by D. L. Dennis
The old man seemed quite harmless, and eventually no one paid much attention to him as he sat quietly on the bench. The children were told not to approach him, so before long, they just ignored his presence. Jake’s trip into town to ask about the old man did not result in any information. No one knew for sure, but everyone just assumed that he was from the other side of the forest and enjoyed watching the children. This was not quite a satisfactory answer for Mrs. Miller, but she did not pursue the situation any further. The area across the footbridge did not belong to the orphanage so he had a right to sit on the bench.
After seeing the old man a few times, Jenny started begging Miss Cartwright to let her go to say “hi” to the old man. Miss Cartwright’s answers were always the same. “No you cannot go over to the old man. Just go play.” Jenny would look wistfully at the old man. Finally, one day, after Jenny pleaded with Miss Cartwright for several minutes, she finally gave in. She thought that maybe if she let Jenny go once, she would be satisfied and not ask to go again.
After Jenny’s pleading session, Miss Cartwright told Jenny that she would walk over with her, and she could say “Hi” to the old man. Miss Cartwright took Jenny’s hand while Jenny excitedly scuttled up to the bench with her crutch dragging in the sand. Jenny was not at all afraid of the old man and stood right in front of him. Miss Cartwright was just a few feet away.
Chapter 21
CHRISTOPHER
“Hi,” Jenny said. “What is your name?”
The old man looked steadily at Jenny with his piercing blue eyes and with a smile said, “My name is Christopher and you, little miss, are called Jenny.”
Jenny’s eyes got bigger and said, “How did you know my name? How do you know me?”
The old man’s eyes twinkled as he grinned and pondered Jenny’s questions as he scratched his chin.
“Well, Jenny. I have known you since you came to live in the orphanage when you were a little baby.”
“You have? Are you my grandpa? You have blue eyes that look like mine. I don’t have a grandpa, but I would like to have one. Sometimes I call Mr. Jake ‘grandpa’, but he is really Mr. Jake.”
The old man chuckled, as he replied, “No, Jenny, I am not your grandpa.”
“Then why are you here? Why do you just sit on this bench every day?”
“I am here for you, Jenny. I will be here whenever you need me.”
Jenny was puzzled and was about to ask another question when she heard Miss Cartwright call her name and motion for her to come. She quickly turned away and started to scamper back to the playground, but stopped and looked over her shoulder and said, “Will you be here when I come back to play another day?”
“Yes, Jenny, I will be here when you come back to play.”
As Jenny headed back to the swings, she was very confused. The old man knew her name and said that he was “there for her.” What did that mean? Miss Cartwright was standing within hearing distance. Maybe she would know what the old man meant. Jenny had been told the story about how she had been found in a basket at the gate when she was a tiny baby, but she never thought much about it. She was happy to be at the orphanage. Jenny wondered if the old man knew who had left her at the orphanage. He said he knew her when she was a little baby. None of this made any sense to Jenny, but she knew that she liked the old man. She was sure that he was a very special old man. She hoped he would be on the bench the next time she came over to play. She wanted to talk to him some more.
Miss Cartwright had heard the conservation between Jenny and the old man, and she was as baffled as she knew that Jenny must be. The old man did nothing that made her afraid, but it was a very baffling situation. None of it made any sense to her. She, too, wondered if the old man had known who put Jenny in the basket at the gate of the orphanage. She wondered also if Jenny had thought about this. She did not want to discuss any of her thoughts with Jenny. She would have to tell Mrs. Miller about Jenny’s encounter as soon as she got back.
The rest of the day was uneventful for Jenny, and she did not talk about the old man named Christopher, but she kept thinking about him. That evening, Mrs. Miller came to her room and sat down on the corner of Jenny’s bed.
“Did you have fun today, Jenny?”
“Oh, yes, Mrs. Miller. I always like to go over the footbridge to the playground. I love to be near the forest and the river. It is my favorite thing to do.”
“Did you talk to the old man that was sitting on the bench?”
Jenny began to wonder if she was in trouble. She hesitated and then said, “Yes. I asked him what his name was, and he said it was Christopher.”
“Did he say where he lived?”
“No, Mrs. Miller. I did not ask him where he lived. I did not get to talk to him very long because Miss Cartwright called for me to come.”
“OK, Jenny. You have a good night’s rest and say your prayers before you go to sleep.”
Mrs. Miller did not want to question Jenny too much. She did not want to make Jenny afraid to talk to her about the old man. She just wanted to see if Jenny expressed anything about the old man that she did not already know. She knew what Jenny’s conversation had been with the old man, because Miss Cartwright had heard it and had told her about it.
Jenny was glad that Mrs. Miller did not ask her any more questions. She knew that whatever Mrs. Miller asked, she had to tell the truth. She wanted her conversation with the old man to be her secret, although she knew that Miss Cartwright was standing close by and probably heard what they said. She wondered if he would be there when she crossed the footbridge the next time she went over to play. Even though she had a very short conversation with the old man, Christopher, Jenny felt like she had made a new friend, and that made her smile. Jenny went to sleep thinking about the old man and drifted in and out of dreams about her day.
Chapter 22
A COOKIE FOR CHRISTOPHER
Jenny, along with all the other children, spent the summer playing in the yard, working in the garden, going to the pumpkin patch to observe the growth of the pumpkins and working on all kinds of projects. They were so excited when the first baby pumpkins began to be seen on the vines.
There was a lot of rain during those summer months which made the water in the Calvary River rise to the point that it was quite deep in many areas and lapped up on the banks. When the children crossed the footbridge to go to the playground, they were always reminded to be very careful.
Each time that Jenny was with the group that crossed over, the old man was sitting quietly on the bench. He was always sitting in the same spot holding the staff in front of him. This perplexed Mrs. Miller and all of the staff. This was something that they did not discuss in front of Jenny, or any of the other children, but it was quite often a topic of conversation.
The children had never paid much attention to the old man and as the days went by, never even looked his way. He never said anything to any of them, but just sat quietly watching when Jenny was in the group. Even though it was summer time, the old man always had the raggedy coat on. Jenny was always excited to see him and begged to be allowed to go over and talk to him. It was a mystery to everyone as to why Jenny was so drawn to the old man.
If any of the children asked Jenny why she talked to the old man, she would tell them that Christopher was her friend, but said little more. Several of the boys teased her about being friends with an old man that wore a raggedy coat. There was hardly anything that would make Jenny angry, but she would get upset when anyone said anything unkind about Christopher. She would get a frown on her face, stomp her little crippled foot on the ground and tell everyone he was a nice man, and that his name was Christopher. She did not like for them to call him an old man.
Mrs. Miller told the staff members to let Jenny talk to the old man for a short period of time, if she asked. Mrs. Miller did not want to make too much of a fuss about it. She was sure that Jenny’s interest in the old man would soon wane. Much to the surprise of everyone, that did not happen.
One day as they were almost finished with lunch, Jenny grabbed Mrs. Miller’s hand as she walked by and said that she had a question. She whispered so quietly that Mrs. Miller had to bend down to hear what Jenny was saying. She got as close as she could to Mrs. Miller’s ear and asked if she could take a cookie to Christopher just in case he was sitting on the bench when they took the trip over the footbridge that afternoon. Jenny did not want any of the other children to hear her because she was afraid they would tease her. They told her he was just a wrinkled, old man. Mrs. Miller did not want to encourage Jenny to spend time with the old man, but yet, she always taught the children to be kind to others so it was difficult for her to tell Jenny that she could not take a cookie to the old man. Mrs. Miller also did not want Jenny to feel like she was apprehensive about letting her take a cookie to him.
After pondering this for a minute, she told Jenny that, yes, she could take a cookie to the old man, but she was not to stay long with him. She reminded Jenny that she was going across the bridge to play at the playground and in the sand. When Jenny heard Mrs. Miller reply, she was so excited she could hardly eat the rest of her lunch. Jenny very carefully wrapped the cookie in a napkin and put it in her pocket. She did not want it to get dirty or break apart.
After being dismissed from lunch, Jenny rushed out to the yard to wait for Miss Cartwright to take them across the footbridge. She was so anxious to see Christopher and give him the cookie, she could hardly stand still. When they reached the top of the footbridge, Jenny looked over the rail and there sat Christopher. As soon as they were across the bridge, the other children scattered around the playground equipment, but instead of heading to the swing set like she usually did, she told Miss Cartwright that Mrs. Miller said she could give a cookie to Christopher. After getting permission from Miss Cartwright, Jenny hobbled over to the bench.
The old man watched every step Jenny made as she came toward him. When she got close enough for her to hear, he smiled and said, “Hi Jenny. How are you today?”
Jenny answered, “I am just fine,” as she dug the cookie out of her pocket. “I have a cookie for you.” She held her hand toward the old man.
The old man took the cookie and said to Jenny, “It is very nice that you brought a cookie for me. I know it will be delicious. Thank you very much. I will eat it later.”
Jenny stared at him for a minute and said, “I can’t stay, but I am glad to see you. I have a question to ask you. Where do you live?”
The old man motioned back toward the woods and said, “I live over through the forest.”
Jenny was bewildered by his answer. Was there a house in the forest? Or did he live on the other side? Jenny did not have time to ask any more questions because the teacher was calling for her to come back to the playground. Jenny quickly said goodbye and hobbled back to the swings. As Jenny made her way, she remembered the stories the older boys were always telling about the forest when they wanted to scare the “Littles.” She knew there were no goblins or witches in the forest, but wondered about the old man. Why was he always on the bench? He was friendly and always smiled at her. She knew that there was something special about Christopher, but she did not know what it was or why she thought that. She knew that when she saw him, it made her day special.
When she got back to the playground, the teacher asked her what the old man had said. Jenny told her that Christopher said thank you for the cookie and said he lived in the forest. Jenny then ran off to play with the other children. The teacher was as perplexed as Jenny was, but she did not say anything else to Jenny. The old man never did anything except sit on the bench so there was nothing to complain about. She would have liked to ask him why he was only on the bench when Jenny was in the group, but Mrs. Miller had given explicit instructions that no one was to approach the old man.
It rained for several days, and the children were not able to go outside to play. The staff tried to keep them busy with games they could play inside. They read books to the little ones and got some involved in making cookies in the kitchen. Sometimes they were not sure how many cookies actually made it onto the platters. Quite a few landed on the floor! At 3:00 p.m. on the days that cookies were made, the bell would ring and all the children knew it was time for warm cookies and a glass of cold milk. That was their treat for being good when they had to stay inside because of the bad weather.
Finally, the morning sunshine broke through the clouds. As they parted, a brilliant, blue sky was revealed. They were all hoping that the rain was over for awhile, but there were still some worrisome looking clouds hanging around. As the children entered the dining room for breakfast, they clapped their hands and jumped up and down and excitedly asked, “Can we go outside? Can we go to the playground? Can we? Can we?”
Jenny was not as boisterous as some of the children, but that day, she was so excited about being able to go outside that she was as loud as anyone. She was anxious to go back over the footbridge to see if Christopher would be on the bench. She hoped that he had stayed in his house on the rainy days. On those rainy days that they had to stay inside, sometimes Jenny would be seen standing at the window looking outside toward the footbridge.
Mrs. Miller told the children to sit down and eat their breakfast. She assured them that she would talk to the teachers, and they would decide what the activities would be for the day. She knew the children had been cooped up many days and were full of unspent energy. Even the older children were eager to be out of the house. Most of them were easier to occupy on rainy days as they were better at occupying themselves. It was the littler ones that were harder to keep occupied.
Mrs. Miller did not want to tell them they could not go outside, but, yet, she knew that it was very wet. Someone was sure to ask if they could go across the river, and that someone was probably going to be Jenny. She knew that the playground sand across the footbridge would not be good to play in. What a dilemma! If the children did go across the footbridge, they would have to put on their very oldest play clothes and shoes. After pondering it for a while and talking to the teachers, they all decided that the children did need to go outside for a little while. There was just too much pent up energy. Miss Cartwright volunteered to take a group over the footbridge to the playground and would do her best to keep the children off the beach area. Mrs. Miller sensed that Miss Cartwright needed to get outside and play too!
When Mrs. Miller went back to the dining room and told the children they could go outside, they all clapped and shouted. She gave them instructions about putting on their oldest play clothes and shoes. She said that a small group could go to the playground with Miss Cartwright and asked who wanted to go. Of course, Jenny’s hand shot up high in the air before anyone else had their hands up. Most of the children did not care whether they went across to the playground or outside to play games, so Jenny got her wish. Jenny was going to be allowed to go with the small group that was going over the footbridge, and she was ecstatic!
Jenny most always ate all her breakfast, but she knew that she wanted to take something to Christopher. Before Jenny left the dining room, she wrapped up a small sweet roll in her napkin and took it to her room. She picked out a pair of pants that had a pocket it them so she could put the sweet roll in it. If Christopher was sitting on the bench, she wanted to have something to give to him. She was so excited and in such a hurry that she put her pants on backwards. She realized it when she tried to put the sweet roll in the pocket. So, then she had to take the time to take her shoes off and turn her pants around. Oh, she worried that she was going to be late, and they would leave without her. She ran out of the room with her bad foot thumping loudly on the wooden floor and bumped into Mrs. Miller.
“Young lady, where are you going in such a hurry?”
Jenny came to an abrupt stop, “Oh, I’m sorry. I was going to meet Miss Cartwright and go over the footbridge. I don’t want to be late.”
“Well, slow down, Jenny. Miss Cartwright is not going to leave without you. Wher
e is your crutch? I think you should take it because the boards on the footbridge will be wet. I want you to be very careful.”
Jenny’s foot was rather stiff this morning, but she did not want Mrs. Miller to know. She was afraid that Mrs. Miller might tell her she could not go across the footbridge to the playground, and she just had to go over to see if Christopher was on the bench. Jenny hurriedly went back to her room, got her crutch and headed down the hall to find Miss Cartwright and the other children.
Chapter 23
CHRISTOPHER’S PROMISE
As the group approached the footbridge, Miss Cartwright could see that the Calvary River was very high and flowing very fast. She had never seen that much water in the river. There were a lot of branches, sticks, and other debris being carried along in the muddy water. With all of the rain that had fallen during the last few days, they were fortunate that the river had stayed within its banks and did not flood the pumpkin patch or the playground. It would be a tragedy if the pumpkin patch was destroyed.
The boards on the footbridge were still wet and slick, but all of the children held hands and made it across safely. They were so excited to be outside they quickly scattered in all directions, all but Jenny. As she stepped cautiously off the footbridge, she looked toward the bench, and sure enough, there was Christopher sitting in his raggedy coat, holding his staff. Jenny was so thrilled she could hardly keep from running over to the bench. Jenny looked expectantly at Miss Cartwright who knew immediately what Jenny wanted to do. She nodded her head at Jenny, but kept her eye on Jenny as she made her way over to the bench. Miss Cartwright slowly walked to the edge of the playground to be closer to Jenny as she approached the old man.