Light Up New York

by Natalie Grant

  “How far is the Alice in Wonderland statue?” Dad asked.

  Miss Julia looked it up on her phone. “It looks like it should only take about eight minutes to walk there through the park from here. But, listen to this! In total, Central Park has fifty-eight miles of paths.”

  “Sounds like we lucked out to be close to Alice in Wonderland, then,” Mom said. “I think there’s time to go see the statue. We have about an hour before we need to find a cab to go over to the Rise and Shine studio for your rehearsal.”

  “I’m going to be on television, I’m going to be on television,” Lulu chanted, dancing out the door and into the snowy park.

  Mom and Dad exchanged a look, but then Mom took Dad’s hand, letting Lulu dance and sing. Mia agreed they might as well let Lulu be excited. Maybe it was good for her to get some of this excitement out of her system now before they were actually in the studio. And, honestly, Mia could have danced and sung right along with her little sister. Singing on television was a big deal, and even if they weren’t doing one of Mia’s special songs, she couldn’t wait for the experience.

  Along the path, they scooped up snow and tossed snowballs at one another. Dad kept hiding behind trees and ambushing them with snowball attacks. Finally, the three girls decided to team up against him. Once it was three against one, Dad gave in and called a truce. They agreed, but not until they’d pelted him with snowballs one more time.

  “There it is!” Lulu pointed out the bronze statue with the familiar Alice in Wonderland characters.

  “Go ahead, we’ll be right behind you,” Mom said.

  The girls rushed over to the statue, and then circled it, taking in the details.

  “The Mad Hatter,” Maddie said.

  “And the March Hare,” Mia added.

  “And the Dormouse!” Lulu motioned to the little mouse, who sat on a small mushroom next to the one Alice sat on.

  “Do you think that’s the Cheshire Cat?” Maddie asked, pointing out the cat in the tree.

  “Then who is that?” Lulu asked, nodding at the cat on Alice’s lap.

  “Didn’t Alice have a cat back home?” Mia asked.

  “Exactly,” Miss Julia said, coming up from behind them. “That’s Dinah, Alice’s cat. And you know, girls, the artist actually meant for this statue to be touched and climbed on. Would you like to climb up and have your picture taken?”

  Climbing up was easier said than done in the snow, but with a little help from Dad, they all managed to clamber up and pose for pictures. Mia’s favorite was the silly picture where they all pretended to sip imaginary tea with their pinkies—and noses—up in the air. The girls wanted to play on the statue a little longer, but Mom and Dad wanted to see the lake, which was close by.

  “Go ahead,” Miss Julia said. “I’ll stay with the girls.”

  Mia, Maddie, and Lulu stayed on the statue a little longer. When their fingers started to feel frozen through their gloves, they climbed down.

  Miss Julia rubbed their hands to help warm up their fingers, and then asked, “Anybody want a snack?”

  She brushed snow off a bench and held out a variety of packages of dried fruit snacks so the girls could choose their favorite flavor. Mia chose strawberry and so did Lulu, but Maddie chose raspberry.

  Across the grass, a woman laying on a bench caught Mia’s eye. She seemed to be fast asleep, though Mia couldn’t imagine how she could be in this cold.

  “If I were the Snow Angel,” she said to Maddie, “I’d want to help that woman.”

  “What would you give her?” Maddie asked. “Just a blanket?”

  “Or a new coat. Or maybe a giant umbrella to prop up and keep the snow off,” Mia said, looking away, not wanting to stare at the woman. Even though the woman was asleep—maybe because she was asleep—it didn’t seem right to keep watching her.

  “Hey!” Lulu said, her voice sharp and cutting across the park’s quiet.

  Mia turned to her little sister. “Lulu, what—”

  But Lulu didn’t pay Mia any attention. Instead, she stared toward the woman.

  “Lulu, don’t stare,” Mia said.

  “That girl,” Lulu said, squinting across the park. “She just left a blanket. And a bag. And I think . . . yes. She just left a snowflake.”

  “A snowflake?” Mia asked, whipping her head back to look.

  “A snowflake,” Lulu repeated.

  “But that means . . .” Maddie said.

  “Who is that woman she’s heading toward?” Mia asked. “Her mom?”

  “She can’t be the Snow Angel,” Maddie said, her brow furrowed. “She’s just a kid.”

  Lulu completely ignored this. “Hey!” she shouted, as she took off running. “You’re the Snow Angel!”

  The girl looked up at her mom in alarm, and after her mom nodded, she jogged toward Maddie, Mia, and Lulu.

  “Shhh,” she said, as she came closer.

  “But you’re the Sn—”

  “Shhhh!” she said, more insistently, glancing over her shoulder.

  Mia looked between the girl and Lulu, not sure whether to urge Lulu to stay quiet or to join her in shouting. Of all the people that Mia had pictured as the Snow Angel, a girl their age hadn’t even been on the list. The girl had beautiful twists of hair that bounced a little with each step.

  “You’re the Snow Angel,” Lulu said, this time keeping her voice at a whisper.

  TWENTY-FIVE

  I’m going to tell you about the Snow Angel,” the girl said. “But you have to promise not to tell anyone. Not anyone.”

  “Why?” Mia asked.

  The girl leaned back on her heels and crossed her arms. “Do you promise or not?”

  “Yes, yes, we promise,” Mia said.

  The girl narrowed her eyes. “Doesn’t sound like a real promise to me.”

  “Well, how are we supposed to make a promise when we don’t even know what you’re going to tell us?” Mia said.

  “How am I supposed to trust you if you don’t?” the girl asked.

  “I’m Maddie,” Maddie said, speaking up for the first time. “This is my sister Mia. We’re twins, even though it’s hard to tell by looking. And that’s Lulu. We’re good at keeping secrets, unless they’re the kind that shouldn’t be kept.”

  Mia eyed Lulu, wondering if this was actually true. Lulu wasn’t good at keeping secrets, was she?

  “Girls, are you okay?” Miss Julia asked, coming over to check on them.

  “We’re fine,” Mia said. “Just making a new friend.”

  They couldn’t talk with Miss Julia standing there, since the girl seemed hesitant to even tell the secret to the girls. Miss Julia took the situation in, noticing the uncomfortable quiet that had settled.

  “All right, then,” she said. “I’ll be right over there on the bench waiting for you, got it?”

  “Got it,” Maddie said.

  Miss Julia watched from a safe distance, giving them enough room to whisper without being overheard. Mia was glad Miss Julia trusted them enough to let them finish their conversation. Maybe she’d heard what Lulu had said about the Snow Angel.

  “Do you think she heard?” the girl asked.

  “Probably not,” Mia said.

  “Are you the Snow Angel?” Lulu repeated, bouncing on her toes.

  “My name is Shantell Simmons. I’m the forty-second Snow Angel.”

  “The forty—” Lulu began, forgetting to keep her voice down.

  This time all the other girls shushed her.

  Lulu put her hands up in apology. “The forty-second? What does that mean?”

  Shantell glanced over her shoulder again, and then leaned in toward them, eyes sparkling. “It’s a secret society. So far, it’s only kids, and it’s supposed to be top, top secret. We’re not supposed to get caught.”

  When she said “get caught,” her eyes stopped sparkling and her face fell. Mia could tell she felt badly about having been seen.

  “We really do promise we won’t tell,” she t
old Shantell.

  “What do you mean, ‘so far’?” Maddie asked.

  “In New York, it’s impossible not to be seen, because there are so many people around all the time,” Shantell said. “But the thing is, adults don’t pay much attention to kids, at least when the kids aren’t their own. So, we’ve been able to keep the secret. When someone catches us—so far that’s only been kids—we share the secret. And then those kids can be Snow Angels too.”

  Lulu’s eyes were round as saucers. “So we can be Snow Angels?”

  Just moments ago, Mia had been thinking about what she’d do if she were a Snow Angel. And now, she could be one!

  “There are rules,” Shantell said.

  “Keep it secret,” Lulu said.

  “Right. And leave a snowflake with each gift.”

  “A certain kind of snowflake?” Maddie asked.

  Shantell flashed a brilliant smile. “That’s the excellent thing about snowflakes. Each one is unique. You have to think hard about the gift. It’s not just about leaving whatever for whoever. You want to try to give people something that will mean something to them.”

  “You left a blanket,” Mia said. “Which she clearly needed.”

  “I chose a bright green one,” Shantell said. “Because when I walked by the other day, I heard her tell a man passing by that what she loves most are green M&Ms. He had tried to give her some granola.” Again, that bright smile. “So, of course, I left a whole Ziploc full of green M&Ms. I’ve been sorting them ever since I heard her say she loved them. But I also left her some fruit and a few energy bars in that bag. You can’t live on M&Ms alone.”

  “True,” Mia agreed.

  “If anyone catches you, you’re supposed to invite them to be a Snow Angel too. I guess you’re the forty-third, fourth, and fifth . . .” She frowned. “No one really knows, I guess, since other people could have been adding Snow Angels all this time too. It’s not like we keep a list or anything. You can give gifts for as long as you want, or just one. But the main thing is keeping this all top, top secret.”

  “Shantell!” her mom called. “Time to go.”

  “I’ve got to go,” she told the girls. “Here’s the last thing. The first Snow Angel—I don’t know her name, but I do know she was a girl—she asked each Snow Angel to pass this on to new Snow Angels. It’s from the book A Little Princess. It goes like this: ‘Though there may be times when your hands are empty, your heart is always full, and you can give things out of that.’ You try saying it.”

  The girls tried repeating it, and Shantell helped them when they forgot words. Finally, they could recite the line on their own.

  Shantell gave them the thumbs-up. “Yep. It’s not about how much you can give—it’s about doing whatever you can with love.”

  “Wait!” Mia said, as Shantell turned to go. “That’s it? Now we’re Snow Angels?”

  Shantell grinned. “That’s it. Go and Snow Angel it up!”

  She ran back toward her mom, leaving the Glimmer girls a little shocked, but each wearing delighted grins.

  Finally, Lulu broke the silence by spinning and then starting to prance around in the snow. “Yes, yes, yes!”

  “I can’t believe it,” Maddie said.

  “I know,” Mia agreed.

  “I guess we solved the mystery?” Maddie said.

  “Lulu solved the mystery,” Mia said. “If she hadn’t seen Shantell, we’d never have noticed. It was that quick.”

  “I hope we can be that quick too,” Maddie said, and then shook her head with disbelief. “We’re Snow Angels now, Mia!”

  Mia could only shake her head, feeling the same disbelief. “I know!”

  Excitement fizzed through Mia as she let everything that had just happened sink in.

  “Are you girls okay?” Miss Julia asked. “What was that all about?”

  The girls looked at each other in alarm. Had Shantell meant they had to keep the secret from everyone? But, no, she couldn’t have meant that, since her mom obviously knew what she was up to.

  “We’ll tell you,” Lulu said. “But you can’t tell anyone else. Not even Mom and Dad.”

  “We’re not telling Mom and Dad?” Maddie asked.

  “Maybe we will later,” Mia said. “But we can’t tell everyone. Or anyone, actually, other than Miss Julia, and if we think we should, Mom and Dad.”

  “I think we should,” Maddie said.

  Miss Julia watched all this as though it were a ping-pong match, her expression growing more and more puzzled. “What’s going on, girls?”

  “We just figured out who the Snow Angel is,” Mia said, grinning.

  “Who?” Miss Julia asked, and then looked at where the girl had gone. “Wait, that girl was the Snow Angel?”

  “Yep,” Mia said, trying to hold back the smile that kept wanting to break through. “And so are we now.”

  Miss Julia did a double take. “Wait. What?”

  The girls burst into peals of laughter and then explained it all to Miss Julia, who finally said, “I can’t believe it!”

  “Will you help us?” Mia asked. “We’ll need to secretly buy some gifts.”

  “Absolutely,” Miss Julia said. “And I do think we should tell your Mom and Dad. But we can do it when we’re back in the hotel room, where we can keep it all to ourselves.”

  TWENTY-SIX

  Even the excitement of riding the elevator up to the Rise and Shine studio didn’t drown out the thrill that filled Mia’s whole body. They’d solved the Snow Angel mystery, and now, she was a Snow Angel! It was even better than being on television, and that was saying something.

  Jennifer greeted the Glimmer family and Miss Julia at the elevator.

  “Welcome! And hello, Lulu.” She reached out to shake Lulu’s hand.

  “Hello!” Lulu said, smiling and on her best behavior.

  Mom introduced Dad and Miss Julia, and Jennifer shook their hands.

  “The soundstage is this way,” Jennifer said, leading them across the studio. “We’ve got three microphones set up for you, and the piano behind for backup.”

  “That’s for me.” Dad took his place at the piano. “What do you say we run through the song, girls?”

  Mia, Maddie, and Lulu went to stand by their microphones. Neither Maddie nor Mia argued when Lulu took the center microphone. Like Mom had said in their concert at the Opry, the stage picture looked better with her in the middle. And anyway, “Sun Breaks Through” was Lulu’s song. Mom helped the girls adjust their microphone heights and then sat in the audience to listen.

  Dad started into the music, and Lulu began to tap her toe and sing, with Mia and Maddie adding harmony and backup vocals. As Lulu sang, she alternated between looking at Mia and then at Maddie, smiling and including them. Mia wondered who had swapped her little sister for someone else. But then they got to Lulu’s favorite part in the bridge, and she began to do her Lulu dance thing, totally taking center stage and hamming it up. Mia and Maddie caught each other’s eyes and only just kept from rolling their eyes. This was more like the Lulu they knew. Fortunately, Lulu didn’t knock over any of the microphones with her swinging arms. Dad pushed the volume and tempo, adding a crescendo as they moved toward the climax of the song. Then, he pulled off as they all wound down, quieting, for the last few notes.

  Jennifer, Mom, and even a few members of the camera crew burst into applause.

  “Nice work, girls. I have a few sound adjustments. And Lulu . . .” Mom tilted her head. “Maybe a little less arm swinging?”

  Lulu gave an apologetic smile. “Sorry about that.”

  Mom talked to the soundboard operator, and then the girls tried the song a couple more times. Soon, everyone agreed it was just right. It felt right—all the Glimmer girls singing together. Even after all the difficulty this week, Mia was glad they’d included Lulu. The Sparkle and Shine album might belong to Mia and Maddie and Ruby, but the week in New York felt like it belonged to the Glimmer girls. Especially now that they were Snow An
gels, part of the network of secret gift givers. They’d joined an actual secret society.

  “We need a handshake,” Mia said.

  “We do!” Maddie agreed.

  “You need what?” Mom asked.

  “Nothing,” Mia said, catching Maddie’s and then Lulu’s eyes. Especially here in the studio, they needed to be careful not to let the secret slip.

  “Thank you so much, girls,” Jennifer said, shaking each of their hands. “We can’t wait for your concert tomorrow.”

  She turned to Mom and Dad. “We’ve left an open slot in our schedule for the Snow Angel tomorrow. We’re hoping he or she will show up tomorrow to reveal the secret. Wouldn’t that be the perfect end to Light Up New York Week?”

  Mia tensed, sure that Lulu would burst out with something that would give their secret away. But amazingly, impossibly, she stayed silent.

  Dad’s brow furrowed “Aren’t you afraid that people will come out of the woodwork? An open call for a stranger to come on the show? How do you know you won’t have a bunch of imposters show up?”

  “We’ll be screening people,” Jennifer said. “But you’re right. It could be a big mess. We’re hoping people will be honest. The whole point of this week is helping others. We’ll see.”

  Mom, Dad, and Jennifer led the way toward the door, deep in conversation. The girls followed. Mia kept thinking about the secret handshake, trying to come up with the perfect idea.

  “Do you think the Snow Angel will show up tomorrow?” one of the camera crew asked as the girls passed.

  Mia glanced at Lulu, wondering if her sister had heard, and if now she would blurt out the truth. It seemed too good to be true that she’d held it in for so long. Lulu studied the two men at the camera, and Mia imagined she could hear the gears in her sister’s head turning. What fun it would be to whisper, “I know who the Snow Angel is.” In fact, Mia felt the tiniest bit tempted herself. But they’d promised to keep the secret, and if she had anything to say about it, they’d keep their promise.

  Lulu passed the cameras by, and again, she didn’t say anything. She didn’t say anything as they said good-bye to Jennifer, or as they rode downstairs in the elevator. She didn’t even say anything as they went outside to the cab.