by D. L. Dennis
Mrs. Miller was disappointed that she did not have any of her questions answered. She was still bewildered and was not sure if she was ever going to have any answers. Now there was one more thing to be perplexed about – footprints. Surely those footprints did not mean anything! She thanked the fire chief and as they started to walk out of her office, there stood Jake with Jenny by his side.
Before any of them could say anything, Jenny said “I heard what you said about that coat and wooden staff. That coat is Christopher’s coat, and I have to take it back to him. And, he always had the wooden staff in one hand when he sat on the bench. Please, Mrs. Miller, don’t throw Christopher’s coat away, or the staff. You have to let me take them back to him.”
Mrs. Miller could see that Jenny was becoming very agitated. Dr. Carlson had given instructions to keep her quiet for a couple of days.
“OK, Jenny. Calm down now. We will not throw the coat away. I want you and Mr. Jake to sit down at the table by the window in the kitchen. We will get you a lunch tray, and you can eat in here. Then I want you to go to your room and rest this afternoon for a little while.”
Jenny’s eyes filled with tears as she pleaded, “Please, I have to take Christopher’s coat back to him. Promise me that I can take it back.”
Jenny looked up at Jake and cried, “Mr. Jake, will you take me across the footbridge?” Big tears rolled down her cheeks and she sobbed, “Christopher is my special friend.”
Mrs. Miller could see that Jenny was getting more and more upset. “Jenny, we will not throw the staff or the coat away. In a few days, when you have rested, Mr. Jake will take you across the footbridge. Now, let Mr. Jake take you to the table, and he will get something for the two of you to eat. I am sure Mr. Jake is hungry and would like for you to eat with him.”
Jenny looked at Mr. Jake and said, “Will you do that Mr. Jake? Will you help me take Christopher’s coat to him.”
“Of course, I will, little miss. If Mrs. Miller says we can take them back, then we will take them back. But, we have to wait a few days. I am hungry. Let’s go eat our lunch.” Jake took Jenny by the hand and headed off in the direction of the kitchen. Mrs. Miller and the fire chief walked down the hallway shaking their heads. Who was this Christopher? The fire chief said that he did not know of any elderly man that lived in the forest. No one had ever been able to understand why he only sat on the bench when Jenny was in the group that crossed the footbridge and why she was so attached to him. It was very puzzling.
The next few days passed by uneventfully, much to Mrs. Miller’s relief. It took a few days for the conversations to change to a different topic, but there was always something new to talk about around the orphanage. Jenny did not suffer any ill effects from her fall into the river nor were any of the other children traumatized by it. Jenny was the same Jenny, thumping around on her crippled foot and letting out one of her peals of laughter. She had lost one of her shoes in the river so Mrs. Miller had sent a note to the cobbler to ask him if he could make another pair and to her surprise, a pair was delivered within days. The cobbler must have worked night and day to get them done so quickly. Miracles abounded!!
It did not take very many days before Jenny was asking Mrs. Miller if she remembered her promise about Christopher’s coat and wooden staff. Mrs. Miller assured Jenny that she had not forgotten, but it would be a few more days. Mrs. Miller told her that none of the children were going across the footbridge for a couple of weeks. Jake was going to fix the wooden slats on the footbridge first, and she wanted to wait until the river had calmed down.
Jenny was not a very patient child in this situation though. Every day she would ask Mrs. Miller if the slats had been fixed, and every day Mrs. Miller would remind her that she had to be patient. No matter how much Mrs. Miller assured Jenny, she worried about taking Christopher’s coat and staff back to him, and she needed to take him a cookie. Jenny kept insisting that Christopher would be missing her. Mrs. Miller had hoped that Jenny would forget about the coat and staff, but that was not happening.
Some days, Mrs. Miller would see Jenny standing at the window and look longingly in the direction of the footbridge, or when she was outside, she would walk down the yard to the fence and look in that direction. It did not look like Jenny was going to give up the idea of taking that coat back to the old man.
Mrs. Miller decided that the best way to handle the situation would be to have Jake take Jenny across the bridge and let her put the coat on the bench. She was sure that the old man would not be around anymore, and after a few days, they could show Jenny that he was not going to be back. Then they could discard the coat and staff, and that would be the end of it.
Miss Cartwright indicated she had seen the old man dive into the water, but it was ludicrous to think that he had rescued Jenny from the river and put her on the bench. But, Mrs. Miller did not have a plausible explanation as to how Jenny got on the bench, and there was the strange fact that she was laying on the coat which looked like the one the old man had on every time they saw him. Jenny had miraculously gotten out of the water somehow. She just could not believe that the old man saved Jenny. There was the possibility that the old man had drowned in the raging river. Mrs. Miller knew that her thoughts just were going in circles when she tried to make sense of it all. She wanted answers, but there were none.
When Mrs. Miller told Jenny that Mr. Jake would take her across the footbridge that afternoon, Jenny was elated. Her face lit up with joy, she clapped her hands and twirled around in circles until she fell down. Jenny was always a happy child, but she was absolutely ecstatic with the news. Mrs. Miller told her to go to the dining room to eat lunch and to meet Mr. Jake at the front door at 1:30 p.m.
Chapter 28
RETURNING THE COAT
Jenny scurried off to the dining room, but could hardly eat a bite. She was just too excited. She watched the clock above the doorway, and the minutes seemed to creep by. Instead of eating her two cookies, Jenny carefully wrapped them up in a napkin and put them in her pocket. These cookies would be for Christopher! Finally, she was excused from the dining room table and did not waste any time heading to the front door looking for Mr. Jake.
As Jenny rushed around the corner, she ran right into Miss Cartwright. “Slow down Jenny. Where are you going in such a hurry?” Miss Cartwright asked.
Jenny was breathless. “Oh, Miss Cartwright, Mr. Jake is going to take me across the footbridge, and we are going to take Christopher’s coat and staff back to him.”
Miss Cartwright smiled and said, “Well, be careful, Jenny. Make sure you hold on to Mr. Jake’s hand.”
Jenny was much too anxious to get to the front door to have time for any conversation with anyone, even if it was Miss Cartwright, who was her favorite teacher. Just as Jenny got to the front door, Jake was opening the screen door.
“Well, little miss, are you ready to go across the footbridge?”
Jenny looked up at Jake with her big blue eyes shining and said, “Oh yes, Mr. Jake. Let’s go. But where is Christopher’s coat? We have to take the coat and the wooden staff.”
Jake told Jenny that the coat was in a bag on the front porch and the staff was there also. They would pick it up when they went outside. Jenny tugged on his shirt and said, “Let’s go Mr. Jake. Let’s go right now.”
Mrs. Miller was standing at the back of the room watching Jake and Jenny. She was going to be glad when Jake and Jenny made the trip and got back. Maybe then Jenny would forget about the old man!
Jake and Jenny headed across the yard and down the path to the footbridge. Jake carried the staff and the bag with the old raggedy coat with one hand and held Jenny’s hand with his other hand. When they got to the footbridge, he certainly was not going to let go of Jenny’s hand. The slats had been fixed, and it was a warm, sunny day, but he was not going to take any chances. He was not even going to let her walk close to the edge. He would walk on the side and have her in the middle.
It did not take long to make t
he trip across the footbridge. They trudged across the sand with Jenny’s crippled foot leaving a trail. She had given her crutch to Jake when they started across the sand because it was difficult to use in the sand. Jenny never took her eyes off the bench once it came into sight. Of course, the bench was empty, just as Jake thought it would be.
As they approached the bench, Jenny asked Jake to put the staff at the end of the bench and to get the coat out of the bag. He did just as Jenny asked and watched her as she lovingly spread the coat out on the bench. She smoothed out all the wrinkles, folded it one way and then folded it another way. It took Jenny several minutes before she had the coat arranged just the way she wanted it. When she was done, she reached in her pocket and took out the napkin with the two cookies. Jake was astonished at how involved Jenny was in arranging the coat and the cookies.
Jake stood by quietly and did not say a word as Jenny finished her mission. When she was done, she looked at Jake and said, “I know that Christopher will be back to get his staff and coat and the cookies. He has always been my special friend.”
Jake still did not say anything to Jenny, because he knew he was not going to convince her of anything about the old man. He asked her if she was ready to go back, and she said that she was. He could tell that she really did not want to leave. Jenny said that she would have to come back in a day or two, though, to see if Christopher had come for his staff and coat and the cookies. She was just sure that he would, but she wanted to come back and check. When Jenny said this, Jake once again did not say anything. He was not sure that Mrs. Miller was going to let them make another trip back across the footbridge for that purpose. He knew Mrs. Miller was hoping that this trip would end Jenny’s interest in the old man. He would let Mrs. Miller handle that with Jenny when they got back.
Jenny was happy and chatting on the way back over the bridge. Once again, Jake held her hand as they crossed. Jenny had her crutch, and she thumped along beside Jake, sometimes breaking into one of the songs she sang in church on Sunday. It never ceased to amaze Jake at what a happy child Jenny was all the time. Sometimes she reminded him of a little tornado of happiness – a whirlwind that drew everyone into her happy world.
As soon as they got over the footbridge, Jenny tugged on Jake’s hand to hurry so they could find Mrs. Miller and talk to her about going back in a day or two. Jake was reluctant to go with her, but he knew it would be of no use to try to dissuade her. She had never wavered in her loyalty to the old man.
Jenny looked up at Jake with those big, blue eyes with a worried look on her face and pleaded, “Mr. Jake, please, you need to go with me to talk to Mrs. Miller. I have to go back across the footbridge, and she will want you to go with me. Please, Mr. Jake.”
How could Jake resist Jenny? He could never say no so off they went to find Mrs. Miller. He was not looking forward to the conversation, and as he expected, it did not go well. Mrs. Miller did everything she could to try to convince Jenny that it was not necessary to go back in a day or two. Jenny could not be persuaded. What was this strange attachment that Jenny had to this old man?
After much pleading and cajoling on Jenny’s part, Mrs. Miller told her that if Mr. Jake had time in a couple of days, they could make one more trip back over the footbridge, but Jenny had to promise that she would not ask to go back again except when all the children went over to play. She also must be patient and wait for a time that Mr. Jake had his work done and could take her. Mrs. Miller reminded her that there would not be too many more trips because school was getting ready to start and cold weather would be coming.
Jenny jumped up and down when Mrs. Miller finally relented to one more trip and said, “Oh, I promise, I promise, Mrs. Miller. If you let Mr. Jake take me across one more time, I will not ask again. And, I will be patient, but I hope it is soon. I just know that Christopher is going to come back for his coat and staff. I know that he is close by. I just know it.”
Mrs. Miller and Jake just looked at each other. The whole episode with Jenny falling in the river had been very strange. No one had ever figured out how Jenny had gotten out of the river and on that bench with an old coat beneath her. They just could not believe that the old man had rescued Jenny, but that is what she kept insisting. He was very old, and if he had rescued Jenny, why did he put her on the bench and leave? Why didn’t he bring her to the orphanage? No, her story was just impossible to believe. But, even with all the rationalizing, they still could not come up with a feasible answer of how Jenny got out of the river unhurt and on that bench. There had to be a logical answer, but what was it? Would they ever know?
Chapter 29
THE MEDALLION
A couple of days later, Jake went looking for Jenny and found her sitting on the sofa reading a book. When she saw him, her eyes lit up.
“Hi, Mr. Jake. What are you doing?”
Jake walked over and keeled down by the sofa and said, “I have some extra time right now, and I have asked Mrs. Miller if you and I could make our last trip across the footbridge. She said OK, so if you get your shoes on and your crutch, we will go.”
Jenny was off that sofa in a flash and sat on the floor to put her shoes on. She grabbed her crutch and Jake’s hand and said, “Let’s go, Mr. Jake. But first, I have to go to the kitchen and see if somebody will give me a couple of cookies to take to Christopher. I always take Christopher something to eat. Please wait right here for me.”
Before Jake could say another word, Jenny dashed off toward the kitchen. It did not take long before she was back with the cookies wrapped safely in a couple of napkins and safely secured in her pocket.
“OK, Mr. Jake. Let’s go across the footbridge.”
So, off they went scurrying through the yard to the base of the footbridge. Jenny tugged on Jake’s sleeve to walk faster. Jake grabbed Jenny’s hand as they started across and held it until they got to the other side. As soon as they got off the footbridge, Jenny pulled loose from Jake’s hand and scrambled through the sand and playground area and up to the bench.
“Hurry, Mr. Jake. Look. Come see. Christopher’s coat is gone. And look, the wooden staff is gone too. I knew he would come for his coat and staff and for the cookies I left for him. And, Mr. Jake, look. There is a piece of paper here with my name on it. I think Christopher wrote me a note.”
Jake was astounded to find that both the staff and the coat were gone, the cookies were also gone and, yes, there was a piece of paper that had been folded several times. It was lying on the bench so you could see Jenny’s name written in bold letters. His first thought, was what happened to the coat and staff? They could not have been carried off by an animal. The cookies could have been eaten by birds, but he would not be able to convince Jenny of that. And, how did that folded piece of paper get on the bench with Jenny’s name on it?
Jenny was beaming as she looked up at Jake. Her big, round eyes were the deepest blue he had ever seen, and her smile would have lit up a room. She was ecstatic. Jake did not know what to think. He was totally baffled, but there was nothing to do except unfold the paper and see if there was something written on the inside.
“Well, Jenny, I guess since it has your name on it, then you should open it and read it. Jenny carefully picked the paper up and held it for a few seconds. She looked up at Jake with a slight frown and said, “It feels like there is something folded up inside of this paper. It is hard. Maybe you should open it.”
Jake took the paper from Jenny’s hand and felt it. He could not imagine what was inside, but there was definitely something small and hard wrapped inside the paper. As he unfolded the paper, a medallion fell to the ground. Both he and Jenny looked at it in amazement. Jenny gently picked up the medallion and studied it. Jake did not say a word as she looked at one side and then at the other, turning it back and forth several times.
Finally, Jenny looked up with a glow on her face and said, “It has writing on it. I think it says St. Christopher. Is that right, Mr. Jake?”
Jake was speechless.
Jenny was holding a St. Christopher’s medal!
Jenny opened the paper. There was a note written in large, bold, black letters. Slowly Jenny read the note out loud to Jake.
“Wherever you go, Jenny, I will always be there for you.”
Jake did not say a word. He was too stunned! All he could do was wonder who wrote that note and put it on the bench. He could rationalize that the coat and staff had been carried away by animals, but there was no explanation for this note and the medallion. Now more questions were being created!
Jenny looked up at Jake, then at the note and then toward the forest. She stood without moving a muscle staring into the forest of trees. Jake did not make a sound. After what seemed like an eternity to Jake, Jenny’s face broke out into a grin and she giggled. Her face was aglow with happiness.
Jenny pointed toward the forest and excitedly said, “Mr. Jake, I can see Christopher. He is waving to me.”
Jake could not believe what Jenny was saying. He looked in the direction to where Jenny was pointing. All he could see was a forest of trees. Jenny had always had a big imagination, but this was ridiculous. Jake was beginning to be anxious to get back to the orphanage. He looked back at Jenny to tell her that there was no one there, but the look of pure joy on her face made him change his mind. No one had ever been able to convince her of anything concerning the old man, and he was sure that he was not going to be able to convince her now.
