Oddfellow's Orphanage (9 page)

Daniel/Odd sobbed loudly into a handkerchief. “Father, please don’t leave us!” he sniffed.

Ollie/Father Bluebeard coughed fiercely, which made his beard fly up. “It is time for me to go. Use your fortune well, boys.…” And with one last cough, Ollie dramatically dropped his head to the pillow and shut his eyes.

Daniel/Odd cried even louder into his hankie.

Felix/George didn’t shed even one pretend tear, but announced, “With my inheritance, I shall open a big, giant factory! I will be rich! Rich!” And he ran offstage.

“And in that moment, I knew what to do with the inheritance because for the first time, I knew what it was like to be alone in the world,” said Daniel/Odd, speaking to the audience. “I decided then and there to make a place for orphaned children and any lonely creature in need of a roof over its head.”

Tom closed the curtains.

The real Headmaster Bluebeard cried into his handkerchief as the crowd clapped fiercely, though they had heard the story many times. Delia smiled, happy to hear the story for the very first time.

The sky was growing dark, and everything looked pretty and blue. Suddenly, tiny lights began to flicker on. Ava and Delia looked at each other. “It’s Hank’s lights,” Ava said, looking around at the glowing spots.

Shaking her head, Delia smiled and scribbled something in her notebook.

“You’re right!” exclaimed Ava.

Delia beamed.

The two friends looked up as more twinkling specks joined in. Soon all of Oddfellow’s Orphanage stood silently gazing at the night air as hundreds of tiny globes flickered on and off, dancing in the trees and weaving slowly through the warm dark blue of the evening.

A TINY MONSTER

O
N
the first day the children returned to their classes in the fall, Professor Silas welcomed them with a surprise.

“Do you remember the last thing we studied before we finished our course on the M.O.N.S.T.E.R.S. of the Lakes and Seas last spring?” Professor Silas asked.

“Mermaids,” Ava called out, and the other children nodded.

“Well, now that you’re officially experts on that particular creature,” said Professor Silas, “I have something I would like to share with you.” The professor took his students to a small door that led from the classroom into his lab.

Professor Silas’s lab was rumored to be full of strange specimens and scientific contraptions. Hardly anyone was allowed in, so it was a rare and thrilling treat when he let his class inside.

Grinning, Professor Silas took a key from his pocket and unlocked the small door. The children filed into the laboratory, staring up at the dusty stacks of books towering
over their heads. There were framed specimen boxes covering the walls, each one labeled neatly. Inside the boxes were curious small animals and plant specimens. As the children walked farther into the lab, light from the windows filtered through great glass jars containing ancient-looking fish floating in liquid, next to a glass-domed pedestal displaying a two-headed chick.

“This is kind of creepy,” Ava whispered to Delia.

Delia nodded, but she couldn’t stop looking around at all the strange things.

“This, class, this is one of the real prizes of my collection,” Professor Silas said, pulling open a very long, narrow drawer. “Everyone squeeze in close to see.” The children huddled around and peered inside.

“A beauty, isn’t she?” the professor asked.

“She?” asked Felix. “It’s a slab of rock.”

“No, no, no!” replied the professor. “Well, really, it is a rock of sorts. But not just any rock. This rock holds the only known fossil of a mermaid. I call her … Pearl.”

“Ooooh …,” murmured the children. Looking closer, they could make out the shape of the fishlike tail and the slender arms and neck and head carved into the rock by time.

Professor Silas nodded before gently pushing Pearl’s drawer in place. Then he led the children back into the classroom, smiling contentedly. When everyone had settled into their desks, Professor Silas announced the new section: M.O.N.S.T.E.R.S. of the Mountains and Forests. The professor spoke merrily as he handed out new books: “First, we shall study the Yeti, also known as Bigfoot. Then we shall turn to the Great Horned Rabbit. And then …”

A breeze blew through the window and tickled Delia’s ears. She gazed out onto the grounds.
The leaves are changing!
she thought. It seemed like it had happened overnight. She smiled—the fall had always been her very favorite time of year.

“Delia!” Professor Silas said, plunking a brown leather book onto her desk. “Come out of that daydream!”

Startled, Delia turned away from the window and nodded vigorously as she opened her book.

Later, as the children trickled out of the classroom, Delia walked with Ava, Daniel, and Tom, only she was walking so quickly, she kept leaving them behind. As she stood impatiently waiting for them to catch up, Tom called out, “Hey, what’s the hurry?”

Delia took her notebook from around her neck and hastily wrote out:

She held it up for her friends to see, hopping happily from one foot to the other.

“But fall’s not going anywhere!” Ava said, laughing and pulling on her friend’s satchel.

Delia’s pigtails bounced as she trotted quickly toward the big front doors.

The children ran outside. Gusts of wind sent yellow leaves scattering and spiraling. All around was the magical feeling that you only get on the best autumn days. The nip at her fingers reminded Delia of the mitts her mama would knit to keep Delia’s hands warm. She put her hands in her pockets and headed toward the red-leafed trees at the forest’s edge.

Ava and Daniel followed, with Tom trailing behind, reading as he walked. Acorns bumped and cracked under their feet.

“Let’s see how many acorns we can collect!” Ava called out.

They all bent and scooped them up. Daniel filled his pockets until they were big and lumpy. Ava filled her satchel until it rattled like a jar of buttons. Delia walked deeper into the forest, watching the ground for the prettiest acorns with the shiniest caps.

Her friends trailed behind at a distance.