by Kit Pearson
“But you promised! We shook hands on it!”
“We may have done, but I certainly don’t remember making any promises.”
Polly stared at the Guppy’s horsey face, trying to remember if she had actually used the word “promise.” Maybe she hadn’t; maybe Polly had just imagined it.
She dug her fingers into her palms so she wouldn’t scream. “But you said I could decide!”
“Polly, I’ve just told you—I said that so you would try the school. I didn’t mean it.”
“Then you lied,” said Polly.
“How dare you!” The Guppy looked as though she wanted to slap Polly. Then she took a deep breath and seemed to force herself to smile. “Let’s both calm down. There’s nothing more to discuss. You are coming back to St. Winifred’s, as your grandmother and father would both want. We know what’s best for you. I am aware that you dislike it here, but Miss Falconer says you’re thriving at art. How could you miss that? You’re only thirteen, Polly. You’re much too young to think you can make such an important decision on your own.”
Polly forced her trembling legs to stand. She had intended to tell Miss Guppy she would stay. Everything had appeared so simple when she’d talked to Alice, but Polly had forgotten how this dreadful woman infuriated her. But how could she endure her for another four years?
“I’m not too young,” she said firmly. “I’m almost fourteen. And I’m not coming back. You can’t make me!”
“Don’t be ridiculous, child. Perhaps I can’t make you, but your grandmother certainly can.”
“She won’t! I’ll tell her how unfair you and some of the teachers are, how awful the food is. She loves me! She won’t make me go to a school where I’m so unhappy.”
For the first time Miss Guppy looked uncertain. Then she peered down her long nose and said proudly, “Your grandmother believes what I do—that girls should have a good education. That’s why she sent you here, and that’s why I am certain she won’t let you leave. And I don’t believe you’re that unhappy here, Polly. You like your art classes, don’t you? How can you consider giving those up?”
How could she? … Polly almost relented then. But Miss Guppy had lied to her! Her anger flared even more.
“I don’t care!” she said. “I’m not coming back!”
Miss Guppy sounded tired. “Of course you are, Polly. I don’t want to hear any more about it. You’re acting like a foolish little girl, and I think you should leave.” She turned back to her desk and Polly stumbled out.
When she entered her dorm, the others greeted her with joy. “Oh, Poll, you’re better! We missed you!”
Polly blinked at their friendly faces. These were her friends. Three of them were, anyway. How could she choose never to see them again?
She pushed down her doubts and forced herself to speak. “I have something to tell you. I’ve decided I’m not coming back to St. Winifred’s.”
“You’re not?”
For the rest of the evening, and long after lights out, they tried to persuade her to stay. But something hard had set in Polly. Miss Guppy had deceived her. Polly could not continue to be under the thumb of someone who lied to her, someone who dismissed what she said as if she were a naughty child. She had made her decision; she was not returning.
That Saturday was her last art class for the year. Miss Falconer had made a cake for Dottie and Katherine, who were graduating. She suggested that those girls who were returning keep a sketchbook of their summer. “Try to draw and paint in it every day. We’ll spend the first class in September looking at one another’s.”
Polly had not been able to speak all afternoon. She had intended to take Miss Falconer aside and tell her she wasn’t returning, but she couldn’t bear to. I’ll write her a letter, she decided.
“How quiet you’ve been today, little one!” said Miss Falconer as she kissed them each goodbye.
It was all Polly could do not to cry in her arms.
Polly did weep when she said goodbye to the rest of the Fearless Four. “I’ll write to you,” she promised Eleanor and Daisy.
Rhoda giggled nervously. “You know what, Polly? I think I’m actually going to miss you!”
Polly stared at her a second, then smiled. She would never like Rhoda, but in a funny way she would miss her, as well. At least she was going to see Eleanor again. She was to spend a week on the island later in the month.
And at least Polly wasn’t going home immediately. She had a week to put off telling Noni her decision. She hadn’t told Alice, either. And what about Daddy and Maud? I won’t tell any of them until after I’ve told Noni, she thought.
Everyone would be so disappointed. I don’t care! thought Polly. She stood in the hall with the other boarders, waiting for Mrs. Blake to drive her downtown. Miss Guppy was going around to all the girls, shaking their hands.
“Goodbye, Polly,” she said. “Please give my best to Maud. I will see you in September,” she added firmly.
Polly wanted to shout, No, you won’t! Instead, she slipped her hand out of the Guppy’s grip and put it in her pocket.
At the harbour, Polly gave Mrs. Blake an especially hard hug. She would never see her—or Johnny—again.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
RESCUING DANNY
NOW EVERYTHING HAD CHANGED. AS SOON AS SHE SAT down on the steamer, Polly pushed her decision and all its consequences deep inside her. School seemed a hundred years away. All she could think about was Maud.
Noni’s friends met her in Vancouver, took her out for lunch, and delivered her to the train station. Jim grinned at her when she boarded the train. “It’s my favourite young lady again!” Polly had a hard time smiling back. For the whole long trip to Kelowna the train chanted, Maud is having a BABY—Maud is having a BABY.
The next morning, when Daddy threw his arms around her and lifted her into the air, Polly had to force down Maud’s secret as if she were shutting a wild animal into a cage. Her own secret was trivial by comparison. She sat in the kitchen with Daddy and Esther, chattering blithely about school as if she were looking forward to going back.
Maud had said she would stop writing after Polly finished the term. “I can’t risk sending letters to Kelowna. What if Daddy or Esther noticed the postmark and wondered why you were getting mail from Vancouver? You’ll just have to do without hearing from me until the baby is born.”
How could Polly not hear from Maud for five whole weeks? Every minute, she wondered what Maud was doing and how she was feeling. Polly reread all her letters. Practical and brave as always, Maud seemed quite resigned to living at the home. She’d started a bridge club, and she’d befriended the youngest girl there, who was only fifteen. “Evie is so scared and lonely that I spend as much time with her as I can.”
Polly was jealous of Evie. And how could a girl who was only a bit older than she was be having a baby? Maud described how the girls sat around and compared the size of their bellies. She told Polly they were allowed to go out shopping in pairs, borrowing some of the wedding rings the home supplied so people wouldn’t know they were unmarried.
In her last letter, Maud had written that she was getting so large she bumped into things. Now she must be even larger! She never said she was frightened of the birth, but surely she must be.
And then she would give away her baby … give away Danny. How would that happen? Maud was to have the baby in a hospital in Vancouver. Would his new family be there waiting for him? Surely Maud would change her mind. Surely she would come back to the island in August with Danny, and everyone would accept him, and there would be a happy ending to her ordeal.
How stupid I am to believe that’s possible! thought Polly. Yet she couldn’t help wishing it.
Kelowna was summery and warm. The green hills were turning brown, and there was a tang of sagebrush in the air. Polly swam in the cool lake every day, and joined the crowd on the beach or on the wharf. Too shy to talk to anyone, she watched boys, and a few girls, launch themselves off the huge diving
board. She didn’t have the nerve to try it. Maud would …
Daddy and Esther were working just as hard as they had in March. Polly helped Esther as much as she could. While she scrubbed, and dusted, and washed dishes, she imagined Maud doing the same things.
Esther’s younger brother, Ben, and his wife, Rachel, were coming from Vancouver for the August wedding and staying on for a week. “I haven’t seen them for years,” Esther told Polly. “They have a five-year-old son named David, whom I’ve never met. Ben and Rachel are so eager to meet Daniel!”
“I’m eager to meet them, as well,” said Daddy, hugging her.
Esther was wearing an engagement ring with a small diamond in it. Daddy said it had belonged to Polly’s mother. Polly was happy for them, but she couldn’t get her mind off Maud.
“Is anything wrong, Doodle?” Daddy kept asking her. “You seem worried about something.”
“Nothing’s wrong,” Polly answered.
But each time he asked, she was more tempted to tell him.
Polly was supposed to go home on July 3. On the morning before, she sat at lunch, trying to eat her stew. But her stomach lurched, and she put down her spoon when she noticed Mr. McMillan wipe his own stew off his drooping moustache. After he and the other boarders had left, Daddy and Esther were able to sit down.
“Your last day, Doodle,” said Daddy. “We’re certainly going to miss you.”
“At least you’ll be back with us in August,” said Esther.
Polly stared at them, her eyes bleary and dry. For most of the night, she had tossed with anxiety. Should she tell Daddy? It wasn’t right that he didn’t know he was going to be a grandfather. It wasn’t right that Maud was living with strangers and had to go through this by herself. Most of all, it wasn’t right that Danny would live with another family. He belonged with them!
Maud had said that Daddy wouldn’t understand … but he loved Maud. Surely he would accept what had happened. Daddy would make everything all right.
All the same, Polly was terrified of telling him.
“I’m going to take this afternoon off and spend it with you,” Daddy told her. “What would you like to do?”
“Let’s go for a walk,” said Polly.
In a few minutes, she and Daddy were strolling along the lake. Polly squinted at its glistening blueness, dotted with boats and swimmers. She hadn’t made one sketch of it all week; she was too worried to draw.
Daddy kept pretending he had spotted Ogopogo. “There he is!” he cried. “Oops, that’s just someone’s fat belly!”
Polly couldn’t laugh. She kicked along a pebble, wishing Daddy would stop joking as if she were still a little girl.
They approached the huge ponderosa pine where Maud and Polly had had their long conversation. When Polly looked at the tree, all the shock of that day rushed back. “Oh!” she gasped, covering her mouth.
“Polly, my darling, what on earth is the matter?”
Polly broke into sobs and collapsed under the tree. Daddy crouched beside her and took her in his arms.
“Oh, D-Daddy …” Polly choked. “Oh, Daddy, Maud’s going to have a baby!”
As Polly spilled out the whole story, she watched Daddy for his reaction. He listened with deep concern and growing indignation. “What I would do to that young Robert if I could get hold of him!” he muttered. “Imagine him abandoning our Maud!”
After Polly finished, he gently wiped her eyes with his handkerchief. “Thank you for telling me, Doodle. This is such shocking news it’s going to take me a while to absorb it. Thank goodness your grandmother doesn’t know!” Then he led her by the hand back to the boarding house. “We have a lot of things to do,” he told her.
“What things?” asked Polly. She was so relieved to have unburdened her secret that she could hardly walk, and had to lean against him for support.
“Let me think, Doodle, and then I’ll tell you. First I have to consult with Esther.”
“Will she be upset with Maud?”
“Not my Esther! She’ll be completely supportive—you’ll see.”
Daddy and Esther shut themselves in a room and talked for an hour, while Polly waited in agony. Then they all sat around the kitchen table for a conference.
Daddy was right about Esther. She kissed Polly and said, “Oh, my dear child, what a secret for you to have for so long. And poor Maud, going through this completely by herself!”
Polly’s heart lifted when she heard Daddy’s words. “We have to bring her here. I won’t let her have a child on her own.”
“She can live with us and have the baby at home,” said Esther.
“But what will everyone think?” asked Polly.
“Your father and I are already outsiders,” said Esther. “What do we care what anyone thinks?”
“All that’s important is Maud’s welfare and happiness,” said Daddy.
“But what about Danny?” Polly asked.
“Who?”
“The baby! It’s a boy, and she was going to name him ‘Danny.’ Except she doesn’t want to keep him. She wants to give him away!” Polly started weeping again.
“Hush, Polly.” Esther patted her shoulder. “It’s up to Maud to decide what to do about her baby. Perhaps that would be the best—to put him up for adoption. It would be very difficult for her to raise a child on her own.”
“But couldn’t you take care of him? Couldn’t he live here?”
“Hold your horses, Doodle!” laughed Daddy. “Let’s just take this one step at a time. Esther’s right. Maud has to decide what to do. However, if she decided to keep the baby, we’d be very happy to bring it up.”
“Not it! Danny! He’s named after you!”
Daddy smiled. “I’m very flattered, Polly, but it may not be a boy, you know.”
“It is,” said Polly firmly. “Maud’s roommate did a test.” Then she realized what Daddy had just said. “You and Esther would look after him?”
Esther smiled. “We’ve just discussed that possibility. I’ve always wanted a child, but I’m too old to have my own. I would welcome a child of Maud’s.”
“Would you adopt him?” Polly asked.
“Maybe … we talked about that, as well,” said Daddy. “We’re going to get married right away, so we can be eligible as adoptive parents. But don’t get your hopes up, Polly. We don’t know what Maud will decide.”
“She’ll decide to give him to you! Of course she will!” Polly clapped her hands as if she were little. The happy ending she had imagined was going to take place after all.
Daddy looked worried. “She may … but we’ll deal with all that later. Right now we have to concentrate on getting Maudie here. Here’s what I suggest, Doodle. Since you were planning to go back tomorrow anyway, you and I will leave for Vancouver this evening. The train arrives in the city at nine in the morning. We’ll have all day to track down Maud, and then I can bring her back tomorrow night.”
“I’ll phone Ben and Rachel and they can start trying to find the home,” said Esther.
Daddy grinned. “We’ll be detectives! Go and pack, Doodle. Then we’ll rescue Maud.”
And Danny! thought Polly as she ran up the stairs.
During the long train ride, Daddy wouldn’t talk about Maud. He encouraged Polly to read her book while he stared out the window, deep in thought. Polly had changed her berth for two seats, paying the difference with some of the money Noni had given her. She fell asleep with her head in Daddy’s lap.
She woke up rumpled and thirsty as the train pulled into Vancouver. They had slept too long to have time for breakfast. Polly held Daddy’s hand as they walked into the station.
They spotted a plump man holding a sign saying “Daniel Brown.” Daddy waved and the man hurried up to them, accompanied by a dark-haired woman and a little boy.
It was Esther’s brother and sister-in-law. “Hello there, Polly!” said the man. “I’m Ben Meyer … but I suppose you should call me ‘Uncle Ben,’ since that’s what I’ll s
oon be. This is your Aunt Rachel, and this scamp is David.”
“How kind of you to come,” said Daddy. “Hello there, young David. You can call me ‘Uncle Daniel.’”
They went to the station restaurant for breakfast. Daddy took a long drink of coffee. “That’s better. I didn’t sleep much.”
With three grown-ups in charge, Polly was suddenly relaxed and ravenous. She gobbled up scrambled eggs on toast while she listened to the grown-ups chatter. At first their attention was on David, who quizzed Daddy about the train.
“He wants to be a conductor when he grows up,” Aunt Rachel said with a smile.
“Uncle Daniel, exactly how big are the engine’s wheels, do you think?” asked David.
“Hush now, son. Eat your toast. It’s the grown-ups’ turn to talk,” said Uncle Ben. “We have news for you,” he told Daddy. “Rachel has already discovered where the home is!”
“It’s in an area of Vancouver called Kitsilano,” said Aunt Rachel.
“That’s terrific. How did you find out?” asked Daddy.
“I phoned the Salvation Army headquarters. I told them I had a daughter who was in trouble and needed to go to a home—and they gave me the address.”
“We’ll go straight there as soon as you’ve finished eating, Polly,” said Daddy. He smiled at his future in-laws. “I can’t tell you how grateful we are for your help.”
“It’s nothing, Daniel,” said Uncle Ben. “After all, you’re family now. So is Maud.” He chucked Polly under the chin. “I hope to see this lovely young lady again soon.”
“You’ll see her when you visit in August,” said Daddy. “And then you can meet Maud, as well.”
And Danny, added Polly fiercely to herself.