Free Wings of a Dove by Elaine Barbieri Page B

young girl at his side, and a familiar anger assailed him. As he had expected, he was one of the first in the group to be offered a home. His second conversation had produced the same result as the first, and he was once again waiting.
        Delaney looked at the top of Allie Pierce's pale head as she stood silently beside him. She had not said a word since he had    led her out of the train. She had self-consciously dropped his hand when they stepped down on the platform, but she had continued to walk beside him as they approached the church. Her chin high, her face composed, she had not budged from his side in the time since.
        Strangely, he did not remember making a conscious decision to go back into the car to get Allie. Even now, he was a bit incredulous at his actions, which contradicted his decision of the night before. But somehow, watching Allie Pierce learn her hard lessons, one after the other, caused him more pain than he was willing to bear.
        Allie's desperation had been obvious to him from the moment they pulled into the crowded station; he had seen it in the tensing of her limbs, her sudden pallor. With fierce determination, he had ignored her silent plea as he had walked past her, but those steps had been costly. He was still uncertain whether he had finally gone back into the car to relieve her distress or his own.
        He had continued to surprise himself. When approached in the church hall, his response to inquiries had been a question that had been startling even to his own ears: "Are you willing to take both of us?"
        The prospective parents had not been willing.
        It occurred to Delaney that, for the first time in recent memory, he was putting someone else's welfare before his own. What was more, he was acting in contradiction to his own rule of survival. It also occurred to him that somewhere along the line he would probably pay for his stupidity. Well, it would not be the first time. The only thing he was certain of right now was that he was at ease with his feelings for the first time since Allie Pierce had clutched his medal and given him her trust.
        Delaney's frown darkened. Yes, he would probably pay for this some day, and very dearly.
        Allie stood silently beside Delaney in the church hall. She had seen several children walk off with smiling couples and had heard some of the older boys voicing agreement to proposed contracts. She did not want to acknowledge, even to herself, that Delaney had turned down two offers because those offers had not included her. The realization that she was selfishly allowing Delaney to make that sacrifice for her nagged viciously    at her mind. Even more vicious, however, was the prospect of being alone again.
        The persistent feeling she was being watched suddenly turned Allie from her thoughts to scan the crowd in the small room. It did not take long for her to see that a small woman standing a few feet away was studying her intently. Strangely, the woman's gaze did not discomfort her in any way. Her gray eyes were comforting, and Allie responded with a small, hesitant smile.
        The woman did not approach her, allowing Allie the time to study her in return, and it occurred to Allie that the woman did not look at all well. She was very thin and pale, and when she raised her hand to the man standing beside her, it trembled weakly. The concern in the burly fellow's expression seemed to confirm her suspicion, and Allie remembered Mama during those last days before she left her forever.
        Determined to put those unhappy thoughts behind her, Allie looked at the other two in the woman's partya pretty, dark-haired adolescent girl and a boy several years older. Allie guessed they were brother and sister, and since they both resembled the burly fellow, she concluded they were a family.
        The woman smiled in her direction, and Allie felt the warmth of that smile glow within her. Abruptly, the