Miracle in Music City

by Natalie Grant

  “Will we ever!” Lulu said, bounding toward the stairs.

  “Don’t forget, the show costs a quarter,” Maddie said.

  “Oh, I’m already ready.” Dad pulled his quarter out of his pocket. “Can’t wait!”

  Once they were upstairs, Maddie went straight to her closet to figure out her costume.

  Maddie called to her sisters, “So we’re wearing leggings and shirts with sparkles, right?”

  “Yes. You wear your purple one with the star.” Lulu popped into Maddie’s room from next door. “And I’ll wear my pink tank top with sequins . . .”

  “What are you going to wear, Mia?” Maddie called through the wall to her sister’s room.

  “My aqua shirt with the sparkly heart,” Mia called back.

  “And a sparkly headband!” Lulu said, already on her way to her room.

  Maddie pulled on her outfit and added a sequin star barrette to match. Mia and Lulu burst through the door, and they all lined up in front of Maddie’s full-length mirror.

  “Perfect,” Maddie said. She loved the way their bright colors matched without being exactly the same.

  “I think I heard Miss Julia come in,” Lulu said.

  “I’ll go down and set up the music,” Mia said. “Maddie can set up the seats, and Lulu can collect quarters.”

  “And keep them?” Lulu asked.

  “We’ll each get one,” Mia said. “That way it’s fair.”

  “Good thing we have three people in our audience,” Maddie said.

  “True,” Mia agreed. “Are we ready?”

  “Ready!” Lulu said.

  They nearly tumbled over one another in their rush to be first downstairs. Mom, Dad, and Miss Julia were already on the couch, so Maddie didn’t need to set up chairs. Lulu turned her cowboy hat upside down to collect quarters. Mia cued up the music.

  “Okay, everyone close your eyes,” Mia said. “You can open them when the music starts.”

  She hurried to join her sisters, and posed in the few seconds before the beat began. Mom and Dad opened their eyes and leaned forward to watch. Miss Julia took out her phone and snapped photo after photo. The dance went even better than it had during rehearsal. When the music finished and the girls posed, the grown-ups leapt to their feet to applaud.

  “Girls, I’m so impressed. You were right in time with each other,” Mom said. “And I’m glad you were able to do the show tonight. Remember, the rest of this week, Dad and I are going to be busy every night.”

  “For the benefit,” Maddie said, remembering. With everything that had happened in school that day, and the rush of just arriving home from tour, the benefit for Third Street Community House had been far from her mind. But, she’d been thinking about the benefit concert a lot this summer. She and her sisters had been practicing their own version of “This Little Light of Mine,” and Mom planned to let them sing in a show sometime soon. Would the benefit be the right time for their performance?

  It was one of those moments when Mia seemed to read Maddie’s mind, because she said, “Are we singing in the benefit?”

  “I’ve been thinking about it,” Mom said. “Let me talk it over with Dad, and we’ll decide in the next couple days.”

  “Please, please, pretty please?” Lulu pleaded. “With whipped cream and a cherry on top?”

  Mom smiled, but didn’t give any more hints about what she was thinking. “Now, girls, I bet you have some homework that isn’t done yet, since you’ve danced the afternoon away. Is that true?”

  “Yes,” Mia and Maddie said together.

  Lulu sighed. “I don’t have any homework.”

  “You’re lucky you don’t have homework yet,” Mia said.

  “Hmph,” Lulu said, clearly not agreeing.

  Mia shrugged. “Well, if you really want homework, maybe you can write another story about your fairy.”

  Lulu’s face lit up. “I wrote a mystery about a fairy!” she explained to Mom and Dad, and then launched into the full story for them.

  Maddie passed a quarter to Mia and took one for herself, leaving the third in the hat for Lulu. “Hey, Mia, first one to write out the whole passage of Shakespeare gets to tell Annabeth and Emily about our dance!”

  Mia stuck out her hand to shake. “Deal.”

  The minute they let go of hands, Maddie took off running. Mia stayed on her heels all the way upstairs.

  FOUR

  Even though she was supposed to do her cursive homework at her desk, Maddie flopped on her bed to copy out the Shakespeare passage. As long as the work got finished, did it really matter where she sat? Maddie paused, midsentence, thinking this through. She’d never lied to Ms. Carpenter about where she’d done her homework, but it wasn’t exactly truthful to leave out the details. Maddie considered moving to her desk, but before she could decide, the doorbell rang.

  “Who’s that?” Maddie called through the wall to Mia.

  The doorbell didn’t often ring this late in the evening, and if it did, it was always someone they were expecting.

  “No idea,” Mia called back.

  Maddie tried to stay focused, carefully writing the next word in the passage, which happened to be misery. Laughter and voices drifted upstairs.

  “Whoever it is, we know them,” Maddie said. “Come on, Mia, aren’t you curious?”

  No answer.

  Maddie tossed her pen down on her notebook. “Well, I’m going to go find out who it is.”

  She bounded downstairs, and she wasn’t surprised when Mia followed closely after. Mia never liked being the last to know anything.

  Lulu was already downstairs. “Look, it’s Ms. Carpenter!”

  “Hi, girls,” Ms. Carpenter said.

  Maddie stopped short. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be doing my homework on my bed!”

  Ms. Carpenter and Mom gave Maddie a quizzical look. Mia raised an eyebrow too, but her look wasn’t so much “huh?” as it was “really, Maddie?”

  Maddie looked from Mia to Ms. Carpenter and back again. “Umm . . . are you here to check on us . . . about our homework?”

  Ms. Carpenter and Mom both looked like they were about to laugh, but Maddie didn’t see what was so funny. That’s when she noticed Ms. Carpenter’s guitar case.

  “Ms. Carpenter is giving Mom a guitar!” Lulu said.

  “For the Third Street Benefit,” Mom explained. “Actually, it’s a particularly special guitar, girls.” She glanced at Ms. Carpenter. “Should we show them?”

  Ms. Carpenter’s face lit up. “Let’s!”

  “We can set it right here.” Mom cleared space on the dining table.

  “Oh, hi there, Jennifer,” Dad said, coming in from the kitchen.

  “Jennifer brought us Earl Eldridge Jr.’s guitar for the silent auction,” Mom said.

  “That’s right, he was your great-grandfather, wasn’t he?” Dad asked. “What a generous gift.”

  “We have a lot of memorabilia from his performing days, enough to fill at least one whole room,” Ms. Carpenter said. “It doesn’t seem right to have the guitar sitting around gathering dust when it could be helping people instead.”

  She opened the case and lifted out a battered-looking guitar.

  Dad ran his hand over the worn wood. “Amazing.”

  Now, Ms. Carpenter did burst out laughing. “Not what you expected, Maddie?”

  Maddie realized she must have been making a face. “Oh, no, it looks . . . I mean . . .”

  “Earl Eldridge played this guitar for over forty years,” Dad said. “Of course, he could have replaced it many times over, but he called this one his Old Faithful.”

  “Grandpa and his guitar were inseparable,” Ms. Carpenter said.

  “And you’re sure you want to donate it?” Dad asked.

  “I’m hoping that whomever wins it in the auction won’t leave it on a shelf. Guitars shouldn’t stay silent,” Ms. Carpenter said. “That’s what Grandpa always said. I held on to the guitar for longer than I should have, but I
was waiting for an opportunity that felt just right. And then I heard about your benefit, Gloria. Back in the day, Grandpa Earl served at a soup kitchen every month. I know he’d want to support your cause.”

  “What’s a soup kitchen?” Lulu wanted to know.

  “A soup kitchen is a place where nutritious, hot food is served to people who are hungry,” Mom said. “Volunteers cook and serve the food. You girls and I are actually volunteering at the Third Street Community House soup kitchen this week, on Thursday. Not every shelter has a soup kitchen for the public, but Third Street does. That’s one of the things I like most about Third Street. As soon as residents check in, they are given jobs to do at the shelter. Everyone helps out, serving one another and the greater community. Part of the money we raise at the benefit will help Third Street buy food for the soup kitchen. It will also help to buy warm clothes and shoes for shelter residents and others who need them. We’re also supporting the shelter itself, where people who don’t have homes can stay temporarily while they work toward finding a job and a place to live.”

  “But why don’t they have homes?” Lulu asked.

  Sometimes when they drove around the city, Maddie saw tents or even cardboard boxes under bridges. She had a hard time believing people actually lived in those places, out in the cold, but she knew it was true. It made her sad to see people who didn’t have warm coats or good shoes, people who clearly didn’t have enough money to buy the things they needed.

  Dad thought for a moment about Lulu’s question and then said, “When you don’t have a place to live, it’s hard to get a job. Once you’re homeless, it’s a hard problem to fix. That’s why Third Street is so important to the community, and why we’re committed to raising money to support their work.”

  “So you think auctioning the guitar could make a lot of money?” Mia asked, eyeing the battered instrument doubtfully.

  “It’s worn out, but with lots of love,” Mom said.

  Ms. Carpenter turned the guitar on its side. “And see here, there’s a chip at the base of the guitar. In one of his concerts, Grandpa’s shoulder strap was so frayed that it broke and he dropped the guitar. The guitar was okay—aside from the chip—but he had to replace the strap.”

  “So, that’s how you know it’s not just any guitar?” Maddie asked.

  “Exactly,” Ms. Carpenter answered. “I hear you girls are going to the Opry this week too. Maybe when you’re there, you can see pictures of Earl Eldridge Jr. and hear more stories about him. He was one of the most famous singers in Nashville back when the Opry was founded, almost 90 years ago.”

  “Whoa!” Lulu said. “That’s a long time.”

  Ms. Carpenter gave Maddie her teacher look. “So, are you going to go finish up that homework at your desk?”

  Maddie crinkled her nose. “Yes.”

  “I will too,” Mia said.

  “And I’ll sit at my desk to write my story!” Lulu said.

  Ms. Carpenter smiled. “Okay, then. See you tomorrow, girls.”

  “Bye!” The girls waved good-bye.

  After she closed the door behind Ms. Carpenter, Mom said, “To your desks!” and chased them all back upstairs.

  FIVE

  So, we’ll show Annabeth and Emily the dance at morning recess.” Mia buckled her seat belt, ready for the ride to school.

  Maddie decided not to point out that Mia had already mentioned this six times this morning. “Sounds good.”

  “But I don’t have the same morning recess!” Lulu wailed. As usual, Lulu was in her booster seat, with Maddie wedged into the middle seat between her sisters. “You can’t do the dance without me!”

  “We don’t need—” Mia began.

  “We’ll do the dance with you later, Lulu,” Maddie said. “And we’ll tell the girls you helped us create it.” Technically, it was true that they didn’t need Lulu to do the dance, but telling her so wouldn’t make for a happy drive.

  “Please, please, please . . . Invite Annabeth and Emily over this afternoon. We can show them together,” Lulu said.

  “But Mom said we’re going to the Grand Ole Opry tonight to help with the auction items,” Mia said. “And what are we supposed to do at recess, watch Annabeth and Emily dance the whole time? This way, we can have a dance-off.”

  “Ooh!” Maddie clapped her hands. “A dance-off!”

  “And maybe we can have someone judge which of the dances is best!” Mia said. “We’ll definitely win.”

  Miss Julia pulled up to the curb at school, but before she unlocked the doors, she turned in her seat to look at them, her expression serious. “Girls, are you sure you want to compete with your friends? Remember how hurt your feelings were yesterday.”

  “It will be a fun competition.” Mia threw open her door. “Friendly competition.”

  Maddie pulled her backpack over her shoulder and followed Mia out of the car. Now that Miss Julia brought it up, she wasn’t so sure a dance-off was the best idea. The whole reason she and Mia had made the dance was to keep from feeling left out. Or actually, to stop any more distance from opening up between them and their friends. What if a dance-off made the gap even wider?

  “Have a nice day at school, girls,” Miss Julia said, still with a hesitant tone in her voice.

  “Bye, Miss Julia,” Lulu said, climbing out to join her sisters.

  “See you this afternoon!” Maddie said.

  “Bye!” Mia called, closing the door.

  As soon as they were through the school’s front door, Lulu ran off to join her friend, Sara. At least for the time being, she’d completely forgotten about the dance.

  “Hey, there’s Annabeth and Emily!” Mia said, and then called to their friends. “Annabeth! Emily! We made a dance last night. We can have a dance-off at morning recess!”

  Annabeth and Emily exchanged another of their looks as they crossed the entryway to where Mia and Maddie stood. Maddie didn’t like the silent language that had sprung up between her friends, especially since she could only guess at what it meant. Nothing good, as far as she could tell.

  Annabeth shrugged. “Sure. Who will judge it?”

  “Maybe we can ask Ms. Carpenter.” Mia stood on her tiptoes to see if she could spot their teacher.

  “Sure, if she will,” Emily said.

  “Ms. Carpenter came to our house last night,” Mia continued, not seeming to notice the tension. “Did you know her great-grandfather was Earl Eldridge Jr.?”

  “Who’s that?” Annabeth asked.

  “You don’t know?” Mia’s face lit up, clearly excited to share what she’d learned last night. “Only the grandfather of country music! Ms. Carpenter donated his guitar for the silent auction at the Third Street Benefit this weekend. Oh!” She stopped in her tracks. “You guys are still coming to the show, right? Mom said she set aside tickets for you. But it’s even better than a normal concert, because Maddie, Lulu, and I are probably going to sing! At the Opry!”

  Annabeth raised an eyebrow at Emily, and the knot in Maddie’s stomach twisted tighter. This wasn’t going well, and Mia hadn’t seemed to notice. Before Maddie could figure out what to do, they’d reached their classroom door.

  “Good morning, girls,” Ms. Carpenter called. “Hurry to your seats. We have a lot to cover today.” As Maddie and Mia sat down, she asked, “And how did the rest of that handwriting homework go last night?”

  “We sat at our desks!” Mia said. “Well, at least I did.”

  Maddie was only half paying attention. She was too busy watching Annabeth and Emily. They’d leaned their heads toward one another and were whispering back and forth. Every once in a while, one of them would glance up at Maddie or Mia. Maddie tried to look away whenever this happened, so she wouldn’t be caught staring. Still, she was pretty sure they caught her at least once.

  The morning sped by. Ms. Carpenter had paperwork she needed to finish at her desk during recess, and no one wanted to ask Mr. Shelton, their PE teacher, to judge the dance-off. So, at least for today, t
here wouldn’t be a competition.

  “Still, we want to show you our dance,” Mia said. “Race you to the tree!”

  They ran their usual route across the blacktop and over to a grassy patch by the oak tree. Mia started the music. Maddie knew her sister was on a mission to help her feel better. Mia thought that if their dance could be as good—or better—compared to Annabeth and Emily’s, then things would go back to normal. But, from the way Annabeth and Emily were acting, Maddie knew that showing them up wouldn’t help at all.

  “Five, six, seven, eight!” Mia called out as the music began.

  Maddie tried not to look at Annabeth and Emily, and instead let the music take over. Even more than when she sang, when Maddie danced, she totally lost herself in the music and movement. After all the worries of the morning, it was a relief to let go and stop thinking about everyone else. They made it to the final pose, out of breath and grinning.

  Mia gave Maddie a high five. “That’s what I’m talking about!”

  “Great job.” Emily shoved her hands into her pockets and looked at her shoes.

  “We should go work on our dance,” Annabeth said to Emily, avoiding eye contact with Mia and Maddie.

  “Is something wrong?” Mia tried to catch Annabeth’s eye, and then Emily’s, but neither looked back at her. “Your dance is already great. You don’t have to work on—”

  “You don’t know everything,” Annabeth snapped. “And just because we didn’t spend the summer on tour or get invited to sing at the Opry, doesn’t mean we couldn’t do those things.”

  “Annabeth . . .” Emily threw Maddie a concerned glance.

  “We watched your dance, and now we’d like to go work on ours,” Annabeth said. “Right, Emily?”

  Emily dug her toe into the grass. “Yeah, I guess.”

  “Why are they so mad?” Mia asked, watching them walk away.

  Maddie sank to the ground and leaned her back against the tree. All she wanted was for things to go back to the way they were. But, the more she tried to hold on to the way things used to be, the more everything changed.

  “Don’t worry.” Mia sat next to her sister and wrapped her arm around Maddie’s shoulders. “All of this—whatever it is—will blow over soon.”