SUNDAY AFTERNOON,
OCTOBER 8, 1871
- Lonely and Scared -
Poppy was lonely now that she left Ticktock at the church. There was nowhere to go except to the ugly wooden shed where she’d been sleeping. In some ways she missed Ma’s two girls. Sometimes they stood up for her, and they had usually all worked well together. Recently, though, there’d been jealousy when Poppy got the best marks in Ma’s “school.” Now the new girls, Julia and Renee, would take her place. She’d never be missed.
At least it was quiet inside the shed. Back at the Willow, the noisy roughs upstairs and down in the cellar rooms were hollering, fighting, laughing, and swearing all night long. Poppy was used to it. It was as Justin once said—the clocks all ticked and chimed the hours in the shop, but he hardly heard them anymore.
Poppy smelled something good—the aroma of grilling sausage! Around the corner was a street vendor who was cooking sausages and baked potatoes on a grill. Poppy gladly paid the fifteen cents for both and then went down to the waterside to eat.
The vendor had poured melted butter onto the potato and the sausage was in a roll. She tried to eat slowly, to make them last, but she was too hungry and chomped everything down in a flash.
How long could she go on with the money she had? She’d probably have to steal again. I don’t want to steal. I don’t want to be Poppy the pickpocket anymore. But I’m hungry. I can’t go back to Ma. No, she’ll beat me for not helping her rob the Butterworths’ jewelry store.
“Poppy!”
Poppy jumped up, ready to run, when she heard her name called.
“Wait a minute!” It was Julia. “We want to talk to ya.” She raced toward Poppy, pulling Renee along by her hand.
“What do ya want?” Poppy stiffened, ready for a brawl.
“I just wanted to tell ya we ran away from Ma Brennan’s, too. We’re wonderin’ where you’ve been hidin’ and where you get food.”
“I’m not tellin’ anyone where I’m stayin’ and I don’t have any money for food.”
Julia pointed to a piece of potato skin on Poppy’s dress. “So, how’d ya get that? Did you steal it?”
“No, I used the last of my money. Where are you stayin’?” Poppy asked.
Renee spoke up. “We met a lady who has lots of girls stayin’ with her—kinda like Ma, only she’s nicer.”
“The girls are older than us,” Julia said. “She says she’ll put us to work someday. But for now we can stay there. It’s on the fourth floor of a big house. We can see all over from our window. I ain’t ever been up so high in all my borned days.”
“It ain’t Miss Tessie May’s place, is it?” Poppy held her breath, waiting for the answer.
“Well, yeah, as a matter of fact, it is,” Julia said. “Why?”
“I’ve heard stories about that woman. You better get out of there.”
“She’s been nice,” Renee said. “We sleep in a real bed.”
“From what I’ve heard back at the Willow, she’s not givin’ you a room ’cause she likes ya. She’ll be usin’ you like Ma—or worse,” Poppy insisted, remembering terrible stories about Miss Tessie. “How come you left Ma, anyways?”
“Whenever we stole good stuff for Ma, she took everything we got. We can get along better by ourselves.” Julia pulled a leather wallet from her pocket. “Look at this nice little boodle I fanned from a man leavin’ the bank yesterday.” She opened the wallet and shoved a bundle of money under Poppy’s nose. “Renee’s getting to be a real good little stall. She tripped and fell in front of my mark and screamed her head off.”
Renee smiled happily at Julia’s words.
“Yep, it was easy to lift that leather right out of his pocket while he was pullin’ Renee up from the sidewalk,” Julia went on. “Easy as pie.”
Poppy watched Julia count the money. Although Ma had never taught her “students” to read, she had taught them the numbers on dollar bills, and they were quick to learn.
“There’s thirty bucks in here. That’ll keep us goin’ for a while,” Julia said.
“Yeah, Renee and me. We worked for it.”
Poppy held out her hand. She hated to beg, but that was better than stealing, wasn’t it? “How’s about givin’ me a few of that bundle? I ain’t got any money, save a few coins. I’m not goin’ to steal anymore.”
“Then how do you ’spect to live? You’re crazy, Poppy. Go get your own,” Julia said, snapping the money out of Poppy’s sight. “You know how as well as I do!”
“Don’t let Tessie May know you got that money. She’ll prob’ly take it, too,” Poppy warned as she walked away.
Julia yelled after her, “I ain’t goin’ back to Ma’s, so don’t worry—I won’t be tellin’ her I saw you. But she’s gonna get you, Poppy. She’s mad as a hornet bee.”
Poppy sighed. She’d probably have to go back to stealing in order to eat. As she walked up the streets and alleys, trying to figure out what to do, she thought of Claire. How much she wanted to be like her—at least the way she seemed to be, sweet and kind and smart.
Then she thought about Justin. Had he found Ticktock yet? She could only imagine how happy he must be. She hoped the boys really had warned Justin about Ma Brennan’s threats to his goat. Did Justin now believe Poppy hadn’t stolen Ticktock to get even?
She hadn’t realized how far she’d gone—or even paid attention to where she was. Across the street was an empty meadow. Poppy was tired, sad, and lonely, and it was getting dark.
She trudged through the strawlike uncut hay until she found a spot that was far away from the road. She beat the tall stalks down with her feet until it lay flat. Then she flopped onto her back. A strong wind blew in gusts around her, whistling through the trees. Poppy looked up at the sky, where the stars were shining brightly.
Had Claire said there were all kinds of animals up there—bears, snakes, dogs? She squinted and tried to see them but couldn’t.
Suddenly, in a burst of stardust and flame, a shooting star soared across the sky. Would that star hit the earth? she wondered. Or would it burn out up there?
Poppy didn’t make a wish this time. Wishes never came true.
She closed her eyes and was soon asleep.