A Place to Hang the Moon

The next morning, Mr. and Mrs. Forrester call Miss Carr and surrender the Pearce children. Mrs. Norton, President of the WVS, says the will have a new billet by the afternoon. Anna suggests Mrs. Müller, but Mrs. Norton calls her “unsuitable.”

After school, they go to the library to pass time before meeting Miss Carr about their new host family. Mrs. Müller believes Edmund’s side of the story and sympathizes with him over the injustice of being blamed for something he did not do.

At three o’clock in the afternoon, Miss Carr leads them to their new residence, warning them to be on their best behavior. They walk into the poor sector of town and approach a house with a squalling infant. The woman who answers the door, Mrs. Griffith, introduces the baby as Robert Jr., two girls in diapers as Jane and Helen, and a slightly older girl as Penny. Mrs. Griffith double checks with Miss Carr about how much money and rations she will receive with the addition of three children; it is then the children realize that their care is a source of income.

After Miss Carr leaves, Mrs. Griffith shows them through her run-down house to their shared bedroom, which holds a chamber pot, three straw pallets, and an apple crate.