THURSDAY MORNING,
OCTOBER 5, 1871
- Scary Plans -
Poppy looked down at the smashed and broken wax on the ground. Now you’ve done it! she thought. She’d destroyed the key and she’d have to answer to Ma and Mr. Plant. But worse, Ticktock was in real danger.
What could she do to save Ticktock? Ma said that Poppy had to give her the key to the jewelry store by Friday night or Ma would go after the goat. There was only one thing to do. Poppy would steal Ticktock from the Butterworths’ and hide her. She’d find a place somewhere, somehow, where she and Ticktock would be safe.
Poppy spent the day in the small park, falling in and out of sleep on one of the benches. Now she was restless.
It was late afternoon and soon it would be dark. She was hungry, starving for something to eat. She wandered up the street to a little café near the park and went inside. A waitress looked her up and down. Poppy knew her pretty dress was now soiled and becoming tattered, but it was all she had to wear.
Poppy sat at the counter and ordered one cup of chicken soup for ten cents. She was happy to see that it was served with a plate of crackers. When no one was looking, she stuffed all the crackers into her pocket. Then she downed the soup slowly, enjoying every bite of chicken and carrot and potato. It was so good, she wished she’d ordered a whole bowl, but she knew she had to use her money carefully. Before she finished, she beckoned to the lady behind the counter. “Could I have a few more crackers, please?”
“I sure hope you have money to pay for this,” the waitress said with a scowl as she slapped more crackers onto the plate.
“Course I do!” Poppy snapped. “But those crackers come with the soup, don’t they?”
“Yes … but your soup is gone.” The waitress took a long look at Poppy. “Well, you look like you need more crackers. There’ll be no extra charge this time.”
After Poppy paid, she went to the restroom, where she washed up. She again wished she had a comb, but since she didn’t, she wet her hair and braided it, tying the bottoms with knots to keep the braids from falling apart.
It was dusk when she left the restaurant and started up the sidewalk toward the Butterworths’ house. It would be dark by the time she got there. A wheezing steam fire engine pulled by two horses raced by, heading toward a glow in the distance—another fire. Sparks and cinders from the smoking chimney on the truck flew through the air. I would think the smoke from the engines could start even more fires, Poppy mused.
When she arrived at the Butterworths’ house, lights in the windows showed the family was up and about inside. Perhaps Justin would be coming out to feed Ticktock. She’d wait until the lights went out before going down to the paddock and the goat barn. Justin would be brokenhearted when he found his goat was gone. He’d probably figure it was Poppy who’d taken her. He couldn’t know she was trying to save his pet.
Poppy sat on a rock and waited until some of the lights had gone off. She then crept closer to the goat’s enclosure. The cheery tinkling bell on Ticktock’s collar jingled loudly as Poppy approached. Ticktock was waiting eagerly by the gate when Poppy went inside. “Oh, you sweet little thing,” she whispered, opening her arms. The goat came closer to get hugged, and Poppy fed her one of the crackers from her pocket. “I do love you, Ticktock. I wish I could stay here forever with you, but it’s not safe anymore.”
She took off the collar with the bell and put on the old collar and leash that hung on the wall. “We have to be real quiet,” she told the goat. “I have to hide you so Ma won’t get you. That bell would give you away.” She found some grain and stuffed it into the pail, then put the pail over her arm.
She led the goat out of the paddock and down the hill to the main road. Then she looked back at the quiet place she’d left. “I’m sorry, Justin,” she murmured. “I wish I could explain why I have to do this. You think I’m a thief anyway. Now your heart will bust when you find your little goat is gone. You’ll hate me for sure. But trust me—this is for the best.”
Where would Poppy and Ticktock spend the night? She recalled a deserted shed near the docks. That’s where she’d go, and as soon as she found a place on a ship, she and Ticktock would sail away.