Summary

This chapter makes use of the historical present tense, meaning that it narrates past experiences and memories as if they were currently taking place, e.g., “she is fourteen and just home from school”, (60). Else (short for Elspeth), the homeless woman mentioned in passing at the end of Chapter 1, sits in the street outside the hotel on a cold night, counting the change she has collected. The narrative voice freely enters into Else’s thoughts, and the chapter is frequently interrupted by Else’s requests for money (stylized as the phrase “Spr sm chn?” [36]). Else observes a girl, younger than she is, sitting across the street from her, who also appears to be homeless, and who remains indifferent to the passers-by who offer her money (we will not learn until Chapter 5 that this is Clare Wilby, Sara's sister). Her face is mostly concealed by...