  bck?” H gowld ou h
question as he halted a couple o eet in ront o her. “Go
ch!”
He sprinted to the edge o the road and hurled the pail
hough  hck sd o p s. Mdh wchd  ,wodg wh God hough   o gv  -pdbo such  sog howg .
The bucket clipped a tree limb and disappeared over a
small rise. A hollow clang echoed through the pines ollowed
by a series o quieter thunks as it tumbled down the back
sd o h hll.
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