EARLY TUESDAY MORNING,
OCTOBER 3, 1871
- Not Yet -
“Blaa! Blaa!” Justin pulled a pillow over his head and tried to go back to sleep, but Ticktock’s insistent bleats came through. He pushed the pillow aside and glanced out the window by his bed. The very first streaks of dawn spread across the horizon in red and orange bands. I wonder what’s wrong with Ticktock. She usually doesn’t start calling this early. She must still feel strange in her new home. I better get up before she wakes everyone. He climbed out of bed barefoot and tiptoed down to the kitchen.
“What’s going on with Ticktock?” Claire was already up and lighting the kitchen stove. She had on a blue striped robe over her nightclothes. “Were you just out there? She’s crying like she does when you leave her.”
“No. I’ve been in bed.” Justin went outside, where the dawn was now taking over the sky and birds had begun to chirp in the trees.
“Blaa! Blaa!” cried Ticktock. She was standing by the gate, crying.
“What’s wrong, little nanny?” Justin asked soothingly. The little goat eagerly pushed her way through the gate the moment Justin opened it. “No, no,” Justin said, closing the opening. “Are you hungry?” He went into the shed and opened the barrel that contained the goat’s food. “Here you go.” He was about to pour food into Ticktock’s tin basin but stopped in surprise. The bowl was almost full. “What’s this? I filled this last night and it was almost empty when I left.”
Claire, still in her robe and slippers, came into the shed and had apparently overheard Justin’s words. “Is Ticktock all right? Didn’t she eat last night?”
“Yes, she did. She ate so much, I didn’t want to leave any more in the basin. Look.” He pointed to the food in the bowl. “It’s just about full.” He turned to his sister. “Did you feed her after I went to bed?”
“No, of course not. But perhaps Father or Charlie did when she started bellowing.”
“I don’t think so. I would have heard them. Besides, if she’s not hungry, why is she bleating? Do you suppose she’s sick?”
“No,” Claire said. “Look at her. She’s ready to play now that you’re here. Maybe she was lonely.”
Justin sat down on the doorsill and hugged his pet. “I wish you could talk and tell me what you want.”
“Look, Justin.” Claire pointed to the quilt, which was folded neatly on the hay. “Who do you suppose folded this blanket?”
Justin frowned. “I keep it on the shelf unless it’s real cold. How did it get folded like that? Do you think someone was in here?”
“It had to be somebody. I don’t suppose Ticktock climbed up, took it off the shelf, and then folded it,” Claire said with a wry grin.
“Whoever it was is gone now.”
“And that would explain why Ticktock was crying. Whoever was with her left, and she became lonely.” Claire bent down and examined the flattened bed of hay. “Someone other than Ticktock slept here. Do you suppose you walked in your sleep?”
“No!”
“Then who could it have been?” Claire was silent for a moment. Then she nodded. “Oh, Justin, I think it was—”
“Poppy.” Justin spoke his sister’s thoughts. “But why? She went home.”
“Perhaps she was punished for being late,” Claire said. “Heaven knows what might have happened when Poppy got home.”
Justin scratched his head. “But to sleep in a goat’s barn? Surely she must have somewhere else to go.”
Claire shook her head. “If she had somewhere else, she’d have gone there.”
“Do you suppose she’ll come back tonight?”
“I think she will. But don’t wait up and confront her, Justin. Let her come. Maybe we can put some food out here for her—as if we left it by mistake.”
“Suppose Mother or Father or Charlie finds out? They know she’s from Conley’s Patch. They’d send her packing. We can’t tell them.”
“No, the poor thing needs to figure out what she’s going to do. Meanwhile, we won’t say anything to anyone. She’s careful about coming here late and leaving early.” Claire sighed. “I wish I could help her find a good place to stay.”
“She doesn’t like goats,” Justin said. “She thinks they stink. She’d better be good to Ticktock.”
“She doesn’t have a mean streak in her body. If she were mean, do you think Ticktock would have cried so much when she left? It looks to me like Poppy fed your goat.” Claire sat next to Justin and put her arm around his shoulder. “I think Ticktock is fond of Poppy. And Poppy needs a friend. The goat is most likely the only one she can trust right now.”
“Do you think …”
“Yes, I think eventually Poppy will come to us for help. But she’s not ready yet.”