Criss Cross, Double Cross

by Norma Charles

  “Now you’re going to get it,” Elizabeth cried, clutching her shoulder, her face as red as her hair ribbons. “We’ll get you after school. We’ll all be right here waiting for you.”

  Sophie took off and ran the rest of the way to the French school.

  The new school was way better than she had imagined. In fact, it was really quite fun, although her new teacher wouldn’t let her wear her toque in class. It was too hot, anyway, so Sophie was glad to shove it into her desk. If anyone teased her about her hair, she’d sock them right on the nose.

  There weren’t enough grade fives for a whole class, so they shared a classroom with the grade sixes. Fourteen grade sixes sat on one side of the room and the eleven grade fives sat on the other. Sophie got a desk in the row next to the windows so she could see the trees in the woods behind the school. The leaves were still mostly green, but a few were turning an autumn yellow and orange.

  Sister Blanche was her new teacher and also the school’s principal. She seemed pretty nice but wouldn’t stand for any nonsense. A tall nun with pink cheeks and a friendly smile, she wore a long black dress called a habit. But she moved around in a peppy, energetic way, her rosary beads clicking at her side.

  At first Sophie felt strange to be speaking mainly French at school, but soon she felt right at home. The best thing about the school was the playground. In the middle of a sandy field in front of the school were teeter-totters, slides, and six brand-new swings all in a row with long ropes and narrow board seats.

  As soon as the recess bell rang, Sophie rushed outside with the other kids and made a beeline for one of the new swings. She grabbed the one at the end.

  “Race you,” a boy in the swing next to hers said. He was short and dark-haired. She thought he was one of the boys who sat at the back of her classroom.

  “Okay,” she replied.

  “No push-offs,” he warned.

  So they had to pump from the beginning, back and forth, back and forth.

  Sophie swung her legs in and out and pumped and pumped. It was really hard to get the swing started. She remembered how she had started the rope swing in the ravine by throwing her body back and forth. Eventually she did get it going. By then the boy was flying past her.

  “Okay, jump!” he directed, and then leaped off the swing. He sailed through the air and landed in a mound of sand.

  Sophie took a deep breath. Then, as she swung forward, she pushed herself out of the swing and sailed through the air, too. “Star Girl!” she cried, raising her fists as she landed in a heap in the sand, almost as far out as the boy had.

  He grinned at her. “Pretty good for a beginner.”

  She grinned back. “Bet I can go even farther next time.”

  But the bell rang and they had to hurry back into the classroom. That was when Sophie found out the boy’s name was Ronnie and he was in grade five, too.

  As the day wore on, Sophie thought about what would happen after school. That bunch of kids at Alderson would probably be waiting to pounce on her on the way home. Especially that stuck-up Elizabeth Proctor. They had said they would get her after school. What if they got a bunch of other kids to help them?

  Reluctantly Sophie followed her classmates outside after school. She couldn’t stick around the school all day. She’d have to walk home eventually.

  She saw Ronnie at the bottom of the steps with a little girl who had two long dark braids and rosy cheeks. “See you tomorrow,” he called to Sophie, turning to lead the little girl away.

  “Wait!” Sophie said. “Want to try out the swing again? Bet I could go a lot farther than you.”

  He shook his head. “My mom told me to bring my sister straight home from school. Come on, Melissa.”

  “I’ve got brand-new socks,” the little girl told Sophie, pulling up her white knee socks. “My mommy said to be sure not to get them dirty and they’re still pretty clean, don’t you think?”

  “Very nice,” Sophie said.

  “See you tomorrow,” Ronnie said again. He took Melissa’s hand, and they started walking toward a dirt path that led into the woods behind the school and the church.

  “Hey, where does that path go?” Sophie called after him.

  “Up to Blue Mountain Road. It’s a shortcut.”

  “Really?” It might not be a shortcut for her, but at least it would avoid the Alderson Avenue gang.

  Sophie followed Ronnie and his little sister up the path and into the woods.

  “Look, blackberries,” she told them.

  “Not many left,” Ronnie said after they picked a few. “Come on, Melissa. We’d better get going.”

  “Where do you guys live?” Sophie asked.

  “Up on Rochester.”

  Rochester Avenue was on Arthur’s paper route. It wasn’t that far from her place.

  Ronnie was trying to hurry his little sister along the path, but she was dragging her feet. “Come on,” he grumbled. “We haven’t got all day.”

  “I’ll race you guys to that stump,” Sophie said. “On your mark, get set, go!”

  All three kids took off. Ronnie got to the stump first. Sophie let Melissa beat her. When they all caught their breath, they continued along the path. The trees got bigger and the path got narrower. Tall bunches of ferns grew on either side, and plenty of bright green moss was on the tree trunks. After a while, they came to a fork where the path divided three ways.

  “Do you know where this other trail comes out?” Sophie asked.

  “That trail is the way to Blue Mountain Road. I know that much. I think the other way takes you down to the ravine.”

  “Really! I wonder if it goes by that swing my brothers and their friends made.”

  “Your brothers made a swing?”

  “A few weeks ago they tied a long rope so high in a tree that you can swing across the whole ravine.”

  “Wow! Across the whole ravine? This I’ve got to see!”

  Sophie led as the trail slanted downhill quite steeply. “I’m pretty sure this is the same path,” she said, pushing aside a prickly bush. “My brother and I were here a couple of weeks ago and we even saw a herd of deer.”

  “I saw a deer once, too,” Ronnie said. “A small one with white spots on its back.”

  “That would be a fawn.”

  The woods were quiet except for a few twittering birds. After a while, Sophie heard a bubbling sound.

  “That’s the creek,” she told Ronnie. “We must be getting closer.” Then they saw it. The water was deeper than it had been a couple of weeks ago. “Here’s where we cross.”

  “But there’s no bridge,” Ronnie said.

  “We use some stepping stones,” Sophie said, pulling off her socks and shoes. Ronnie and Melissa pulled off their shoes and socks, as well.

  The rocks were shiny and slippery with moss. As they crossed the bubbling creek, Melissa held Sophie’s hand so tightly that Sophie’s fingers throbbed. The little girl squealed when the water splashed her legs.

  “It’s okay.” Sophie tried to reassure her. “Don’t worry. You won’t fall in. I’m holding you.”

  Melissa’s dark eyes were huge with fear, but she didn’t say anything, even when they had to wade through the cold, shallow water to reach the other side of the stream. They stopped on the bank and pulled on their socks and shoes.

  “So where’s this rope swing?” Ronnie asked.

  “I think it’s just up this path,” Sophie said, starting up the hill. She looked into the deep shadows under the bushes and trees, searching for the swing. About halfway up the slope she spotted it. “There it is,” she said, pointing to the long, dangling rope.

  Ronnie laughed. “You’re right. I bet you could swing across the whole ravine on that!”

  “So do you want to give it a try?”

  “Do I!” Ronnie pushed his way through the bushes to the rope. He carried it up the slope as high as he could. Then, grabbing the big knot, he jumped onto the rope and swung right across the whole ravine, his f
eet skimming the tops of the bushes.

  “Wheel” he shouted, a big grin pasted on his face. He swung back, almost as high as his jumping-off place.

  “I want a turn, too,” Melissa said, jumping up and down. “I want to swing, too.”

  After Ronnie had swung across the ravine a couple more times, Sophie said, “Let go now or you’ll end up in the creek.”

  Ronnie finally dropped to the hard-packed earth. “Oh, boy!” he said. “That was the greatest!”

  “Can I have a turn now?” Melissa squealed. “Can I? Can I?”

  “Maybe just a little one,” Ronnie said. “But come on down here so you won’t swing out so far.”

  He showed his sister how to hold on to the knot and twirl her legs around the rope. “Hang on real tight now, and whatever you do, don’t let go!” he said, giving her a push.

  “Whee!” she squealed as she brushed the tops of the bushes the way Ronnie had. “This is fun!”

  “You got to let go now!” Sophie yelled when the swing came back.

  But Melissa wouldn’t let go. She shook her head and kept on swinging back and forth across the creek, each swing a little shorter than the one before.

  “Let go! Let go!” Sophie cried. Ronnie yelled, too.

  “I can’t!” Melissa squealed. “I’ll fall. I’m too scared.”

  “You have to!” Sophie insisted.

  The rope came to a stand-still, suspended over the creek. Melissa was still hanging on.

  “I can’t get off,” Melissa wailed. “I’m scared! I’ll fall into the creek and get all wet!”

  Sophie rushed through the brush down to the creek, the bushes scratching her arms and legs. Ronnie was at her heels. From the edge of the water they looked up at Melissa, dangling like a pendant on the rope above their heads. Ronnie jumped from a rock and tried to reach her feet, but she was too high.

  “Try pumping,” Sophie urged her. “Try to make the rope swing back and forth again.”

  “I can’t. I can’t make it go.” There were tears in the little girl’s voice. She clung desperately to the rope, too scared to move.

  “Then let go and jump off,” Ronnie said.

  “I...I’ll fall into the creek and get my brand-new socks wet.”

  “We’ll catch you,” Sophie reassured her. “Don’t worry about your socks. Let go and we’ll catch you.” She longed for Star Girl’s powers. She wished she could whip out her magic cape and fly up there and rescue the little girl. “Come on, Melissa. You can do it. Let go and jump. We’ll catch you. I promise.” Sophie lifted the skirt of her tunic to catch the little girl. She had to stand at the muddy edge of the creek, and her new shoes were getting soaked right through. The cold water made her feet ache.

  Without warning Melissa let go and fell like a bundle of laundry right on top of Sophie.

  “I’ve got you!” Sophie grunted, trying to grab her. But she slid in the mud, bumped into Ronnie, and they all tumbled into the creek.

  Melissa shrieked and thrashed about in the shallow water, splashing and clawing desperately at Sophie, who scrambled to her feet and dragged the little girl out and onto the muddy bank. They were all drenched to the bone.

  “My new socks!” Melissa cried. “My brand-new socks! They’re are all wet and muddy!”

  “But you’re okay, aren’t you?” Sophie asked. “Not hurt or anything?”

  Melissa shook her head and wouldn’t stop crying. “My socks! They’re all muddy.” The little girl’s soaked tunic clung to her skinny legs. She looked cold.

  “Your mom can wash your socks,” Sophie told her. “As long as you’re not hurt. That’s the main thing.”

  Ronnie tried brushing the mud off Melissa’s tunic. “Don’t be such a baby,” he scoffed. “Next time we won’t even let you have a turn.”

  She finally stopped wailing and sniffed a big wet sniff as she tried to catch her breath. Then she held Sophie’s hand and they climbed back up the side of the ravine, their feet sloshing in their wet shoes.

  “It’s not far,” Sophie told the little girl. “Just up this path.”

  As they walked, muddy creek water dripped from Sophie’s tunic, down her legs, and into her soaked socks and shoes. Her shoes were so uncomfortable she had to take them off. She stuffed the socks inside and slung them over her shoulder by their laces.

  When they got out of the woods, Ronnie and Melissa headed one way up the hill, and Sophie went the other.

  “See you at school tomorrow,” she said, wondering how she was ever going to sneak into the house past Maman.

  “See you,” her new friends called out.

  8

  “But, Maman, it was an accident! Really it was.”

  Maman was in the kitchen with Grand’maman, peeling a mound of potatoes for supper. Grand’maman shook her head and clucked her tongue. “Tsk-tsk,” she said in that tone Sophie especially hated.

  “If there’s a single mud puddle between here and school, you would be sure to find it and fall in,” Maman scolded. “Put your clothes in the laundry sink downstairs. I’ll have to wash them out after supper so you can wear them to school tomorrow. Then go clean your shoes out on the back porch.”

  While Sophie was changing into her play clothes, she smiled to herself. At least Maman hadn’t asked her exactly where she had fallen, or forbidden her from taking that sort-of shortcut through the ravine. That meant she could take it every day and avoid the Alderson Avenue kids, especially Elizabeth Proctor. She would just have to be sure to leave early every morning. Maybe she should wear her boots to get over the creek so she wouldn’t get her feet as wet.

  But the next morning she got up just in time to dress quickly in her white shirt and tunic, which was still a bit damp around the hem, gobble down her breakfast of porridge, stamp on her rubber boots, and hurry out of the kitchen for school. In her rush she didn’t see Zephram crawling down the hallway after his little toy truck. She stumbled over him and crashed to the floor, sending his truck rolling to the end of the hallway.

  “Truck, truck!” he roared, scrambling after it. He wasn’t hurt, so Sophie picked herself up and dashed to the outside door.

  “What’s the rush, Sophie?” Maman called after her. “Your school tie is all crooked and you haven’t even brushed your hair or your teeth. And why are you wearing those boots? You’re not going to school looking like that.”

  Sophie hurried back down the hall to the bathroom where she quickly ran her toothbrush over her teeth a couple of times while staring at herself in the mirror. Her hair was as short and ugly as ever, but at least it didn’t take much time to brush it. She patted it down as best she could and straightened her tie. Then she scooted out to the hallway again, carefully stepping over her little brother.

  “See you after school, Maman,” she called, hurrying away before her mother had a chance to summon her back for another inspection and make her change out of her boots.

  Although she jogged the whole way through the forest along the trail and down to the ravine, across the stepping stones, and up the other side, moving as fast as she could, she was still late for school. The bell had rung and all the children had gone to their classrooms, leaving the playground deserted.

  “Sophie,” her teacher said sternly after Sophie clomped breathlessly into the classroom. “Being late for school is not a good habit for children to get into. You must learn to be on time.”

  “Yes, Sister,” Sophie said, trying to catch her breath. “I will.”

  If only she had the bike she’d seen a few weeks ago at Cap’s... Then she could ride like the wind and get to school on time every day. She’d even take the road right past Alderson Avenue School and leave all those mean kids in the dust.

  But Sophie still hadn’t saved enough money to buy the bike. She had helped Arthur with his paper route as often as he would let her, but her pink piggy bank didn’t seem much heavier. It was no use asking Maman and Papa to buy a bicycle for her. She knew they struggled to stretch every penny.


  The next morning Sophie woke up when Grand’maman got up to go to early Mass, so she jumped out of bed and put on her school uniform. Papa was already in the kitchen stirring a big pot of porridge on the stove.

  “Up so early, chérie?” he said.

  “Can’t be late for school,” Sophie said, holding out a bowl for him to pour some porridge into.

  “It’s not really ready yet.”

  “I love it runny like that before it gets all lumpy.”

  “Fussy, fussy.” Papa grinned as he poured a stream of the steaming porridge into her bowl.

  That morning, although she went through the ravine, she got to school in plenty of time. She decided she would have to be an early riser from now on.

  One day a few weeks later, when Sophie came home from school, Maman was in the kitchen having a cup of tea with Grand’maman and Grand’maman’s friend, Madame Coté. “There’s a package for you, Sophie. It came by mail.”

  On the counter was a small parcel addressed to Miss Sophie LaGrange.

  “It’s here!” she squealed. “Finally!” She ripped open the parcel and there it was—her Star Girl Super Bounce Ball. It was bright red and had a yellow star running through it. Although smaller than she had expected, it did fit perfectly into her hand.

  “Very nice,” Maman said. “But I hope you won’t play with it in the house.”

  Henri came in the back door. “What have you got there?” he asked. He was wearing his baseball cap and tossing a ball into his glove.

  “It’s my new Star Girl Super Bounce Ball. I sent away for it.”

  “Neat-o. Want to play catch?”

  “Sure!”

  “Before you two go and play I need a couple loads of wood for the stove brought in,” Maman said.

  Sophie quickly changed out of her tunic into her play clothes and followed Henri out to the backyard. The wood for their kitchen stove was already chopped and piled under the porch. So, after bringing in a couple of armfuls each and dropping them into the wood box by the stove, they went out again to the yard and played catch.