“I don’t care! Open them!”
“Flora?” said Aunt Allie. “Would you like to hold Janie while I open the gifts?”
“Hey!” cried Ruby indignantly before Flora could answer.
“You can hold her, too,” said Allie. “You and Flora can take turns.”
Flora settled herself on the couch next to Allie and held out her arms. Allie placed the baby in them, and for quite a while Flora did little other than gaze at the solemn face peeking out of the blankets. Allie opened present after present, and Flora was aware of a general chorus of “Ooh!” and “Look at that!” and “How cute!” but she couldn’t take her eyes off of Janie. Eventually, one tiny fist made its way out of the blankets and waved giddily at Flora. Flora placed her finger in the hand and Janie squeezed it.
“Flora,” said Allie suddenly, “this next gift is from you.” She peeled away the paper, opened the box inside, and lifted out a blue dress with white rocking horses smocked across the front. “Honey, did you make this?” whispered Allie, and Flora nodded. “It’s lovely.”
“Thank you.”
The dress was passed around, and everyone examined it and exclaimed over it and said it looked professional.
The purple sweater Min had knitted elicited a similar response.
Ruby’s gift caused a few eyebrows to furrow. “It’s a … disappearing quarter trick?” said Aunt Allie.
“The Wondrous Disappearing Quarter,” said Ruby. “It will be Janie’s first magic trick. I got it at Maty’s Magic Store.”
“That was very thoughtful of you,” said Allie.
Ruby was the one holding Janie when she began to fuss.
“Time for a bottle,” said Allie.
“We should probably get going,” said Robby’s mother, “and let you and Janie settle in.”
The guests began to leave then, and while Ruby and Min tidied the living room, Flora followed her aunt upstairs to the nursery. Allie placed Janie in her crib, drew the curtains, and turned on a music box. Then she stood over the crib and began to hum softly.
Flora slipped out of the room, intent on helping Min and Ruby with their chores. As she passed the closet in the hallway, she turned the knob and peered inside. The shelves that had once held packages of unused baby items now held half-empty cans of paint, a flashlight, several packages of lightbulbs, a stack of dust rags, and a mop.
It was a very ordinary closet.
Plenty of tourists visit Camden Falls, Massachusetts, in the summertime, and on certain weekends throughout the year. The weekend before Christmas is an especially busy one, and also an especially festive one, since Camden Falls is wearing its holiday face. Come look at Main Street on this snowy Saturday. A crowd has gathered around the window of Sincerely Yours, where the winners of a gingerbread house contest are displayed. A blue ribbon has been placed before the entry made by the Morris family — the Row Houses with frosted roofs and eight candy wreaths on eight chocolate doors. Robby Edwards stands just inside the entrance to Sincerely Yours holding a tray of cookies and candies. “Free samples!” he calls. “Get your free samples inside.”
In the window of Zack’s, the hardware store, microwave ovens and toasters and tool kits and reading lamps are displayed among tinsel and greens and tin stars and even a dancing Santa Claus.
Next door is Needle and Thread, and if you wait just a few minutes, you’ll see four girls come laughing out of the store, in high spirits because they have decided to finish their Christmas shopping today.
“Mae’s the only one left on my list,” says one of the girls, Nikki Sherman. “I always save her for last because she’s the most fun to buy for.”
“What are you going to get her this year?” asks Olivia Walter.
“A jewelry kit,” says Nikki instantly. “Or a craft kit of some kind. I can only spend eight dollars, but looking for bargains is part of the fun.”
“Let’s go to Maty’s Magic Store,” says Ruby Northrop.
“What on earth are you going to get in there?” asks her sister, Flora, thinking of Janie’s bizarre baby present.
Ruby looks at her as though she’s crazy. “Magic tricks, what else?”
“I mean, who are you getting magic tricks for?”
Ruby purses her lips. “Let’s just say it’s a good place to find stocking stuffers.”
The girls are in high spirits as they make their way down Main Street. When they reach Sincerely Yours, they help themselves to the free chocolates, calling hello to Olivia’s parents and Robby as they dash in and out of the store. Later, they pause to admire the lighted tree in the town square before they cross the street to Maty’s.
If you don’t mind an outing in the snow on this chilly Saturday, put on your boots and take a walk to a tiny fairy-tale cottage not far from Main Street. This is the home of Mary Woolsey, and on this morning she’s looking eagerly through her mail. She has just received a packet of photographs from her newfound sister, and now she sees her and her brother and their children and even their grandchildren. Her hands shake slightly as she reads the note that accompanies the photos, the one confirming that in four weeks she and her sister will actually meet. Mary will open her door and, at her advanced age, greet her sister for the first time. Mary shakes her head in wonder.
Now follow the county route to the outskirts of town. Take a left on a rutted lane, and at the end of it you’ll find a shabby but cheerful house with a small girl and a large dog playing in the yard.
“You be a reindeer,” Mae Sherman says to Paw-Paw, “and pretend to pull my sleigh. I promise I won’t be mean to you like the Grinch was when he made his dog put on reindeer antlers.” Mae amuses herself for a while, but something is on her mind and eventually she leads Paw-Paw indoors. “Mommy?” she calls.
“In the kitchen,” replies Mrs. Sherman.
Mae removes her boots and mittens and coat and stands by the refrigerator.
“Is something wrong, honey?” asks her mother.
“How many days until Daddy comes back?”
Her mother pulls out a chair and sits down, holding her arms out to Mae. “Is that really what’s on your mind?” she asks as Mae slides onto her lap. “I thought you were going to ask how many days until Christmas.”
“I know how many days until Christmas. But I wish Daddy was coming first so we could get that over with. That would be my best Christmas present.”
Her mother holds her close.
Several miles away, Mr. Willet is preparing for his first Christmas at Three Oaks. He stands in his small living room and surveys his decorations. He’s not entirely pleased. The tree in the corner is fake, since evergreens are fire hazards and not allowed anywhere at Three Oaks. And he gave many of his decorations away before he moved. The ones he’s left with are lovely, mostly heirlooms from his family and from Mary Lou’s, but the room looks nothing like his old living room in the Row Houses, and he sinks onto the couch. But then he rises again and decides to take the flower arrangement that arrived that day from Min and Mr. Pennington downstairs to Mary Lou. It will brighten her room.
If you were to head back into Camden Falls now, you would reach Main Street as the day darkens and people begin to close their shops and hurry home. Turn onto Aiken Avenue and ahead are the Row Houses, lights winking on in the windows. In the Morrises’ house on the left end, the children are still exclaiming over their first-prize ribbon.
“We won!” cries Travis.
“I never won anything before,” says Alyssa, awed. “Never in my life.”
Next door, the Hamiltons have parked in front of their house and Mr. Hamilton is struggling up the walk, dragging a Christmas tree behind him.
“Our first tree and our first Christmas in our new house,” says Willow.
Nobody mentions that Mrs. Hamilton won’t be home for the holiday.
In other houses, cookies are coming out of ovens and gifts are being wrapped and cards are being displayed on mantels. In the fourth house from the left, Ruby is once again t
rying the door to the locked guest room. She still can’t open it and she still hasn’t discovered where Min hid the key. In the second house from the right, Robby has returned from his job, and he and his parents are wrapping a bagful of toys that they’ll take to the children’s shelter on Monday. In the house at the right end, the Fongs are getting ready for Grace’s first Christmas.
And not far away, a new mother and her new baby are rocking quietly in a chair beside a fire. The mother strokes the baby’s black curls and rocks and rocks and hums a lullaby while the fire crackles and outside the darkness becomes complete and the stars glow in the night sky.
Belle Teal
A Corner of the Universe
A Dog’s Life
Here Today
On Christmas Eve
P.S. Longer Letter Later
written with Paula Danziger
Snail Mail No More
written with Paula Danziger
Ten Kids, No Pets
The Baby-sitters Club series
Main Street #1: Welcome to Camden Falls
Main Street #2: Needle and Thread
Main Street #3: ’Tis the Season
Main Street #4: Best Friends
Main Street #5: The Secret Book Club
Main Street #6: September Surprises
Main Street #7: Keeping Secrets
Copyright © 2009 by Ann M. Martin. All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Inc. SCHOLASTIC and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc.
First printing, October 2009
Cover art by Dan Andreason
Cover design by Steve Scott
e-ISBN 978-0-545-29572-7
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher. For information regarding permission, write to Scholastic Inc., Attention: Permissions Department, 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012.
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