Different Days

by Vicki Berger Erwin

  Rainer insisted she come out of the car and shop with him. Rosie walked slightly behind her cousin, uninterested even in window decorations. She heard a familiar voice calling to her and turned to see her friend Mollie waving at her.

  The girls ran to one another and hugged tightly. “I love this extra-long Christmas vacation, how about you?” Mollie asked.

  “Except for the reason we’re having it, I like it pretty much,” Rosie said weakly.

  “Have you heard from Punahou yet? I haven’t told anyone that you applied, just like you asked,” Mollie said. Mollie also hoped to go to the school, she had confided when she overheard Rosie in the school office requesting that her records be sent to Punahou. “I haven’t heard a thing and we might not hear at all. Mother said the military had taken over the campus. Can you imagine?”

  Nothing the military did surprised Rosie at this point, but she pretended to be shocked at the idea. “My word!” she said.

  “So, what are you getting for Christmas?” Mollie asked. “I’m shopping for my—ugh!—bratty little brother. Mother is making me.”

  “I don’t know really,” Rosie said, staring at her foot as she moved it back and forth on the walkway.

  “Mollie!” a voice called sharply.

  “Mother! It’s Rosie Schatzer! She hasn’t heard from Punahou either.”

  “And I doubt she will,” Mollie’s mother said. “Get back here!”

  “Guess I have to go. Maybe we can get together sometime before we go back to …”

  “Mollie, I said now.”

  Mollie shook her head and ran back to her mother. The woman grabbed her daughter’s shoulder and leaned close to her face, talking, then looking at Rosie, then talking again. She grabbed Mollie’s hand and pulled her the opposite direction from Rosie. Mollie looked back, a strange expression on her face.

  Rosie’s face burned. They knew about her parents! She couldn’t read lips but their actions and expressions said as much as words could—with Mollie’s mother’s disapproving and Mollie’s shocked. She suspected that Mollie would not be calling her. Did everyone know?

  Rosie suddenly felt like everyone was looking at her, that everyone knew her parents were accused of doing awful things that they would never do in a million years. But that was the part no one ever thought about. The fact they were locked up automatically made them guilty and her, too, by association—A-S-S-O-C-I-A-T-I-O-N. If others knew of her German background, they might think she, too, was an “enemy alien” or worse, a Nazi.

  “Got it!” Rainer held up a wrapped gift. “No thanks to you.”

  “I’m ready to go back,” Rosie said.

  “Thought we might find a place and have a cold soda,” Rainer said, pointing at a café nearby.

  Rosie shook her head, pulling at her hair to cover her face.

  “You ruin everything! I have the car and all you want to do is go home. I hope Mom sees the light after Christmas and sends the two of you where you belong.”

  Rainer slammed the door so hard the car shook. Rosie scrunched down in the seat. She couldn’t bear everyone looking at her and wondering what her parents had done. Aunt Yvonne was right. They should stay close to the house and not talk to anyone.

  Chapter 20

  “Rosie! Wake up,” Freddie bounced up and down on the bed. “I can’t find my clothes!”

  Waking up to that news did not improve Rosie’s mood. She was still trying to recover from the day before, which had felt like one of her worst ever.

  Their clothes were gone and Rosie decided someone, probably Aunt Yvonne, had taken them to be washed. The only clothes left in the room were in the bag that Leilani had put together for them. And the feeling Rosie had gotten from her one-time best friend did not bode well for what the bag contained.

  Rosie dumped the contents onto the bed and started to go through it.

  There were sandals for Freddie. “Aunt Yvonne will be happy about these,” he said as he tossed them to the floor.

  Separating the clothes into two piles for her and her brother, Rosie paused when she came upon a flowered dress with a full skirt. It had always been one of Leilani’s dresses that she liked best. Also in the jumble, Rosie found a yellow top with blue flowers, another favorite, and a sky blue gathered skirt that she had also always liked. These were some of Leilani’s best clothes! And she had passed them along. Now, Rosie felt even more confused. This generosity—G-E-N-E-R-O-S-I-T-Y—on Leilani’s part contradicted her words and actions from yesterday!

  And underneath all the clothing was the spelling guide. Rosie could only stare at it.

  Freddie grabbed the first two items of clothing he could reach and rushed outside to meet up with his new friend, Rex. The two of them had amassed a collection of metal pieces and parts they claimed came from bomb damage. They had to leave it in Rex’s yard because Aunt Yvonne didn’t want it messing up hers. Rosie envied the fact that Freddie had someone to play with.

  Rosie dressed in the skirt and top, wanting to save the dress for a more special occasion. They fit almost perfectly, which meant that Leilani had probably outgrown them. Still, she chose something she knew Rosie liked. That had to mean something.

  Rosie wanted breakfast even if Freddie would rather play. She went downstairs to see if Kealani was around. Sometimes she brought treats she or her mother had cooked and they were a welcome break from Aunt Yvonne’s cooking. Or, she might finish off some of the cookies Auntie Palu had sent. Last night her aunt had served something new and different—beans and a canned meat she’d called Spam. It tasted pretty bad and Rosie was extra hungry today. Her mother would never serve such a thing, although Aunt Yvonne claimed she had no choice as it was harder and harder to find fresh food.

  Kealani looked up from where she was standing at the sink. “Aloha,” she said quietly.

  “Hi,” said Rosie. “Is there any breakfast left?” she asked hopefully.

  “I brought some things from our early Christmas luau,” Kealani said. “My brothers have gone to the Army and yet, we cook as if they still live with us!” She laughed. “But I will fix you a delicious snack.”

  “You go ahead with what you are doing,” Rosie said. “I can fix my own.” Rosie removed containers from the refrigerator that smelled so good they made her mouth water.

  “And there’s something else for you,” said Kealani, handing Rosie a folded square of fabric.

  Rosie laid the food aside and took the square to the table. She slowly unfolded it. The square was a soft ivory with a green cutout piece basted to it. Rosie traced the shape carefully with her finger—it was a circle of fish.

  “I will teach you to quilt, then I will teach you how to make your own pattern,” said Kealani. “This pattern, I make for you with aloha spirit.” She smiled shyly.

  “It is beautiful,” Rosie whispered.

  “It will take you time to quilt it. First we applique. When we finish, your mama and papa will have returned. I am sure of it with my very breath. I put many prayers into the pattern.”

  “You are so kind.” Rosie picked up the quilt square and examined it. “I hope—I don’t know if I can … I’ve never even held a needle. Auntie Palu said when she finished teaching Mama, she would start on me, but Mama was still learning.”

  “You will do fine. Eat and we will begin. The quilting will fill you with aloha spirit.”

  Rosie practically inhaled her breakfast, while watching Kealani thread a needle with green thread the same shade as the cutout pattern. When Rosie finished, Kealani moved closer to her and showed her how to turn the edges of the cutout under and secure it with tiny green stitches.

  Rosie stayed at the kitchen table while Kealani worked around her, washing dishes, cooking, and cleaning the floor. She bent close to the fabric and with each stitch felt a little hope that her parents would soon return. Aloha spirit would bring them back, and she would make sure to sew only positive thoughts about their homecoming into the square.

  When she finally straight
ened up, Rosie’s eyes and shoulders ached. She stretched and blinked, looking across the room where everything appeared blurry. She blinked more and stood, stretching more. Folding the square, she thanked Kealani and then headed to the bedroom to write in her journal for a while.

  Kealani is right that quilting does something to quiet the spirit. After working on the quilt today, I feel much better. Because yesterday was one of my worst days ever. First Leilani, who I worry that things will never be the same with again. After seeing the clothes she sent me, I am hopeful I am wrong about that. Maybe Auntie Palu is right and Leilani is confused. I have to find a way to talk to her and set everything right. For now, she is one more thing that makes the world seem off balance.

  Then Mollie. We were happy to see one another until her mother pulled her away and spoke to her. I hope this isn’t a sample of what is to come when I return to school. I felt very rejected.

  But worst of all, we don’t have a home to return to if what Malia said is true. That our house is now hers. I told Aunt Yvonne what Malia had said and she said she would mention it to Uncle Charles. That’s it. That’s all she said. I told her there was a man Malia said was named Mr. Smith and that we should try to find him and talk to him. Aunt Yvonne again said she would tell Uncle Charles. We have barely seen Uncle Charles since we came here so I think he is too busy to take on another job.

  And I still haven’t seen my mama and papa or Aunt Etta.

  What would Nancy Drew do?

  A loud knock on the front door made Rosie’s pencil skitter across the page. She waited to see if she needed to go downstairs and answer. She set the spiral notebook and pencil aside and scooted toward the edge of the bed when she heard Aunt Yvonne open the door. She constantly hoped the next knock would be Mama and Papa.

  It wasn’t. Rosie heard her aunt talking with a man whose voice she didn’t recognize.

  Very quietly, Rosie crept to the top of the staircase and peered over the railing. A short man, very round and red-faced, stood on the blue flowered rug holding a stack of gifts. The man reminded her of Santa.

  Rosie strained to hear what her aunt and the man said.

  “… Mrs. Schatzer’s sister?” the man said.

  Aunt Yvonne nodded and said something Rosie couldn’t make out.

  “… at the house. … parents bought for the children before they were arrested,” the man said.

  “And how do you happen to have them?” Aunt Yvonne said.

  “… enemy aliens … property,” she heard of his response.

  Was this the mysterious Mr. Smith Malia had mentioned the day before? The one who was dealing with their property? Rosie waited to hear more, although she knew Nancy Drew would jump right in. But Nancy didn’t have to constantly deal with Aunt Yvonne and her rules.

  The gifts were like a magnet and kept claiming her attention. There were two rectangular-shaped gifts on top, two medium-sized, squishy-looking gifts each wrapped in different paper, and one large gift on the very bottom. Could they truly be for her and Freddie? She was sure she’d heard the man say “parents bought for the children before they were arrested.” And who else in this house had parents who were arrested? The sight of the gaily wrapped gifts sent a wave of holiday cheer washing over Rosie. Santa! Presents! Mama and Papa had managed somehow to send them presents.

  Aunt Yvonne took the stack from the man and the two top presents slid off. Her aunt spoke to the man, calling him Mr. Smith, and confirming Rosie’s suspicion. It was strange how someone who had taken so much from them looked like Santa Claus.

  As her aunt scolded Mr. Smith, Rosie had to smile—even Santa wasn’t immune from being told off by her aunt. Mr. Smith quickly picked up the dropped gifts and offered to carry them for Aunt Yvonne. She handed them over and directed him toward the back of the house.

  Rosie started down the stairs.

  “And what do you think you are doing, Miss Priss?” Aunt Yvonne said as she returned to the hall and looked up at Rosie.

  Her aunt made her feel like she’d been caught doing something she shouldn’t. “Who is that man?” Rosie asked. “Is he here about my parents? Did you ask him about our house?” Why did her aunt have to see her before she had a chance to confront Mr. Smith?

  “Your parents? Why would you think that? What he is here for is no concern of yours. Let’s say it is a Christmas miracle and leave it be. Go back to whatever you were doing.”

  A Christmas miracle would be my parents returning, Rosie thought.

  “Rosie,” her aunt said, a warning in her voice.

  Rosie heard a car engine and ran the rest of the way down the stairs to the front door. She pulled it open and a dark car was backing into the street.

  “He’s gone!” She turned to her aunt angrily.

  Aunt Yvonne returned her angry look with one of her own and disappeared into the hallway.

  Rosie stomped back the way she had come, vowing to find Mr. Smith to learn for herself what he knew about her parents.

  Chapter 21

  On Christmas day, Freddie woke Rosie up. “Do you think Santa knows we’re here?” he asked.

  “Freddie, I’m pretty sure that Santa knows where everyone is,” Rosie said, stretching and yawning. For the past two days since she’d seen Mr. Smith delivering gifts, she had imagined and wondered what was inside those cheery holiday boxes, and today she would finally find out!

  Before Rosie could tell him to get up quietly, her brother slid out of bed and ran into the hall.

  “Rosie! There are presents!” he shouted.

  Rosie wasn’t sure what they should do. Wait for Aunt Yvonne? In the bedroom? Downstairs? If they were home, she and Freddie would run into Mama and Papa’s room, jump on the bed, and wake them. They would pretend to not want to wake up but Rosie and Freddie would pull them out of the bed anyway, everyone laughing. Rosie thought this should be a happy memory but it made her very sad.

  “You children are up early,” Uncle Charles’s voice came from the hallway. Rosie had barely seen her uncle since they’d moved in as he worked constantly. She hoped he’d be able to stay home with them today. Perhaps she would have a chance to ask him questions about her parents. Besides, Uncle Charles was more fun than Aunt Yvonne!

  “Presents!” Freddie said.

  Aunt Yvonne called out from the bedroom but Rosie couldn’t make out what she’d said.

  Uncle Charles clapped his hands together. “Get dressed and wait for me and Aunt Yvonne in the living room.”

  Rosie finally pushed the covers off and stood up, stretching. She’d wear Leilani’s special dress today in honor of the holiday.

  Freddie rushed in and tore off his pajamas and slipped into the same shorts and shirt he always wore, nothing special at all.

  As Rosie started to leave the bedroom, she realized they had no gifts for her aunt and uncle. In fact, she hadn’t even thought of buying them anything. How could she? What could she? “Freddie,” she whispered as he tried to push past her, “we don’t have anything for Aunt Yvonne and Uncle Charles.”

  Freddie shrugged. “Santa probably brought them something too.”

  Rosie tried to think of something they could make—quickly—with supplies they had.

  “We could pick some flowers,” Freddie suggested.

  “Aunt Yvonne would kill us,” said Rosie.

  “Yeah, she would,” Freddie agreed.

  “I know! We can make them breakfast. Pancakes. I know how to cook pancakes and you can help me,” Rosie said, knowing it wasn’t the best present ever but it would be something.

  “After we open our presents?” Freddie asked.

  “Let’s go start right now. You know how long it takes Aunt Yvonne …” Before she could finish, Freddie grabbed her hand and started down the stairs.

  “See!” He pointed to two presents stacked on the table in the living room.

  “I see.” Rosie started toward the kitchen, then turned back. There were only two gifts on the table from the pile she’d seen
Mr. Smith bring. The two small square packages and the very large present were missing! Had she been wrong? Rosie tried not to let it worry her.

  She continued to the kitchen, urging Freddie to follow her.

  She opened cabinets and pulled out ingredients, thankful to find a box of pancake mix that was almost full. “You set the table in the dining room,” she told Freddie.

  Rosie tried to be careful as she added milk and eggs to the mix, but some of the flour spilled on the kitchen table and one of the eggs dripped. She decided it was more important to finish her preparations than to clean up as she went along. There would be time for that later. While the pancakes cooked in Aunt Yvonne’s black frying pan, Rosie found syrup and butter and called Freddie to come get them as well.

  She’d cooked two skillets of nice round cakes with only the first one coming out poorly when Aunt Yvonne arrived.

  “What are you doing!” her aunt asked, standing in the doorway looking horrified. “Don’t you know it is dangerous for children to use the stove? And this mess!” She pointed to the table.

  “It’s our present for you and Uncle Charles,” Rosie said quietly, rethinking her idea as she took in her aunt’s reaction.

  “Isn’t that thoughtful?” Uncle Charles placed his hands on Aunt Yvonne’s shoulders and turned her away from the kitchen.

  “I’ll clean up, too. That’s another part of the gift,” Rosie said. Her mama and papa loved it when she made them pancakes. What were they doing today? Would they have a chance to celebrate?

  “Thank you,” Uncle Charles said over his shoulder, smiling broadly. “It’s very nice of you.”

  Rosie brought in the platter of pancakes and Aunt Yvonne took one. Uncle Charles covered his plate with pancakes and Freddie took the rest.

  “A little cold—” Aunt Yvonne said before Uncle Charles interrupted.

  “Yum! Best pancakes I’ve had in ages. Maybe we should turn the cooking over to Rosie and Freddie.”

  Rosie let Uncle Charles’s words warm her.