“Well, thank you for the invitation,” smiled Mrs. Mynah.
“I saw them yesterday,” said Dorian hopping up to sit on the counter. His hand hovered over the donuts and swooped down on a powdery one. “They’re gigantic.”
“And what are you going to do today, Lilly?” asked Mrs. Mynah. Lilly didn’t answer. She picked seeds up off the floor with one hand and dropped them into the other.
“Do you mind if I keep these seeds?” Lilly asked.
“Dorian,” said his mother, “Give Lilly some seeds from that bag of wild bird seed that ripped the other day.”
Lilly watched Dorian pour birdseed into a small paper bag. “Wow,” said Lilly smiling broadly. “That’s enough for Mr. Joe and Tobias.”
“Who’s Mr. Joe?” asked Dorian as he handed her the bag.
“Mr. Joe is the bird at the Silent Bird Restaurant. Ernie named it The Silent Bird, because Mr. Joe sits in his cage not saying a word. Ernie says cockatiels can mimic humans. Ernie doesn’t know why Mr. Joe won’t talk but I know why. Mr. Joe is protesting. He’s angry he was stolen from the jungle when he was a chick and stuck in a cage. At least that’s what Tobias told me.”
As soon as the words popped out of her mouth, Lilly wished she could pop them back in. “Tobias told you this, Lilly?” asked Mrs. Mynah.
“You know what I mean,” smiled Lilly nervously. “Can Dorian help me look for criminals? I thought we could go to the Silent Bird Restaurant to see if any criminals are having breakfast there now.”
“Criminals?” asked Dorian’s mother. “That sounds a little dangerous.”
Dorian laughed. “It’s only a game, Mom. Can you imagine any criminals in this town?”
Mrs. Mynah smiled. She said it was all right with her if Ernie didn’t mind having them around when they weren’t paying customers. “Ernie is the owner, right?”
“Yes,” said Lilly. “He’s the cook, too.” Lilly said Ernie wouldn’t mind at all. She explained that she went there every Sunday to visit Mr. Joe and pick up the celery and carrot stubs Ernie saved for Zelda, Janie, and the little guinea pigs. “He would have thrown them away,” explained Lilly, “but it’s nice that Ernie saves them for us.”
When they left, Mrs. Mynah stood in the doorway. Lilly looked back as Mrs. Mynah turned to go in. Lilly still didn’t know if Dorian’s mother had a tail. She wore a dress today. Lilly supposed it was easier to hid a tail under a dress than in pants. The more Lilly thought about a tail, the more she wished she had one, although she didn’t know what she would do with it.
At the Silent Bird Restaurant, Lilly introduced Dorian to Mr. Joe. Over and over, the large, white bird pushed his hooked beak through the gold wire toward the paper bag even though Lilly was pushing handfuls of birdseed into the cage. “Not all of it,” laughed Lilly. “Don’t you want to leave some for Tobias? He is your friend.”
The restaurant was full. Ernie let Lilly and Dorian sit in the kitchen while he cooked. He gave them apple juice and packets of crackers and let them spread the sheriff’s MOST WANTED posters out on a steel counter. Later that morning Ernie took a break from breaking eggs and cooking omelets. “Nope,” he said studying each face carefully and shaking his head. “Nope, I haven’t seen any of those ugly mugs around here.”
Lilly didn’t see any either when she scanned the crowd eating at the restaurant. “I bet we’ll never be lucky enough to find a real criminal in this town,” sighed Lilly.
“Thank goodness for that,” said Ernie whipping eggs into a frothy whirlpool. Lilly didn’t tell Ernie why she needed the reward money. What would people think of they knew her mother hadn’t paid the taxes? They might call Child Welfare.
On the way home, Lilly carried the vegetable scraps while Dorian took charge of the sheriff’s posters. “Do you have any special skills for catching criminals, Dorian?
He thought about it. “No,” he answered. “But I have a great sense of smell.”
They stopped at the same newspaper machines and pay phones Lilly passed earlier. She showed Dorian how to check them for money. Nothing. “Hells bells,” said Lilly. She waited a moment. When nothing struck her down, she said, “Good, there’s still time.”
“Still time for what?” asked Dorian.
“I’m not sure,” said Lilly. “Goodie never told me that. Time for something good to happen, I hope.”
Chapter 15
Lilly was surprised to see a pickup truck in her driveway. “I have no idea who’s here,” she said.
“It’s my mother,” admitted Dorian. “Maybe she wanted to see the topiaries.” When they reached the backyard, however they saw Mrs. Mynah swinging a heavy pickaxe. She swung over and over as though keeping time to music only she could hear, her axe striking the ground on the downbeat. It was a surprising sight. What surprised Lilly even more was seeing her own mother working alongside Mrs. Mynah, collecting rocks.
Mrs. Mynah stood the axe on its head. She leaned on the handle and smiled. “Your mother is determined to turn this patch of dirt into a garden, Lilly.” She wiped sweat from her forehead.
Lilly’s eyes widened. Mrs. Mynah continued, “The topiaries are magnificent. I told your mother, I could sell smaller topiaries in the Garden Center when she’s ready to make them.”
Mrs. Mynah turned to speak to Lilly’s mother, who didn’t look up. The task of picking up rocks seemed to mesmerize her. “Bebe, I’ll loan you my wheelbarrow so you aren’t carrying armloads of rocks.” Most people wouldn’t speak to someone who never looked up, but Mrs. Mynah spoke to Lilly’s mother as though her behavior was perfectly normal. Mrs. Mynah called Dorian to help her get the wheelbarrow out of their truck.
As Lilly’s mother added another rock to her armful, Lilly wondered how Mrs. Mynah knew her mother’s nickname. “Here you go, Bebe,” called out Mrs. Mynah. Dorian pushed the old metal cart toward Lilly’s mother. “You are so fortunate to have this rich soil, Bebe. People would envy you.”
Mrs. Mynah took rocks from Mrs. Wilder’s arms and dropped them into the wheelbarrow. They clattered. Mrs. Mynah laughed at the sound. Lilly’s mother looked at Mrs. Mynah with a dazed expression. It was the same expression Lilly had seen every day for years.
As Lilly helped clear the field of rocks, she watched her mother. For a flickering moment, Lilly thought her mother looked slightly less confused. Maybe picking up rocks was exactly what her mother needed all these years.
That day, Mrs. Mynah broke up the entire area she’d fenced off for the garden. Janie, Razz Ma Tazz, and the others stood by the house. Too curious to stay inside, too smart to go near the lady with the pickaxe, thought Lilly.
Mrs. Mynah brushed her hair back with her dirt-caked hand. Her face and bare arms were covered in thick dust except where sweat trickled down, turning dust to muddy streaks. Lilly had never seen a grown-up so undone.
“What are you going to plant, Mrs. Mynah?” asked Lilly.
“Bebe,” Mrs. Mynah called to Lilly’s mom, “let’s talk more about your plantings.” To Lilly’s great surprise her mother, looking quite the mess herself, trotted over obediently.
“I was thinking, Bebe, unless you disagree, and if you disagree say so,” was the way Mrs. Mynah began, “I was thinking we could grow some beans and zinnias, direct sown in the ground over here.”
Mrs. Mynah walked around the broken ground and waved her arms. Lilly’s mother and her cloud followed. “We’ll need to support the beans, of course,” said Mrs. Mynah. “But you’re a wiz at creating supports, Bebe. Look at what you’ve done with these beautiful creatures.” Mrs. Mynah waved at the green poodle with the ivy pompom tail and the grizzly bear growling at the Heavens. “The structures supporting these magnificent creatures must be brilliant or they would have fallen years ago.”
She turned to Lilly. “Beasts with backbone.” Mrs. Mynah stopped at a corner, roped off with twine and slats. She spoke to Lilly’s mother again. “This area will be nice for peas and cherry tomatoes. You and Lilly can eat them right off
the vine.”
“Bush beans won’t need support. My favorites, yellow wax and royal purple, are productive and very beautiful.” Mrs. Mynah kept moving forward. “Now, here is the perfect spot for strawberries.” Lilly’s mother followed as if pulled by an invisible rope.
“Here’s a sunny spot for sunflowers,” sang out Mrs. Mynah. Tobias perched atop the poodle’s pompom tail. “Sunflower seeds will be ready to eat come the fall, Tobias!”
Mrs. Mynah stepped carefully around McMuggster, the shy crocodile. “Pumpkins here. They like to sprawl out as they grow, but you’ll have plenty of room as long as McMuggster doesn’t mind.” She smiled at Mrs. Wilder.
Mrs. Mynah turned to Lilly, “And since pumpkin flowers are delicious sautéed, you may want to share them with your restaurant friend, Ernie. He could put them on the menu in the fall.”
“The fall is too far away,” said Lilly. “The town is going to sell our house this summer.”
Mrs. Mynah turned her palms up to the sky and looked at Lilly. “Yes, Dorian told me last night.”
Then she went right on walking and talking. “We want no chemicals. Everything must be in balance. One harvest after the next. Crops that grow fast, like lettuce, radishes, carrots. You’ll be racing your bunny to the garden, Lilly.”
“But why?” asked Lilly. “Why are you planting a garden? A garden won’t stop us from losing our house. It won’t stop strangers from moving in. Strangers will pick our pumpkins.” Lilly’s voice rose higher and higher while Mrs. Mynah listened sympathetically.
“I can’t predict the future, Lilly,” said Mrs. Mynah. “I only know there is life in these seeds right now, and if I plant these seeds, they are likely to grow.” She looked at Lilly’s mother as she spoke, giving Lilly the impression that Mrs. Mynah was building this garden for her mother. While Lilly understood seeds grow into gardens, she did not understand the connection between seeds and her mother. But Mrs. Mynah wasn’t available to answer more questions. She had already moved on to the area staked out for flowers and was talking excitedly to Lilly’s mother who didn’t seem to be paying attention but was instead examining each rock she picked up as if it might be gold.
While building the garden seemed pointless to Lilly, so did pleading with Mrs. Mynah to stop because Lilly now realized Mrs. Mynah intended to build this garden even if it bloomed without them. Rather than argue, Lilly picked up a spade and imitated Mrs. Mynah digging and beating the ground. “When do you start planting?”
“That depends on the moon.”
“The moon?” asked Lilly. “Don’t you need the sun?”
“You’re right, of course. There is no life without the sun,” she answered. “But the moon is up there, too, and she’s pulling at us with or without our permission.
Mrs. Mynah struck larger chunks of sod with a sharp-toothed trowel. She continued mashing the ground while speaking. “You know the moon circles around the earth.”
“Yes,” said Lilly, waiting to hear more.
“The moon tugs on our planet,” explained Mrs. Mynah.
“That’s gravity,” said Lilly.
“Right. And the moon pulling on our planet creates the tides in the oceans. But did you know that the moon also creates tides in even the smallest drop of water?”
“In a drop of morning dew?” asked Lilly.
“I believe so,” said Mrs. Mynah. “The moon creates tides in our own bodies, which are mostly water. And the moon creates tides in the soil and in seeds in our gardens. So, the best time to plant depends on the kind of plant, how much water it needs, and how big the moon is.”
As Mrs. Mynah pounded and talked, Dorian and Mrs. Wilder circled round the broken ground with the wheelbarrow, picking up rocks and tossing them in. Together they carted rocks to the side of the house and dumped them. Mrs. Wilder piled rocks in neat stacks. Lilly helped pound and turn the sod. She listened as Mrs. Mynah explained that the waxing moon, which grew fuller, made it easier for seeds to take up water.
As Mrs. Mynah spoke quietly, the earth spun them away from the sun. In the growing darkness, the full moon slowly rose. And when it was high, the full moon loomed large and shined on the ground that lay broken and waiting.
Chapter 16
Lilly arrived as the second bell rang. Three minutes, thought Lilly. She had three minutes to climb the cement stairs to the front door, walk down the hallway and enter her classroom. Under normal circumstances, three minutes was plenty of time.
Dorian ran up from behind. “Looks like Isadora is surrounded by her minions, as usual.”
“Onions?” asked Lilly puzzled. She glanced over at Isadora who strolled slowly toward the school, showing off her outfit to four envious-looking girls. “Why do you call them onions, Dorian?”
“Not onions,” laughed Dorian. “Minions. It means followers, worker bees, yes-men.”
“Oh, you mean her stupid friends who will do anything she asks them to do,” Lilly observed.
As they climbed the stairs, Lilly noticed Dorian wore a shirt tucked into his pants; his tail was in full view. Lilly groaned inside. Why had Dorian decided to show his tail at school today? She wanted to ask but knew there wasn’t time. They had to hurry to class.
Lilly hated to think what Mr. Stinchfield might do. He relished making fun of people for all sorts of differences – glasses, braces, pimples and the occasional webbed toes. What’s more none of the other students had seen Dorian’s silky, rope-like tail before. How will they react? thought Lilly. Isadora screamed.
Lilly turned to see Dorian’s tail wrapped around Isadora’s wrist. The tail pulled Isadora to her knees. “Let go!” yelled Isadora, hitting the pavement.
“I can’t,” shrugged Dorian over his shoulder. “My tail has a mind of his own. Maybe if you apologize for yanking him, he’ll let you go.”
Within seconds a crowd surrounded them. Lilly couldn’t say whether her classmates were more shocked by Dorian’s tail or Isadora on her knees. Lilly looked up as Miss Brightman and Mr. Stinchfield rushed toward them. “What is going on here?” bellowed Mr. Stinchfield. The crowd parted.
Dorian looked at Mr. Stinchfield matter-of-factly. “Isadora pulled my tail and my tail didn’t like it.”
“You have no control over it?” asked Mr. Stinchfield. He seemed more interested in the mechanics of the tail than the plight of Isadora.
“Right now I don’t,” said Dorian. “But I think if Isadora apologizes, he’ll let go.”
“Just cut it off!” yelled Isadora. At that, the tail forced Isadora face down to the ground with her arm behind her back.
You can’t get any lower than that, thought Lilly.
“Uncle! Uncle!” screamed Isadora.
It was common knowledge that Mr. Stinchfield was Isadora’s uncle. So, there was some confusion as to why Isadora was screaming, Uncle. Was it because she wanted her uncle’s help? Or was she giving in? Whatever the reason it was not an apology. The tail did not let go.
“All right,” muttered Isadora between clenched teeth. “I shouldn’t have pulled your tail.” Still the tail did not let go.
“I apologize,” she whispered angrily. The tail let go.
Dorian stood up, having been pulled to a crouching position when his tail flattened Isadora. Mr. Stinchfield helped Isadora to her feet. She rubbed her wrist and stared at Dorian, eyes full of hate. She turned to Lilly and hissed, “It should be against the law to look like your friend. I can’t believe they let a freak like him into the school. Or a freak like you.” Isadora scowled at Lilly as she ran past her into the school.
From that moment, Isadora stayed away from Dorian but went after Lilly with vengeance. When she caught Lilly alone, Isadora pushed her, dumped out her backpack and messed up her homework.
Lilly tried to keep her distance but it only inspired Isadora to take greater risks in order to reach her target. One afternoon, Lilly rounded the corner during recess in time to hear one of Isadora’s minions shout, “Now!” Flying off a dangerously high
swing, Isadora landed on Lilly who never saw her coming.
“Are you hurt?” shouted Mr. Stinchfield. Lilly’s head swam. She felt a warm, salty liquid in her mouth. Lilly sat up and spit. Out flew a tooth. Mr. Stinchfield reached to help Isadora.
“She’s spitting at me,” yelled Isadora. Lilly picked up her molar.
Mr. Stinchfield jerked Lilly to her feet as Dorian and Miss Brightman hurried over. Miss Brightman didn’t ask what had happened. She knew better. Lilly kept quiet, too.
“Mr. Stinchfield, the library is a mess,” began Miss Brightman.
“I’m busy,” he said frowning, his one eyebrow a deep V.
“I’m sorry, but I need help. I wonder if a student could miss recess to clean the library.” Isadora stepped back. Mr. Stinchfield pressed his fingers together. They were carefully groomed and shined with a clear polish. He looked over them and glared at Lilly. “Take Lilly. She’s turning my schoolyard into a disaster zone.”
Tyger Lilly Page 7
