Emily's first friend was a stick wrapped in a piece of cloth. When she scratched a face on the stick, a whole new world opened up for her. After finding an old jackknife, even her sticks came to life. Over the course of many years, she became good and had a sack full of 'friends' when she left home just before her sixteenth birthday; a date that would make her someone's wife. From then on, she was on her own until she met an old hag at the dump and started a conversation. Mrs. Hornbrook was unlike the people that raised her, or at least fed her while she matured. This woman offered love and a real education until the people in town started to undermine Emily's character. Again, she was on her own with a months worth of food, two horses and a wagon to pull her supplies. Where she would end up from there was anyone's guess.
