JONATHAN ASKED TOBI A lot of questions. But as Tobi led him through the fields to her school, she asked a lot of questions, too.
“How come you’ve never been outside before?” she wanted to know.
“Oh, I have been outside,” Jonathan told her, “every time we move. But I just have not been out during the day.”
“Didn’t you ever look out your windows?” asked Tobi.
“Not during the day. We sleep all day. Besides, it is against the rules.”
“Whose rules?”
“Ma’s and Pa’s. And Mr. Saginaw’s.”
“Who’s Mr. Saginaw?”
“Our—our—I do not know what you would call him. He lives with us, and tutors me, and fixes my meals, and gets me books.”
“Sort of a governess,” said Tobi. “A man governess. I wonder if a man governess is called a governor.”
Jonathan laughed. At last—a joke he understood!
“Mr. Saginaw taught me to read,” he said.
“Oh,” said Tobi, “is that how you know about TV and school and stuff?”
Jonathan nodded. “But my parents told me those things were made up.”
“I wonder why,” Tobi said thoughtfully. Then she added, “Do you believe everything they tell you? Do you follow all their rules?”
“I always have …”Jonathan replied. “But … oh, well. Do most kids go to school?” he asked.
“Only all of them.”
“My goodness! How about friends? Do you have friends? People in books always do.”
“I’ve got lots of friends! Rusty and Eric and Sharrod.”
“All boys. Are they your boyfriends?”
“No way! We’re only nine. In fourth grade. You don’t have boyfriends until you’re much older.”
“Oh.”
“It’s just that girls are dumb. I never bother with them.”
“Oh,” said Jonathan again. “By the way, why were you in our yard today? I am most glad you were there, but what were you doing?”
Tobi blushed. “My brothers,” she said sheepishly, “dared me to go to your house after you moved in. They said—Well, this isn’t very nice, but since it’s not true, I guess I can tell you. They said that only, like, monsters would move into the old Drumthwacket place. And then you moved in in the middle of the night, which was kind of strange, so I decided to go look around for myself. And I did. And I met you. And you’re … well, you’re not a monster.”
“Am I strange?” asked Jonathan.
“A little,” Tobi admitted, “but I like you. You’re okay. I like anyone who breaks rules sometimes. And you’re breaking a big one right now, aren’t you?”
“Definitely.”
Jonathan and Tobi had been tramping along the edges of fields, following well-worn paths. They came to the corner of one field and found themselves facing a grove of trees.
Tobi marched straight into it, and Jonathan followed her. When they reached the other side, they came to a school playground. Jonathan had no idea what it was. He saw only silvery poles and long red boards and a roundish red thing.
“What is all this?” asked Jonathan.
“It’s our playground, dummy,” said Tobi. “Swings and seesaws and the merry-go-round. Oh, and over there are the monkey bars.”
Jonathan nodded. “I have read about these things, but I have never seen them.” He walked slowly toward the seesaws.
“Hey!” shouted Tobi. “Sorry I called you a dummy! I forgot you haven’t seen any of this before. Want to go on the seesaws?”
“‘Go on’ them?” repeated Jonathan. “I do not—”
“Here, I’ll show you how,” said Tobi.
Tobi ran to the seesaws, and Jonathan followed her. She lowered the end of one to the ground and told Jonathan to sit on it. Then she scrambled onto the raised end.
“You climb like a monkey!” said Jonathan.
“Thanks,” said Tobi, “I know. Now, listen, I can show you how to swing, too, and how to climb on the jungle gym.”
Tobi and Jonathan played for over an hour. “Goodness me,” said Jonathan when they stopped to rest, “school certainly is fun.”
“Ha,” said Tobi, “this is hardly school. This is recess. Real school is math and reading and workbooks and teachers and sitting at your desk for hours.”
“Where are the desks?” asked Jonathan.
“In the classrooms.” Tobi pointed to the school building. “You want to see the room I’ll be in when school starts?”
“Certainly,” replied Jonathan.
“It’s Miss Lecky’s fourth grade,” said Tobi as they walked across the playground. “Oh, here’s the water fountain. Want a drink?”
Jonathan looked blank.
Tobi made a face, then showed him how to press the button and drink from the stream of water that shot up.
“My heavens!” exclaimed Jonathan.
“Hey, can I give you a tip?” asked Tobi. “Don’t say ‘My heavens’ in front of any other kids. Or ‘My goodness’ or ‘Goodness me.’ Kids don’t talk like that.”
“All right,” said Jonathan, wondering when he would ever see other kids.
Tobi took a drink, then peered through a window of the school building. “Okay,” she said to Jonathan, “this is Littleton Elementary School, and this” (she rapped on the window) “is Miss Lecky’s fourth-grade classroom.”
Jonathan put his hands to the glass. He peered inside and saw neat rows of desks and chairs, and one big desk.
“Who gets that big desk?” he asked.
“Miss Lecky, dum—I mean, it’s the teacher’s.”
Jonathan continued to peer inside. “I see a science chart,” he said, “and a lot of books … I like books. School looks like fun, Tobi.”
“We-ell … I guess it can be. Sometimes. Our class had a spelling bee with Mr. Proctor’s class last year and we won a pizza party. That was fun. And seeing movies or videos is fun.” Tobi saw Jonathan’s blank look again, but she didn’t feel like trying to explain what movies and videos were. “Hey,” she went on, “do you know about gym?”
“Jim?” said Jonathan.
“You know. PE. Phys ed. Physical education.”
“Oh! Physical education. Yes, I have heard of that.”
“Well, gym is fun,” said Tobi. “It’s my favorite class. You get to play soccer and baseball and basketball and volleyball.”
“I would like to try those games,” Jonathan told Tobi. He looked thoughtful. “Tobi? Do you and the children—”
“Kids,” Tobi corrected him.
“Do you and the kids spend the day together when you are in school?”
“Sure. From before eight-thirty until almost three o’clock.”
“And school always happens during the day? Never at night?”
“Right.”
“And do you eat lunch together?”
“Yup. In the cafeteria.”
“I know you do not like everything about school, Tobi,” said Jonathan, “but I would like to go to school. Right here. Right here at Littleton Elementary School.”
“Well,” said Tobi, “how old are you?”
“Nine. I turned nine in May.”
“Then you’d be in fourth grade. Like me! Maybe you could even be in Miss Lecky’s class. Miss Lecky is pretty cool. For a teacher. And for a girl.”
“Miss Lecky is a girl?” said Jonathan incredulously.
“Well, no, she’s a woman, a grown-up. I just meant she’s cool for a—a female.”
“Oh. I would like to go to school with you, Tobi. What do you have to do?”
“You mean to start school?”
“Yes.”
“Register, I guess. And buy some pencils and a notebook. But no pens. Miss Lecky doesn’t let fourth-graders write in pen. Ink is too hard to erase if you make a mistake.”
“All right,” said Jonathan. “Register. Notebook, pencils, no pen.”
“You want to see the gym?” asked Tobi.
Jonathan looked at his watch. “I better not,” he said. “I ought to go home. If I do not get some sleep today, I will be exhausted tonight. And I want to be alert. I must be alert, because I have decided to talk to my parents.”
“You have?”
“Yes. I am going to ask Ma and Pa—No, I am going to tell Ma and Pa that when school starts, I will be going. When does it start?” he asked Tobi.
“In two weeks.”
“And I will be there. I hope,” added Jonathan.
“Great!” exclaimed Tobi. “I guess I better walk you home, huh?”
“Yes, please.”
So Jonathan and Tobi tramped back to the old Drumthwacket place.
By the time Jonathan was home again and ready to go back to bed, he had come up with a long list of questions to ask Ma and Pa and Mr. Saginaw.