Asprin, Robert Lynn – Catwoman – Tiger Hunt (With Lynn Abbey)

To remind Rose that she was family, they pooled their meager allowances and gave her a golden rose on a delicate chain and gave it to her the day before she began her new life. Rose was all smiles and hope, but she never came back to visit. The sisters made excuses for her: Why should she come back? No decent young woman should walk these streets at any hour, day or night. They were experts at swallowing disappointment.

Sister Theresa couldn’t keep herself from looking for the necklace, or realizing that it was gone. She couldn’t keep herself from noticing that Rose’s sweater was much too tight for anyone working in an office—though it was also much too expensive for anyone working the streets. The same was true of the skimpy skirt and lacy tights. In the dusty corners of her heart, Sister Theresa had disapproved of fashion since she, herself, had begun wearing a nun’s habit—but she could tell street cheap from its fashionable uptown imitations. For the cost of Rose’s clothes, the nuns could run the mission for a week. Sister Theresa Carmel shivered involuntarily.

“Where have you been? What have you been doing? Your job? Your apartment—?”

Rose reminded curled over her knees, swaying back and forth. “I did . . . I tried . . .” she sputtered before succumbing to another spate of sobs.

The faint click of the opening door echoed in the chapel. Sister Theresa pressed her finger to her lips as another black-robed veteran of these little wars hurried down the aisle.

Rose? the newcomer mouthed, as surprise and dismay tightened her features.