Star Girl

by Henry Winterfeld

  “Children! Children! There you are, at last, you runaways!” Miss Tim called, delighted. She wore ski pants and had a walking stick in her hand and a knapsack on her back as if she were going for a mountain climb in the middle of the night. “Do tell, where on earth have you been all this time?” Miss Tim asked with a sigh of relief. Shaking her head, she confronted the children.

  The children were still speechless.

  “And why are you soaking wet?” Miss Tim asked, horrified.

  “We fell into the water,” admitted Walter.

  “Everything fell into the water,” Otto murmured.

  “Your parents are desperately looking for you everywhere,” said Miss Tim. “They are worried to death.”

  “Why?” asked the children in surprise.

  “Well, it’s very late,” said Miss Tim. “You should have been home hours ago.”

  “Where are they looking for us?” asked Walter uneasily.

  “In the forest,” said Miss Tim. “I told them that you most likely had gone to the Gackenburg Meadows, but they wouldn’t believe me. So I struck out on my own and came here to see whether you had already arrived. Those mosquitoes almost ate me alive. I pulled my jacket over my head, but even so I’m bitten all over.”

  “How did you know that we were going to the Gackenburg Meadows?” Walter asked, completely amazed.

  “Why, Sergeant Klotz was looking for you, so I asked him what the trouble was. Well, that’s how I learned about everything, and so I went directly to see your parents, because I was worried about you. What a remarkable story they had to tell me!”

  Miss Tim gave Mo, still perched in the grass, a searching glance. The moonlight cast a silvery glow on her blonde hair. Her face was waxen, and she sadly looked at the sky.

  “Hm,” was all Miss Tim managed to say, and then turned again to Walter. “Your father remembered that immediately after sundown you wanted to walk toward Asra….”

  “Do you, too, believe in Asra, Miss Tim?” Walter interrupted hopefully.

  However, Miss Tim said amiably: “Well … we’ll discuss that later, Walter. Now, as I was saying, immediately after sundown there is only Venus in the sky, correct? I knew at once that it could only be the Gackenburg Meadows. …”

  “But Asra is the Evening Star!” interjected Gretel.

  “The Evening Star is Venus,” Miss Tim enlightened them.

  “Oh, really?” chorused the children. They had never heard anything of Venus before.

  “Well, how did you know about the Evening Star?” Miss Tim asked curiously.

  “We didn’t find it,” said Walter. “All we knew was that it should be in the west, so we kept walking in that direction.”

  “And you even knew where west is? At night, in the forest?” exclaimed Miss Tim in admiration.

  “The full moon rises in the east,” said Walter modestly. “We learned that in school.”

  “Well, there, you see! School is good for something, after all, don’t you think?” said Miss Tim.

  “Oh, yes,” the children willingly admitted. Only Konrad did not share the general enthusiasm about school. Twice he had failed to be promoted.

  Miss Tim looked at Mo again. She hesitated for a moment but then walked up and kneeled beside her.

  “Hello, Mo!” she said cordially. “I heard that you’re from Asra.”

  “Do you want to lock me up now?” Mo asked nervously.

  “No! No! No!” exclaimed Miss Tim, feigning indignation.

  “Nobody wants to lock you up! Tell me, where is your necklace? I understand you have a beautiful one.”

  “Walter has it,” said Mo.

  “It’s here!” called Walter, and tapped his pants pocket.

  “Be sure you don’t lose it!” said Miss Tim.

  “Oh, no,” called Walter, much frightened.

  “Well, Mo, are you still waiting for your father?” asked Miss Tim, and gently stroked her hair.

  “I will have to,” Mo said, ill at ease.

  “What will we do if your father doesn’t come?” asked Miss Tim, apparently much concerned.

  “That would be awful,” Mo said sadly. “Then he could not send me any pills.” She was gasping for air like a fish out of water.

  “You know, Mo,” said Miss Tim tenderly, “I was thinking that you would come to my house. All right? I discussed it with the policeman. I have two cunning cats, a canary bird, and masses of pretty flowers. I also have a cozy little bed for you. You will feel very comfy in it—and tomorrow the world will look rosier!”

  “I have a very nice bed on Asra,” said Mo, and eyed Miss Tim suspiciously.

  Miss Tim quickly rose and became serious. “Children,” she said with determination, “I must now call your parents.”

  “Please, not yet!” begged Walter. “Only five minutes more, Miss Tim! Mo’s father must arrive any moment now.”

  “Why, Walter, do you really still believe in that fairy tale of Asra?” asked Miss Tim, perplexed.

  “Oh, yes!” called Walter, surprised. “Why shouldn’t such a thing exist?”

  Miss Tim put her hand on his shoulder. “Walter,” she said, “Mo is very sick. She doesn’t know what she is saying.”

  “It’s only that she can’t stand the air on earth,” said Walter hastily. “Mo is wonderful. She surely is not lying. She … she is much better than we are,” he added, feeling embarrassed and turning dark crimson.

  For a moment Miss Tim looked at him quizzically and then gave him a friendly smile. “All right then, Walter, another five minutes. But no longer!” she said.

  “Oh, thanks a lot!” called Walter happily.

  But at the same moment came the sound of many Voices, There was the crackling of twigs, and the beams of flashlights came flickering through the trees. The children wheeled around and stared.

  “There they are! There they are!” someone shouted excitedly, and the parents and neighbors came running toward the field from the right and the left. Out in front of all of them were Mr. and Mrs. Brenner. Then followed Mr. Hofer, Mr. and Mrs. Langmueller, and old Mr. Borgmann, who still was very chipper. Bringing up the rear were Miss Beck, fat Mrs. Paul and Mrs. Reuter, as well as Mr. Aufhauser, the mail carrier, Mr. and Mrs. Grobschmidt, and many more. Even Miss Wambacher, the piano teacher, had joined the rescue party.

  Considerably farther back the police sergeant appeared. He was limping, as he had stubbed his big toe against a tree root, and although it was quite cool, he was perspiring more than ever. “Hold on to them! Hold on to them!” he roared from a distance.

  As a matter of fact, he did not have to worry. The children had no intention of escaping from their parents.

  “Jimminy crickets!” murmured Otto. “We’d better quickly get some padding under the seat of our pants.”

  Mr. and Mrs. Brenner fell upon their children and hugged them warmly.

  “Well, thank the Lord! We’ve got you back!” said Mr. Brenner joyfully.

  Mrs. Brenner kept hugging Gretel and Lottie. “Children, oh children! How we worried!” she said.

  “I’m not a bit tired,” chirped Lottie.

  Mr. Hofer shook his head at Konrad. “What a rascal you are!” he said, but he, too, was happy to have him back.

  “Is there any food left?” Konrad asked anxiously.

  Mr. and Mrs. Langmueller scolded Erna and Willy a bit, but really only for the sake of discipline. Erna turned up her nose, and Willy just grinned sheepishly.

  Mr. Borgmann stroked his beard with his trembling hand and repeated over and over: “Main thing, they’re well. Main thing, they’re well!” But when the parents discovered that the children were soaking wet and wore no shoes or stockings, they became a bit angry.

  “My goodness,” cried Mrs. Brenner, “you’ll catch your death of cold!”

  “Now, home at once,” ordered Mr. Brenner.

  “Couldn’t we wait a bit longer?” Walter begged stubbornly.

  “Let’s have no more of that, and that�
�s final,” Mr. Brenner shouted angrily.

  “Just five minutes more, Father,” Walter implored.

  “The boy is crazy too,” murmured the crowd, shocked.

  “The little one has cast a spell on the children!” shrieked Miss Beck.

  “You’ve had nothing to eat all day,” Mrs. Brenner said. “There is potato soup at home and then right to bed!”

  “One should take them one by one and give them a good spanking!” Miss Beck cried acidly. “That’s what they need!”

  Miss Tim suddenly turned on Miss Beck angrily: “You will keep your mouth shut! The children did nothing evil. They believed in Asra and wanted to help the child. For that they don’t deserve any punishment.”

  “Oh, your shrieked Miss Beck. “You always put on airs, just because you once were a teacher!”

  “I’m proud of it,” Miss Tim answered with dignity. “I’m sure I have a better understanding of children than you do!”

  At last the sergeant came limping along. “Where is the little girl with the necklace?” he roared right off.

  Greatly surprised, the people looked around for Mo. In the general excitement they had completely forgotten about her.

  “Where is she?” Mr. Brenner called, perplexed.

  Mo had disappeared.

  “That’s strange,” Miss Tim said. “She was sitting here in the grass.”

  Walter knew where Mo was, but he stubbornly kept quiet. It so happened that the moment Mo spied the policeman, she ran into the field and scrambled up an oak tree. She had climbed near the top and tried to hide herself among the branches. But the branch on which she was perched broke off, and she slid onto the one below, clutching it in desperation. Unfortunately, the sergeant heard her. He limped up to the tree and called: “In the name of the law I command you to come down immediately!”

  “You are a bad man,” yelled Mo.

  “Come down here,” roared the policeman, and shook the tree.

  Miss Tim ran up. “You will stop this at once, Sergeant; she might fall off!”

  The sergeant was determined to climb up the tree, but when he stepped on the first branch, it broke off immediately, and he crashed into a thistle bush. “Ouch,” he yelled, frantically pulling the thistles from the seat of his pants.

  “That child will be the death of me yet!” he groaned.

  “Child, come on down! We only want to help you,” called Mr. and Mrs. Brenner affably.

  Instead, Mo climbed still higher. “No,” she cried, “my father is coming!”

  “Dear child, your father is NOT coming,” Mr. Brenner called in exasperation.

  “He is too!” Mo suddenly burst out jubilantly. “I can hear him! There is that grumble and rumble! That grumble and rumble! They are all coming! I can even see them now! There they are! There they are!”

  But the parents and people heard nothing and saw nothing.

  “The poor child!” murmured Mrs. Brenner, feeling sorry for her.

  “My father is coming! My father is coming! My father is coming!” shouted Mo, overcome with joy.

  “Now the child has gone completely bats!” announced Mr. Hofer.

  “Why don’t you call the fire department!” shrieked Miss Beck.

  “That’s it! That’s it! That’s what we should do,” shouted the people.

  Then, without warning, Willy broke into a loud cheer: “Yippee! Yippee!! They’re really coming!!” And, with complete abandon, he threw his hat high into the air.

  “They’re really coming,” said Walter, deeply moved as he looked up to the stars, completely enthralled.

  Twenty-Two

  A Shower of Meteors

  In the beginning it merely looked like a shower of meteors. But, instead of vanishing, they became bigger and brighter. In a few seconds they resembled golden balls glittering in the sun. There were hundreds, even thousands of them. When they penetrated the shadow of the earth, they reflected the moonlight and suddenly turned silvery. Quickly they grew into huge balls, hurtling toward the meadow with incredible speed. Now one could hear the howling and hissing as they shot through the air, and then they were there, descending slowly. Just above the ground they all stood completely still as if touched by a magic wand. Hatches opened, and from each of the space ships emerged tall, broad-shouldered figures clad in metallic, glittering suits.

  The parents and their neighbors turned pale. The men took off their hats; the women fell on their knees and folded their hands. Even the sergeant took off his cap.

  Miss Beck gasped, “Oh,” and fainted away. But nobody paid any attention to her. Only Miss Tim kept her composure, in a manner of speaking, but her hands trembled, and she murmured without stopping, “Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God!”

  The children stood with their mouths open and their eyes popping and looked at the space ships in a trance.

  The figures that had jumped out remained motionless next to the space ships as though they were waiting for something. They looked like human beings, except that they were much taller, taller by at least a head than the police sergeant, who was very tall From one of the space ships that had landed close by stepped a man who was dressed like a human being. His hair was blond, his eyes were violet-blue, and his features noble. He approached Miss Tim with quick, elastic steps and addressed her politely: “Good day! We are from Asra, called Venus by Earth people!”

  Miss Tim walked toward him. “I greet you, in the name of earth and humanity!” she said solemnly, though with a slight quiver in her voice.

  “Many thanks,” said the tall man from Asra amicably. “I hope we did not frighten you too much. I have brought my friends along because we have to return from here directly to Asra, if we still want to make it. We did not expect to meet people here.”

  “We happen to be here quite by accident,” Miss Tim said. “My name is Josephine Tim, librarian of the Kummersville public library, formerly headmistress of the girls’ school in Tifflelake.” She held out her hand.

  “Pleased to meet you!” responded the man, and shook Miss Tim’s hand. He seemed to know the customs on earth. “My name is Tono Kalumba, grand master of Earth science on Asra. I came to fetch my daughter. Through a mishap she fell on Earth.”

  “Your daughter is sitting in a tree,” said Miss Tim.

  “What, again?” exclaimed Mo’s father and laughed. “She does the same on Asra. But children will be children, right? The same on Earth as on Asra. But in which tree is she, may I ask?”

  “Up in that oak!” said Miss Tim.

  Mo came scurrying down. In all the haste her beautiful silk dress got caught on a pointed branch and tore. But she was too excited to notice it. She rushed up to her father and cried: “Father, but why are you so late?”

  “Forgive me, Mo,” said her father, “but we got into a cosmic dust cloud.”

  “Jeepers creepers,” cried Mo. “That is ugh, eek, horrible.”

  Her father looked at her dumbfounded. But now Mo was jabbering at him in her Asra language.

  “Mo,” said her father, “let’s talk in the human language. It isn’t polite when the humans can’t understand what we’re saying.”

  “I’m dying of hunger,” said Mo. “Do you have a pill?”

  Her father gave her one, and Mo gobbled it up. At once she became vivacious and cheerful and called: “Oh, Father, how glad I am to see you again!”

  Her father now looked at her more closely and cried out in astonishment: “Mo, how you look! Earth doesn’t appear to have agreed with you!” Mo really looked a fright, what with the bruise on her forehead, the scratches on her arm, and the scrape on her knee. Her shoes and socks were gone, as was her coat. Her hair was all tousled and full of pine needles, and, to make things worse, her dress was torn in shreds.

  “Earth is quite nice,” said Mo. “The air is very thick.”

  “But where is your coat?” her father asked her.

  “Please don’t scold,” Mo begged. “We had to use it to save Konrad. He could not squeeze throu
gh the gap. But he is a good human.”

  “And where are your shoes and socks?” her father asked.

  “They floated away. But it really is not Otto’s fault,” said Mo.

  “Your dress is all torn,” her father said.

  Mo looked at her dress in consternation. “Holy catfish!” she exclaimed, dismayed. “Now the doll will not have anything to wear any more!”

  Her father laughed, and the parents and neighbors joined in. They no longer felt quite as frightened. The people from Asra seemed to be peaceful creatures.

  “What happened to your arm, Mo?” asked her father. “It is covered with bloody scratches.”

  “They were little trees, which scratched and pricked,” said Mo.

  “Well, you seem to have had many adventures in so short a time,” her father said.

  “Sure, sure,” Mo nodded cheerfully. “We always had to run away and hide.”

  “Why?” her father asked, astonished.

  “The big humans did not believe that I came from Asra,” said Mo, and fixed the parents and neighbors with a reproachful eye.

  “You shouldn’t blame them for that,” her father said. “How could they know that we exist on Asra?”

  “But I kept telling them so!” Mo called out.

  “You’re only a little girl, after all,” her father said.

  “The children saved me!” Mo told her father. “Walter always believed firmly that I came from Asra.”

  “Those children there?” asked the father, and looked at them with curiosity.

  “Yes, Father,” Mo said with a radiant smile. “And just imagine,” she went on, bubbling over, “Erna fell into a swamp hole; Willy was very sick—his nose was bleeding; Otto almost was bitten by an animal with no legs; and I cried—in a church!”

  “Cried?” her father asked incredulously. “But you’ve never cried before!”

  “I learned that on Earth,” Mo said proudly.

  “You seem to have learned a lot on Earth since this morning,” her father said, amused.

  “I also stole an apple, Father, and let the chickens free. And I climbed over a fence,” Mo reported excitedly.

  “Well, you did not exactly show off your best side,” her father remarked, shaking his head.