PETTICOAT RANCH

Day 5 Thursday

Sophie's girls. It only seems right to mention these cute little monsters, or these monstrous little cuties, depending on how you look at it. As I've been saying she has 4 girls. Mandy, the oldest, followed by Beth, then Sally and finally Laura, the baby of the bunch. These girls are important to the story on several levels. They add to the drama in times of suspense. They add that special family type of humor that makes this an incredible book. And they are all different.

It would have been easy for Mary Connealy to do a cookie cutter thing in creating these little girls. But the closest she comes to that is they're all blonds. Mandy, the eldest, is closest to Sophie, although clearly her own person. She's normally in charge of the girls when Sophie has to leave the house for one reason or another. Beth, the 2nd oldest, has a fondness for animals. She's gentle in her mannerisms and if no-one else can get an animal to do something you can count on Beth. She'll get it done. 3rd in line is Sally. Sally was a “Daddy's girl” and when Clay shows up looking like her Pa come back to life she instinctively is drawn to him. Laura is the baby of the bunch and spends most of the book either sleeping or one of them tying to get her to sleep. They are all so different.

Yet, in other ways they are so very much alike. From their blond hair, the way they giggle when something strikes them funny or cry at the drop of a hat. Both of which drives Clay up a wall. They're determined too, obedient and pretty much faithful at least to their “Ma”. This contrast between similarities and differences is very realistic and I'm sure you've met thees girls before, under different names, and probably not under the same roof. Putting them all in the same place adds to some interesting mements.

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