Care as a Form of Kinship

Acts of care connect Lizzy to animals, vulnerable women, and a child, gradually creating the family she longs for.

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Ben on the Trail

Ben on the Trail A Companion Who Understands Lizzy feeds Ben and tells him they will return for Mama one day. She believes animals recognize grief and finds comfort in the horse’s presence. The conversation is one-sided, but Ben’s familiar care gives Lizzy something steady when human relationships feel uncertain. Trust Without Argument After her father leaves, Lizzy’s first urgent concern is whether Ben is still with her. Finding him in the convent barn restores a piece of continuity. Her attachment to Ben is rooted in shared journeys and dependable affection. He remains a living link to home without demanding that she explain herself.

A Friendship at the Grave

A Friendship at the Grave Meeting Through Grief Lizzy meets Violate beside Robert’s grave and recognizes the warmth of a motherly person in her. Violate, in turn, accepts Lizzy as a new girl who may understand her loneliness. They are not alike in age or temperament, but each carries the absence of someone beloved. Their first bond is the willingness to remain beside another person’s sorrow. A Shared Errand Lizzy helps Violate return to the convent and accompanies her on visits to Robert’s grave. The daily walk turns an assigned duty into a chosen friendship. Violate gives Lizzy candies, attention, and a place to speak honestly. Lizzy provides companionship and practical help as Violate’s strength declines.

Roberta’s Quiet Protection

Roberta’s Quiet Protection Kindness Behind the Rules Sister Roberta slips coffee to Violate and treats Lizzy with humor rather than suspicion. She teaches French, tends the infirmary, and helps Lizzy navigate a school that often makes her feel unwelcome. Her informal kindness does not erase her religious role. Instead, she shows Lizzy that care can exist inside an institution whose rules she rejects. Trust Earned in Practice After Lizzy is wrongly punished, Sister Roberta brings bedding, warmth, and cocoa to the penance chamber. She also advocates for the carpenter and for Delvina’s safety. Lizzy comes to rely on her because promises are matched by action. Sister Roberta becomes an adult friend who neither demands obedience nor abandons responsibility.

Elena as a Sister

Elena as a Sister A Child in Care After Delvina dies, Elena remains at the convent under the care of the sisters and a wet nurse. Lizzy visits and holds the baby, imagining her as the sister she has always wanted. The attachment grows amid classmates’ disputes and the continuing threat posed by Ramon Baca. Caring for Elena gives Lizzy a relationship built on tenderness rather than rivalry. A Future Taken Seriously Lizzy surprises herself by telling José she would take Elena to Texas. Later she and Elinora ask Jean Baptiste Lamy to consider the arrangement. What began as a spontaneous wish becomes a plan requiring adult consent and protection. Elena helps Lizzy imagine herself not only as a daughter left behind but as someone capable of making a home.

Cleo’s Fragile Recovery

Cleo’s Fragile Recovery A Cruel Act Elinora throws Cleo from a window and injures her eyes during the girls’ conflict. Lizzy finds the kitten frightened and bleeding, and fears that the animal has been blinded. The attack strikes at the trust Lizzy has placed in her new home. Cleo is not merely a pet but a reminder of the cats and security she lost in Independence. Care and Reconsideration Sister Roberta treats Cleo, while José urges Lizzy to love and care for her whether or not she sees again. Cleo later follows a ribbon with her eyes, raising the possibility of recovery. Elinora eventually admits to pricking the kitten’s eyes. Lizzy cannot fully explain the improvement, but her care for Cleo becomes part of a wider capacity to trust again.

The night after Mama’s burial

The morning Lizzy finds Violate

Lizzy’s first weeks at the convent

The weeks after Delvina’s death

From the Sunday kitten attack to spring