THURSDAY MORNING,
OCTOBER 5, 1871
- The Search Begins -
Justin groaned when the sun filtered through the curtains in his bedroom. It couldn’t be morning already. It seemed as if he’d just gone to bed. He’d been up late with his brother and sister, combing the streets for Poppy.
It was scary out at Conley’s Patch in the daylight, but in the dark it was terrifying. No wonder Father and Mother had put up such a fuss when Claire insisted she’d go look for Poppy right away.
They had searched streets and alleys as far as the Willow, where Poppy lived. They debated whether or not to go inside and ask about Poppy. But the place was noisy and rowdy with wild singing and yelling. “We can’t go in there. All kinds of peculiar people come out of their holes at night,” Charlie said softly. “And they stay out until dawn.”
“Then they go back into their holes,” Claire said.
It seemed as if Claire would never grow weary of searching for Poppy. “I’ve got to find her and tell her we know she didn’t steal from us.”
But when Justin finally said, “Poppy knows her way around here better than we do. We’ll never find her. And it’s not safe to speak with any of these roughs, so we can’t ask anyone around here,” even Claire agreed.
At that moment, somewhere inside the Willow, cheers erupted while dogs snarled and yelped as if in pain.
“They’ve got dog pits and gambling here,” Charlie said. “Let’s get out of this rotten place, quick!”
And so they left the area and returned home as fast as they could.
It took Justin a long time to get to sleep. All he could think of was Poppy and how he had let the blame fall on her. Why did I do this? Why didn’t I confess to my own mistake instead of making this a hundred times worse?
Now, he turned over and punched his pillow. At least he had a pillow. Poppy was probably sleeping on a sidewalk somewhere. He suspected she didn’t want to go back to the Willow.
She had once talked about running away on a ship. Justin decided he wouldn’t go to school today. Instead, he’d go down by the river docks and search for her.
Mother will never let me miss a day of school to search for Poppy, especially when we had a day off yesterday. So I’ll play hooky. That’s what I’ll do.
Justin dressed for school and headed to the kitchen, where Mother was reading the newspaper. He put a slice of bacon on his toast and gulped it down with fresh cider from a neighbor’s farm.
“How did you sleep, dear?” Mother asked. “You went to bed so late last night.”
“Didn’t sleep much. I’m too worried about Poppy.”
“Oh, that child is out of our lives, dear. You’ll never see her again. But this is a lesson that you’ll remember all your life.”
Justin put on his jacket. “I’m going to feed Ticktock now, Mother, and then I’ll go on to school.” He hated to lie, but he had to find Poppy.
Justin went to the goat barn, where Ticktock was waiting. “Hi, my little nanny,” Justin whispered as he brushed his pet with the wire brush. Ticktock leaned into the brush with her head and snuffled loudly. Then Justin put fresh water and food into the feeders and thought of Poppy again. Ticktock had love and care. Poppy had nothing. She slept in this goat barn, and it was better than any place she had ever called home.
He had to find her.