September Surprises

  Ruby called out, “Hurricane Donna?”

  “That’s right,” said Mrs. Caldwell, and Ruby braced herself for the reminder about speaking out of turn, but it didn’t come. “Hurricane Donna,” Mrs. Caldwell continued, “hit the east coast of Florida one year ago today. It destroyed several towns, and thousands of people were left without homes. A number of schools were destroyed, too, including the William Jefferson Clinton Elementary School in Rawlings. Today the school will open for the first time since the storm. A friend of mine, Mrs. Samson, is a teacher at Clinton, and she told me that the school has been rebuilt but that it still needs books for the new library, and lots of equipment and supplies. Over the summer, I spoke with our principal, and Mrs. Samson spoke with the principal of Clinton, and we all decided that this year Camden Falls Elementary and Clinton Elementary will be sister schools. The students at our school will become pen pals with the students at Clinton, and we’ll hold fundraisers to help Clinton purchase the books and supplies they need.”

  Ruby smiled. This sounded like fun. She couldn’t wait to have her very own pen pal. “Will our pen pals be in fifth grade?” she asked.

  “Yes,” replied Mrs. Caldwell. “In fact, they’re Mrs. Samson’s students.”

  Mrs. Caldwell went on to announce that the first Clinton project would be a contest to design a symbol showing sisterhood between the two schools. “The winning symbol, or logo,” Mrs. Caldwell continued, “will be silk-screened onto T-shirts that we’ll sell to benefit Clinton. Logo entries are due next Wednesday, so if you want to enter the contest, you should start thinking about your design right away.”

  Mrs. Caldwell talked a bit more about Clinton and the sister schools and various projects. When she stopped, Ruby looked at the clock. Nine fifty-two. Almost ten o’clock and she was still sitting in the back row.

  That was a record for Ruby Northrop.

  “You guys,” said Flora on the first Friday of the new school year, a day that was warmer than the previous one, “I think we should sit at a different table at lunchtime.”

  Nikki, who had just stepped off her bus after another uneventful ride, removed her backpack and replied, “Okay. Can you believe how much homework we have already? This thing weighs a ton.”

  “I know,” said Flora. “But we are in seventh grade now. That’s what the principal was talking about at orientation — greater expectations and all.”

  Olivia thought, So that’s what he was talking about. But what she said was, “Do we have to?”

  “Do we have to what?” asked Nikki. She stooped down and picked up an acorn. “Look! This one’s perfect. I’m going to take it home and draw it.” She dropped it in her pocket.

  “Do we have to sit at another table?” said Olivia, a slight whine to her voice. She stopped walking, and Flora and Nikki turned around to face her.

  “Don’t you want to?” asked Flora.

  “Not really. I like where we’ve been sitting.”

  “But I feel like we’re hiding out.” Flora glanced at Nikki.

  “Me, too,” said Nikki.

  “You liked it on the first day. Both of you. You said so,” muttered Olivia.

  “Well, it was nice on the first day, when every single thing was new,” said Flora. “But we can’t hole up there all year long. We need to branch out.”

  Olivia didn’t answer, and the girls walked into Central without another word. When they separated to go to their lockers, Flora whispered to Nikki, “You know we’re going to sit somewhere else, right?”

  “Yeah.”

  “What’s Olivia going to do?”

  “I’m pretty sure she’ll come with us.”

  When fifth period began, Flora met Olivia and Nikki at the entrance to the cafeteria as she had done the previous two days. The girls joined the end of the line of students waiting to buy their lunches. Ten minutes later, their meals were paid for and they stood near the cashier, balancing their trays.

  “Come on, you guys,” said Olivia, eyeing their old table.

  “No. Really, Olivia, we want to sit somewhere else,” said Nikki.

  “With other kids,” Flora added as she scanned the room. “I see Tanya and Melody and Claudette. All at the same table.”

  “Who’s that boy?” asked Nikki.

  “I don’t know, but let’s go sit with them. There are plenty of empty seats at their table.”

  Olivia’s stomach flip-flopped. “No,” she said.

  “Olivia …” Flora looked pleadingly at her friend.

  “I don’t want to.”

  “But we do. And we want you to come with us.” Flora turned resolutely and threaded her way through the cafeteria until she reached the table. She now saw that three boys were sitting with Melody and the others, and she didn’t know any of them. Still, she smiled brightly at Claudette and said, “Can we sit here?”

  “Sure!” replied Claudette.

  Olivia thought she heard Melody murmur, “It’s a free country,” but she was distracted by one of the boys who grinned at her and patted the empty chair next to him. Olivia gave him a tentative smile.

  “Hey, everyone,” said Claudette. “This is Flora, this is Olivia, and this is Nikki. They’re from CFE, too. The boys,” she went on, “are from Somerville. That’s Max and David and Jacob.”

  Jacob was the boy sitting next to Olivia. Flora saw him grin again. “Olivia?” he said. “You’re in my English class. With Mr. Barnes?”

  “Oh,” said Olivia. “Oh, yeah.”

  Claudette spoke up. “I have Mr. Barnes for English, too. He’s cool. He said he just moved here.”

  Tanya made a face. “Who cares?”

  “I —” Olivia started to say, then closed her mouth.

  Melody yawned. “Can you believe all the homework we have already? What a pain. We’re not supposed to have homework the first week of school.”

  Flora didn’t see why not and was about to say so when Jacob announced, “Olivia’s homework is always perfect.” He looked at her admiringly.

  Melody reached across the table and tweaked a French fry from Jacob’s plate. “Really,” she said flatly. “Huh.” She waved the French fry in the air. “Do you mind?” she asked Jacob.

  “Nope.” Jacob’s attention was on Olivia. “You’re in my science class, too, you know,” he said.

  “I’m in your science class,” said Melody, frowning. “With Miss Allen, hello?” But Jacob didn’t hear her.

  “How come you know so much about insects?” he asked. “Are your parents scientists or something?”

  Flora suddenly felt like a proud parent. “Olivia’s practically a genius,” she spoke up. “She skipped a grade.”

  “Hey!” exclaimed Jacob. “Me, too! What grade did you skip, Olivia?”

  “Second.”

  “I spent second grade in France,” said Melody.

  “I skipped first grade,” said Jacob.

  “You did well on the science homework, too,” said Olivia shyly.

  Melody rolled her eyes. She reached for another French fry.

  Jacob picked up his plate and placed it in front of Melody. “So you don’t have to keep reaching,” he said.

  Flora saw a number of expressions cross Melody’s face and realized Melody didn’t know whether to feel surprised, grateful, or embarrassed. “Um, thanks,” she said.

  Flora glanced at Nikki, who had pursed her lips and was trying not to laugh.

  “This could be interesting,” Flora whispered to her, and turned her attention to her sandwich.

  “It’s Saturday! It’s Saturday!” cried Ruby the next morning. “They can make us go to school, but they can’t take our Saturdays away.”

  In her room across the hall, Flora smiled to herself. “Who are ‘they’?” she called.

  Ruby waved her hand impatiently. “Whoever is in charge of these things. I don’t care. Because today is Saturday and we’re going to have another Saturday adventure, just like the Melendys.”

  Ruby lay on her floo
r. She was doing the yoga exercises she had invented for herself. Their purpose was to keep her brain and body in good working order, which was important for any performer. She was pretty sure that when she was doing yoga, she was supposed to clear her mind of extraneous thoughts, but Ruby was almost never able to do that. On this particular morning, her mind was on the summer’s Saturday adventures.

  Ruby remembered the day near the beginning of vacation when she and Min and Flora had arrived at Needle and Thread early in the morning and found the first four anonymous envelopes stacked by the door, one for her, one for Flora, one for Olivia, and one for Nikki. Inside each envelope the girls had found two books — The Saturdays, by Elizabeth Enright, and Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, by Robert C. O’Brien — along with a letter from an unknown sender explaining that the girls were now members of a secret summer book club. Every few weeks they would receive a new book, and, like the Melendy family in The Saturdays, they would go on Saturday adventures.

  Ruby was not an avid reader, and certainly not a fast nor even a very interested reader, but she had thoroughly enjoyed the books that had arrived in their anonymous packages all summer long, as well as the Saturday adventures the mysterious someone had arranged for her and her friends. She had especially enjoyed the last adventure, during which the identity of that mysterious person had at last been revealed. Madame X, as the girls had called her, turned out to be Ruby and Flora’s very own aunt Allie, pretty much the last person Ruby would have expected. Allie, Ruby felt, didn’t have much of a sense of humor and even less understanding of children. And yet she had done this spectacular thing for her nieces. As summer vacation had drawn to a close and the last adventure was ending, Ruby found herself wishing that their special Saturdays could go on and on. It was Nikki who had pointed out that they could — that the girls could think up adventures themselves. And so today they planned to set off on the first adventure of their own creation.

  “Ruby? Are you done with your yoga yet?” called Flora.

  Ruby jumped to her feet. “Done!”

  “Come on, then. Min’s in the kitchen making sandwiches for our picnic. Oh, I can’t wait! This is going to be so much fun.”

  “Minnewaska, Minnewaska,” Ruby chanted as she followed Flora down the stairs. “Have we been to Minnewaska before?”

  “I don’t think so,” said Flora. “Not since we moved here, anyway.”

  Minnewaska, a state park located off the county road leading to Nikki’s house, featured a clear lake in which Nikki said she had gone swimming many times, a large open area with picnic tables and barbecues, a playground, and hiking trails.

  “Your mother and Allie used to love to go there when they were little,” Min had told Ruby and Flora. “We’d have cookouts and picnics, and once your mother even held her birthday party there.”

  Ruby was impressed by this, but what she found most exciting was the fact that Min, Nikki’s mother, and Olivia’s parents had agreed that the girls were old enough to ride their bicycles to Minnewaska without adults. It was to be a thoroughly independent day, and Ruby couldn’t wait.

  “Plus, our picnic is going to be really good,” added Flora, “since Olivia’s bringing the dessert.”

  Ruby closed her eyes rapturously. “I hope it’s candy,” she said.

  The day was warm, warmer than Friday, and definitely warmer than Thursday, when the chill had been in the air. Good, thought Ruby, because I want to go swimming. The basket of Ruby’s bicycle was packed with picnic food and a bag containing her beach towel and water shoes. As Ruby and Flora and Olivia pedaled along the county road, carefully riding in single file, Ruby sniffed at the air. She smelled wood smoke and damp earth and — was it possible? — sunshine. She hadn’t realized until this moment that sunshine had its very own scent. The girls rounded a bend in the road then, and ahead Ruby saw an ash tree, its leaves already turning a translucent gold.

  They rounded another bend, and there was a gate made from rough-hewn logs, and beyond it a sign bearing the words MINNEWASKA STATE PARK painted in yellow. Sitting under the sign was Nikki, her bicycle resting on its side. “Yay! You’re here!” she exclaimed, and she hopped on her bike and led her friends along the road through the woods to the park.

  “Oh, cool,” said Ruby as the road came to an end. Before them spread the lake, the picnic tables, and the playground.

  Nikki pointed to the woods that swept around the east end of the lake. “Over there are the hiking trails,” she said.

  “Wow,” said Ruby. “What should we do first? Go to the playground?” She eyed a tall slide in the shape of a corkscrew.

  Flora glanced at Olivia and Nikki. “Um, well … first let’s chain our bikes to the rack and put our stuff on one of the picnic tables,” she said diplomatically.

  “And then the playground?” said Ruby. “Please?”

  “How about a swim?” suggested Nikki. “While it’s still hot.”

  “Yeah, we have to go swimming before we eat, anyway,” said Olivia.

  “All right.” Ruby eyed the others suspiciously. She was about to strip off her T-shirt (she was wearing her bathing suit underneath) when she caught sight of two girls emerging from the lake, the sunshine gleaming on their dripping hair. “Hey, don’t you know them?” she said, pointing. “They were in your class last year, weren’t they?”

  Flora looked toward the lake, then slapped Ruby’s hand down. “Don’t point!” she hissed, and at the same time Olivia said, with a small moan, “Oh, no. It’s Tanya and Melody. Don’t let them see us.”

  “Why not?” asked Ruby.

  “Too late,” whispered Nikki. “They’re waving.” Nikki waved back. “Hi!” she called.

  “Are they coming over here?” asked Olivia. “I can’t look. I really can’t look.” She concentrated on locking her bicycle to the rack.

  “Nope,” said Flora.

  Ruby thought her sister sounded the teensiest bit disappointed. She frowned. “Well, do you all want them to come over here or not?”

  “SHH!” hissed Nikki.

  The girls locked their bikes, then carried their things to a table and spread them out. “Now where are they?” Olivia murmured to Ruby.

  Ruby scowled at her as she said, “Sitting on towels by the lifeguard stand.”

  “Are they looking at us?”

  “They’re looking at the lifeguards.”

  “Figures,” replied Olivia.

  “Excuse me, can I just say something?” said Ruby. “No offense, but so far this isn’t very much fun.”

  Nikki heaved a great sigh. “Well, let’s go swimming, then.”

  Ruby smirked. “You’re going to have to go right over there near … them.”

  No one answered her.

  For half an hour, the girls swam. Ruby paid close attention and noticed that Flora, Nikki, and Olivia managed to glance at Tanya and Melody approximately every three seconds.

  When Ruby and her friends grew cold, they dried off. “I hope they don’t think my bathing suit is too babyish,” Olivia muttered.

  The girls ate their lunch. Ruby was grateful that chocolate was involved but annoyed that the entire conversation centered around what Tanya and Melody would think of their food.

  At last she said crossly, “I don’t care what any of you say — I’m going to the playground.”

  “Don’t hang upside down,” Flora replied vaguely.

  Half an hour later, Ruby was at the top of the slide, pretending to be Rapunzel and wishing she had longer hair, when she spotted Tanya and Melody crossing the park and climbing on their bicycles. The moment they were out of sight, Flora, Olivia, and Nikki ran to the playground.

  “Cool slide!” exclaimed Flora.

  Ruby, eight feet above the others, put her hands on her hips. “I don’t understand you at all,” she announced. But she tried to enjoy the rest of the Saturday adventure.

  Nikki and Mae sat on the front stoop of their weathered house. The afternoon was growing cool, and Mae hugged h
er knees to her chest. After a few minutes, she stretched out her legs and examined a bruise on her left knee. She had been unusually quiet on this long Sunday, a day on which Nikki had been in charge of Mae because their mother had unexpectedly been called in to work.

  Nikki was about to ask her sister if anything was wrong, when Mae said, “We’re like the take-away game.”

  “What do you mean?” asked Nikki.

  “The take-away game. We play it in school. In math. Five take away one is four. Four take away one is three. Three take away one is two.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Well, that’s our family. First there were five people. Mommy and Daddy and you and me and Tobias. Then Daddy left. Five take away one is four. Then Tobias left. Four take away one is three. And today Mommy is gone.”

  “But she hasn’t left,” Nikki said quickly. “In fact, she should be home any minute. And Tobias is at college, but he isn’t gone for good.”

  Nikki realized too late how that sounded. Sure enough, Mae said, “But Daddy is gone for good?”

  Nikki looked across the yard at Paw-Paw, their beloved mutt, who was hunting field mice in the tall grass, rump in the air, forelegs on the ground as he sniffed and snuffled with great excitement. “Don’t you want Daddy to be gone for good? Remember last Christmas?”

  Mae said nothing.

  “Mae?”

  “I want him to be gone for good, but I still want a daddy. I didn’t really want five take away one.”

  Nikki pursed her lips. She didn’t know what to tell Mae about their father. So instead she said, “Well, look, we have Paw-Paw. Don’t forget him. And Mommy’s probably already on her way home. I bet if we go inside and start dinner, Mommy will walk through the door before you finish setting the table. Why don’t you call Paw-Paw, and I’ll see what’s in the freezer.”

  In the Shermans’ kitchen, Mae was carefully setting three places at the scarred wooden table when the phone rang. “I’ll get it!” she shrieked, and she grabbed the receiver before Nikki could reach it. “Hello?… Hi, Mommy … She is here, but I want to talk to you. I can tell her the message … Okay … Okay …” And then, “But you promised. You promised you’d be home for dinner.” Mae listened for a few more moments, then wordlessly handed the phone to Nikki.