Drafts: Frog Haven Chapter 12

Chapter 1, Chapter 2 and 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8 ,Chapter 9, Chapter 10, Chapter 11

Chapter 12: The Angels of Deliverance

Lyssa plunked herself in the seat next to Sissy. “Can Bill go with us to help rescue frogs?”

“You promised not to tell!” hissed Sissy. “You crossed your heart and hoped to DIE if you told,” she continued dramatically.

“Bill told me about the gang’s initiation ceremonies. He was so upset that I had to tell him. Telling Bill doesn’t count as telling anyone anyway.” Sissy turned around and looked at Bill. His big serious eyes looked back at her with great intensity. He didn’t smile. Sissy rolled her eyes in exasperation, sighed, and then smiled at Bill. He smiled happily back at her.

“Yes, I guess he can go, if it’s Okay with Garryd.”

“Ask him, he’s right there.”

“I KNOW where he is,” Sissy retorted. She leaned across the aisle to Garryd, who was sitting with Kelvin Moore again. She pulled on his sleeve and he turned toward her. “Is it okay if Bill Taylor comes too?”

“We can use all the help we can get. Maybe we can form an ‘Angels of Deliverance’ gang to counteract the other gang.”

“Shhhhhhhhhhh!” Sissy said, looking around to see if any of the gang members had heard him. Kelvin was, after all, in the gang. She studied him. He was big and just a little overweight. He had a round face, a slightly pointed chin, and an angel-like expression. Sissy had played with Kelvin and knew that he was a nice kid when he was alone. She had a hard time picturing him doing the kinds of things Paul LeFevre liked to do.

The Deliverance Gang met behind Mancinis’ garage. Lyssa and Bill brought their own pails. “The LeFevre Gang is going to be practicing for Friday’s rematch behind McAllister’s,” Bill told them.

“Good! Then they’ll be out of our way. If we get done soon enough, we can go play too,” Garryd said.

They walked companionably together through the backyards. Sissy wondered how much help Bill would be. Lyssa was very athletic and good outdoors, even though she’d usually rather be playing with dolls. Bill was awkward and uncoordinated. But he turned out to be pretty good at catching frogs. By the time they’d made it to the fence, they had more frogs than ever before.

“Well, we can either let the frogs go at Dzabel’s Ponds,” Sissy said, “where the LeFevre gang can get them again, or we can let them go at William’s Ponds, where they’ll probably be safer.” Sissy was worried about how Lyssa and Bill would react; they were both sort of goody-goody.

“William’s Ponds, where are they?” Lyssa asked, in surprise.

“Over there,” Sissy said vaguely, waving her arm in a long arc across the pastures.

“But we’re not allowed to go over there,” Bill said.

“I know, me neither. We could just walk to the edge of the woods and Garryd could take the pails in. He’d have to take a couple trips. We could wait. Or I could help him and you guys could wait. The ponds are just inside the edge of the woods and there’s nothing to worry about.” They walked across the pasture, keeping an eye out for Dzabel.

“Do you know why we’re not allowed to go in the woods over there?” Sissy asked.

“Maybe because they are just too far away,” Bill suggested.

“No, I think it’s more than that,” Lyssa said. “I remember something about an old man with a gun. Lyssa was a year older than Sissy and sometimes remembered things from longer ago. Also, she had a better memory for certain things than Sissy.

Sissy shuddered. “I don’t think anyone lives there any more. The place looks deserted.”

“Oh, there’s an old cabin, but don’t worry, it’s past the ponds, and anyway, like I said, it looks deserted. No one has been around for a long time.”

“Let’s go check it out,” Lyssa said excitedly.

“I thought you didn’t want to go into the woods.”

“That was before I knew there was a deserted cabin. That sounds like fun!”

“If we show you where it is, you have to keep it a secret, okay?”

“Okay.”

“You, too, Bill.” Sissy was afraid that Bill was going to wimp out on them, but his eyes were sparkling with excitement. He showed more life in his face than Sissy had ever seen before.”

“Sure, Sissy!”

Garryd began to dance around, saying, “Come on, let’s hurry!”

Lyssa and Bill were thrilled by the beauty and tranquility of the woodland ponds. Seeing them again through the eyes of newcomers, Sissy was awed. What a tremendously lovely place, she thought, the two long ponds set in the open sunny woods.

Garryd told them about finding the dead fox as he led the way along the shore of the first pond. They released their frogs and stashed the buckets in the bushes. They rounded the bend of the larger pond and the cabin stood on the rise before them. Sissy shivered again. It was an ordinary-looking, small, pleasant log cabin. She studied it carefully and there was not a creepy thing about it. It was set in a perfect spot on the little hill overlooking the pond. Everything was peaceful and sunny. The woodland birds were singing and at a distance, Sissy saw the skunk wandering among the trees. But for some reason, she felt cold and frightened.

She wanted to go back, but the others were going eagerly forward. Sissy went too, trailing behind Bill. Garryd was so excited that he didn’t notice Sissy had fallen behind. He circled the cabin, with everyone following, and then led the way right up to the front door of the screen porch. There were three beautiful wooden rockers sitting on the front porch. They were dusty and littered with mouse-droppings, and the finish was a little milky, but otherwise, they were perfect. Sissy turned and looked down at the pond. What a beautiful spot to sit and rock, if you liked to sit and rock. Sissy did, sometimes. Her grandmother had rockers on her front porch and she and Sissy would sit on a warm summer night rocking and watching the people who walked by on the Schenectady street. In some ways, this would be even better, because if they sat quietly, they could probably watch beavers and herons and whatever that other animal was. Sissy wondered briefly what it was.

Garryd tried the front door. It wasn’t locked and he walked in. They others followed and they stood in a clump just inside the door. It seemed dark at first and they waited for their eyes to adjust. There was a table in the center of the room, off slightly to the right, with a green cotton tablecloth. It was set with dishes and with what looked like the remains of old food on them. The dishes were dusty but they all matched and looked like they might be fine china. Sissy picked up a cup and saucer and held the saucer up to the light, the way her mother had taught her. Her hand shone clearly through the saucer. Sissy turned it over and read the back. Fine china by Royal Copenhagen. Fine china in a log cabin. She showed the others, but no one spoke. For some reason, no one spoke.

There were three chairs around the table and the chairs matched. They were well-made oak chairs with finely woven cane seats. They looked like something Sissy had seen in the antique shops last summer on their vacation to Cape Cod and Acadia National Park. Sissy wondered why someone would have such nice furniture in a log cabin. She’d been to log cabins before and they had always been rustically furnished.

To the right of the table was a kitchen area with modern cabinets and counters just like in a regular house. There were a few dirty dishes piled by the sink as if someone had intended to wash them. Sissy turned on the faucet, and rusty water and air gushed noisily out. Quickly, she shut it off again. Bill reached out and quietly turned it back on, slowly and carefully. After a moment of additional sputtering, cold clear water ran out in a thin stream. He turned it up more and a thick stream of icy clear water rushed out. He shut it off. There was only a cold-water spigot, no hot.

Lyssa began opening cupboards. They were arranged very much like their cupboards at home, with stacked plates, cups hanging on hooks, glasses and so on in one cupboard, pots and pans in another, food in some of the others. Animals had chewed up some of the food. A box of A&P saltines had apparently been totally emptied by mice, because it was entirely sealed shut except a mouse-sized hole in one bottom corner. The cans and jars of food mostly looked fine.

While Lyssa, Sissy, and Bill were exploring the kitchen, Garryd walked into the living room. On the front or pond side of the cabin was a couch and two stuffed chairs, separated by end tables, each of which held a gas lamp. On the other side of the desk were a bed and a big, old-fashioned roll-top desk. Before Garryd got to the bed, he came to a ladder that led up to a loft. He climbed up the ladder and the others followed. The loft held two more beds, one on each side, divided by two dressers, one facing each way. There were toys of various kinds scattered around the loft: dolls, trucks, blocks and many others. On either end was a window. The one on the left looked out over the curved part of the larger pond. The window on the right looked toward the point where the two ponds came nearly together and the road passed between them.

From this angle, the kids could see the road winding through the woods, between the ponds, and curving to run up the hill to the cabin. The leaning outhouse stood just at the bend in the road. As they turned from the window, Sissy noticed that the lace-edged white curtains matched the bedspreads and dresser cloths.

Garryd started back down the ladder. Sissy took another look around. Something about the room made her feel very sad, but she wasn’t sure what.

Below her, on the ladder, Lyssa gave an ear-piercing scream.

* * *

Chapter 13, P365-07W

Drafts: Frog Haven, Chapter 11

Chapter 1, Chapter 2 and 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8 ,Chapter 9, Chapter 10

Chapter 11: The Cabin

It was a log cabin with a small, screened porch, a chimney, and a woodshed. Following the hill down to the right with her eyes, Sissy spotted what looked like an old, falling-down outhouse near the bottom of the hill. The whole place looked deserted, but Sissy felt a sudden icy shiver run jaggedly down her spine. The hair on the back of her neck prickled and goose bumps raised all over her body. All the warnings about not going into the woods beyond the pastures came back fresh and sharp in her mind. It was clearly forbidden and yet here she was, disobeying a direct order.

“Oh, Garryd, I think that cabin has something to do with why we’re not supposed to be here. Do you feel spooky at all?”

“A little,” he admitted.

“Look,” said Sissy, holding up her watch, “now we’ve got to really hurry. Come on, let’s go. Please Garryd, don’t tell anybody about the cabin! I’m sure we’ll get in trouble for being here!”

“Okay, Sis!!”

“Oh, Garryd, I wish I were your sister!” Sissy exclaimed as they charged through the woods. “Do you want to be my blood brother? You’re so special and understanding and different than my real brothers.” They walked quickly down the old road.

“Sure, why not, let’s do it, Sissy!”

“Maybe we can do it after supper. Do you have a jackknife?”

Garryd pulled a small knife out of his pocket and held it up for Sissy to see. It had a mother-of-pearl handle and a small sharp blade.

“Good. Come over to my house at six o’clock. I should be done eating by then.”

“Why don’t you eat at my house?”

“You haven’t asked your Mom if I can.”

“Don’t worry, it’s okay.”

“You have to ask her; I’ll wait in the garage.”

“Don’t be silly, come on!” Garryd pulled Sissy into the house and started signing rapidly to his mother. She looked puzzled. She wrapped her hands around his rapidly moving hands and cocked her head to one side, almost as if she were listening. She turned and looked questioningly at Sissy. Sissy smiled. Elke smiled and nodded her head.

With Garryd at her heels, Sissy ran home and asked her father.

“Are you sure it’s all right?”

“Yes,” she said. Garryd nodded.

“Okay, be good.”

“I will, Papa!” She gave him a kiss.

“Just a sec, Garryd, I’ve got to get something in my room. For the ceremony,” Sissy said, mysteriously. She reappeared a moment later and they sprinted back to Knudson’s.

Supper was on the table. Sissy and Garryd washed up in the bathroom together. They sat at the table next to each other. Sven signed grace and Garryd said the words aloud for Sissy. They had steak, stuffed baked potatoes, succotash (which Sissy loved) and homemade rhubarb pie. Everything tasted delicious, a miracle for Sissy, whom some people considered a picky eater.

Supper conversation was a combination of signs, grunts and words. A grunt and a point meant, “Please pass the whatever.” Sissy figured that out without Garryd’s help. Elke kept jumping up to get stuff for everyone. She smiled fondly toward her family and her warm, loving smile included Sissy as well. Sissy felt welcomed and comfortable, after a few minutes adjusting.

After supper, Sissy offered to help with the dishes but Elke shook her head and pushed Sissy gently away. She and Garryd went down the hall to Garryd’s room. The doorway was partly blocked by three cans of paint, rollers, trays, brushes, and a stack of newspapers.

“Dad’s project for tomorrow,” Garryd said, grinning, “and I can’t wait! Green for trees, not pink for puke!” Sissy’s room was green, too. Green with yellow woodwork. Pink, Sissy thought, was a Francie Coover color, fine for girly-girls.

Garryd had a huge collection of Teddy bears on his bed. Big ones, small ones, all kinds and colors.

“Wow! These are neat!” Sissy said.

“Look at this one,” Garryd said, pulling a medium-sized bear from the pile. It looked like a real bear.

“Is it alive?” Sissy asked, laughing. “I never saw one like that before.”

“My aunt gave it to me.” Garryd opened the door to Tweety’s cage. The bird flew out. Sissy pushed the bedroom door shut to confine the bird and tried to catch it. She was anxious to do the blood siblings ceremony, but she couldn’t catch the stupid bird. It flew around and around the room. Every time it landed somewhere, it flew again before they could get close enough to catch it. Sissy was getting more and more annoyed.

“We’ll never catch it,” she moaned.

Garryd’s arm shot out and he grabbed Tweety in mid-flight. “It’s easy,” he said, "if you really want to do it.”

Sissy was surprised and impressed, but eager to get on with the ceremony. “Do you have any alcohol, Garryd?” she asked, when Tweety was back in his cage.

They went in the bathroom together where Sissy wiped Garryd’s knife with alcohol, using toilet paper to clean it. Then she got her own knife out and showed it to Garryd. It was exactly like his. She smiled, wiping the blade with alcohol.

“It’s perfect that we have matching knives for the blood siblings ceremony.”

“Blood siblings? What’s that?”

“Siblings are brothers and sisters. We learned all about blood brothers and sisters last year in 4^th grade with Mr. Sharpe. We were studying Indians, Native Americans and reading lots of stories and we all got to have a blood brother or sister. They did it again this year but you just missed it, by coming late.”

“You didn’t tell me you had the same knife.”

“I wanted to surprise you! Let’s go up in the weeping willow in your backyard.”

Sitting on the branch opposite Garryd, Sissy instructed Garryd to take his knife and carefully cut her wrist. “Here,” she said, pointing. “Just a little cut. I don’t want to bleed to death.”

“I don’t want to cut you. I’d rather cut myself.”

“Come on, Garryd!” Sissy held out her wrist and Garryd made a small careful cut. A single drop of blood oozed from the incision. Sissy grabbed Garryd’s arm and cut a quick slice in the side of his wrist. It was small, but not as small as hers.

She picked up a drop of blood on his knife and he did the same. The pressed the drops together with the knives. “They used to press their cuts together to mingle the blood, but Mr. Sharpe said there is some disease you can get doing that, AIDS or something. He said never to let our blood mix inside our bodies.”

“What about transfusions, people in accidents and stuff?”

“I guess they look at the blood to see if it has germs. Some people die though, or they did, he said.” She touched her fingertip to the mixed blood after checking to see if there were any cuts on her finger. Then touched the mixed blood to his right cheek and kissed him on the left. “I hereby promise to be a faithful sister to you, forever and ever.”

Garryd solemnly followed her lead, doing the same, swearing to be her faithful brother. Then Sissy dug down in the pocket of her cut-offs and took out two rings. Each had a tear-shaped drop of bright red ceramic “blood” attached.

“Mom got these when she donated blood at the Red Cross,” she said. She slipped one on Garryd’s ring finger. It was a little loose. “You’ll have to put a little adhesive tape around the back,” she said.

“Okay.” Garryd slipped the other ring on her finger. “You’ll need a little tape too. I never had a sister before,” he added shyly.

“Well, I promise to make up for it. I’ll be an even better sister than a real sister.” The whistle was blowing shrilly next door. “I’ve got to go do chores now, Garryd, see you tomorrow.”

“What about the frog run you told Lyssa she could come on?”

“I don’t know, maybe we could let them go somewhere else.”

“I want to find out what’s in that cabin. I don’t think anyone lives there. Aren’t you curious?”

“Yes,” Sissy said nervously. “But I’m not supposed to go there. And . . . I’m scared, a little,” she admitted.

“Well, Sis, blood siblings or not, if you don’t want to go with me, I’m going by myself.”

“I guess I’ll probably go with you, Garryd. Yikes!” The whistle sounded again. “I’ve got to go. See you in the morning.”

Chapter 12; P365-07W

Drafts: Frog Haven, Chapter 10

I've been trying to work on these revisions of the Frog Haven Chapters through all the issues that have come up around my Mom's death, but I am way behind. I've done more work than I've had time to post.

Chapter 1, Chapter 2 and 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8 ,Chapter 9

Chapter 10: Monday

Usually, on school mornings, either Sissy called for Lyssa or Lyssa called for Sissy, depending on who was ready first. But today, everyone came out at once: Taylors, Mancinis, Webers, and Garryd Knudson (Sven had gone on the earlier bus with the bigger kids.) They walked the quarter mile to the bus stop in a big group, collecting Kelvin Moore, the McAllisters, the McKeevers, and David Fontenella [MNS1] [MNS2] as they went. They talked excitedly about the game last night, and decided they should have rematch, since the game had ended in a tie.

“The grown-ups won’t let us have a rematch with them until school’s over,” Lyssa pointed out. “According to them, we have to go to bed on time. Games with grown-ups can’t start until after dinner, since most of them work.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Paul LeFevre said, “Dumb grown-ups! They don’t know what’s important! Who cares about sleep?”

“Let’s schedule the game on Friday night—the last day of school. I bet we can talk the grown-ups into having a big picnic to celebrate. It can be a party, covered dish,” Sissy shouted excitedly.

“Great idea,” said Lyssa, with everyone else chiming in, too. “Yes, yes, let’s do it! The Great Van Vleck Drive Super End of the School Year Rematch Party.

The school bus pulled up while they were working out the details. For once, all the kids were in agreement and working toward a common goal. Even Lannie McAllister had some good ideas.

Sissy sat with Lyssa. Garryd sat in front of them with Michael and Kelvin Moore. Sissy leaned forward, “Who’s your teacher?”

“Mr. Sharpe.”

“Oh, he’s great. He’s the best teacher in the whole school, maybe the whole world. I had him last year. Too bad you will only have him for a week! I’ll take you to the room, okay?”

“Sure!”

On the way down the hall, Sissy asked Garryd if he wanted to make another frog run that afternoon. “Of course I do!”

“Okay, meetcha after I change my clothes. Hi, Mr. Sharpe! This is my good friend Garryd Knudson. He’s going to be in your class this week. Too bad he didn’t come sooner, because he’s really nice!”

“Hi Sissy, hello, Garryd. Nice to meet you. I think a lot of Sissy here,” he said, putting his arm around Sissy’s shoulder. “If Sissy likes you, you must be okay. Come in and meet the class. Thanks for bringing him down, Sissy.”

Lannie McKeever asked Lyssa and Sissy to stop in after school. “I can’t,” said Sissy, “I’ve already promised to do something else.”

“Not with the gang!” Lyssa exclaimed, in a horrified voice. “Bill told me some of the things they were doing at their fort.”

“No. In fact . . .” Sissy started, pausing to decide if she should tell them. “In fact, we’re going on an anti-gang mission, top secret!”

“Really? Oh, can we help?” Lyssa asked.

“Maybe tomorrow, if you really want to. If you promise not to tell, I will tell you what we’re doing. Lyssa and Lannie promised and crossed their hearts and hoped to die should they ever breathe a word of Sissy’s secret. She told them about how she and Garryd were rescuing the frogs. Lannie, who was extremely delicate about such matters thought it was wonderful but didn’t really want to help. Lyssa did.

“Stay here with Lannie today, and tomorrow you can help.” Sissy didn’t tell Lyssa, but she wanted to check with Garryd to make sure it was okay with him, and also, she wanted to have him to herself one more day. And then there were the sign language lessons, did she want to share those? And what if Lyssa told about Frog Haven?

Sissy had already wasted a lot of time talking to Lannie and Lyssa, so she ran all the way home. Papa was sitting on the front porch talking to the boys. She flung herself into his arms.

“Hi Sis.” He gave her a hug and set her down again. She ran around to the garage door and into the house. Taffy was out on her leash on the terrace. Sissy went out through the patio doors and stroked her fur. She greeted Petey on the way back in, checked her hamster, her mice, and her fish. She threw her clothes on the bed and jumped into her cut-offs and raccoon shirt. She picked up her Super Girl watch and deliberately put it on. Then she made two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on toasted rye. She picked out two of the best Empire apples from the bag in the fridge and put them in her backpack with her sandwiches and two juice boxes.

“I’m going out to play, Pa,” she said through the front screen door.

He turned and gave her a significant look, and then smiled. “Be home in time for dinner.”

Sissy held up the arm with the watch. “I will, Papa.” She turned and ran out the back door, through the garage and over to Garryd’s. Sven answered the door.

“Hi, Sissy. You’ll have to come in and wait a few minutes. Garryd is changing and hasn’t had his snack yet.”

“I made him a picnic snack, Sven, except, do you think he’ll like peanut butter and jelly on toasted rye?”

“Garryd will eat anything. Here, take this.” Sven opened Sissy’s backpack and stuffed in a bag of potato chips. Sissy wasn’t crazy about potato chips, but she knew other people liked them. They were okay. If she was hungry enough.

“Thanks, Sven.” He nodded and disappeared upstairs. Elke was standing in the kitchen smiling. Sissy wished she could say something to her, but she was afraid to try to spell anything, since she was unsure of the alphabet. She shifted from foot to foot, feeling awkward and embarrassed. A moment later, Garryd came clattering down the hall. “I’m starved,” he said, seeing that Sissy was already there.

“I packed us some chow,” Sissy said, pointing to her backpack.

“Good, let’s go.” Garryd signed goodbye to his Mom. They ran outside, grabbed the pails, and headed for Blackfords’ pond. Sissy had pictured a quick trip down the pond banks, but as they approached the pond, they could hear shouts of the gang members. They went carefully through the bushes and cattails until they could peer cautiously into the area of the fort and were surprised to discover that the gang was toasting hotdogs and marshmallows instead of torturing frogs. Marc and Michael weren’t there, but soon they could hear their voices approaching from behind. She and Garryd flung themselves into the cattails just in time, crouching absolutely silently until the two had safely passed. Marc was holding a bag that was about half full of marshmallows, and Michael had an aluminum foil packet that looked like it might contain hotdogs. He also had a bag with hotdog rolls and with some packets of catsup from McDonald’s showing through the bottom of the bag. Sissy felt a pang of left-outed-ness, but then realized she liked toasted peanut butter on rye better than hotdogs anyway.

The gang was so busy that Sissy and Garryd easily caught frogs on both sides of the pond around them. Then they headed down through the marshy area, collecting more frogs until they came to the barbed wire fence.

After they released the frogs into the haunted pond at Frog Haven, they walked to their sign-language log. Sissy took off her backpack and passed out the food. Garryd said grace and they ate their sandwiches.

“I’ve never had peanut butter and jelly on toasted rye before, but you’re right, Sissy, these are good!” Garryd shoved handfuls of potato chips into his mouth and Sissy daintily ate one at a time. It wasn’t that she was dainty; she just wasn’t fond of potato chips.

Garryd started the sign language lesson while they ate their apples. After they had gone over the alphabet twice and Garryd had tested her to see if she remembered it, Sissy said, “Teach me how to say “Hello” to your mother.”

Garryd smiled, “you say hello like this.”

Sissy tried it several times. “What else could I say to her? How about, ‘It’s nice to see you’ or something?”

“Wee, that’s a little harder. First you go like this, and then . . .”

“Look, that animal is back! We forgot to look it up in my book! Oh, I wonder what it is!” The sleek dark animal was sliding again. Garryd and Sissy stopped their sign language lesson and watched happily as the animal slid down the hill over and over in the same muddy slide. After a while, it swam the length of the pond past where they were sitting and climbed the bank by the road in the same undulating up-and-down motion it used when climbing the sliding hill. It crossed the road and disappeared in the direction of the other pond.

“Let’s explore the pond now, while all the animals are gone, so we don’t have to worry about scaring them, “ Sissy suggested.

“Good idea. Want me to carry your backpack?”

“Okay.” They started off along the shore in the opposite direction from the road. Soon, they came to a marshy, swampy area.

“Why don’t you take off your sneakers and put them in the backpack?” Sissy suggested. She was barefooted, as usual, and didn’t have to worry about getting her feet wet.

“I’m not used to going barefooted, and the rocks and sticks will hurt my feet.”

“We’ll go slowly.” Sissy checked her watch. We’ve still got lots of time.”

Garryd sat on a fallen log and took off his sneakers. He wiped them clean on some thick moss and put them in Sissy’s backpack, along with his socks.

“You go first,” Sissy said, “so I don’t go too fast for you.”

But the going was easy. There were no rocks down in the swamp and by avoiding the sharp sticks, they were able to move fairly quickly. Lots of frogs jumped into the water as they skirted the edge of the pond. Sissy wondered how many of them were from Blackfords’ pond.

At the very end of the pond furthest from the road, a small stream flowed out through the cattails into the cedars and then into the main woods beyond.

“I bed this is the stream that flows through the woods behind the butterfly field,” Sissy said, laughing, excited about their discovery. Garryd had never played there, had never been to those closer, safer woods. “I’ll have to take you there sometime. It’s pretty, and nice. We dam up the stream sometimes and catch the minnows. But we always let them go again. They can’t live in an aquarium. They need cold, running water.”

They walked along the squishy shore until the bank rose steeply. They climbed the bank and examined the muddy path that the animal had been sliding down. “I wish we could try it,” Garryd said, wistfully.

“Me, too,” Sissy said with enthusiasm. “But I don’t think we can. At least, I don’t see how.”

The bank was too steep to walk along, but the woods were open and park-like. Soon, they were back at the road.

“Look,” Sissy said, pointing. “There’s that skunk again.”

“Do you think it’s the same one?”

“I don’t know; it looks like it.” Sissy checked her watch. “We should start back in about 15 minutes so we don’t have to run all the way back.”

“Let’s walk along the shore of the other pond.”

“Okay.” Garryd led the way. Again, the walking was easy. The bank sloped gently down to the water and the trees grew all the way to the edge of the pond. The pond was long and narrow. It went around the bend and disappeared from sight in the trees. On the opposite shore, a hill rose in the woods.

“Let’s turn back when we get to the big boulder where the pond turns to the right,” Sissy suggested.

“Okay.”

When they got to the boulder, it was nearly as tall as they were. A small yellow birch grew beside it and the branches formed a perfect ladder. Garryd climbed up and Sissy followed. The top of the rock had a thick layer of moss like a plush carpet. Both children lay on their backs and stared at the sky through the trees.

“Wow!” Sissy said. “This is great. Tomorrow, let’s have out lunch and lesson here.”

“Maybe we can come back for a little while after supper,” Garryd said, turning over on his stomach and staring out toward the pond.

“I don’t think so. There probably won’t be enough time. I have to be in bed at 8:00. Garryd, would you mind if Lyssa came along on our next frog rescue operation? She asked me if she could, but I told her I’d have to check with you first.”

“Sure, that’s okay, if she likes animals and wants to help. It’d be nice to have help.”

Sissy breathed a sigh of relief but at the same time felt terribly disappointed. She knew she was being silly, but it seemed special to have Garryd all to herself. “Lyssa wanted to come. She’ll be glad you said it was okay.”

“Sissy, look!” Sissy rolled over onto her stomach and looked where Garryd was pointing. Across the pond on the hill on the woods was a cabin.

---

[MNS1]Make sure to mention David Fontella (or Paul F?) earllier, in several places! AT THE GAME (s)

[MNS2]

Please forgive me for saying this if you are a sweet innocent reader: I hope you are.

But I got a message saying I should be careful because soemone might see this and steal it. I thought I'd let that someone know it has already been seen and commented on by Scholastic Books and others and I am drafting it for the next send out. It is already known in the publishing world, so please don't consider stealing it. (I got a VERY NICE rejection letter from Scholastic books. They had read it carefully and commented on it wonderfully.)

On the other hand, if you ARE an innocent reader, and we'll assume you are, and you'd like to make comments, helpful critiques, point out things that still need attention, please do.

Drafts: Frog Haven Chapter 9

Chapter 1, Chapter 2 and 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8

Chapter 9: The Animal and the Game

The animal looked as if it might be the size of a beaver, only its tail was round rather than flat. It splashed into the water, bobbed up and down like a seal a few times, and emerged sleek and dripping to run up the hill in smooth bounding leaps. It flung itself down the slide again, much like a child would.

“I think it’s playing,” Garryd breathed. “I didn’t know animals played like that.”

“Kittens and puppies do.”

“Yes, but this is a wild animal, and I bet it’s an adult.”

“Why?”

“Because baby animals are usually with their parents.” The animal was running up the hill again.

“You’re right,” Sissy said, “I wonder what it is. Let’s try to get a good look at it. We’ll have to figure it out for ourselves, or else we’ll have to tell my parents we disobeyed them cause they’ll ask were we saw it. I have a mammal field guide. It shouldn’t be too hard to figure out what it is[MNS1] .”

“That looks like fun,” Garryd commented.

“Yes, it does! I wish we could do it!” They sat and quietly watched the animal, which swamp lazily around the pond and then started sliding again.

Suddenly, Sissy had an awful feeling. She looked at her watch. It said 5:20. “We have to run, Garryd. If I am late again, I’m going to be in BIG trouble!”

“We’ll never make it; it’s too far,” Garryd was objecting as Sissy was scrambling to her feet. Sissy didn’t stop to argue. She took off at a run, pumping her legs as fast as she could. Running fast was not Sissy’s best skill, but she was good at running far without getting tired. Garryd passed her right away, pulled farther away, and ran ahead for a while, out across the pastures toward the dirt cliffs. Soon, however, he began to tire, and Sissy caught up with him and pulled ahead. Sissy wasn’t trying to race Garryd; she just wanted to be home by 5:30. And she didn’t want to leave him behind.

“Come on Garryd, hurry!”

Garryd moaned and put on a little burst of speed. Sissy’s lungs were burning. The cliff was just ahead. She scrambled up, flung herself on the ground, and rolled under the bottom wire. She was up and running without a pause. Garryd tried to go over the fence and caught his shorts, ripping a big ragged hole in the seat. They ran past the arboretum, the swings, the vegetable gardens, the orchard, the ball field, and up the little hill by the flower gardens. “See you later, Garryd,” Sissy gasped, flinging the words behind her. She burst into the house just as the mantle clock was chiming 5:30.

“I’m home,” she croaked.

“What did you do, run the Boston Marathon?” her father asked. “You are dripping with sweat. It’s a bath for you, right after supper.”

“Oh, Papa, do I have to? Can’t I play first, for a little while?” Sissy panted, still not recovered from the run. She had a stitch in her side and her lungs were burning.

“Go wash your hands. We’ll talk about it after supper.”

They had egg foo young for supper. Mom often made egg foo young or omelets or pancakes after Church dinners on Sundays. Egg foo young was her Mom’s favorite, because it was healthy but light. Sissy ate quietly for a few minutes, still catching her breath.

Then she said, “Hey Pa, why don’t we have a ball game tonight? The Knudsons have never played with us. Dr. Taylor, Mr. LeFevre, the other grownups and you could all play too.”

“Good idea,” said Marc, “dibs on Sven if he’ll play.”

“Dibs on Garryd,” Sissy said.

“Wait a minute, you guys are filthy and you have school tomorrow. You can’t stay up late. Ball games are for Friday and Saturday nights only.”

“How about a short game?” asked Michael. Michael was often the peacemaker.

“YEAH!” Sissy and Marc chanted simultaneously.

“Okay, but just four innings, and only if you guys can get it going by 6:30.”

“Hurray!” Usually, Sunday nights were a bore with baths and getting organized for school.

“I’ll check with Garryd and Sven!” Sissy shouted.

“I’ll do the LeFevres,” said Marc.

“I’ll call Kelvin Moore,” said Michael, grinning. Kelvin was an only child and had decided to adopt Michael as his pretend younger brother. He was always really nice to Michael.

“I’ll call Dr. Taylor and invite them,” said Papa.

“I’ll call the McAllister’s,” said Mom.

“I’ll call first and get the bats and balls after,” Michael said. He was always eager to help.

Garryd could play. Sven agreed to play, even though he’d be the oldest kid, and Nels decided to join them too, when Garryd explained Sissy’s request. Garryd said his father could play pretty well—he just had to watch more carefully than anyone else. Garryd and Sissy ran over to get Lyssa and Bill, even though his father said he’d call. By some miracle, everyone could come, and the game got going before 6:30.

Mom, in sympathy for Elke, decided that none of the Moms would play. She set up a card table with coffee, brownies and sugar cookies, and the Mom’s kept score and sat with Elke. Between innings, the kids and Dads raided the cookies. Mrs. Doolittle[MNS2] came over even though she didn’t have any kids, because she knew a little sign language and could interpret a little for Elke. Word spread fast on Van Vleck Drive. Mrs. Doolittle brought her famous lace cookies and added them to Mom’s cookies.

Sissy was psyched because she hit a home run in the first inning, driving in Bill and Guy LeFevre. Garryd hit a triple and drove in Michael. Nels hit a homer and drove in Garryd. Sissy’s father hit a double, but then Sissy hit a fly ball and Dr. Taylor caught it. Garryd hit a line drive to Sven who was pitching. Bill bunted and Paul grabbed the ball and tagged him.

The other team tied the game, and at the end of the fourth inning, it was still tied, so they had to play another inning. It was still tied at the end of the seventh inning and was getting dark. Finally, they had to call the game.

“We should have called it at the end of the fourth like we agreed,” Papa complained.

“No, it was a great game!”

“Well, make you showers quick, and get in bed.”

“Okay, Papa, and Pa,” she said, throwing her arms around him, “thanks for the game. Thanks a lot!”

Sissy’s father picked her up, hugged her, swung her around and around, and set her down again.

“You’re welcome honey.”

“I love you, Papa.”

“I love you, too, sweetheart.”

When Sissy climbed into bed, she couldn’t find her pillow. She knew she had done something with it, but she couldn’t remember what. Oh, yeah. She had stuffed it under her bed. Sleepily, she got up, took off the dirty pillowcase, and stuffed it back under the bed. I’ll take care of it in the morning, she thought, half asleep. In the dining room, she reached into the linen closet for a clean pillowcase. Papa hadn’t found a new box for them since the starling [MNS3] inhabited the old one, and they all fell out on the floor. After she grabbed one from the heap, she shoved the wad back in the closet.

“Sissy, why are you still awake?” her Mom asked, as she emerged from the bathroom. “Oh, I guess you’re not, goodnight, honey.” She gave Sissy a kiss, carried her back into her room with her pillow in tow, and tucked her in. Sissy was sound asleep before her mother had the covers up.

---

[MNS1]Sissy nature notebook (later or earlier?)

[MNS2]The Chapter originally mentioning Mrs. Doolittle was deleted. Add Chapter back in or check for earlier references or Delete Mrs. Doolittle

[MNS3]Note reference to starling again—remove or elaborate, as that chapter was deleted. Or, add chapter back in.

Chapter 10

Drafts: Frog Haven, Chapter 8

Chapter 8: The Interrupted Lesson

Sunday morning, Sissy sat in her usual spot next to Lyssa in the fourth pew. By craning her neck, which of course was against the rules, she managed to watch the people coming into the church. LeFevres took their usual spot near the back. Sissy thought that this was so that they could make a hasty exit of any of the kids was disturbing the peace. Paul and Guy had two younger brothers and a baby sister. Sissy was surprised to see Garryd and his family come in, a few minutes later. Garryd hadn’t mentioned anything about church, but then again, Sissy hadn’t mentioned it either.

The Knudsons sat in the pew behind the Taylors and Mancinis. Sissy did the introductions and Garryd interpreted for his parents. Sissy learned that Garryd’s parents’ names were Nels and Elke. When they rose for the first hymn, Sissy was sorry that Nels and Elke couldn’t hear it. The sound of singing filled the church, the sun shone through the stained glass windows, and it seemed as if God himself was contained in the song. Sissy wondered what it would be like to be standing there not hearing anything, but she couldn’t shut out the glorious swelling of song. She tried shutting her eyes, but that just made the singing stronger.

When Reverend Gordon began to preach, Sissy turned and saw Garryd signing to his parents. Sissy could see what an advantage knowing sign language would be in school, if she wanted to talk to her friends when the teacher wasn’t looking. She decided to ask Garryd to teach her. She watched him interpreting the small sermon and wondered if he would go to Sunday school with the kids or stay and do the big sermon. She was glad to see him go out but disappointed when she realized that he wouldn’t be in her class.

“Who’s going to help your parents now?”

“Sven. He thinks he’s too old for Sunday school. That’s okay with me. The big sermon is usually boring. At least it was at our old church. I’d rather let him do it. Only thing is, he’s not as good at it as I am. But he’s good enough, I guess.” Miss Quigley stuck her head out of the room and Lyssa and Sissy ducked in, after showing Garryd his room. When they peeked in, they saw Paul and Marc dancing around poking at each other and Bill sitting with his head down looking embarrassed.

It was church-dinner Sunday, and Mom’s covered dish of Spam-goulash (one of Sissy’s favorites) was down in the warming oven, along with Papa’s strawberry-rhubarb pie. Lyssa and Sissy were in the serving group, so they had to wait to eat. Sissy was so hungry she could hardly stand to wait, but once they started carrying the dishes around, she didn’t have time to think about it.

The Knudson’s stayed to dinner and Reverend Gordon welcomed them and introduced them. Nels stood up and smiled his wonderful smile and bowed to everyone. Elke looked terribly shy, Sven looked embarrassed, and Garryd just grinned his winning freckle-faced smile. In spite of the fact that Nels and Elke were grown-ups and parents, and Sissy was just a kid, she felt protective of the Knudsons. She wasn’t sure what they needed to be protected from, but she didn’t want them to be hurt. She claimed their table and brought them plates with lots of the best stuff. Then she brought her own food and sat next to Garryd. Lyssa joined them.

She and Lyssa had to eat fast, because everyone else was almost ready for dessert. Paul nabbed three pieces of pie off her tray and she nearly dropped it trying to kick him. “They’re for my parents,” he said, grinning. He sat on the heaters by the window and ale all three. Then he nabbed two more off Lyssa’s tray.

Sissy saved Lyssa, Garryd and herself a piece of Papa’s strawberry rhubarb pie. Garryd asked her to get them pieces of his Mom’s lemon meringue pie, so she did. Then Lyssa insisted that they try her Dad’s chocolate mousse. It was wonderful, absolutely heavenly, but Sissy felt a little ill after all those desserts. She was glad she wasn’t on the clean-up crew and they got to leave early. On the way out, she snickered watching Paul LeFevre mopping up with a mop three times as big as he was.

After Church, Sissy flung her dress on the bed and got into her favorite cut-offs and her whale T-shirt. “Hang up your dress,” her mom called, as she passed Sissy’s room on the way to her own. Sissy had been all set to leave. She groaned and flopped the dumb old dress onto a hanger and into the back of the closet. She hadn’t zipped it up and it fell off. She started to shut the closet door, but decided she’d better re-hang it in case her mother checked. She might think she’d thrown it on the floor on purpose.

“I’m going out to play,” Sissy called, shutting the screen door carefully behind her.

“Be home in time for supper.”

Sissy went back in and got her Super Girl watch off her vanity and put it on. She checked the time against the clock in the kitchen. It was right.

Sissy pounded on Knudson’s door. She wondered how Nels and Elke would know if she were knock if Garryd and Sven weren’t home. But they were. Sven came to the door and called Garryd. He had his play clothes on and was ready to go. He started out the door with Sissy, but his parents were both signing wildly. Because his back was turned and he couldn’t see them, Sissy told him. Signing definitely had its disadvantages, Sissy realized.

Sissy watched Garryd and his parents signing back and forth. He could tell by the expression on his mother’s face that she was upset about something.

“What are they saying?” she asked Sven.

“They are telling him not to be late again. Mom was so worried about him. She was afraid he’s be lost, since he doesn’t know his way around yet.”

“I’m sorry. It was partly my fault,” Sissy said. But not entirely, she thought to herself, since Garryd was the one who had insisted on going back to the Haunted Ponds at Frog Haven. She was glad they had, though, glad they saw the heron and the beaver.

Sissy walked up to Nels and held up her arm, pointing to her watch. She picked up a pen and a piece of paper and wrote, “What time do you want him home? I have to be home at 5:30.”

Nels nodded and grinned. He nodded again and wrote, “Good.” Elke looked puzzled. Garryd signed to her.

“What are you saying to her?” Sissy asked, realizing the grown-ups couldn’t here her being nosy and rude.

“I’m just telling her that you have a watch and we’ll be home at 5:30. She says ‘be careful’ and I say I will. And, ‘don’t worry, Mom.’ I say ‘I’m sorry, I’ll be more careful.’ She says ‘okay, good.’ We’re saying goodbye now.” Garryd waved to his Dad and Sissy and he left through the garage.

“Let’s do a frog rescue run,” Garryd said.

“Okay,” Sissy agreed. They got their pails out from under the bushel baskets, yanked them apart and headed for Blackfords’ Pond.

“Can you teach me sign language?” Sissy asked as they walked along through the far backyards, jumping over flower gardens and skirting hedges.

“Sure, when do you want your first lesson?”

“When we get to the Haunted Ponds at Frog Haven, after we let the frogs go.”

“Okay, deal.”

“Deal!” They shook on it.

Frog hunting at Blackfords’ pond was relatively uneventful. The gang was not around. Sissy told Garryd he thought maybe they were playing baseball behind McNallys’.

“Maybe they’ll let us play sometime.”

“Of course they’ll let us play. I’m a good hitter, a good thrower (usually), and a pretty good fielder. I can catch a high fly or a lob, but sometimes I get scared if someone hits a line drive right at me. I run okay, and can sometimes steal a good base. How about you?”

“Yeah. I’m pretty good.”

Sissy climbed up to check the baby cardinals. There was only one in the nest and it had all it’s feathers. She looked around and spotted a baby on a branch near the nest and another farther down. As she and Garryd were watching, one took off and flew to another branch. It flew in a soft fluttering flight, not like the sure flight of the adults.

“I hope the gang plays baseball all afternoon. I don’t want them to find these babies.”

Sissy walked down one side of the pond and Garryd walked down the other. When they arrived at the fence, their pails were full of frogs, and there were lots more that had gotten away into the depths of the pond. Sissy was beginning to think that Blackfords’ Pond had an endless supply of frogs. Or perhaps they were coming back again at night. But it was too far. How would the frogs find their way back, anyway?

There certainly were thousands of tadpoles. But could there be thousands of frogs. Still, it didn’t matter how many frogs there were, killing for pleasure was still wrong.

They let the frogs go at the same frog-launching site. The beaver was nowhere to be seen, and neither was the heron. Sissy was disappointed. They walked along the shore of the pond toward the lower swampy section that was farthest from the road. Just before they reached the really swampy part, there was a sunny knoll.

“That’s a good spot for my sign-language lesson,” Sissy said, pointing. They went over and sat down on a wide dry log that was angled in such a way that they were looking down the whole length of the pond. Nothing seemed to be moving except an occasional dimple as a tadpole rose to the surface and settled back down.

“We’ll start with the alphabet,” Garryd said. “This is an ‘A’.” Sissy tried to imitate his signs and Garryd corrected her. They went through the alphabet three times with Sissy copying Garryd. The third time through, he told her some of the other meanings of the letters.

“This,” he said, crossing his first two fingers to make the sign for ‘r” and shaking them rapidly back and forth, means you have to use the restroom. Or, you could do it with a T,” he demonstrated, “which means you have to use the toilet or a ‘B’, which means you, have to use the bathroom. Sissy laughed and practiced each of them.

“This is fun,” Sissy said, “but I don’t know if I’ll be able to remember them.”

“I’ll help you,” Garryd assured her. “You’ll do fine.”

“Look, what’s that?” Sissy whispered, pointing down the length of the pond and across to the steep opposite bank. A dark animal slid down a long muddy path on the bank[MNS1] .

---

[MNS1]Pictures of Sissy and Garryd having the sign language lesson would be good here—or Sissy could keep a journal and make a drawing herself. Include sign language symbols for the alphabet and a few others—but not too many.

Chapter 9; P365-07W

Drafts: Frog Haven, Chapter 7

"Today" at 2 AM my mom died and I haven't done any more work on the novel. There are still a lot of notifications and arrangements to do, but I'm trying to take a little time for the novel. (I'm back posting this)

(chapter 6)(Chapter 1)

Chapter 7: Frog Haven

“What about the frogs?” Sissy finally asked, surprised when she thought of it that she’d gotten so distracted from their original mission. “Did you find a safe place to let them go?”

“I sure did! I found a great pond. It was big and beautiful. It was just a little bit beyond the dump. There were lots of trees at this end and it was swampy and more open at the other end. I saw ‘coon tracks, though.”

“Well, there are ‘coons at Blackfords’ Pond, and heron’s and stuff, too. Frogs have lots of enemies. But raccoons kill them for food, and that’s a lot different than killing out of meanness. Just for fun, if you call that fun. Fairer, too.”

“You really ought to see the ponds. There’s another one on the other side of the road. It looked like it was even bigger. It kind of went around a corner and I couldn’t see it all. I wanted to explore it, but I didn’t want to keep you waiting. Then, on the way back, I saw the fox when I stopped to check out the bottles. Really, Sissy, we should go back and explore.”

“Well, maybe, Garryd. I don’t like to do stuff I’m not supposed to do. Let me think about it a little, okay?”

“Sure, but if you don’t want to go, I’m going to go by myself.”

“Don’t take any of the gang with you, though, if I don’t go. Or tell them about it.”

“Don’t worry! The frogs are safe. I always keep my promises, and besides, I don’t want them killed any more than you do, Sissy!”

When they got to the dirt cliff, Garryd took the pail up and then came back down to help Sissy get the fox up. When they dragged it as far as the orchard, Sissy said, “Let’s bury it here.” She ran up and got a shovel from the garage and they took turns digging. The soil was soft sand so it didn’t take too long to dig a shallow grave for the fox and bury it. Sissy marked the head of the fox with a cairn of rocks so they could dig it up again later.

“Let’s go back to Frog Haven and the Haunted Forest right now, Sissy!” Garryd said.

“What do you mean, the Haunted Forest?” Sissy asked, a small shiver running down her spine.

“I was just joking. Because of the dead fox. It’s haunted with the fox-ghost, and besides, if we call it that, and the kids were scared to go there before, now they’ll really be scared. That is, they would be if we told them, but we won’t tell them,” he quickly amended, seeing the look on Sissy’s face.

“And what do you mean, Frog Haven?” Sissy wondered aloud.

“Well, when we lived in Florida, there was a place called Pelican Haven, where the pelicans were safe from being bothered. If they can have a Pelican Haven, why not a Frog Haven?”

“Good idea, it’s official, then.” Sissy smiled and reached out to shake Garryd’s hand.

“Come on! Let’s go back,” Garryd repeated.

“What time is it?” Sissy looked at her wrist, but her Super Girl watch wasn’t there. “Well, okay, I guess we can go now. But we’d better not stay long. I think it might be getting late, and I’ll get in trouble if I’m late to dinner.” They started back down the path through the yard, with Sissy dragging a little. She didn’t have the same enthusiasm she had when they were starting out to free the frogs. She was nervous, lacked the same sense of purpose, and was feeling a little tired, too.

“Why don’t we go by way of Blackfords’ pond and take another load of frogs?” she suggested.

“Good idea!” They veered left and headed toward Moores’.

“Watch for the boys. Maybe we can cop another pail so we can both take one.”

As they approached Blackfords’ pond, they heard the boy’s voices, laughing, and shouts of victory. They peered through the cattails and found the gang spearing frogs. They were using what looked like ski poles without baskets. Paul LeFevre shouted from across the pond, and Sissy looked toward him. He had three frogs speared on his pole and the one on the bottom was still kicking and thrashing.

Sissy turned quickly away, feeling sick, grossed out, and angry. Garryd just stood there staring. He looked as if he were about to charge into the middle of the gang, fists flailing. Sissy didn’t think that would help.

“Come on,” she hissed, dragging him away by the arm. She took him to the fort. They left the bucket with the crack and took two good buckets. And two lids. They headed down the pond side toward Dzabel’s, catching as many frogs as they could. They also caught some fat bullfrog tadpoles. By the time they got to the fence, the bottoms of their pails were covered solidly with frogs and tadpoles.

Garryd was right, of course. The first pond was just beyond the dump. The shape of the hill and the hemlocks growing there had hidden it from view. Near the road, the bank dropped sharply down to and into the water and there was no spot to stand near the shore. Sissy could see that farther down, the ground was flatter. She headed that way with her pail. She heard a giant splash and looked up in time to see a beaver slapping his tail on the water. A moment later, he resurfaced and looked at them again. Seeing that they were still there, he slapped his tail again. He did this three more times, and then climbed up onto a small island and began chewing the base of a young yellow birch.

Sissy fingered a little white medallion that she wore at the base of her throat, saying, “Thank you, St. Francis,” in a quiet whisper.

“St. Francis?”

“Yes, you know, he talks to the animals. If I could have one wish, I would wish to be able to talk to the animals.” Garryd was looking at the medallion, which she still held in her free hand. “Oh, my grandmother gave me this. She’s Roman Catholic. She gave it to me because she knows how much I love animals. See, it’s St. Francis talking to the birds.”

“Wow, that’s really cool,” breathed Garryd, “do you think she’d give me one, if I were her grandson?”

“Oh, I’m sure she would. She’s a great Grandma! I mean a wonderful grandmother. She won’t be a great grandma until one of us has kids.”

“They walked slowly down the shore. The beaver didn’t move. He stared at them and then casually went on chewing the yellow birch. They slowly and carefully laid their pails on their sides at the edge of the pond and watched the frogs leap out of the pail and the tadpoles swim out of sight to the bottom of the pond. Most of the frogs followed suit. Some resurfaced and stuck their heads out, dangling their legs down into the water. Tadpoles began emerging from under leaves and submerged branches. The children sat on the damp ground and watched the beaver, the frogs and tadpoles in silence. Thrushes sang in the woods, and a veery called.

After a few minutes, Garryd reached out and touched Sissy’s arm. A heron had landed behind her, only a few feet away. The frogs dove into the pond again. Sissy sat absolutely still. The heron took three steps in their direction. Suddenly, the long neck shot out. The beak plunged into the water like a spear and came up with a fish. Sissy was glad it was a fish and not one of the frogs they had just brought. She knew some of them would be eaten. Some would have been eaten at their old home, too. But after she rescued them, she didn’t want to see it happen immediately.

Garryd and Sissy watched as the heron swallowed the fish. Sissy was straining her eyes to see, and then she realized it was almost dark. She had missed supper and her parents would be worried and angry. She jumped up, sending the heron squawking off and the beaver splashing into the dark water.

“Garryd, it’s dark! We’ve got to hurry back!” They started off through the woods running, but it was too dark to run. Instead, they had to walk slowly, because it was darker in the woods than it had been by the pond where it was more open. If they hurried too much, they smashed into bushes and prickers. Sissy had bare feet and couldn’t see to pick a safe trail. Luckily, her feet were already getting tough, as they did every year in the spring.

Once they got out into the pastures, they began to run again. It was easy, running in the sort cropped grass, but once, Sissy stepped in a cow flop in her bare feet. Garryd laughed, but a moment later, he stepped in one, slipped, and sat down in it. Then it was Sissy’s turn to laugh.

Sissy stacked the pails and stashed them under a pile of bushel baskets behind the garage and dashed into the house.

“Sissy, where have you been? We’ve been looking all over for you! Garryd’s parents are frantic, especially his mother! What a way to welcome our new neighbors! Where have you been?” Mom was steamed. Sissy could tell she’d been worried about her.

“Down at the pond,” Sissy said, waving in the general direction of Frog Haven and The Haunted Forest, which was also, luckily, the direction of Dzabel’s Ponds. “We were watching a heron. It caught a fish. It was only a few feet away and I could see it swallow. We were trying not to move and scare it. We were so excited we forgot about the time. I’m really sorry, Mom. I didn’t mean to be late, really.”

Sissy could tell that her mom was calmed by the news about the heron. Mom loved herons and all of nature and loved having Sissy enjoy it too.

“Well, be more careful next time. You’re not supposed to go out of range of the whistle—listen for it. See that this doesn’t happen again. Maybe you should wear your watch.”

Papa came in and started in on her again. Mom stopped him and told him about the heron. “Don’t let it happen again,” he said, firmly but not angrily. “We were really worried. You’re lucky it’s a Saturday night and not a school night. If it happens again, we’ll have to punish you.”

“Okay, Papa, I’ll try to be more careful,” Sissy promised. He got her supper out of the oven where it had been staying warm. Sissy realized she was famished. It was just macaroni and cheese, and it was dry and crunchy, but it tasted heavenly to Sissy.

Sissy worried as she ate that somehow, her parents would find out where she had been. Should she just tell them and get it over with? But she was afraid, so she ate her supper quietly and headed for her room.

“Not so fast, young lady. First, take a quick but thorough shower. You are filthy.”

When Sissy got in bed, her pillow was missing. She knew she had done something with it, but was too tired to remember what.

Chapter 8; P365-07W