Eleven

The Earth Is Full of Tears

    “How did you know we were here?” asked Walter.

    “I saw you,” explained Lottie, and her cheeks glowed with excitement. “Mother sent me up to my bedroom, and when I looked out of the window, I could see you sitting here.”

    “Did Mother give you permission to leave the house?” Gretel asked sternly.

    “No,” admitted Lottie with a bad conscience. “I jumped on the roof of the shed and climbed down the ladder because I have something important to tell you.”

    “They are looking for us, is that it?” Walter asked nervously.

    “Oh, no,” continued Lottie. “They were quarreling. The policeman wanted them all to go and look for you, but they said they wouldn’t do it. They don’t know where to look for you, and Father said, ‘My children are good children; they surely will bring the little girl back when they realize that the space ship won’t come.’ That made the sergeant very angry, and he said one couldn’t let the little girl run loose with a necklace worth a million. ‘That is too dangerous,’ he said. ‘Somebody could murder her for that.’”

    “Murder?” the children shrieked in horror.

    “Yes,” said Lottie, and nodded fervently.

    “Why doesn’t the cop look for her himself?” said Walter.

    “He isn’t able to,” replied Lottie, and grinned slyly.

    “Why not?” asked Walter.

    “His uniform is soaked,” said Lottie. “He fell into the puddle, don’t you remember, and got it all muddy. Mother had to wash it and then hang it up to dry. Later it has to be pressed. The sergeant had to take everything off, even his pants,” she added, blushing.

    The children roared with laughter. Willy hopped from one foot to the other and slapped his sides hooting, “His pants. Even his pants! Yahoo!”

    When they calmed down, Walter asked Lottie, “Is that why you ran after us?”

    “No,” said Lottie. “I know where Mo is!”

    “What? How? Why? Where?” everybody yelled in confusion.

    “In the church,” said Lottie proudly.

    “In the church?” repeated Walter, completely taken aback.

    “Now what makes you think that?” asked Gretel suspiciously. Lottie had a vivid imagination.

    “You’re sure you’re not making this up, Lottie?” Walter asked threateningly.

    “Cross my heart,” peeped Lottie, rather hurt. “I saw Mo from the window too. She climbed over the fence and ran to the square. She stopped, looking around all the time as though she wanted to hide. Suddenly the church bells rang, and with that she darted into the church.”

    Walter dashed off; the others followed. In front of the church Walter took off his hat, Otto his cap, and they entered quietly. For a moment they hesitated at the door to allow their eyes to get used to the dark. Someone was playing softly on the organ. After a while, they could distinguish a few old people in the front pews, but there was no sign of Mo. The children walked up the center aisle searching everywhere. Walter even gazed up at the choir loft, but there was only the aged music teacher, Mr. Kronecker, sitting at the organ practicing a choral. Walter knew the choral well, for he often sang in the choir. The grownups insisted that he had a beautiful voice, but he didn’t think it so beautiful. The children were just about to leave, dejectedly, when Willy, in a hushed voice, called, “I see her!”

    Willy happened to be lynx-eyed. Now the others, too, spied Mo. She was lying in the last pew, nestled in the corner. She had made herself small; one arm was covering her head. She did not stir. The children tiptoed up to her, and Gretel gently touched her arm.

    With a start, Mo sat up and looked at the children in a daze. Then, she quickly covered her face with her hands and began to cry. The children, embarrassed, cast their eyes to the floor. After a while Mo only sobbed a bit. She uncovered her face and in surprise looked at her wet fingers.

    “My fingers are wet,” she whispered.

    “You are crying,” said Erna.

    “But, I have never cried before,” said Mo in consternation.

    “On earth one cries,” said Otto.

    “I often cry,” said Lottie, about to burst into tears, but she pulled herself together.

    “Why did you beat it, Mo?” asked Walter.

    “I want to go home,” said Mo shyly.

    “Alone you could never find the way,” said Walter. “We’ll take you to your father. We promised you, didn’t we?”

    Mo looked at him gratefully. “It wasn’t nice on Earth without you,” she said.

    “You were frightened, weren’t you?” asked Erna.

    Mo nodded. “Very,” she admitted.

    “Boy!” said Willy. “You sure ran!”

    “Two big beasts were coming out of a house,” Mo said. “They had long teeth, and they snorted and wanted to bite me.”

    The children couldn’t help laughing, and an old woman indignantly turned around. “Hush,” she called.

    The children sheepishly left. Outside, they stood on the steps, squinting in the bright sun after the darkness of the church. It was only then that they discovered that Mo’s daintiness had suffered. Her face was smeared from wiping her tears, and her red coat was all dirty, with one pocket half torn off. The seam of her right sleeve had opened, and her knees were scratched.

    Gretel wrung her hands. “Goodness, you look awful,” she exclaimed with motherly concern.

    Mo was embarrassed. “I stepped on a soft animal and fell,” she said. “It yelled very much.”

    The children laughed again. Even Walter joined in the laughter.

    “That was Putzi,” said Gretel.

    “I’ve got a hole in my pants,” said Konrad.

    “Why did you run into the church, Mo?” asked Walter.

    “The bells rang, so I ran in. Nobody may do me harm in the church, isn’t that right?” said Mo.

    “But you’re wearing the necklace again,” Walter observed with alarm.

    “It is my chain, isn’t it?” ask Mo.

    “Yes, yes,” said Walter, “but you had better give it to me; I will keep it for you until you leave. It’s dangerous for you to run around wearing it!”

    Mo took off the necklace and handed it to him. Walter immediately buried it in his pants pocket. Then he quickly looked around to see whether anyone had been watching, but there was no one about.

    “Why is it dangerous for me to run around with it?” asked Mo.

    “Someone might kill you for it,” answered Konrad.

    “What is that?” asked Mo uneasily.

    “To kill means when somebody shoots you or conks you on the head and you’re dead,” explained Otto. He knew a lot about it from reading his favorite detective stories.

    “Oh!” said Mo, her eyes popping. “Nobody conks heads on Asra,” she said.

    “You’re lucky. On earth somebody is killed every day!” cried Willy.

    Mo was very frightened. “Will we go at once into the Hollewood?” she asked anxiously.

    “First, I must clean you up,” Gretel said firmly. “You can’t be seen this way. Come!” They walked over to the fountain. Mo had to take off her coat, and Gretel handed it to Erna. “Give it a good shake and turn it inside out,” she said busily. “That way nobody will see the torn pocket and the open seam on the sleeve. I need a rag!” She looked at them with impatience.

    “I never have rags,” grumbled Konrad.

    “Do you want me to take my shirt off?” asked Walter helpfully.

    “No,” said Gretel. “Mother would scold. Do you still have the kerchief?” she asked Mo.

    “Oh, yes,” said Mo. “I must give it back to my father.”

    Gretel rinsed it in the fountain and then wiped Mo’s face. She kneeled down and scrubbed her knees. Meanwhile, Erna had shaken the coat and turned it inside out. It was lined with pink silk and looked very pretty even this way. She waited for Mo to put it on again. Mo’s blue silk dress had remained clean, although it was somewhat mussed.

    Gretel looked up at Mo and said, “Why did you say that these aren’t your regular clothes?” She had not forgotten and had wondered all the time why Mo had mentioned that.

    “Oh, it was like this …” explained Mo with animation. “My father forbade me to wear my Asra clothes on Earth. He said that we might happen to meet humans, and then they would see at once that we came from another planet. Our clothes are quite different from yours.”

    “Where did you get these clothes,” asked Otto dubiously.

    Mo broke into laughter, and, as before, it sounded like the melodious note of the lark. She seemed to have overcome the panic that had seized her during her flight through the village.

    “I had a little quarrel with my father,” she related gleefully. “I did not want to wear the clothes, because they looked so funny. My father once brought them back from Earth. They belong to a big doll in our museum. The doll has a tag and it says on it: ‘A little girl from Earth.’ We children are fascinated by the doll.”

    Erna sniffed the coat. “It smells of perfume!”

    Mo seemed a bit embarrassed. “It did not smell very pleasant because it had been in the museum for so long,” she explained, “so I secretly took a bit of nice-smelling water from my mother and poured it on.” She stopped talking and gave the children a guilty look.

    “So you’re not always such angels either,” said Otto with satisfaction.

    “We have to go!” urged Walter impatiently.

    But Gretel insisted on first combing Mo’s hair. To do that, she made Walter give her his pocket comb. Walter happened to have very beautiful, slightly wavy brown hair for which he always carried a pocket comb. Gretel removed Mo’s red cap. Walter took it and put it in his pocket. “It’s better if Mo doesn’t wear it,” he explained. “They could spot her too easily.”

    Gretel tenderly combed Mo’s hair; then Erna helped her into the coat. But they were not yet ready; instead they continued to pluck and brush her. They pulled up her socks, smoothed out the pink silk lining, and even retied her shoelaces.

    Walter grew angry and shouted: “Now stop all that fuss! We have to start for the Hollewood! The sun will soon go down!”

    Reluctantly, Gretel and Erna ceased their efforts to fuss over Mo, and Konrad exclaimed in horror, “Are we going to walk it?”

    “Sure,” said Walter. “We can’t get our bikes and run the risk of getting caught by the police.”

    “We had better go up Gackenburg Alley by way of the market,” suggested Otto. “That way, he’s not so likely to see us.”

    “A good idea,” said Walter, and Otto was flattered. But they should never have gone by way of the market place.