by Kit Pearson
That night Corrie dreamt about Mum. Corrie was flying from a trapeze and Mum was watching her, laughing and clapping. Corrie told Roz about it.
“Oh, Corrie, you’re so lucky!” said Roz. “I try and try to dream about Mum. Every night I think of her before I go to sleep, but she never comes!”
“You can pretend my dream was yours, if you like,” offered Corrie.
THE CENTENNIAL CONCERT was on July 13. Corrie was surprised at how glad she was to see her class again. She’d been so immersed in the family she’d forgotten about them. Darlene greeted her eagerly, and Jamie came right up and told her about his camping trip. Several people were away for the summer, like Meredith. Corrie suddenly missed her. But in two more weeks she’d be home!
They stood on risers on a stage and sang their three songs with hundreds of other voices in the hot sun. Corrie had been afraid she’d forget the words, but they had rehearsed them so often that it was easy. Mr. Zelmach couldn’t stop telling them how proud he was of them. Everyone in the family except Sebastian, who was still at summer school, came to hear Corrie. They told her they were proud, too.
ONE DAY FA WENT OUT in the afternoon and said he’d be home in time to make dinner. They were all sitting on the back steps, licking Jell-O powder out of their palms, when they heard a car on the street honking again and again.
“Go and see who that is,” Corrie told Harry. “They must have the wrong house.”
Harry ran to the front of the house. Then they heard him shout, “Corrie, Roz, everyone! Come out here right now!”
They found Fa standing in front of a gleaming red-and-white station wagon, grinning like a little boy. “Come and meet your new car!” he said.
“A car, a car!” With shrieks and questions they surrounded the car, stroking its shiny surface. Then they clambered inside. Even with the twins stretched out in the back there was plenty of room.
“I thought you didn’t know how to drive!” said Harry.
“Of course I do!” said Fa. “I just haven’t for a few years. I stopped after … I stopped after your mother’s accident. I didn’t think I ever wanted to drive again, but now I do. It’s too inconvenient for all of you, not having someone to drive you places. Do you like it? It’s a Buick. It’s only two years old—I bought it from a colleague. The colour is rather bright, but it runs well.”
“I adore it,” said Roz, stroking the red-and-white leather seats.
“Look at the neat steering wheel,” said Harry, turning it back and forth. “It looks like a flying saucer!”
“We could sleep back here!” called Juliet from the back.
Corrie snuggled into the comfortable seats. They had a car, like other families!
“Let’s go and pick up Sebastian at school!” said Fa. They slammed the doors shut, and the sleek car glided along the street like a purring tiger. The twins kept opening the windows and sticking their heads out, until Fa told them to stop.
“Sebastian, Sebastian, we have a car!” yelled Juliet as soon as they spotted him.
Sebastian walked up to them. “A car … It’s very nice.” His voice was as even as usual.
“In a year I’ll teach you how to drive it,” Fa told him.
“And in two years I can drive too!” Roz threw her arms around her father. “Oh, Fa, this summer is perfect!”
How could she say that? thought Corrie. The car was swell, and having Fa so involved with the family again seemed like a miracle. But her brother sat woodenly in the back seat, staring out the window with no expression.
Sir Lancelot was dead, but where was Sebastian?
19
Sebastian
Corrie got a postcard from Meredith. It said she was staying in Alberta for the rest of the summer, to go to a camp with her cousin. “They have riding and canoeing and we’ll live in tents. It will be so much fun! Mum and Dad are staying longer at the lake. I’ll bring your birthday present home with me! Sorry I won’t see you until the fall. Love, Meredith.”
Corrie blinked back her tears. Meredith didn’t seem very sorry—she seemed to have almost forgotten Corrie. Corrie had been planning to decorate their bikes for the contest at the community centre, and to go swimming at the pool every day. And what about their joint birthday party? Now August seemed like a blank.
Corrie felt a bit better when Fa told them he was taking them on a holiday to celebrate Sebastian’s finishing summer school. They asked the Taits to look in on Hamlet and Jingle every day. They filled the back of the station wagon with suitcases, towels, and beach toys, took the ferry to Vancouver Island, and drove up island to a place called Oyster River.
The drive took hours. The twins sang “Purple People Eater” until the others begged them to stop. They played I Packed My Grandmother’s Trunk and I Spy.
They stayed in a motel right on the beach. Every day they braved the cold waves and ran around on the firm sand. Corrie helped the younger ones construct a driftwood fort. They floated down the river in the motel’s wooden kayaks and played on the swing set outside the cabins. Every night Fa cooked them hamburgers or hot dogs in their little kitchen.
Harry, Juliet, and Orly soon made friends with the many other children staying in the motel. They all roamed around in a gang, carrying sticks and slingshots, their feet caked with sand and their noses sunburnt. Fa called them the Reign of Terror. Roz was thrilled to find someone from her school; every day she and Paula sat on the beach, reading movie magazines and improving their tans.
Corrie joined the gang of kids every evening to play red rover but, apart from that, she kept to herself. She knew she should make an effort to make friends with three girls who were her age, but they seemed such a tight group that she was too shy to attempt it.
Instead she hung around with Fa. He still seemed like a precious new friend. They walked to the river, or to the store to buy food, or they read their books together. Fa taught her the names of birds and shells, and how to play chess.
Sebastian either sat in a chair on the porch, hidden behind his own book, or walked for miles on the beach. He was more silent than ever, and Corrie had given up trying to communicate with him.
On their last evening Fa took them to a restaurant in Courtney to celebrate Roz’s and Harry’s birthdays, which were a day apart. When they got back, Fa and Corrie went for one more walk on the beach. The waves broke on the sand like a sigh, as if they knew the family was leaving.
Corrie took Fa’s hand. “Is Sebastian ever going to be all right?” she asked.
Fa sighed. “The poor boy … He’s just not sure how to relate to the world now. But Dr. Samuel says he’s doing well. Don’t worry, Cordelia, he’ll soon be more like his old self. Not the sick old self, but the best one.”
Corrie’s voice broke. “But he seems so … so flat! And he never talks to me!”
Fa put his arm around her. “He will. We can’t hurry him, you know. Just give him time.”
WHEN THEY GOT BACK to the city, Fa lost his enthusiasm for cooking. He slept later and they returned to their old habits of finding cereal for themselves. He took them out for dinners more often than he cooked.
Roz took over the cooking. Corrie helped her, and Harry became surprisingly enthusiastic, attacking a recipe in the same methodical way he did the instructions for a model.
Fa stopped cleaning too. He began spending time in his study. “I’m afraid that my book will die if I don’t do at least a little work on it,” he apologized.
“Can books die?” asked Juliet.
“They can lose their life if they’re neglected. But don’t worry, I’ll work only a few hours a day. And feel free to disturb me any time you wish.”
Very quickly, the hours lengthened. Soon Fa was in his study all day again. They went in and out of it in a way they never would have before, but no one liked to disturb him for long. When Fa emerged, however, he was much more focused on them than in the Round Table days, and he was still with them in the evenings.
The house became du
sty and untidy once more. Sebastian still hid in his room, even though his classes were over. What was he doing in there? Corrie wondered.
Roz and Corrie made up schedules for the rest of August: one for cooking, one for cleaning and laundry, and one for looking after the twins.
Who was going to look after the household in the fall? wondered Corrie. She and Roz consulted with Fa, who said he had put in a request to an agency but hadn’t heard back from them yet.
Corrie sighed. Another Mrs. Oliphant disturbing their peace. Fa had promised that the new person would be nicer than the Elephant, but she’d still be a stranger.
Corrie knocked on Fa’s door one afternoon. “Fa, at Christmas Aunt Madge told me that Cousin Daphne was getting better. Do you know if she is? Do you think Aunt Madge could come back?” If only she could!
“Daphne is better,” said Fa. “Last week I asked Madge if she could live with us again and she said she would really like to. But …” He pressed his thumbs to his eyes, the way he did when he was worried. “Sebastian doesn’t want her to come, Cordelia. I thought I’d better consult with him and he was quite adamant about it.”
“But why?”
“He wouldn’t tell me why, and I didn’t like to press him.”
“I’ll ask him why!” How could Sebastian quash such a perfect solution?
“My dear, I really don’t think that’s a good idea. We don’t want to upset Sebastian in any way. He’s still very fragile, you know. If he doesn’t want Madge to come, we can’t have her. Don’t say anything to the others about this. I’m sure the agency will find us someone good, don’t you worry.”
Sometimes Fa was still as authoritative as King Arthur. Corrie knew she had lost.
Roz found her in the den, morosely watching Perry Mason. “Corrie, I’ve just had a wonderful idea!”
“What?”
“Let’s ask Fa if Aunt Madge can come back!”
“She can’t. She has to look after Cousin Daphne,” Corrie muttered.
“Couldn’t we at least ask her? At Christmas she told me that Cousin Daphne was feeling better.”
“Fa did ask her,” said Corrie. “Cousin Daphne is worse again. Aunt Madge said she’d … she’d really like to come, but she can’t.”
A knight never lies. But she was no longer a knight.
“Shoot!” Roz plunked herself down on the chesterfield. “I sure don’t want to go through another housekeeper!”
Corrie got up and left before she had to lie any more.
AUGUST WAS BORING without Meredith back in the city. One rainy morning Corrie wandered through the house wondering what to do. She decided to start another diorama.
She got a glass of water, set up her paints on her desk, and began coating the back of a shoebox a rosy blue. When the paint had dried she added a line of low green hills and a rising sun.
Rooting around in the box of diorama materials she kept under her bed, Corrie found a piece of green velvet cloth. Aunt Madge had given her this once; it was left over from a cushion cover.
Corrie cut the cloth to fit the bottom of the box, then glued it in place. She smoothed the soft velvet—it looked just like grass.
An hour later the velvet had become a meadow. A tree made out of a branch covered with green paper leaves was anchored in place with Plasticine. A robin perched on one of its branches. Red and yellow felt flowers dotted the meadow, and a stream of blue ribbon meandered through it.
Corrie was pleased with the results, but the scene needed more. If only she could draw people! Then she could add a tiny figure of each member of the family. They could be having a picnic under the tree.
She couldn’t draw people, but she’d always been excellent at drawing horses. She sketched six small horses on a piece of cardboard, coloured each one with pencil crayons and carefully cut them out with nail scissors. It took forever to carve out each tiny leg and ear and tail.
She glued tabs on the backs of the horses and arranged them in the meadow. Fa was a golden palomino standing under the shade of the tree. Twin grey ponies munched the flowers. A chestnut (Corrie), an Appaloosa (Roz), and a pinto (Harry) stood nose to nose in the middle. On the right side of the meadow—but facing the others—was a handsome black stallion.
Corrie stared at the scene and then she made one more horse—a white one with a flowing mane. She placed it under the tree beside Fa.
It was finished. Corrie wished herself into the scene, relishing the smell of the sweet grass, the sound of the bubbling stream and the bird’s song welcoming the dawn. She had created a little paradise. Mum was with them again and everyone was at peace. No one had to worry about a new school or a new housekeeper or whether Sebastian would ever be better. If Corrie were really a horse in a meadow she would roll over on the grass and kick up her heels for joy.
But she wasn’t. She gazed at the diorama and sighed. At least she could look at it sometimes.
CORRIE STARTED GOING to the pool every afternoon, after her stint of twinsitting was over. She was teaching herself how to do a better dive. She had always found it hard not to splash or to flip her legs over. She crouched at the side of the pool and dived again and again. On the third day she thought she’d improved enough to try the board.
“Good try!” someone cried. “Curl your toes under and spring out more. Do you want me to show you?”
Darlene! Corrie was about to shake her head and walk away. Why would Darlene want to have anything to do with her? But she seemed so friendly. “I guess you could,” said Corrie shyly. “Do you know how to dive?”
Darlene walked to the board, bounced on the end, and executed a perfect dive.
“Wow!” said Corrie after Darlene had climbed out of the pool. “Where did you learn that?”
“My dad taught me,” said Darlene. “I can show you. Come on.”
For an hour Darlene showed Corrie how to bounce high and keep her legs taut. By the end of the afternoon Corrie almost had it.
“Do you want to try again tomorrow?” asked Darlene.
“Sure!” Corrie wondered why Darlene was at the pool by herself when she was usually with the rest of the Five. “Where are the others?” she asked casually as they changed.
“Everyone’s away,” said Darlene glumly. “They’re at their summer cabins or visiting relatives. Where’s Meredith?”
“She’s in Alberta for the whole summer. She was supposed to come back for August, but then she decided to go to some stupid camp.”
“A camp—yuck, I’d hate that. Everyone telling you what to do all the time. Do you want a Popsicle?”
“I haven’t got any money.”
“I’ll treat you. Come on.” They walked to the concession booth, Darlene chattering all the way. Corrie licked her orange Popsicle with awe. Darlene had always been nice to her, but now she was asking her to come to her house on the way home!
“I’ll show you the new clothes my mum bought me for school,” she told Corrie.
FOR THE LAST TWO WEEKS of the summer Corrie saw Darlene every day. They swam or went bowling or rode their bikes to Little Mountain or played Monopoly with her little brothers. It wasn’t as special as going to the Coopers’. Darlene’s brothers whined, and her mother was cranky.
A few times Corrie asked Darlene home. “I remember this old house!” said Darlene. “Isn’t there a secret closet on the top floor?” Corrie had almost forgotten that before Mum died, Darlene had been her friend and had sometimes come over to play.
The two of them talked a lot about what junior high would be like. In a couple of weeks they would be going there! They shared their fears of the huge number of students and the enormous building, of having a lot of teachers and homework every night—and dances and older boys. “I like boys, but I’m not ready to date yet,” Darlene confided. “Mum says I can’t until grade nine.”
“Date!” Corrie was horrified. She was never planning to date, but she didn’t tell Darlene that. If she did, Darlene might think she was babyish.
&nbs
p; Darlene was not like Meredith. She didn’t read much and she didn’t have Meredith’s contagious enthusiasm. Her greatest interest was sports; she had won awards for skating as well as for swimming. She and Corrie spent hours throwing balls into her family’s basketball hoop.
At least she was someone to hang around with until Meredith came back. And Corrie felt comforted sharing her own worries about Laburnum with Darlene. Darlene even asked if she and Meredith would like to walk to school with the Five on their first day. “I’ll ask her,” said Corrie, amazed.
Roz took Corrie shopping for new school clothes, and Darlene tagged along. Corrie refused to get the twin-set they suggested, but she was happy with her red car coat, her white blouses, and her kilt in the B.C. Centennial plaid.
“Do you want nylons?” asked Roz.
“I have nylons,” said Darlene. “Grade seven is when you start wearing them, right, Roz?”
“We wear socks to school, but nylons for parties and church,” Roz explained.
“No thanks,” said Corrie. Part of her was intrigued by the idea of nylons, but she would wait and see what Meredith decided.
CORRIE’S BIRTHDAY WAS BETTER than she had expected. All of her presents were good ones, especially the Brownie camera Fa gave her. And Sebastian’s smile seemed genuine when he handed her the last Narnia novel, the only one she hadn’t read.
“How did you know I wanted that?” she asked.
“I heard you tell Roz,” he mumbled.
Corrie chose the White Spot for her birthday dinner, and Darlene came, too. Darlene, however, spent the whole time talking to Roz about junior high. As Corrie sat in the restaurant relishing her fried chicken, she wondered what Meredith was doing. She could hear her voice saying, “We’re both twelve!”
Corrie picked up her chicken and munched it as messily as the twins. If there was only one more year before she had to be a teenager, she might as well enjoy it.
THE AGENCY PHONED Fa with three names. He asked each woman over one at a time, letting the whole family interview her.
The first woman was called Miss White. She was as pale and bland as her name.
