The Vanderbeekers Make a Wish

by Karina Yan Glaser

  “Okay, bye,” Grandma said. She set off toward the brownstone, Grandpa trailing behind.

  “That was weird,” Oliver said.

  Jessie thought it was weird too, but she didn’t have time to think about it because they needed to get to the bakery. They turned on 143rd Street, and the bakery stood out as a warm glow from the twinkle lights illuminating the scalloped yellow-and-white-striped awning. The shadow of a restless cat paced the length of the window. Through the French doors, the handpainted wooden sign was turned to “We’re Closed. Come Visit Again!” The door, however, was unlocked, and Jessie opened it and let everyone inside.

  Aunt Penny beelined for Peaches and Cream, who were sleeping together in the hamburger bed. Laney and Hyacinth picked them up and cuddled them, then showed Aunt Penny how to clean the litter boxes and feed all the cats, who were circling them, meowing for dinner.

  Jessie, Isa, and Oliver opened the door that had two signs: one said “Employees Only” and the other said “No-Cat Zone”! The door opened to a long, narrow hallway that led to the kitchen.

  Mama hadn’t been joking when she’d said the kitchen was a disaster. Every single mixing bowl was stacked in the sink along with metal whisks, wooden spoons, and plastic spatulas.

  “Wow,” Oliver said. “This is worse than my bedroom.”

  Mama, who was peering into the oven to check on a batch of cookies, stood up and looked over her shoulder.

  “Yay!” she said at the sight of her kids.

  “Yay!” Auntie Harrigan said at the sight of her nieces and nephew.

  “Where are your grandparents?” Mama asked.

  “They wanted to go home,” Jessie told her. “They were tired.”

  “Okay,” Mama said, and Jessie could see a flash of disappointment streak across her mom’s face. Then Aunt Penny walked in.

  “Penny!” cried Auntie Harrigan.

  They greeted each other with a long hug. Auntie Harrigan turned to the kids.

  “I know I just saw you last week, but I swear you all got taller,” Auntie Harrigan said to Jessie, Isa, and Oliver as she gave them hugs. She pointed to a tray of cookies cooling on one of the counters. “I made those ginger cookies over there. Give them a taste and let me know what you think. Your mom said we needed a thumbs-up from you before we put them on the menu.”

  Jessie, Isa, and Oliver didn’t have to be asked twice. They headed for the tray and selected the biggest cookies available.

  Oliver was the first to comment. “Mmm,” he said, then flashed Auntie Harrigan a thumbs-up.

  “I agree,” Jessie said after she took a bite and the sugary ginger flavor hit her tongue.

  “Awesome,” Isa said.

  “It’s like a party in my mouth,” Oliver said.

  Auntie Harrigan swiveled to look at Mama. “What do you say?”

  “Let’s do it,” Mama said. “We’ll call it Harrigan’s Ginger Cookie.”

  “Yes!” Auntie Harrigan said, pumping her arms in victory.

  “Jeez,” Aunt Penny said, looking at Auntie Harrigan in mock disgust. “You are really making it hard for me to take over as the Favorite Aunt.”

  “Ha!” Auntie Harrigan said. “I’ve worked hard for this position. Plus, I have proximity on my side.”

  “Maybe I should move,” Aunt Penny said, tapping her chin as she thought. “I do love New York City.”

  “Are you really considering it?” Jessie asked. “That would be amazing.”

  “Laney and Hyacinth would have cats in your apartment in no time,” Isa said.

  “You could come to my basketball games,” Oliver said. “Auntie Harrigan missed my last two.”

  Auntie Harrigan sighed. “You know I had those window displays to do. I made it to every single game before that.” Auntie Harrigan was a freelance artist and did fun jobs like designing window displays for stores and illustrating menus and signs.

  Oliver turned to Aunt Penny. “Are you really thinking of moving here?”

  Aunt Penny shook her head. “I love my job in California.” Then she changed the subject. “I’m going to tackle those bowls. Don’t bother me!” she said with a smile, walking to the industrial sink and tugging on the rubber gloves hanging on the drying rack.

  The rest of the group got down to business. Auntie Harrigan turned on the radio, and everyone cleaned until the flour was wiped up, the bowls were sparkling clean, and the steel countertops gleamed. Mama mopped the floor, and then it was time to go home.

  Mama flicked off the light and locked the door, and they went back through the hallway and into the bakery.

  Hyacinth and Laney sat on the window seat with hair brushes in hand. They were surrounded by a dozen well-fed cats all purring and rubbing against the two girls.

  “I think we should take all of them home,” Laney said when she saw Mama.

  “Okay,” Mama said with a smile.

  “Papa would not be okay with that,” Jessie said. “Imagine the constant smell of cat food.”

  “Wouldn’t it be funny if he came home from Indiana to twelve new cats?” Oliver said.

  Jessie checked her phone again to see if Papa had written to her. “Have you heard from him?” she asked Mama.

  “No,” Mama said. “But I think the signal is really spotty where he is in Indiana. You know how Uncle Sylvester lives in a really rural farming area? There’s not much reception.”

  Just as Mama finished talking, her phone rang. “Hey, it’s him!” She tapped something on her screen and held it to her ear. “Hi, honey! We were just talking about you! How’s everything going? I figured the reception wasn’t great. Here, let me put you on speaker. The kids want to say hi.”

  Mama pressed a button on her phone, then held it out so everyone could hear.

  “Hi, Papa!” Laney said, leaning toward the phone and shouting. “Guess what? Grandpa gave me a bike! A real one! We rode back and forth across the Brooklyn Bridge!”

  “That’s amazing!” Papa said.

  Papa said something else, but there was so much static that no one could understand him.

  “Papa, we can’t hear you!” Isa said.

  There was more static, and they could hear him say “storm” and “bad connection” and “later.” Then the line went silent.

  “Well, that’s a bummer,” Mama said. “Sounds like they’re getting some weather over there. Maybe he’ll call or text later.”

  After Mama had admired Laney’s bike for a satisfactory amount of time, she locked up the bakery and they headed home. The Vanderbeeker kids trailed behind Mama and their aunts. Aunt Penny was telling Mama and Auntie Harrigan how Grandma was on a quest to marry her off.

  Mama laughed. “She’s relentless!”

  Auntie Harrigan glanced at Aunt Penny. “Have you met anyone interesting lately?”

  Aunt Penny shrugged. “Work keeps me busy.”

  “Uh-huh,” Auntie Harrigan said.

  “Hey, what does that mean?” Aunt Penny asked.

  “We think you’re afraid of commitment,” Mama told her.

  The Vanderbeekers perked up. This was getting interesting.

  “I’m not afraid of commitment,” Aunt Penny protested. “I just want to be certain of success before getting into a relationship. With a pet or a person.”

  “We’re never certain of success,” Laney said sagely. “We had Franz for a whole year before he said one word to us.”

  “And now he won’t stop barking,” Oliver grumbled. “Or drooling. Or stealing food. Or creating general chaos.”

  “It means he’s comfortable with us,” Hyacinth said proudly. “He’s not afraid we’re going to abandon him anymore.”

  “Hyacinth wore him down over time,” Isa said. “I guess that’s how relationships are.”

  “Did Benny wear you down over time?” Laney asked, then turned to Aunt Penny. “Benny Castleman is Isa’s boyfriend.”

  “We’re talking about Aunt Penny here,” Isa said primly.

  “Oh, that guy in the
picture on your desk? He’s adorable,” Aunt Penny said.

  “Ick,” Oliver said, disgusted.

  “I know what you need to do!” Hyacinth said. “You need to adopt Peaches and Cream to get over your fear of commitment.”

  “I love that idea,” Mama said.

  “I live in California!” Aunt Penny said. “I flew here!”

  “You can take cats on the plane,” Hyacinth reminded her.

  “That’s true,” Jessie said. “When I went on that plane to Atlanta, I saw someone bring their parrot on the plane. It had a little sign on the cage that said ‘emotional support animal.’”

  “Yeah, yeah,” Aunt Penny said. “But I would like to remind you all that just because I don’t have a cat or a relationship, that doesn’t mean I’m afraid of commitment!”

  “Mmm-hmm,” the Vanderbeekers said.

  * * *

  When the Vanderbeekers returned home, Laney rolled her new bike into the entryway and leaned it against the wall. She was not going to lock it up outside and risk getting it dirty and rusty. She looked for Grandpa, but he wasn’t in the living room, he wasn’t in the kitchen, and he wasn’t in the bathroom. Then Laney went up the stairs and noticed the door was closed. It was only eight, but her grandparents had already gone to bed.

  Laney sighed with disappointment. She didn’t like being around Grandma, but she did want to see Grandpa. He always seemed as if he wasn’t paying attention, but he’d gotten her the exact kind of bike she wanted.

  But it was late, and after a quick dinner of leftovers and then a bath, it was time for bedtime stories. Because they had spent all day with their grandparents, they’d had no time to research Yardsy Loughty, which was another disappointment. But Isa had promised that they would do research first thing the next morning, which was good because tomorrow would be Wednesday and they really needed to figure out the trip before Papa’s birthday on Saturday. It was supposed to be his present, after all.

  In anticipation of story time, Laney set aside a stack of fifteen books, knowing that Mama would have energy for only a couple of them. But as she waited in bed for Mama to arrive, Tuxedo purring contentedly on her pillow, the door opened and Aunt Penny walked in.

  “Your mom fell asleep on the couch, so I’m her replacement reader tonight!” Aunt Penny said.

  Laney narrowed her eyes. “How are your voices?”

  “Voices?” Aunt Penny asked.

  “You know, when you read a book. Are your voices good?”

  “Um, maybe?”

  “I’ll just wait for Mama.”

  Isa stuck her head into the bedroom. “Mama is fast asleep. If you want a bedtime story, Aunt Penny will read to you.”

  “Why can’t you do it?” Laney asked.

  “Because I need to practice,” Isa said. She blew Laney a kiss. “Love you!”

  Aunt Penny picked up a book from Laney’s bookshelf. It was called Drawn Together, and the cover had a grandfather hugging his grandchild.

  “How about this one?” Aunt Penny said.

  “No,” Laney said. “Only Papa is allowed to read that one to me.”

  “Why?”

  “Because he’s really good at it,” Laney said. “And I want to save it until he comes home. He gives the best good-night hugs. And he knows just how to tuck me in. Not too tight but nice and cozy.”

  “Aww, Laney,” Aunt Penny said, reaching over to give her a hug. “I remember what it was like when my dad would go away on business trips. I missed him a lot.” Laney blinked. “I don’t like it when Papa leaves.”

  “Okay, we’ll save this book until he comes home,” she said. “But I do want to read at least one book to you—you can help me with the voices—so can you choose one that’s not too hard?”

  Laney reached over and picked out Alma and How She Got Her Name and gave it to Aunt Penny. And when her aunt started reading, Laney discovered that Aunt Penny was surprisingly good at voices, although she did mess up a few times by using a high, squeaky voice instead of a slow, low voice. Tired from all the biking and excitement, Laney fell asleep the moment Aunt Penny finished reading and closed the book. She didn’t wake up when Hyacinth went to bed, or even when Franz jumped on Laney’s bed and kissed her nose. She didn’t wake up when a tall stack of books by Oliver’s bed fell down and created a terrific clatter, and she didn’t wake up at the series of ambulances that went down the street.

  But she did wake up later that night, long after everyone was asleep, when the hallway light right outside her bedroom briefly flicked on and cast a beam through her cracked bedroom door and fell right across her face. The light turned off a few seconds later, and Laney sat up and rubbed her eyes. She got up and went down the stairs. She had an idea who had turned on the light, and she crept to the kitchen to confirm her suspicions.

  She was right. Grandpa was outside, his motions slow as he moved through various positions as if he were a dancer. It surprised her how graceful he was. He wasn’t the type of person you would imagine moving like a ballet dancer. Laney yearned to step outside and see if she could imitate what he was doing, but she didn’t know if Grandpa would be that happy about her interrupting him. She watched for several more minutes, but she was so tired she couldn’t keep her eyes open. So she went back upstairs to her warm bed, to Tuxedo curled up on her pillow, and to Hyacinth’s light snoring above her.

  Laney fell asleep immediately and didn’t even notice when, a little while later, her grandfather stepped into her bedroom and tucked the blanket around her, not too tight but nice and cozy.

  Wednesday, August 6

  Three Days Until Papa’s Birthday

  Eighteen

  Oliver woke up on Wednesday morning with a sense of panic. It was only three days until Papa’s birthday and they were no closer to figuring out the mystery of Pop-Pop’s trip and how to plan a surprise reenactment. They needed to find Yardsy Loughty today. The only problem?

  Their grandparents.

  Before Oliver went downstairs for breakfast, he stopped by Jessie and Isa’s bedroom so he could use their computer. His sisters were still asleep, so Oliver took a seat at Jessie’s desk and started doing some internet searches.

  They were lucky that Yardsy had such an unusual name, because all Oliver had to do was type in “Yardsy Loughty” and “New York City” and a dozen results popped up right away. The first one was a New York Times article from three years earlier: “Local Boat Builder Offers Classes to Washington Heights Students.” Oliver opened the article and read it. Mr. Loughty, who’d been a sanitation worker for forty years, had been an amateur boat builder for several decades and decided to teach local students how to build boats once he retired. He started a nonprofit called Knot Too shabby, where he worked with young people to build full-size traditional rowboats over the course of a school year. There was a photo of Mr. Loughty sanding down the side of a boat with one of the students.

  Oliver then looked up the Knot Too Shabby website, which described all the programs they offered. In addition to boat building, the organization led classes in environmental science and sailing. Oliver jotted down the address he found on the bottom of the “Contact Us” page. Then he stood up and walked over to Jessie’s bed.

  “Jessie, wake up and meet your destiny,” Oliver said in his best Darth Vader voice.

  Jessie shot up out of bed, and because Oliver did not move fast enough, she cracked her forehead against his.

  “Ouch!” they said at the same time.

  Across the room, Isa stirred. “What’s going on?”

  “Oliver, why?” Jessie groaned as she rubbed her red forehead.

  “I wanted to show you this,” Oliver said. He put the paper in her face.

  While Jessie fumbled for her glasses, Isa came over to see the paper.

  “What’s this address?” Isa asked.

  “It’s where we’re going to find Yardsy Loughty,” Oliver said triumphantly.

  “Seriously?” Jessie said. “Nice work!”

&nbs
p; “Thank you,” Oliver said. “Now get out of bed so we can go up to Washington Heights and meet this guy.”

  * * *

  Mama had already left for the bakery by the time the Vanderbeekers got up. Isa found a note she’d put on the bathroom mirror saying that Manny was out sick again and she was meeting Auntie Harrigan at the bakery so they could get an early start on the day’s baking. The kids would be on their own for breakfast and lunch.

  Isa read the note, and as she brushed her teeth, she thought about the quickest breakfast that would also satisfy everyone. She was anxious to find Yardsy Loughty and didn’t want to let too much time go by before they left for the boat workshop. She could scramble a bunch of eggs and put some of the leftover slices of sourdough bread in the oven to toast. There was fruit she could cut up and bring with them on the subway ride up to Washington Heights as well. Oliver and Laney got particularly grouchy when they were hungry.

  She peeked into Hyacinth and Laney’s bedroom. Hyacinth was awake and working on her quilt, but she was still in her pajamas. A Laney-sized lump on the bottom bunk confirmed that her youngest sister was still asleep.

  “Grandma is downstairs,” Hyacinth whispered as she stitched two pieces of fabric together. “I went downstairs at six o’clock to take Franz out and she started asking me questions about my grades, so I told her I was going up to my bedroom to work on Papa’s birthday present.”

  “Oliver found an address where we can find Yardsy Loughty. We’re going uptown right after breakfast. Can you wake up Laney and get her changed and her teeth brushed?”

  Hyacinth looked at the bed. “I tried to wake her up five minutes ago. She was really tired.”

  Isa frowned. Laney was usually one of the earlier risers, right after Hyacinth. She sat on Laney’s bed and put a hand gently on what she deduced was Laney’s back.

  “Hey,” Isa said. “Time to wake up.”

  Laney rolled over so Isa could see her face.

  “I’m tired today,” Laney said, squinting at Isa.