Keeping Secrets

  “Yeah.”

  “Does she always wait like that?”

  Willow shrugged. “I never know what she’s going to do…. Oh, well.” They drew up to the Hamiltons’ walk and Willow said, “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  “Oh,” said Flora, who had been about to invite Willow to her house. “Okay. See you tomorrow.” She edged down the sidewalk. When she reached the Malones’ house, she turned around. Willow was approaching her mother, who stood like a grim statue before the front door, arms folded across her chest.

  “So?” said Mrs. Hamilton.

  “I … what?” replied Willow uncertainly.

  Flora could hear their voices perfectly. She bent and pretended to re-tie her sneaker.

  “You know what,” said Mrs. Hamilton.

  “I really don’t. Um, my shoes?”

  “No, not your shoes! Your closet door. How many times do I have to remind you? Can’t you remember a single thing?”

  Flora risked a glance over her shoulder. Willow had backed down a step. “I promise I’ll do it right,” she said. “I’ll do it this minute.” She hesitated. “Can I come inside?”

  Mrs. Hamilton stared at her. “Fine.” Then, “Fine.” She jerked Willow’s elbow as Willow squeezed by her. Then she slammed the door closed with such force that Flora heard windows rattle.

  On Wednesday afternoon, Ruby and Olivia had after-school activities, so Flora sat on her stoop, presiding over the younger Row House children: the Morrises, Olivia’s brothers, and Cole Hamilton. She wasn’t officially baby-sitting, but she liked to give the appearance of a baby-sitter, figuring it was good advertising.

  Presently, Mrs. Hamilton called to Cole and handed him a leash, Bessie on the other end of it. “Bessie needs to get out for a while,” she said.

  Flora watched Cole run along the sidewalk with Bessie. “Hey, Cole!” she called. “Did Willow tell you about the dog parade?”

  Cole came to a stop, turned, and walked Bessie across Flora’s lawn. “What dog parade?”

  “It’s on Friday afternoon.” Flora once again described Nikki’s idea. “It should be a lot of fun,” she added. “And I could help you with a costume. There’s still time, if we pick something simple. I could make Bessie into —”

  But Cole was shaking his head. “No.”

  “There’s time, Cole. Really,” said Flora. “And, hey! On Saturday, you could take Bessie trick-or-treating with you! She’d have her very own costume. Wouldn’t that be fun? I bet Bessie hasn’t been trick-or-treating before.”

  “Okay …” said Cole. He paused. “Well, actually, no.”

  “But why not?”

  “There’s no point. My mom won’t let me go to the parade without an adult.”

  “Well, couldn’t you go with the Morrises? Or how about with Willow? Or with your own mom? Why doesn’t she take you?”

  Cole shook his head again. “She won’t.”

  “She won’t let you go without an adult or with an adult? That doesn’t seem fair. Look, I’m really good at sewing. I could whip up a costume for Bessie in no time. Let’s go talk to your mother.” Flora took Cole by the hand and led him and Bessie back to his house.

  “Flora, no. This isn’t going to work.”

  “Oh, come on.”

  “Really. My mom doesn’t —”

  Flora had reached the Hamiltons’ stoop. She knocked on the door, and when Mrs. Hamilton opened it, she told her about the parade. “And I could help Cole with the costume,” she said finally, then stopped talking when she realized with astonishment that Mrs. Hamilton was starting to cry. And not in that silent way in which Min occasionally cried. No, after just a few moments, she was wailing with full force like a child about to have a temper tantrum.

  Mrs. Hamilton drew in a shaking breath, then let out a loud, long sob. “No! I won’t have Cole going to such a crowded event.”

  Flora took a step backward.

  “I won’t!” cried Mrs. Hamilton. She pulled Cole and Bessie through the front door and shut it hastily.

  Flora stood for a moment before the house with its shades drawn. Then she turned and ran all the way to Main Street and the safety of Needle and Thread.

  Paw-Paw Sherman sat drooling in the backseat of the car, watching the county road speed by. Nikki wondered what else he saw, what dogs truly saw when they stared so intently out a car window.

  “I think he looks handsome, don’t you?” said Mae to the passengers in the car.

  “He’s the best pirate dog I’ve ever seen,” replied Mr. Pennington seriously.

  “Thank you very much for bringing us into town,” said Nikki. “We really appreciate it.”

  “Well, we can’t have the person behind the parade miss it,” said Mr. Pennington. “That would be a travesty. I was happy to pitch in when your mother called.”

  Nikki turned around. Behind her, Mae was strapped into a booster seat. On one side of her was Paw-Paw the pirate. On the other side was Jacques, wearing a sailor suit and trying to remove the hat.

  “Excuse me, Mr. Pennington?” said Mae. “I don’t think Jacques likes his costume.”

  Mr. Pennington smiled. “I don’t think so, either. If he’s fooling with the hat, you can take it off of him.”

  Nikki faced front again. They were nearing town, and as they passed a large Victorian house she saw a woman walk across the lawn, leading a small curly-haired dog in a red costume with a great number of appendages.

  “Hey!” exclaimed Nikki, laughing. “That dog is dressed as a lobster!”

  “I see a dog in a clown suit,” said Mae.

  And Mr. Pennington said, “My goodness. Look at Main Street. I’d better park here. I don’t think we’ll be able to get all the way into town.”

  Nikki squinted down the block. “Wow,” she said under her breath. Then more loudly, “Wow!”

  “And this was all your idea,” said Mr. Pennington as he unloaded Jacques and Paw-Paw from the backseat.

  “I never dreamed so many people would come,” said Nikki, awestruck, as Mr. Pennington helped Mae climb out. “Never in a million years. This is amazing.”

  “Cool!” cried Mae. “I see the ice cream truck. Oh, and the balloon man and he’s selling dog-shaped balloons! This is like a fair. Can I have a balloon, please? Can I?”

  Nikki pulled Mae aside. “I have a little money from Mom,” she told her quietly, “but remember that we’re Mr. Pennington’s guests. Don’t ask for a lot of stuff. He did us a big favor by driving us here. Come on. Concentrate on walking in the parade.”

  Mae pouted briefly but perked up when she spotted a young woman carrying a poodle dressed as a ballerina.

  “Miss Drew!” exclaimed Mae rapturously. “It’s Miss Drew! Hi, Miss Drew.”

  “Hello, Mae,” said her teacher. “This is Buzzy. Is that Paw-Paw?”

  Mae nodded. “And this is my sister, Nikki, and this is Mr. Pennington. Oh, and over there is Jacques. He’s Mr. Pennington’s dog. I didn’t know you were going to be in the parade. Hey, did you know the parade was my sister’s idea?”

  “Was it?” said Miss Drew. “Well, it’s a great idea.”

  “Thank you,” replied Nikki. “It’s to raise money for the animal shelter.”

  Miss Drew held out a red ticket. “I just paid my entrance fee. Buzzy and I are ready to march.”

  “We have to go pay our fees,” said Nikki.

  “I’ll see you later, Miss Drew!” called Mae.

  Nikki, Mae, and Mr. Pennington made their way through the crowd on Main Street.

  “Where do we sign up?” asked Mr. Pennington. He tugged at Jacques’s leash. “Come on, boy.” Jacques had planted his feet firmly on the sidewalk and refused to move. Mr. Pennington sighed. “It’s the costume. He really doesn’t like to wear clothes. I hope he’ll walk in the parade.” He stooped to pick up the recalcitrant Jacques.

  “The registration booth is over there,” said Nikki, pointing to the town square. “I think Harriet is going to be collecting the
money.”

  “Nikki!” called Mae as they stepped around costumed dogs and threaded their way through knots of people. “Paw-Paw’s stockings are coming off!”

  Nikki turned around and saw that Paw-Paw’s red-and-white-striped pirate’s stockings were pooling around his feet.

  “And now he’s stepping out of them!” exclaimed Mae. She gathered up the stockings and handed them to her sister.

  Nikki sighed. “I’ll try to get them back on him in just a minute. Let me pay the fee first.”

  Nikki and Mr. Pennington waited in line at the booth that had been set up in the square, while Mae sat nearby with Paw-Paw, who was now tugging at the bag attached to his belt.

  “Hi, Harriet,” Nikki said as she stepped up to the booth.

  “Nikki! My goodness. Can you believe the number of people who are here? I’ve lost track of how many tickets we’ve sold, and the people with the collection canisters are doing well, too.” Harriet peered behind Nikki. “Where’s Paw-Paw?”

  “On that bench with Mae. His costume is coming off. Harriet, this is Mr. Pennington.”

  Nikki and Mr. Pennington paid their registration fees, even though Harriet claimed that Nikki should be allowed to walk in the parade for free.

  “Thank you,” said Nikki, “but I want to contribute, too. I have my money right here.”

  Harriet grinned. “Well, we appreciate it. Believe me, every bit helps. When you get Paw-Paw’s costume straightened out, go down the street to the community center. The parade will start there. You can see people lining up already. Hold on to your tickets. You’ll have to turn them in before you can join the parade.”

  A few minutes later, Jacques, dragging his feet, and Paw-Paw, stockings bagging once more, allowed themselves to be led to the community center.

  “Look, there are Flora and Ruby!” said Nikki as she and Mae and Mr. Pennington edged along the sidewalk. “Hi, Flora! Hi, Ruby!”

  “Oh, Daisy is so cute!” cried Mae. “She’s a … oh, I get it. She’s a daisy.”

  “Great costume,” said Nikki admiringly.

  “Thank you,” said Flora.

  “Thank you,” said Ruby.

  Flora glared at Ruby. “You didn’t have anything to do with the costume.”

  “I did too! I watched you cut out all those felt petal things and I kept saying, ‘Nice job, Flora.’”

  “Girls,” said Mr. Pennington, “I see your aunt Allie. She’s waving to you.”

  Flora and Ruby stood on their tiptoes and peered across the street. Sure enough, their aunt was smiling and waving. She held up a camera. “I’m going to take pictures!” she called. “I’ll be standing in front of Needle and Thread with Min. Nikki, I’ll take pictures of you and Mae and Paw-Paw, too.”

  “Oh, that’ll be great,” called Nikki. “Then Mom will be able to see the parade.”

  “Come on. Let’s go hand in our tickets and get in line,” said Ruby. “Maybe we’ll be right up front where people can see us better. Hey, maybe we’ll get our pictures in the paper.”

  “In the paper?!” said Mae, her voice rising to a squeak. “Oh, goody, goody. I want to be in the paper. I want to be famous.”

  “Oh, lord. Mae’s going to be another Ruby,” Flora whispered to Nikki.

  They turned in their tickets and joined the line of people and dressed-up doggies. Once again, Jacques refused to move, and once again, Mr. Pennington picked him up. “But if you think I’m going to carry you all the way down Main Street,” Mr. Pennington said to him, “you have another think coming.”

  “Oh! Oh, no!” exclaimed Flora suddenly. She started to laugh. “Look over there.”

  Joining the parade were Mr. and Mrs. Fong. They were pulling a wagon, and in the wagon were Grace and their two small dogs, all dressed as pigs. A sign on the wagon read THE THREE LITTLE PIGS.

  “Ha!” cried Ruby. “That’s a good one.” She looked at her watch. “When’s the parade supposed to start?” she asked.

  “In ten minutes,” Nikki replied.

  “Not a moment too soon,” said Mr. Pennington, looking around at dogs pulling their hats off, dogs lying down in the street, little dogs barking at big dogs, owners preventing fights, and everywhere discarded booties, socks, bandannas, tiaras, and angel wings.

  At four o’clock exactly, a whistle blew. Before Nikki knew it, she was marching down Main Street, holding Mae with her left hand and Paw-Paw’s leash with her right. Lining both sides of the street were people laughing and clapping and taking pictures. Behind her, Mr. Pennington walked with Jacques, who had deigned to follow him at an excruciatingly slow pace. Next to her were Flora, Ruby, and Daisy Dear. Daisy, Nikki thought, looked somewhat embarrassed. She plodded along, eyes focused straight ahead, and refused to turn her head, no matter how often Flora and Ruby called to her.

  “Nikki! Flora! Ruby! Mr. Pennington!”

  Nikki was aware of a small figure springing up and down, up and down in the crowd to her left. “Hi, Olivia!” she called.

  “Look behind you!” Olivia called back.

  Nikki turned around. She saw a Great Dane in a cowboy costume. She saw a police dog dressed as a police officer. She saw a stubborn bichon that had apparently discarded his entire costume, since he was wearing nothing at all and his owner was carrying an armful of tiny clothes. She saw a bulldog puppy dressed as a baby — a bonnet on her head, a pacifier on a string around her neck, booties on her feet — being carried down the street in the arms of a tall man. And then she realized who the man was.

  “Mr. Barnes! Hi, Mr. Barnes!” she called to her English teacher.

  “Hello, Nikki,” he replied. “Hi, Flora.” He waved the puppy’s paw. “This is Shortbread. She’s ten weeks old.”

  “Oh, she’s so cute!” cried Mae.

  Nikki, laughing, continued down the street. She waved to Sonny Sutphin in front of Time and Again, and he waved back. She waved to Aunt Allie, Min, Gigi, and Mary Woolsey in front of Needle and Thread, and Allie snapped photos of her and Mae and Paw-Paw, of Flora and Ruby and Daisy Dear, of Mr. Pennington and Jacques, and even of Mr. Barnes, whom Allie recognized as her neighbor. (Mr. Barnes held Shortbread on her back and pretended to give her a bottle.)

  Three blocks down Main Street, the parade came to an end. Harriet found her and said, “Nikki, come here a minute.” She tugged at Nikki’s elbow, and Nikki, with Mae and Paw-Paw in tow, followed her back to College Pizza, where a reporter from the paper interviewed her about the parade.

  “Me. She interviewed me,” she said later to Flora and Ruby.

  When the paper came out the following week, it featured a whole page of photos of the dog parade and a separate article about Nikki and Harriet and Sheltering Arms. Nikki’s mother framed the article and hung it in the Shermans’ living room.

  Ruby walked home from the parade with Flora and Daisy Dear. Daisy was now naked. And the moment her costume had come off, her personality had returned.

  “What happened to her when she was wearing the daisy?” Ruby asked her sister as they approached the Row Houses.

  “I don’t know,” replied Flora. “It’s a mystery. She wouldn’t look at us, she wouldn’t turn her head.” Flora paused. “It was like she was embarrassed.”

  “I didn’t know dogs could get embarrassed,” said Ruby. “Try putting the daisy back on her.”

  Flora obligingly fastened the petal collar around Daisy’s neck again, and Daisy came to a complete halt and stood motionless on the sidewalk, eyes straight ahead.

  “Daisy!” said Ruby loudly.

  “Daisy!” said Flora.

  Daisy had turned to cement.

  “Okay, take it off,” said Ruby.

  Flora removed it and Daisy sprang to life.

  “Wow,” exclaimed Ruby. “Wouldn’t you like to know what’s going on in her head?”

  “Hey, Ruby!” Lacey Morris charged along the sidewalk from the direction of Main Street.

  “Did you see us in the parade?” Ruby called to her.

>   “Yes. You were great. Ruby, we need to work on our costumes.”

  “I can’t. I’m having a sleepover at my aunt’s house tonight.”

  “But Halloween is tomorrow and the costumes aren’t finished.”

  At this, Flora narrowed her eyes. “What do you mean, your costumes aren’t finished? Lacey, your mom and Min and I did most of the work on them. All you guys were in charge of were the last few little things.”

  Ruby and Lacey glanced at each other and then down at the sidewalk.

  “Ruby …” said Flora.

  “We changed our minds,” Ruby muttered.

  “What?! You changed your minds? You mean, you’re not going to be the Eiffel Tower, the Statue of Liberty, and the Leaning Tower of Pisa?” (Ruby and her friends had, in fact, changed their minds so often that Flora had never even heard about the three magic witches.)

  “Actually,” said Lacey, “she means we’re not going to be the bouquet of flowers. We did change our minds about the Eiffel Tower and stuff” (Flora’s mouth was hanging open), “so then we started work on this flower idea we’d had before, but we didn’t finish that, either.”

  “And just when were you going to tell your mom and Min and me that you weren’t going to wear the costumes we made you?”

  “Tomorrow night?” said Lacey in a small voice.

  “Well, that’s nice.” Flora shook her head. “All that work.”

  “Oh, come on, Flora. Don’t be mad,” said Ruby. “You made really, really great costumes. It’s just that … there are so many things we could be. We really can’t make up our minds. This isn’t something to be taken lightly,” she added primly.

  “So now you need help finishing your flower costumes?” asked Flora.

  “No, we don’t need help,” Lacey replied. “We just need time.” She eyed Ruby.

  “Well, I’m sorry!” exclaimed Ruby. “I’m going to my aunt’s tonight. We can finish the costumes tomorrow. We have all day.”

  “I guess,” said Lacey.

  “I promise I’ll come over as soon as I get home. I’ll call Hilary then and tell her to come over, too.”

  “Okay. Hey! You know what we should be? A fork, a knife, and a spoon.”