8

“But, Maman, it was an accident! Really it was.”

Maman was in the kitchen with Grand’maman, peeling a mound of potatoes for supper. Grand’maman shook her head and clucked her tongue. “Tsk-tsk,” she said in that tone Sophie especially hated.

“If there’s a single mud puddle between here and school, you would be sure to find it and fall in,” Maman scolded. “Put your clothes in the laundry sink downstairs. I’ll have to wash them out after supper so you can wear them to school tomorrow. Then go clean your shoes out on the back porch.”

While Sophie was changing into her play clothes, she smiled to herself. At least Maman hadn’t asked her exactly where she had fallen, or forbidden her from taking that sort-of shortcut through the ravine. That meant she could take it every day and avoid the Alderson Avenue kids, especially Elizabeth Proctor. She would just have to be sure to leave early every morning. Maybe she should wear her boots to get over the creek so she wouldn’t get her feet as wet.

But the next morning she got up just in time to dress quickly in her white shirt and tunic, which was still a bit damp around the hem, gobble down her breakfast of porridge, stamp on her rubber boots, and hurry out of the kitchen for school. In her rush she didn’t see Zephram crawling down the hallway after his little toy truck. She stumbled over him and crashed to the floor, sending his truck rolling to the end of the hallway.

“Truck, truck!” he roared, scrambling after it. He wasn’t hurt, so Sophie picked herself up and dashed to the outside door.

“What’s the rush, Sophie?” Maman called after her. “Your school tie is all crooked and you haven’t even brushed your hair or your teeth. And why are you wearing those boots? You’re not going to school looking like that.”

Sophie hurried back down the hall to the bathroom where she quickly ran her toothbrush over her teeth a couple of times while staring at herself in the mirror. Her hair was as short and ugly as ever, but at least it didn’t take much time to brush it. She patted it down as best she could and straightened her tie. Then she scooted out to the hallway again, carefully stepping over her little brother.

“See you after school, Maman,” she called, hurrying away before her mother had a chance to summon her back for another inspection and make her change out of her boots.

Although she jogged the whole way through the forest along the trail and down to the ravine, across the stepping stones, and up the other side, moving as fast as she could, she was still late for school. The bell had rung and all the children had gone to their classrooms, leaving the playground deserted.

“Sophie,” her teacher said sternly after Sophie clomped breathlessly into the classroom. “Being late for school is not a good habit for children to get into. You must learn to be on time.”

“Yes, Sister,” Sophie said, trying to catch her breath. “I will.”

If only she had the bike she’d seen a few weeks ago at Cap’s... Then she could ride like the wind and get to school on time every day. She’d even take the road right past Alderson Avenue School and leave all those mean kids in the dust.

But Sophie still hadn’t saved enough money to buy the bike. She had helped Arthur with his paper route as often as he would let her, but her pink piggy bank didn’t seem much heavier. It was no use asking Maman and Papa to buy a bicycle for her. She knew they struggled to stretch every penny.

The next morning Sophie woke up when Grand’maman got up to go to early Mass, so she jumped out of bed and put on her school uniform. Papa was already in the kitchen stirring a big pot of porridge on the stove.

“Up so early, chérie?” he said.

“Can’t be late for school,” Sophie said, holding out a bowl for him to pour some porridge into.

“It’s not really ready yet.”

“I love it runny like that before it gets all lumpy.”

“Fussy, fussy.” Papa grinned as he poured a stream of the steaming porridge into her bowl.

That morning, although she went through the ravine, she got to school in plenty of time. She decided she would have to be an early riser from now on.

One day a few weeks later, when Sophie came home from school, Maman was in the kitchen having a cup of tea with Grand’maman and Grand’maman’s friend, Madame Coté. “There’s a package for you, Sophie. It came by mail.”

On the counter was a small parcel addressed to Miss Sophie LaGrange.

“It’s here!” she squealed. “Finally!” She ripped open the parcel and there it was—her Star Girl Super Bounce Ball. It was bright red and had a yellow star running through it. Although smaller than she had expected, it did fit perfectly into her hand.

“Very nice,” Maman said. “But I hope you won’t play with it in the house.”

Henri came in the back door. “What have you got there?” he asked. He was wearing his baseball cap and tossing a ball into his glove.

“It’s my new Star Girl Super Bounce Ball. I sent away for it.”

“Neat-o. Want to play catch?”

“Sure!”

“Before you two go and play I need a couple loads of wood for the stove brought in,” Maman said.

Sophie quickly changed out of her tunic into her play clothes and followed Henri out to the backyard. The wood for their kitchen stove was already chopped and piled under the porch. So, after bringing in a couple of armfuls each and dropping them into the wood box by the stove, they went out again to the yard and played catch.

Amazingly her new ball didn’t get lost in the long grass, but once it did land in the chicken pen. Sophie had to shoo away the hens and rescue it quickly before they pecked it to bits.

“Got to go now, kiddo,” Henri said. “Got a baseball practice with the guys down at the park before supper.”

Sophie went around to the front of the house where she could practise bouncing her ball on the concrete landing at the bottom of the porch steps. She marvelled at how well it bounced.

“Bet it could bounce right over the roof,” she said to herself. She threw her ball onto on the landing really hard and, sure enough, it bounced onto the roof. Sophie heard it land, then roll down the shingles. She ran to the edge of the house to catch it, but it stopped. Craning her neck, she still couldn’t see it. It must have gotten caught in the eaves trough. It was her brand-new ball and she’d already lost it!

Sophie knew if she went in and told Maman she would get no sympathy whatsoever. But what about the ladder Maman had used to rescue Zephram from the cherry tree? She could use that to rescue her ball.

The ladder was in the backyard leaning against the wall beside the chicken pen. Sophie dragged it around to the front of the house and placed it against the clapboards. It didn’t quite reach the eaves, but once she was at the top of the ladder, she was sure she could stretch up and grab her new ball out of the trough. A Star Girl rescue!

Up the ladder she clambered. It got wobblier and wobblier the higher she went, but she kept going right to the top. Hanging on to the house, she cautiously stood on the top rung and tried not to shake. She had to stand on tiptoe to reach the eaves trough. She couldn’t see inside, but she could feel around with her fingers. It was filled with slimy leaves and twigs. Yuck! But her ball must be there. She couldn’t lose it on the very first day it arrived.

She grasped the eaves trough with one hand and, with the other, felt along as far as she could reach. Yes! There was something round and hard. It must be her ball. In her excitement she kicked at the ladder, which came away from the house and fell over with a loud clatter. She grabbed the edge of the roof and held on for all she was worth. She was stranded!

Sophie squealed and swung her legs in the air. Her foot touched the drain pipe, so she wrapped one leg around it. It didn’t feel very steady, but she prayed that it was strong enough to hold her.

She heard Maman and Grand’marnan coming out to the front door to see Madame Coté off. “Help!” Sophie cried.

“You must come and visit again very soon,” Maman was saying to Madame Coté.

Sophie couldn’t hold on much longer. “Maman!” she spluttered. “Help me! Help!”

Maman scrambled down the steps with Grand’mamnan and Madame Coté behind her. They all turned their faces up and stared at the roof.

“Sophie!” Maman exclaimed. “Oh my, Sophie! What in the world are you doing way up there!”

“M-my new ball!” Sophie wailed. “Hurry! I don’t think I can hold on much longer.”

“Hang on tight!” Maman said. “I’ll come up and get you.” Grand’mamnan and Madame Coté helped her pick up the ladder and lean it against the house.

“You climb up and we’ll hold the ladder steady for you,” Madame Coté said.

“Hurry, Maman,” Sophie muttered. She clung to the edge of the roof, digging her fingernails into the shingles.

Maman scrambled up the ladder. “Let yourself down now,” she urged.

Sophie pulled her leg away from the drain pipe and, with her toes, cautiously felt her way to the top rung of the ladder. Maman was holding on to her back, so she let go of the roof and stepped down.

“There. I’ve got you,” Maman murmured.

Sophie’s fingers were numb and her legs trembled, but she managed to climb down after Maman. When they got to the ground, her mother shook her head and sighed heavily. “Sophie Marie Rita LaGrange! I just don’t know what I’m going to do with you. I’ve never known a girl who got into so much trouble.”

Sophie hung her head. Her knees were really shaky, but the solid ground felt safe. How could Star Girl be so strong and agile and never get into any kind of trouble? She surely had a long way to go before she could be anything like her. But at least she had rescued her Star Girl Super Bounce Ball. She slipped it into her pocket and squeezed it tightly.