“You keep acting like you know everything, but you don’t!” She stood, fists clenched. “I didn’t ask you to come here and be my friend. I don’t NEED any friends!”
He shrank back, bumping into the tortoise. “I just—”
The barn door slammed open with a clatter. The dogs, who had been hanging around outside it, yelped and scattered. Sunlight poured into the semidarkness, gobbling up the tiny fragments of twirling light. Marvin jumped up, looking at Red like she’d hit him. His eyes filled with tears and his chin began to tremble. She stepped aside as he rushed past her and out into the sunlight.
Welcome!
Ms. Anders told me you like to read. I do, too! These are books I loved when I was your age. I thought you might enjoy them—they’re yours to keep. I hope you’ll especially like A Wrinkle in Time. It is one of my very favorites. Feel free to explore my library downstairs, too. You’re welcome to any book you’d like.
If there’s anything at all you need, just ask. Our home is yours.
Happy reading!
Love,
Celine
Chapter
9
Someone knocked lightly on the door. Red sat on the bed and hugged her knees to her chest as Celine stepped into the room.
“I brought you some cocoa,” Celine said, holding out a steaming mug. One corner of her mouth tipped upward in a small smile. “Cocoa is the best medicine, in my opinion.”
Red took the mug. It was hot, but not too hot to wrap her hands around. She breathed in the smell of chocolate and cinnamon.
Celine sat on the foot of the bed. Gandalf followed her in, and put her head on Celine’s lap.
“Marvin sure rushed out of here fast,” Celine said.
Red took a sip of the cocoa. Shame heated her cheeks.
“Earlier today, you said something that I want to address,” Celine continued after a moment. Red stared into her mug, watching the chocolate swirl slowly around a single large marshmallow. Celine’s hand slid toward Red on the bed, but stopped short of her feet. Red curled her toes.
“You said that you aren’t our family.” Celine’s voice was low and calm. She didn’t sound angry or upset. “Red, I want you to know that we aren’t trying to replace your mom.”
“Good.” The word rushed out of Red’s mouth, hard and flat. “Because I don’t need you to be my family.”
Celine sat back a little, hurt shadowing her face before she spoke again. “It’s okay if you don’t want to get involved in things like the petting zoo right now. That’s your choice.”
Celine’s hand slid a little closer to Red’s foot, and Red tucked her feet under her body.
“But we do expect you to help out with some chores around the house. This is a busy place. Everyone has to pitch in.”
Red scowled.
Celine let out a little laugh. “You don’t have to look so worried! I’d actually like you to pick the chore you want to do. Something you’d enjoy.”
“Like what?”
“Did you like feeding the animals this morning?”
Red thought about this. “I liked feeding Tuck today.”
Celine smiled. “Perfect! Let’s start with that, then.”
“He sneezed when Marvin and I were giving him a cucumber.”
“Ugh.” Celine made a face. “That’s gross, isn’t it? I think he must get veggie juice up his nose or something.”
Red smiled, nodding. “Yeah. It was like a snot fountain.”
Celine shuddered, laughing, then ruffled the top of Gandalf’s head and stood. “Okay, tomorrow I’ll show you Tuck’s routine. Sound good?”
Red nodded.
“I’m about to go for my nightly walk. Would you like to join me?”
Red shook her head. “No. Thanks.”
Celine pressed her knuckles into the curve between her neck and shoulder. “Maybe next time,” she said. She snapped her fingers, and Gandalf trotted after her.
“Celine?”
Celine paused at the door as Red opened the drawer of her nightstand and took out three envelopes.
“Can I mail these? They’re for my mom.” She held the envelopes against her stomach, suddenly unsure of herself. The Mom hadn’t liked how often Red wrote to her mother in prison. She’d said it was a waste of postage, especially since Red’s mom rarely wrote back. She told Red to send emails instead. But Red hadn’t been allowed to use the computer, and as far as she knew, her mom couldn’t use email anyway. But Red preferred writing letters by hand. She liked the idea that her mom’s fingers would touch the same paper her hands had touched. It made her mom feel closer somehow.
Celine smiled. “Of course. I’ll put them in the mailbox for you. Remind me tomorrow, and I’ll show you where the stamps are, too. You can send as many letters as you want.”
Red released a breath and nodded. “Okay.” She handed the envelopes to Celine. “Thanks.”
Celine gave Red another small smile at the door. “I’m glad you’re here, Red.”
Then she was gone.
Red heard the back door open and close a minute later. From her window, she saw Celine walk out into the yard, Gandalf behind her. At the edge of the circle of light cast by the back-porch lamp, Celine stopped and looked up into the sky, a thin veil of breath hovering around her face. Red glanced up, too. Above Celine, the clouds had unraveled into a near-perfect circle. Stars glimmered in the patch of revealed sky, bright and bold and warm. For a moment, Red thought she heard a faint whisper, like distant music.
An ache blossomed in her chest as she watched Celine fade into the night, Gandalf at her heels and starlight in her hair.
Chapter
10
“There are a couple of things you need to know about tortoises.”
Celine unlatched the gate to Tuck’s pen and stepped inside. Red followed her. Tuck was munching on a pile of long dried grass, his head bobbing with each bite.
“Number one,” Celine said, “they need to stay warm. See how we have several types of lights set up for him? That one is a ceramic heater.” She pointed toward one of the lamps hanging a few feet from the floor in the back corner. “And the others give off heat as well as UVB rays. He needs them to stay healthy.
“Number two: tortoises love to eat.” Celine held up a bucket filled with vegetables and greens she’d brought along. “Tuck mostly eats greens and grass, like the stuff in his bowl. When he’s outside, he grazes on grasses, dandelions, and leaves. But I’ll tell you a secret.” Celine dug into the bucket and pulled out a banana. “These are his absolute favorite treat.”
As if on cue, Tuck lifted his head from the bowl of dried grass and immediately started shuffling toward them, eyes on the banana.
“He’s fast!” Red said, amazed at how quickly the giant tortoise could move. The claws on the toes of his elephant-like feet scratched against the wood floor as he approached.
“Oh yeah. Especially when there’s a banana on the line. Here, hold it by the stem. He’ll gobble it right up, peel and all.”
Red held the banana as instructed. Remembering Marvin’s advice the day before, she held it up a little. Tuck stretched out his long, leathery neck and chomped into the fruit. Red grinned as banana goop smeared across his face with each bite.
“Great job!” Celine said, looking impressed.
Although Tuck’s jaws were powerful, Red wasn’t nervous about feeding him anymore. She was careful to keep her fingers clear of his sharp beak, however.
“Told you,” Celine said when Tuck finished the banana in three bites. “Loves ’em.” She handed Red a cucumber. It crunched as Tuck bit into it. “You’re holding it perfectly. Well done! When we let kids feed him in the zoo, we usually spear chunks of veggies on the end of long sticks for them to hold. That way their fingers stay safe.”
Red nodded and rubbed Tuck’s neck when he finished the cucumber. “I don’t think he’d bite me.”
Celine watched the way Tuck turned his head into Red’s palm and smiled. �
��I think you’re right.”
Celine explained how to vary Tuck’s diet by giving him different greens, grasses, and even some special pellets.
“In the summer, most of his food comes from outside. We grow several kinds of grass for him and he loves dandelions, which is great because we have those in abundance,” she said. “This time of year, we supplement his diet with a few more vegetables. I like to give him cucumber and other watery things to keep him better hydrated. Everything is grown here in my garden and greenhouse, whenever possible. What we do get from the store is always organic.” She grinned. “He’s a very spoiled tortoise, isn’t he?”
By the time Tuck finished eating, his face was covered in globs of vegetables and bananas. He didn’t seem to mind, though, and Red thought he looked cute. Gross, but cute. He followed Red around the pen as Celine showed her how the timer for the lights worked, how to clean up his poop, and where to put fresh straw.
“We keep a pig blanket under this pile,” Celine said, pushing back some of the straw to show Red a thick plastic heated mat on the floor. “It keeps him nice and warm at night and on really cold days. We just have to keep an eye on the cords. Jackson secured them inside this PVC pipe, but tortoises have a tendency to plow into things and get tangled up.”
Red laughed when Tuck knocked into her from behind as he made his way into the straw.
“See?” Celine said, patting the tortoise’s shell. “He’s proving my point.”
They toured the outside habitat, too. Jackson was planning to remodel it over the winter since Tuck would spend most of that time indoors. It was a big area with lots of grass, dirt, rocks, and logs. Celine said Jackson was building a sort of obstacle course for Tuck.
“It’s good for his legs if he has to work a little to get over things. He weighs four hundred pounds, so it’s important that his legs are healthy,” Celine said. “He also loves to push boxes around. They’re his favorite toy. He may be old in years, but he’s young at heart.”
Her words made Red think of Gamma, who used to describe herself the same way. Whenever a grocery store clerk offered to carry her groceries or someone thought she couldn’t do something because she was too old, she’d laugh and wag her finger at them. “Don’t go treating me like an old lady, now! I’m young at heart!” And then, just to prove her point, she’d wiggle her hips in a funny dance.
Red patted Tuck’s shell and he stretched his neck toward her. Celine laughed.
“He’s really taken to you.”
Red chewed on the corner of her smile and shrugged. “He likes neck rubs.”
When Celine went back into the house, Red sat against a bale of hay in Tuck’s stall. He stayed close to her, nosing her shoelaces and letting her pet his scaly knees.
He’s really taken to you. Celine’s words made hope fizz up inside her again, as it had when she’d first arrived at the Grooves’. Tuck’s head bobbed into the pile of grass near her feet, his jaws clacking as he ate. When he looked up at her, long strands stuck out of his mouth, like whiskers. She grinned and tickled his chin, avoiding the still-slimy parts.
“I’ve never had a friend before,” she whispered.
He looked at her like, Me neither. Like, I see you. Like, We both need a friend.
Red hadn’t wanted a friend here. She wasn’t staying. Not forever. And friends just made it harder to say goodbye.
Tuck bumped his nose into her knee, then went back to eating. A string of slime from his gooey face dripped from her jeans, reminding her of his sneeze. She smiled, thinking of Marvin’s reaction.
After Marvin ran out of the barn the day before, Red had stormed around, looking for the switch to turn off the disco ball. She’d wanted the wind to blow it all away—the dancing light, the way Marvin said our parents, like family was the easiest thing in the world, the hurt look on his face when she’d yelled. She hadn’t even tried to control the gusts rolling off her, kicking up dust and straw and making the air inside the barn hazy.
But then she saw Tuck, with his rippling scar and glinting black eyes. Maybe it was crazy, but something in his eyes made her feel more at home than she’d felt in years.
So, sitting on her knees next to Tuck, she’d leaned forward onto his shell, her arms folded over it, cheek pressed against it. Tuck’s dimpled shell scar looked softer from this angle. Like a wave in a murky, unmoving sea.
She understood that scar. And being alone. Being different.
Tuck had let out a long sigh that shifted his whole body beneath Red’s. She’d closed her eyes, felt her storm’s energy evaporating. Slowly, everything settled into silence. Her breath steadied, deepened, as Tuck’s solidity and stillness gave weight to her bones. For the first time in a long time, she wanted to stay right where she was.
And so she did.
She was still draped over Tuck’s shell when Jackson started bringing the animals into the barn. Red had woken from her half trance, half nap with creases in her cheek that were the mirror image of Tuck’s shell pattern. And even though part of Red still wanted to be angry, still wanted to rage and bellow and blow, there was a deeper kind of quiet in her now. And with it, her anger at Marvin had blown out like a candle. Instead, all she felt was the sharp pinch of regret.
Now, watching Tuck, one hand on his shell and his gooey slime smeared on her knee, she wondered if she might have the courage to make room in her heart for two friends.
Chapter
11
“Nervous?” Celine asked. Gravel pinged against the underside of the car as they drove down the dirt road.
Red shrugged. This was her fifth new school in three years. Being the new kid, the new foster kid, was generally the same every time.
“Your teacher is Ms. Bell. I hear she’s everyone’s favorite.” Celine massaged her right shoulder—a frequent habit. “What school did you go to before?”
“You mean this year?”
Celine’s eyes widened. “Have you switched a lot?”
Red stared at the blur of golden fields. “Kinda.”
“Well, I think you’ll like Bramble. It’s a small town, so everyone goes to the same school, kindergarten through high school. No more switching for a long time.”
Red frowned. She’d be switching again, as soon as her mom got out. In 393 days …
Celine glanced at her again. “Do you feel okay?”
“Fine,” Red said. She slumped in the passenger seat. The ghost of her face was reflected in the window next to her. Her dark eyes and hair skimmed over the fields and fences, like frightened birds.
“Marvin is in your class,” Celine said. “So you’ll already have a friend, at least.”
Red chewed her lip and said nothing.
They turned off the highway onto the town’s main street. Celine was right—Bramble was tiny. There were a few blocky buildings, no taller than two stories, as part of “downtown.” A doughnut shop, a diner, and the Mercantile, whatever that was. Farther down the road, a rusty water tower stood like a giant mushroom overlooking all of Bramble. A faded, rust-orange B was painted on its face.
A long line of cars and buses ran down the length of the main road and curled into the school parking lot. The school was a low brick building with windows wrapped around its sides. A sign on a strip of dead grass near the parking lot entrance read, BRAMBLE K–12 SCHOOL: HOME OF THE BRAMBLE BOBCATS!
A third of the school was designed for younger kids. Paper shapes were hung in some of the windows, and there was a playground to one side of the building. The far side of the building had a courtyard with metal picnic tables and a few basketball hoops. Teenagers stood in tightly grouped clusters on that side.
But the part of the building with kids Red’s age was in chaos.
A zombie was chasing Iron Man around and around the merry-go-round. Three princesses in wispy purple dresses covered by puffy coats were twirling and playing with their hair by the swings. A lopsided pumpkin, a pirate, something with enormous green hands, and a container of french f
ries were on the monkey bars. The french fries was having a hard time reaching the bars, and the giant-green-hands thing was crouched, punching the ground over and over and shouting at the others.
“Oh no,” Celine breathed. She put the car into park and leaned forward, staring. “Oh no,” she repeated.
A ninja streaked by the car, wailing as a giant octopus followed him.
“Oh, no no no…” She gave Red a helpless look. “It’s Spirit Week! Today is the class costume party. I completely forgot!”
She pressed a fist into her forehead, looking so thoroughly upset that Red was alarmed.
“It’s okay,” Red said quickly. “I don’t care.”
“Look at everyone! Ms. Bell even reminded me. Oh, Red, I’m sorry!” Celine dragged both of her hands down her face, squishing her cheeks and lips together.
Red felt a shivery, nervous breeze in her bones. She knew Celine hadn’t meant to forget, but now Red would be the new girl and the only kid without a costume. A fresh wave of regret for yelling at Marvin hit her.
“I’ll go get you a costume,” Celine said.
The last thing she wanted was her foster mother showing up halfway into class with some kind of princess skirt or kitty cat outfit. “It’s okay. I don’t need a costume.” Her voice sounded harsh, urgent.
Celine looked at her for a long moment, then let out a breath. “Okay. I’m really sorry I forgot about the party.”
Red shrugged. “I better go.”
Celine nodded, unclipped her seat belt. “Come on. I’ll walk you in.”
Chapter
12
Red wished she were invisible. A thousand eyes needled her as she walked into the front office and then down the busy halls to Ms. Bell’s classroom. After being forced to stand at the front of the room on full, un-costumed display, and share three things we should know about Red with everyone, Red’s skin hummed with humiliation. Clenching her teeth, she struggled to keep her wind’s anxious spinning inside.
She took her seat at a cluster of four desks near the window, not looking at anyone. Blood whooshed in her ears, like she had giant seashells attached to her head. Pages of a notebook on the desk across from her fluttered and flapped, and a line of colored pencils wiggled, then rolled onto the floor.
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