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5 The rain had lasted for days, since the raggedy ones arrived.
That was another thing. Besides Pinch, Omakayas couldn’t stand
rain anymore. The water made mush of tender new ground
around her family’s birchbark house. Droplets hissed through

the roof vent into the fire, driving stinging smoke into her eyes.
Everyone around her was affected. Nokomis’s old bones ached,
and she creaked like a tree every time she moved. The watery
wind sent coughs racking through her mother’s chest. It was too
wet to play outside, and cold when it should have been warm.
Worst of all, Omakayas was stuck with Pinch.

6 He nudged her. Omakayas almost slugged him in return, but
controlled herself. She’d had enough of him to last her whole
life! She opened her eyes a fraction, then her eyes went wide in
shock. Somehow, Pinch had got hold of her beloved doll, and he
was making it teeter on the cliff of his knees. Omakayas bit her

lip so hard it hurt. Pinch walked her doll to the edge of his
knees, then teasingly back. If only Mama was here! If only she
would return! Nokomis concentrated on her work so hard it
was impossible to distract her.

7 Omakayas pretended to shut her eyes again, but cleverly
watched until just the right moment to snatch back her doll. She
sighed as though she was falling asleep and then, with a flash,
she grabbed. Taken by surprise, Pinch couldn’t react quickly
enough to hold on, and Omakayas triumphantly clutched her
doll. She stuck it down the neck of her dress. There! Safe! Inside,

she laughed, but she didn’t make a single sound, not a chirp, not
so much as a mouse’s squeak.

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