Molly's Promise

by Sylvia Olsen

  Molly’s Promise

  SYLVIA OLSEN

  ORCA BOOK PUBLISHERS

  Text copyright © 2013 Sylvia Olsen

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without permission in writing from the publisher.

  Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

  Olsen, Sylvia, 1955-

  Molly's promise [electronic resource] / Sylvia Olsen.

  (Orca young readers)

  Electronic monograph.

  Issued also in print format.

  ISBN 978-1-4598-0278-0 (PDF).--ISBN 978-1-4598-0279-7 (EPUB)

  I. Title. II. Series: Orca young readers (Online)

  PS8579.L728M64 2013 jC813’.6 C2012-907462-4

  First published in the United States, 2013

  Library of Congress Control Number: 2012952947

  Summary: When Molly has to break a long-held promise to herself, she finds her voice and reconnects with her mother, who left Molly when she was a baby.

  Orca Book Publishers gratefully acknowledges the support for its publishing programs provided by the following agencies: the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund and the Canada Council for the Arts, and the Province of British Columbia through the BC Arts Council and the Book Publishing Tax Credit.

  Cover artwork by Ken Dewar

  Author photo by Rob Campbell

  ORCA BOOK PUBLISHERS ORCA BOOK PUBLISHERS

  PO BOX 5626, Stn. B PO BOX 468

  Victoria, BC Canada Custer, WA USA

  V8R 6S4 98240-0468

  www.orcabook.com

  16 15 14 13 • 4 3 2 1

  This story is for Madison,

  who makes us all want to sing.

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Acknowledgments

  Chapter One

  Grade seven was turning out to be Molly’s best year of school yet. Ever since September, when Murphy and the other boys from the tribal school had come to Riverside Middle School, her life had taken a substantial turn for the better. She never would have thought that a boy could be her best friend. But that was exactly what had happened.

  Molly hadn’t had many great experiences with girlfriends in the past. In fact, grade six had been a disaster when it came to friends. Now that Murphy was her best friend, it didn’t matter so much what Paige, who thought of herself as the most gorgeous girl in the entire world, or Nell and the other girls, who dedicated their lives to agreeing with Paige, thought about Molly.

  She didn’t only have a new best friend. She had a whole new crowd. With Murphy came three other boys, Jeff, Albert and Danny. So being friends with Murphy meant that Jeff and Albert were her friends too. And even Danny, the other member of what was sometimes called the Formidable Four, was sort of her friend.

  The Formidable Four had transferred from the tribal school, a First Nations elementary school about half an hour out of town.

  At first, Molly had thought, “Formidable? How arrogant!”

  That was before she saw the boys play soccer and realized formidable was the right word. They were soccer heroes. The Riverside Strikers hadn’t lost one game since the boys joined the team. Jeff was the star midfielder, Danny was the star defenseman, and Murphy was the best goalie anyone had ever seen. With Albert on the sidelines helping Coach Kennedy inspire the players, Riverside was simply unbeatable.

  Before Molly met the boys, she had never given soccer much thought. Now, watching their games and cheering for her friends was one of her favorite things to do.

  The girls’ spring soccer season was about to begin, and Murphy kept bugging Molly to sign up. “Come on. Put on the boots,” Murphy said out on the field at lunchtime one day. He tossed her his old soccer cleats. “Let’s see what you can do.”

  “I don’t want to wear those,” she said, turning her nose up at the thought of sharing boots with Murphy’s sweaty feet.

  He laughed. “If you’re going to be a soccer player, you have to wear boots.”

  “Okay, okay.” She stuffed her feet into the smelly boots.

  “Over here.” Murphy waved to Jeff, Danny and Albert to join them.

  Molly felt clumsy at first, but before long she was passing the ball to Murphy and Jeff.

  “Wow! The girl is good,” Jeff said.

  Molly dashed forward to catch up to the ball and send it on to Murphy.

  “She’s got wheels,” Murphy said. He sprinted to meet her.

  Danny stood on the sidelines, looking sullen. He hated it when anyone other than him got a compliment. He also didn’t think girls could play soccer. The truth was, he didn’t like Molly very much. Worst of all, he thought the Formidable Four should be a boys’ club and that Molly had no business hanging around with them.

  “Let’s see how fast she is,” Danny said, running up alongside them.

  “Is that a challenge, Danno?” Albert shouted. “Did I hear you taking the girl on?”

  “I’m taking you all on,” Danny said, strutting up the field.

  Murphy kicked the ball to the side. “Okay, you’re on.” He flagged his arm to Jeff and Molly. “Dan the Man wants to see who’s got wheels. Let’s go!” Murphy hollered.

  “I don’t want to race you guys,” Molly said. She was cold and already tired.

  “You worried you’re going to get beat?” Danny sneered.

  “I don’t care if you beat me,” she said, bending over to untie the boots.

  “She’s going to kick your butt,” Jeff said.

  Molly hated competition. Who cared who could run the fastest? But Danny would never shut up if she refused his challenge.

  She had no choice but to join the boys near the goalposts. Sometimes boys for friends were a pain. They never stopped competing—arm wrestles, pushups, chin-ups, burping, whistling…you name it, the boys never quit comparing their boy skills.

  “I don’t want to run this race,” she said.

  “Murphy thinks you got wheels,” Danny said. “Let’s see how fast they are.”

  “Okay, okay,” Molly said. “But I’m only running to shut you up.”

  Albert moved to the other end of the field to officiate. Molly was disappointed that Albert couldn’t race with them. If he hadn’t gotten leukemia and needed chemotherapy, he would have been better than everyone. Even though he was sick from his treatments, Albert still had his soccer moves. But now he had to concentrate on getting healthy. He had to beat his illness before he could play soccer again.

  “The race will be from goalpost to goalpost,” said Albert.

  Jeff, Molly, Danny and Murphy lined up on the outside.

  Albert hollered, “Ready, set, go!”

  Jeff took off ahead of the others. Danny and Molly ran elbow to elbow. She thought, for a few seconds, that she should let him win. Then, almost without thinking, she shot in front of Danny and finished a few strides behind Jeff, with Murphy taking last place.

  “Whoooaahh! Way to go, girl!” Albert shouted as the four racers caught their breath. He laughed. “I’m talking to you, Danno.”

  “Shut up, Albert!” Danny said, and then he suddenly began to limp. “I shouldn’t have even run. My knee hurts.”


  “Oh, poor Danno’s little knees.” Albert snickered. “They just decided to hurt since he got whipped by a girl.”

  Danny took a swing at Albert. “I said shut up.”

  “Molly’s fast,” Murphy said. “What’s wrong with that?”

  “She’s a girl,” Danny said. “That’s what’s wrong with it.” He turned to walk away and mumbled under his breath, “A white girl.”

  Murphy pushed Danny’s back with both hands. “You shut up,” he said, raising his hands as if he was ready to fight.

  Danny stared at Murphy for a few seconds, and then he shot off toward the school without saying a word.

  Chapter Two

  The trouble with Riverside was that Molly didn’t fit in with the First Nations kids, even though her dad was First Nation. And she didn’t fit in with the white kids, even though her mom, whoever and wherever she might be, was white. In Riverside you were either First Nation or white. It was one or the other.

  Nell, a tall blond girl, had been her best friend in grade six. But Molly wasn’t Nell’s best friend. Paige was. And Paige didn’t like Molly one bit. In fact, Paige bullied Molly every chance she had. When Molly had told her dad about Paige’s bullying, he went to talk to her parents, which only made matters worse.

  It was hard for Nell and Molly to be friends. Paige had rules. She insisted her friends be 100 percent devoted to her. That meant Nell and Molly could be friends only when Paige wasn’t around. Compared to Murphy, Molly had realized, Nell wasn’t such a good friend after all.

  Murphy stuck up for his friends, no matter what. And Murphy was half and half, just like her, except his mom was First Nation and his dad was white.

  Murphy always said, “We’re not half of anything, Molly—we’re both. We’re everything.”

  Since Murphy had become her friend, Molly was learning to fit in to both sides. Murphy lived on the reserve, but Molly lived in town.

  Molly had lived with her dad since she was ten months old. He was tall, wide and brown, with a head of thick, black hair. Molly was short, narrow and pale, with fine, straw-colored hair and blue eyes. Her dad said that her looks were all Molly’s mom had left her. Until Molly met Murphy, she had felt like she was from another planet. She hadn’t felt like she fit anywhere, not even with her dad.

  Murphy had laughed when Molly complained about not fitting in. “It’s no different on the reserve,” he said. “They wonder why I look like a white kid. Mom says it’s all thanks to my dad.”

  Before the Formidable Four became Riverside’s soccer heroes, the white kids and First Nations kids had stayed in separate groups. The First Nations kids had hung around the old tennis courts or the cafeteria. The white kids had pretty much had the run of the rest of the school. Molly, trying to avoid both sides, had spent a lot of time with her earbuds, listening to music on her iPod—her favorite thing to do in the whole world.

  When Molly was younger, she was okay with it being just her dad and her. But after she had become friends with Murphy, she had gotten to know his mom, Celia. Now, more than anything else, Molly wanted a mom of her own. She scoured her house to find clues about her mom. But there was nothing—no pictures, no letters. There wasn’t a trace of her. When she asked her dad about her mom, he either got mad or ignored her.

  “What’s wrong, Moll?” he would ask. “For all these years it’s been just you and me. Have I done something wrong?”

  He hadn’t done anything wrong. He was the best dad a girl could have. But she wanted a mom.

  “No, Dad,” she said. “You’re the best dad ever.”

  Molly wanted to plead with him to tell her something, anything, about her mom, but she didn’t want him to feel bad. So she quit asking.

  Murphy understood how Molly felt, because all he got from his dad was a card on his birthday—sometimes. Murphy called his dad a no-show. He said that since he had never had any other sort of dad, he had gotten sort of used to it.

  But all Molly could think about was the day her mom would come home. She could almost feel her mom’s arms around her, hugging her for the first time. Sometimes Molly longed for her mom so much her stomach hurt. She would get excused from class and lie in the school medical room, staring at the pictures of nurses on the wall and wondering if one of them was her mom.

  At night Molly would lie in bed and imagine her mom singing and telling her stories. She’d slip in her earbuds and listen to old-time singers, imagining she was listening to her mom. Molly knew she was making it up, and the whole thing was kind of crazy. But she needed to believe her mom was with her.

  Chapter Three

  In spite of Danny’s nasty mood and Molly’s preference for watching games rather than competing in them, the race had got her thinking that joining the girls’ soccer team might not be such a bad idea. She was faster than she thought, and with a pair of soccer boots that fit she could pass the ball and probably even score.

  But soccer wasn’t exactly what Molly wanted to do. She didn’t tell anyone what she really wanted to do. It was a secret she had promised never to share with anyone except her mom. So she had to wait until her mom came home.

  Lunch was almost over by the time Jeff, Albert, Murphy and Molly reached the school after the race. Danny and a crowd of kids inside the foyer were crammed around the notice board. Molly stood on her toes and caught a glimpse of a large poster tacked on top of the other notices. It read:

  CENTRAL VALLEY YOUTH TALENT

  COMPETITION

  Do you dance? Do you sing?

  Are you a slam poet?

  Danny read the poster. “So you think you can dance?” He jumped around pretending to dance. “Spare me the pain of watching all the try-hards from this school,” he said. “It’s going to be a freak show.”

  Murphy looked at the poster and said, “Do they really think Riverside has talent?”

  “Maybe they’re thinking about the soccer field,” Jeff said, simulating a shot on goal.

  Molly ignored the boys and read the small print.

  Date: March 12

  Place: Central Valley Community Arts Center

  Time: 2-5 PM

  Ages: Grades 6-12

  Sign up by February 28

  Registration forms are available at Riverside Middle

  School and Central Valley High School

  Cash prize of $500 and a trip to Winnipeg to compete

  in the Canadian Youth Talent Competition

  There were only two weeks to sign up and another two weeks to practice.

  “We should put on the soccer boots,” Murphy said. He dodged from side to side as if warming up in net.

  “Hey, Molly, did you read the poster? How cool is that?” Nell appeared out of the crowd. “Paige is going to dance. She’s got a mega-good chance.”

  Paige arrived, followed by Dede and Fi. She looked over Molly’s head, making an obvious effort to ignore her. Molly was easy to miss. She was at least a head shorter than Paige.

  “Come on, Nell,” Paige said. She shot a deadly glance at Molly and turned to her friends. “I’ve got to decide on a dance and get my costumes and…how am I going to wear my hair?” She pulled the elastic band from her ponytail, releasing her hair in a cascade of golden waves. “What do you think? I love my hair down, don’t you?”

  “No kidding,” Fi said. She brushed her fingers through Paige’s hair. “If you got it, girl, use it.”

  “You are soooo right,” Dede said as the girls disappeared back into the crowd. “I just love the way your hair…”

  When the bell rang, Molly reread the poster carefully, noting the time, the place, the entry fee and the names of the judges—Leroy Macpherson, Tiffany Terrell and Magpie.

  She silently rolled Magpie around on her tongue. Magpies, Molly had discovered in Earth Sciences class, were one of the most intelligent animals, even though they were only little songbirds. They could sing for more than an hour without stopping.

  Molly took another look at the poster. Pictures of dance
rs floated around the edges, making it look like it was advertising a dance competition, not a talent show. Under the writing in the center of the poster was an image of a hand holding a large microphone. She shivered.

  “Come on, Molly!” Murphy called from the end of the hall. “We can’t get started without you.”

  First block after lunch was Foods class. Molly, Jeff and Murphy were cooking partners. Today they were making pizza.

  “What’s up with you, Moll?” Murphy said when the pizza was finally ready to eat. “You’re pretty quiet.” He shoved a huge bite in his mouth.

  “What do you guys think about the talent show?” she asked.

  “Huh?” Murphy grunted as he wiped his mouth with his sleeve.

  “I said, what do you guys think about the talent show?”

  Jeff laughed. “One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish, maybe I’m a poet?”

  “No way, Jeffman.” Murphy made an X with his arms. “You got real talent. You should suit up and do a solo show with a soccer ball. The audience could count one kick, two kick, good kick, great kick.”

  “Now that’s real talent.” Jeff smiled. “Singers and dancers won’t have a chance against a skill like that.”

  “It’s a great idea,” Molly said. “No one else would even think of it.”

  “I was just kidding,” said Murphy. “No offense, Jeff, but I don’t think you’d be very entertaining.”

  “But it’s a talent,” Molly said. “Everyone would think it was great.”

  “No freaking way. I’d probably flub it after five or six kicks,” Jeff said. “Murph should sing. Or Danno could dance. Yeah, he could wear a tutu.”

  Murphy and Jeff were laughing so hard, Molly decided not to say any more about the talent competition.

  “Did I hear you guys making fun of my dancing ability?” Danny pirouetted over to their table and dropped into a chair next to Molly. “Molly is the one who should dance,” he said, appearing friendly. Then, with a mean look, he said, “She should stick to what she’s good at.”

  “At least I can dance better than you,” Molly said.