Nancy and Plum

  Plum said, “Here, hand me your foot. Now hang on to the window sill and turn around. See, I’m putting your foot on a big limb. Now reach above you and grab the branch that is just over your head. Hurry!”

  Nancy did as she was told and with Plum guiding her, in a matter of seconds, was in by the trunk beside Plum and screened from the house by the thick maple leaves.

  Plum said, “I hope she only opens the door a crack and shines her flashlight on the bed. Those two bundles of old clothes we put under the covers do look like us asleep but I keep thinking what if she goes over and tries to shake one of them by the shoulders.”

  Nancy said, “Shhh, I hear her opening the door.”

  Creak went the door. Slap, slap went Mrs. Monday’s feet. The beam of her flashlight skimmed across the wall. Then for one terrible minute Mrs. Monday’s gaunt black shape was framed in the window. She stood quietly, apparently looking out. Then lowering the sash a little, she turned and went out.

  Plum said, “I wonder if she knows.”

  Nancy said, “I don’t think so. Otherwise she wouldn’t have closed the window just a little. She would have shut it all the way or left it open.”

  Plum said, “Well, whether she knows or not, we’ve got to hurry. Can you see all right now, Nancy?”

  Nancy said, “I can see everything.”

  Plum said, “Then follow me. Put your hands and feet just where I do and we’ll be down in a minute.” And they were.

  They jumped the last few feet, picked up their bundles and as silently as shadows ran across the barnyard, slipped up the outside stairway and knocked on Old Tom’s door.

  “Who’s there? What do you want?” Old Tom shouted, his voice frighteningly loud in the thick quiet.

  “Hush, Tom,” Plum hissed at the crack of the door. “It’s us.”

  Old Tom opened the door and Plum and Nancy stepped back into the shadows away from the revealing rectangle of yellow light.

  Plum whispered, “Tom, come down to the barn. We’re running away and we need help.”

  Old Tom quickly closed the door behind him and said, “Running away? What’s this all about? I thought you went to the picnic.”

  Plum said, “We can’t talk here. Come on down to the barn.”

  They crept down the stairs and slipped into the barn and then by lantern light, in the safety of Clover’s stall, Nancy and Plum told him about the picnic and Uncle John’s visit.

  He said, “If I didn’t think you were right, I’d tell you so. But I do think you should run away. It’s the only way you’ll ever get to see your uncle and learn the truth. The gates are all locked but if we take the big ladder out in back by the garden, I think I can help you over the fence. We’ll have to blow out the lantern and work in the dark though. Come on.”

  Tom showed them where the ladder was and blew out the lantern. Then quietly, carefully he eased the long ladder through the door and carried it, with the little girls’ help, around the barn, out to the garden and stood it against the fence almost straight up and down so that a good third of it extended up in the air beyond the sharp iron pickets.

  “Now,” he said, “you girls climb up clear to the top and hang on tight. Plum, you go first.”

  They climbed up, up toward the moon, holding tight to their little bundles and gripping the round, far-apart rungs with their worn-out shoes. They were trembling a little when they got to the top but they could see for miles and miles across the moon-washed valley to the smudgy black hills.

  Old Tom hissed, “Hold on tight, now, you’re coming down.” Slowly and carefully he lifted his end of the ladder. Down they came like performers on a trapeze at the circus. When the ladder was level, Tom told them to turn around and face him, then walking forward and moving his hands from rung to rung, he let them down on the other side. When he was holding to the rung closest to the fence, he told them to hang by their hands and drop. Plum went first. Nancy threw her down the treasures. Then Nancy let herself down between the last two rungs of the ladder, hung for a minute and let go. She landed half sitting down, but it didn’t hurt.

  Plum grabbed her hands and jerked her to her feet and danced her around and around in a circle as she sang, “Nancy, Nancy, we’re free, we’re free. We’ll never go back to Mrs. Mondeeee!”

  Then they ran up to the fence, reached through, shook Tom’s hand and said, “Thank you, Tom. Thank you.”

  Tom said, “There’s a farm about three or four miles up the road toward town that’s got a big haystack in the field. It would be a nice place to sleep. Just climb up on top of it and burrow in. Now I better be getting back before she smells a rat.”

  Nancy said, “Don’t worry, Tom, if we get work in town we’ll come and see you.”

  Tom said, “Are you going to work, Nancy?”

  She said, “Yes, we’re going to work until we have enough money to go to Central City and see Uncle John.”

  He said, “What kind of work could little kids like you do?”

  Nancy said, “Oh, baby sitting, dish washing …”

  Plum said, “Carpentering, coal shoveling, lawn mowing …”

  Old Tom said, “Well, good luck, girls, and here’s a couple of dollars just in case you don’t find work right away.” He took two crumpled dollar bills out of his pocket and pushed them through the fence.

  Plum said, “Oh, I’m sorry, Tom, but we couldn’t take your money.”

  Nancy said, “Thank you just the same, Tom, but we’re going to earn our own money.”

  Old Tom said, “Well, good-bye, good luck.”

  Plum and Nancy said, “Good-bye,” then turned and went skipping off through the fields toward the road.

  Plum said, “I feel just like a canary that’s gotten out of its cage.”

  Nancy said, “I feel like a baby bird that is just going to fly. Oh, Plum, Plum, we’re free. We’ll never have to see Mrs. Monday again.”

  Plum said, and her voice was a wail, “Oh, I forgot. I was going to pound Marybelle to jelly before I left. I almost feel like going back.”

  Nancy said, “You don’t. You wouldn’t go back to Mrs. Monday’s just to get even with that little grub.”

  Plum said, “Oh, I guess not. But when I think of her hiding Eunice’s doll and deliberately making us miss Uncle John I get so mad my stomach aches.”

  Nancy said, “Oh, Plum, let’s wave to Mrs. Monday’s…. Doesn’t it look dark and dreary and unfriendly?”

  They turned and waved their little bundles at the Boarding Home. It was all dark except for a few squiggles of light seeping out around the drawn draperies in Mrs. Monday’s suite.

  Plum said, “Good-bye, ugly, horrible, cruel, deceitful, dishonest Mrs. Monday! Good-bye, Woodenhead with the shaving curls Marybelle. I hope we never see you again.”

  Nancy said, “I feel badly about leaving Eunice and the other children but I do think it is for the best. Now that we’re free we may be able to help them.”

  Plum said, “Last one to that little bridge is an earwig.”

  Nancy said, “Get on your marks, get set, go.”

  Like a streak, the children raced down the road, their flying feet in the dust as quick and noiseless as raindrops. They reached the bridge at the same time and pounded across, their footsteps going boom, boom, boom. It was like running across a drum. So they ran back and forth and back and forth until finally, breathless and gasping, they fell against the railing.

  There was a small stream running through the little gully below the bridge and when they had quieted down, they could hear the plurk, plurk, shshshsh of the water pouring over stones and wriggling along over the pebbles.

  Plum tossed a stone into the stream and it went plink. She said, “Someday I’d like to have a little stream right beside my bedroom so that at night I could lie in bed and listen to its funny little clurky, spinky noises.”

  Nancy said, “I’d like to live beside the sea so I could hear the swishshshsh, boom of the surf. I’ve never seen the ocean but I know exact
ly how it will look and smell and sound.”

  Plum said, “Night is funny. It’s scary when you’re inside but its soft and beautiful and fun when you’re out in it.”

  Nancy said, “Oh, look, the lights of a car. We had better hide quick. Come on.”

  They scrambled down the bank and crouched on the ground under the bridge. The earth smelled old and damp, the little brook sounded as loud as a torrent, and when the car went over the old loose planks there was such a terrible splintering, crashing roar that the girls put their hands over their ears in terror.

  “It doesn’t sound to me as if that bridge is going to last another day,” Plum said as she climbed up the bank.

  Nancy said, “Boy, I don’t want to be under it when it caves in. Come on, let’s get started toward that farm.”

  So they walked and they walked and they walked. Once they saw a deer standing in an old orchard and he was as still as the trees. Once, right above their heads, a screech owl ripped the night to pieces with his strangled shriek. Once a rabbit almost hopped on their feet. Once a black mound behind a fence suddenly erupted with terrifying, snorting noises and turned out to be a cow. Once a little dog came running out at them, yipping and snarling ferociously, but when Plum pointed her finger at him and said, “Be quiet!” he turned and fled back across the fields shrieking in terror.

  It was a night of adventure. A night to remember.

  Plum said, “You know, Nancy, we’re really awfully lucky. Not many children ever have a chance to take walks in the nighttime.”

  Nancy said, “I know it. If children could only learn to know the nighttime and be friends with it they wouldn’t be afraid in the dark.”

  Plum said, “I like the way things look different at night. See that tree there. What does it look like to you?”

  Nancy said, “It looks like an Indian shooting a bow and arrow.”

  Plum said, “To me it looks like a Roman driving his chariot.”

  Nancy said, “What does that stump look like?”

  Plum said, “It looks like a soldier wearing one of those tall fur hats.”

  Nancy said, “It looks like a mug with a handle.”

  Plum said, “What about that little aspen tree in the moonlight?”

  Nancy said, “It looks like a little princess in a silver spangled cape.”

  Plum said, “That’s just what I was going to say.”

  Nancy said, “Let’s play ‘rhymes.’ I’ll start. I’m walking along.”

  Plum said, “Singing a song.”

  Nancy said, “I’ll never be wrong.”

  Plum said, “Until I hear the gong.”

  Nancy said, “Ding, ding, dong.”

  Plum said, “Saying so long.”

  Nancy said, “Don’t stick in that prong.”

  Plum said, “I’m old and not yong.”

  Nancy said, “That’s not a very good rhyme. Young with prong.”

  Plum said, “Well, there isn’t anything else. Now let’s play what Johnny has in his pocket. I’m going to start. Johnny has a marble in his pocket.”

  Nancy said, “Johnny has a marble and an apple in his pocket.”

  Plum said, “Johnny has a marble and an apple and a knife in his pocket.”

  Nancy said, “Johnny has a marble and an apple and a knife and a frog in his pocket.”

  Johnny had a marble and an apple and a knife and a frog and a pencil and a stick and a penny and a pin and a piece of gum and a handkerchief and a nail and an orange and a candle and a top and a ball and a slingshot in his pocket when Plum saw far over in a field an enormous lump that looked as if it might be the haystack.

  She said, “Nancy, there it is. The haystack. Over there.”

  Nancy said, “I certainly hope it doesn’t come to life and turn out to be a bull.”

  Plum said, “That’s much bigger than a bull. It would have to turn into a whale. Come on, let’s climb over the fence and find out.”

  So they climbed over the fence, which was made of rails, and would have been very easy to climb if it hadn’t been for the wild roses growing along it. Wild roses that smelled like warm cinnamon but whose thorny hands clutched frantically at Nancy and Plum and left long red scratches on their arms and legs.

  After disentangling themselves from the roses, the children raced across the fields toward the haystack. The grass was new and lush and springy and so pleasant to feet in worn-out shoes that every few feet Plum jumped straight up in the air and Nancy took big giant steps that were really leaps.

  The haystack was large. About fifteen feet high and as big around as a room. About as big around as a room at the top, that is. The bottom had been eaten away by the cows.

  Plum said, “It looks like a giant mushroom. I wonder how we’re going to get up on top of it.”

  Nancy said, “Let’s walk all the way around it. Perhaps there is a ladder or something.”

  Plum said, “I don’t think there’ll be a ladder. After all, this haystack was put here for cows.”

  Nancy said, “We could jerk off some of the hay and make ourselves little beds on the ground.”

  Plum said, “I’d rather sleep on the top. We don’t know what’s in this field. There might even be a bull.”

  Nancy said, “Oh, Plum, do you think so?” Her eyes were wide and frightened, so Plum said, “No, I was just fooling.” But just then, from the other side of the haystack there was a terrific snort. The girls clutched each other and Plum said, “Hold perfectly still. Maybe he won’t be able to see us in the dark.”

  The snort came again louder and closer. The trembling little girls clutched each other tighter. Then suddenly against the pale moonlit sky appeared the frame of a fat plow horse.

  “It’s not a bull at all. It’s a horse. A darling big old horse!” Plum almost shrieked in her relief. The horse lumbered toward them, Plum reached up and stroked his nose and he nuzzled her arm with his lips.

  Nancy said, “Maybe he’ll stand still and let us climb up on him and then we can get up on the haystack.”

  Plum said, “But how will we get up on him?”

  Nancy said, “You climb up on my shoulders and I’ll push you up on the horse and then you reach down and pull me up and then we will both climb up on the haystack.”

  Plum said, “It’s a good idea if only Old Horse will stand still.”

  Nancy said, “Come on. He’s right beside the haystack now. Here, I’ll bend over. Now you climb on my shoulders.”

  Old Horse was very curious to know what the girls had in mind but he did stand still until they were both on his back. Then slowly and with great dignity he started galumphing across the field.

  Plum called out, “Whoa, Old Horse. Whoa!”

  The horse stopped, turned his head and looked at her.

  Plum said, “I’ll slide off and try to lead him over to the haystack again, Nancy. You hold on.”

  So Nancy clutched Old Horse’s mane and Plum pushed his nose in the direction of the haystack and said, “Giddyup.”

  Old Horse walked back to the haystack but he went in underneath where the cows had been eating. Nancy had to lie down flat to avoid being buried in the haystack. In a muffled voice she called, “Plum, Plum, hurry and get him out of here.”

  Plum slapped Old Horse on the side and said, “Get out of there.” So Old Horse did. He walked across the field again, Plum running after him calling, “Whoa! Whoa!” He finally stopped under a maple tree.

  Plum said, “You’d better get off, Nancy. He’ll never stand still.”

  So Nancy slid off and she and Plum ran back to the haystack to see if they couldn’t figure out another way to climb up on it. Plum was pushing Nancy while she tried to climb the slippery hay, when Old Horse stuck his cold rubbery lips on the top of her head.

  Plum said, “All right, Old Horse, I’ll pat you if you’ll help us. Now move over here close to the haystack and stand still.”

  Old Horse snorted knowingly and moved over. Nancy and Plum climbed up on his back
again. Then with Plum calling, “Whoa!” constantly, he stood still while the two little girls pushed and pulled each other up to the top of the haystack. They called down their thanks to Old Horse and he snorted a little and moved into the hollowed out place.

  The top of the haystack was rounded and quite scary until Nancy and Plum had jerked the hay aside and made themselves nice little deep nests. Little nests that smelled musty and were very stickery but felt like feather beds to the two tired little girls.

  In no time at all Plum was dreaming about being a bareback rider in a circus and Nancy was dreaming about being adopted by a beautiful young mother and father.

  The pale moon smiled on them and covered them with her soft, golden light. The night breezes peeked in at them and stroked their flushed faces with cool fingers. And Old Horse stamped his big feet and snorted to let them know that he was guarding them.

  10

  Looking for Work

  MORNING CAME with a blare of noise and light. First a rooster crowed, “Cock-a-doodle-doo!” Some ducks said, “Quaaaaaaack, quaaaaaaack!” A cow bawled, “Mooooooooooooo.” A dog barked, “Woo, woo, woooo.” A sheep cried, “Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!” A man’s voice called, “So, boss. So, boss!” Some geese lifted their heads high on their stemlike necks and went, “Sssssssssssssssssssssssssssss.” A little bird sang, “Chick-a-dee-dee-dee-deee-deee.” Old Horse galumphed to his feet and whinnied, “Wheeeeeeeeeeeeee.” Then a blazing sun leaped up from behind the hills and tossed a whole brimming bucket of sunlight over Nancy and Plum.

  Nancy sat up and said, “Oh, doesn’t that sunshine feel good? I got awfully cold in the night.”

  Plum said, “Sleeping in a haystack would be a lot more comfortable with blankets. Wow, I’m hungry.”

  Nancy said, “Oh, look over there. A farmhouse with smoke coming out of the chimney and there’s a farmer carrying milk buckets.”

  Plum said, “I’m starving.”

  Nancy said, “We’d better hurry and get to town before Mrs. Monday finds we’re gone.”

  Plum said, “She probably knows it already. It must be about six o’clock. Whee, watch me slide down the side of the haystack.”