by Mary Bard
Sometimes they went to the museums or to the zoo. Sometimes they just took a bus and rode to the end of the line. The bus trips were fun because they found fishing fleets and lumber mills, and once they found a glass blower and a lady who raised lovebirds. Suzie could never make up her mind whether she liked the rainy or the sunny Saturdays best.
On this Saturday morning, however, Suzie was so excited about Co Co that she couldn’t concentrate on her chores and kept following her mother around asking questions about the Langdons. Most of the things her mother told her she already knew as well as she knew the days of the week—the Langdons and the Wellses were pioneer families—they had bought adjoining farms when Seattle was still a village. Bill Langdon was an only child who had spent most of his time at the Wellses’ house because he was lonely.
Suzie kept asking questions until her mother finally said, “I’ve really told you all I know about the Langdons. Now hurry, darling.”
Suzie peered around a dishtowel she was hanging on the line. “Didn’t Mr. Langdon even write and tell you Co Co was born?” She watched her mother’s face carefully as she asked this question.
Suzie’s mother said, “No darling, and there was really no reason why he should. When grown people do not see each other for a long time, they don’t always write letters.”
“But Mother, you said he was just like your brother.”
Suzie’s mother sighed. “If we’re going to get the weeding done, we’d better get started.”
Suzie picked up her basket of gardening tools and knelt down beside her flower bed. She planted a row of nasturtiums and thought about the Langdons. If Mr. Langdon went away and didn’t write and hurt their feelings, then why did they act so glad to see him? She sighed. “Sometimes I think I’ll never understand grown people.”
She looked over her seed packages and decided to plant a row of bachelor’s buttons for Mr. Langdon. She was wondering if a man whose wife died turned into a bachelor again, when she was startled to hear, “Bonjour, my best friend. How are you this morning?”
She turned around and there was Co Co, wearing a new red plaid shirt, jeans, and loafers.
“Hi, Co Co. Your new outfit is neat. Where’d you get it?”
“I went to the shops this morning and said I wished to buy an American costume for play. It was a little difficult. I did not know all the words and the clerks did not seem to understand.”
Suzie grinned as she remembered Co Co’s confusing way of speaking half French and half English. She said, “You certainly did well. I wish I had a shirt like that.”
Co Co handed her a package. “Ho-ho, but you have. I wished my twin to look like me.”
Suzie ripped open the package and there was a blue plaid shirt just like Co Co’s, and new studded jeans. “Co Co, how neat! Thank you ever so much.”
“It is nothing. Papa said I could buy a present for my best friend.” Co Co knelt down beside Suzie. “And what is it that we plant this morning?”
“Nasturtiums and bachelor’s buttons, but let’s go show my new outfit to Mother.”
Suzie’s mother exclaimed over the present and said, “Co Co, you are very chic this morning.”
Co Co curtsied and then looked surprised. “These jeans—they do not make the curtsy.”
Suzie’s mother said, “Suzie, perhaps Co Co would like to have dinner with us tonight and go to a movie.”
Co Co curtsied again and this time Suzie couldn’t suppress a giggle. Co Co did look so strange, trying to hold out the sides of her jeans, as she said, “Merci, Madame, for the invitation and thank you also Suzie, but I am already engaged. Papa receives some guests this evening and Mademoiselle would not excuse me. Perhaps another time I may accept your kind invitation.”
Co Co stamped her foot as she heard Mademoiselle calling, “Clothilde? Clothilde? Venez ici! Clothilde? Clothilde?” She said, “Au revoir. Mademoiselle will scold if I do not come quickly.” She curtsied and ran out of the garden.
All the time Suzie and her mother were shopping Suzie thought about Co Co. She asked anxiously, “Mother, if I took Co Co to school with me, do you think the Select Seven would make fun of her?”
Suzie’s mother said she doubted it. Children were usually fascinated with a new child and made her the center of attention. She added, “And of course she’ll have you there to protect her.”
The idea of protecting Co Co made Suzie feel so warm in her heart that she even told her mother that sometimes she wished she was a regular mother and not a teacher and about how hard it was to be a good student and yet not turn into a “teacher’s pet.”
Her mother said she realized Suzie’s problem, but now that she had Co Co to play with, she didn’t think it would bother her so much.
“Gosh, Mother, having a best friend makes me feel good. I don’t even care about Millicent and the Select Seven anymore.”
They spent the afternoon at the museum seeing how many French pictures they could find and talking about all the countries Co Co had visited. “Boy! I’ll bet I’ll even like social studies now that the countries seem real and not just colored spots on the map,” Suzie said.
At about six, Suzie’s mother was putting on her hat and Suzie was hopping around the front hall saying, “Hurry up, Mother. You know perfectly well we’ll miss the beginning and you know perfectly well you won’t want to stay through the second feature. Hurry up, Mother—” when the doorbell rang. “Oh, Mother, don’t answer it. You know perfectly well it will be one of your friends and you’ll have to talk for ages and ages. This is a pioneer movie and Miss Morrison practically told us to go. Oh, Mother . . .”
Suzie’s mother opened the front door and there stood Co Co, dressed as she had been the first time Suzie saw her.
“Bonsoir. May I join you for dinner and the cinema? Mademoiselle does not approve of my asking for the invitation, but Papa says we are in America now and there is the difference. He says his guests will discuss engineering and in America, the gentlemen prefer not to have ladies present when they discuss business.”
Meanwhile Suzie was looking Co Co over enviously. “Gosh, you look grown up. I wish I had shoes with heels.”
And Co Co was looking Suzie over equally carefully. “Is that the costume you will wear for dinner and the cinema?”
“Sure. It’s just a neighborhood movie. I always wear just a sweater and skirt and my school coat.”
Co Co said, “Would it inconvenience you, Madame, if I stopped at the hotel for a moment? I must speak to Papa.”
They stopped at the hotel and Co Co came back wearing a sweater and skirt, a brown tweed coat, and her new loafers. She said breathlessly, “I hope I did not delay you, but Mademoiselle says it is courteous to dress in the fashion of the country in which one lives. I am so excited! This is my first American engagement.”
“We’ll make it as American as possible then,” Suzie’s mother said as they drove to a drive-in restaurant.
When the waitress came out to get their orders, she handed each of them a menu and said, “What’ll it be, folks? I’ll be back in a jiffy.”
Co Co grinned. “We are folks then.” She giggled. “I like that word ‘jeefy.’ I will remember him.” She read the menu for a long time and Suzie could hear her reading under her breath “’amburger,” “cheeseburger,” “’ot dog,” “jumbo ’amburger.” Finally she sighed and shook her head. “I am afraid I do not know these words. I believe you must order the dinner for me.”
Suzie’s mother ordered three jumbo hamburgers, three green salads, and three chocolate ice cream sodas. When the waitress brought the trays and hooked them to the doors of the car, she said, “There now. Everything okey-dokey?” Co Co chuckled and answered, “Everything is indeed okey-dokey, merci beaucoup,” at which the waitress looked so surprised that Suzie giggled.
Co Co was enchanted with the drive-in. She watched Suzie unwrap the top of her hamburger and take an enormous bite. Then she picked up her own hamburger and peered inside of it. “A l
ittle roll with meat in the middle. C’est formidable!” She watched Suzie unwrap her straws and take a drink of her soda, but when she also took a big swallow, she sneezed. “It tickles my nose, but is delicious.” She took another swallow and made such loud gargling sounds that they both giggled helplessly.
Finally Suzie’s mother announced they’d better get started or she wouldn’t guarantee that she wouldn’t fall asleep during the second feature. They started north on the highway and Suzie said, “Mother, where on earth are you going? This isn’t the way to the movie.”
Suzie’s mother smiled. “Wait and see. Curiosity killed the cat, remember.”
Co Co said, “It killed the cat of my father also. He says that when I ask questions.”
When they came to a high board fence and Suzie’s mother turned the car into a drive-in theater, Suzie was delighted. “Oh goodie! I’ve never been to one of these, and I’ve always wanted to go. And they’ve got the very same pioneer movie. How neat!”
Suzie’s mother bought them each a bag of popcorn and they settled back comfortably in the car. The pioneer movie was in color with lots of shooting and riding. Again Suzie heard Co Co translating under her breath, so she asked, “How do you say ‘chuck-wagon’ in French?”
Co Co said quickly, “Sh, or I will lose myself.”
The second feature was a mystery which had so much sneaking through dark buildings and so many careening cars, that Co Co had no difficulty following the action.
When the cartoon came on, Co Co watched it for a few moments and then exclaimed, “But we have these little animals in Paris also, but they speak French! How quick they are and how intelligent to speak English here.”
It was almost twelve o’clock when they stopped in front of the hotel. The doorman opened the door and said, “Good evening. Good evening Mademoiselle Co Co. Did you enjoy your first American evening?”
Co Co said, “Oh, Henri, it was delightful and very, very American. It was okey-dokey!”
Chapter Four
Co Co Attends the School
Monday morning Suzie came down early and prowled around the kitchen muttering, “Grandmother, what if Co Co is late? Yes, but what if she doesn’t know how awful it is if you’re late? Yes, but I’ve never been tardy. Yes, but what if they make fun of her accent? Oh, I do wish she’d hurry.”
Finally Grandmother said, “Sit down, Suzie, and drink your orange juice and Co Co will be here before you can say Jack Robinson.”
Before Grandmother even finished saying “Robinson,” a taxi stopped in front of the house, Co Co got out, paid the driver, and came running around to the back door. Suzie opened the door. “Gosh! I was so worried. I thought you’d be late!”
Co Co was excited. “Bonjour, Grand’mère. Suzie, I do not sleep. I toss on the bed. I do not close my eyes. I get up at six o’clock with the birds to dress. Is this the correct costume?”
Grandmother assured her, “You look as fresh and crisp as if you’d just been lifted out of a bandbox.”
Suzie chimed in, “Our outfits are just the same except your sweater’s red and mine’s green. I was so worried. I thought you’d never come.”
Grandmother said, “Now calm down, both of you. Have you had breakfast, Co Co?”
“Non, Grand’mère. I had café au lait and a little roll at the hotel, but it did not rest on my stomach.”
Suzie gasped, “Is that coffee? Does your father allow you to drink coffee?”
“Well, it is hot milk with a little coffee in it. In France they also drink chocolate, but I do not care for it.”
“We have to drink plain milk even if we just hate it.”
Co Co sat down and sipped her glass of milk. “It is not too disagreeable, but I am not accustomed to it. It is so cold. I believe I prefer café au lait.”
Grandmother clucked disapprovingly but she fixed Co Co a cup of warm milk with a little coffee in it. Suzie tasted it and promptly demanded some also.
Then Grandmother gave them plates piled high with scrambled eggs, crisp bacon, and hot muffins. “Now, eat every bit of that and your stomachs will stop jumping. I declare, you’d think this was the first time either one of you had been to school.”
While they were eating, Co Co asked Suzie over and over again about school. By the time they’d finished breakfast they were both in such a state of nerves, Grandmother suggested that they start early and give themselves plenty of time to look the school over before classes began.
As they walked up the street, Suzie told Co Co all about the people who lived in each house, and pointed out the dogs that were friendly and the ones who barked even if they didn’t mean it. “This is your neighborhood now, and you should know everything about everybody.”
Co Co squeezed Suzie’s hand. “Oui, Suzie, this is my first neighborhood.”
When they passed the Tower House where Mrs. Medlin lived, Suzie warned Co Co never to climb her trees, or pick her fruit, or even to touch anything in her yard. “She’s just about the crabbiest lady in Seattle. She acts just as if she hates children and dogs.”
Co Co peeked over the fence. Mrs. Medlin was kneeling with her back to them, weeding. Without even turning around, she roared, “Children, don’t you dare take the shortcut through my garden!”
Co Co jumped back and Suzie giggled. “See? Boy, she’s crabby! She lives all alone—probably because nobody would dare live with her.”
When they arrived at the school grounds, Co Co hung back and her eyes were wide with fright. Pushing, giggling children streamed up the steps and poured out onto the playground, calling to one another with early morning shouts of joy. She listened to all the noise and murmured, “Oh, Suzie, my stomach! I do not think I can attend the school.”
Suzie took her hand and said, in a loud brave voice, “Oh, come on. You’ll just love it.” Her own heart always pounded and her hands shook when she walked through the crowd of shouting, pushing children, but if she was going to protect Co Co, she couldn’t let her know how she felt, so she waved and called, “Hi” right and left. She led Co Co over to the big willow tree. “We’ll sit here until the bell rings, and I’ll show you who everybody is.”
Co Co, her eyes wide and black as she watched the crowds of noisy children, pressed close to Suzie. “But there are so many. I did not know there were so many.”
Rich and Ray came tearing by, stopped, eyed Co Co for a moment, then Rich said, “Hi, Suze, old girl. Want to play catch?”
“Thanks. I can’t now,” Suzie answered. “I’ll see you at recess.”
The boys walked off and stood at a little distance, still eyeing Co Co.
Suzie whispered, “That’s Rich and Ray, the twins I was telling you about. They’re good athletes and smart in school, but they tease Miss Morrison. Sometimes she can’t tell them apart and . . .”
Just then the Select Seven, their arms entwined, sauntered toward them. Suzie heard, “Four likes six.” And “Did he really call you?” And “His mother wouldn’t even call him to the phone. I nearly died.” They, too, eyed Co Co, but instead of stopping they went whispering and giggling on.
Suzie said, “They are the Select Seven. They never speak to anybody. They have a number code, so they never call people by their names—just numbers. They are really nice girls except they’re awfully boy crazy.” She sighed.
“What is that—boy crazy?” Co Co asked.
“Oh, you know—they like boys—they’re kind of in love.”
“Non!” Co Co gasped. “They are children! They are too young for—what you say—the boy crazy!” Then, in Mademoiselle’s most haughty manner, she added, “I do not approve of that!”
With Millicent in the lead, the Select Seven paraded back and forth talking in code for the benefit of Suzie’s new friend. Suzie called to them, but they didn’t answer and Suzie was so embarrassed she said, “Just pretend you don’t see them.”
Co Co shuddered. “I do not care. I am so frightened. Tell me about the school again.”
Fe
eling more and more protective, Suzie put her arm around Co Co and said that first the bell rang and then they had roll call, and then language arts. Co Co looked so bewildered that Suzie added, “You remember. That’s English and spelling and reading and grammar.”
Co Co swallowed. “Papa says if one has studied Latin—the English sentence is not too difficult.”
“Gosh! Have you had Latin already?”
“Oh yes, but I do not read it well. The English verbs. Impossible! Oh, I know I will appear stupid and Mademoiselle will be ashamed.” Co Co wrung her hands.
Suzie patted her comfortingly. “You’ll be terrific in social studies, and then we have arithmetic. That’s my favorite next to art and music.”
Co Co groaned. “I cannot do arithmetic in English!” She rested her chin in her hands and muttered to herself in French as she stared at the playground, which was alive with brightly dressed boys and girls playing catch, roller skating on the cement court, jumping rope, bouncing balls, playing jacks and marbles, and just tearing around and yelling and screaming. Suzie could barely hear Co Co saying over and over again, “I did not think there were this many children in all of America.”
The bell rang and the shouting children promptly quieted down and melted into lines and began to stream into the school. Suzie stood up and took Co Co’s hand. “Come on—that’s the first bell and we can go into Mr. Wagner’s office now.”
She led Co Co into the reception room. While they were waiting for Mr. Wagner, Co Co watched the schoolroom doors opening and closing, listened to all the busy school sounds, the running feet, the bells, the whispering, and became more bewildered than ever. “This school is so large. I cannot attend this school. I will go back to the hotel and ask Papa if Mademoiselle cannot stay and teach me.” She got up and started out the door.
Suzie grabbed her just as Mr. Wagner came out of his office. Before this moment, Suzie had been so in awe of Mr. Wagner that she spoke just above a whisper. Knowing that Co Co was depending on her, she said in a loud, sure voice, “Good morning, Mr. Wagner. This is my friend Co Co Langdon, the new girl mother called you about.”
