Waiting for the Magic Read online

  Chapter 18

  IT WAS MORNING. No dogs, no cats, no Elinor in bed. Sun fell across the yard outside. I could smell breakfast smells.

  In the kitchen Gran and Grandfather were cooking breakfast. Elinor sat with Lula on her lap. Neo, Grace, and Bitty were being fed snips of bacon and toast.

  “Where’s Papa?” I asked.

  Gran put her finger to her lips and pointed to the bedroom. I walked down the hall to the door of the bedroom and saw Papa in bed, Bryn stretched out beside him. I smiled at them and backed out of the room and went to the kitchen.

  “You heard the news?” said Gran.

  “His name is Nicholas,” said Elinor. She looked at Grandfather. “I probably can’t call him Weenie, can I?”

  “No,” said Grandfather and Gran.

  Neo

  No.

  Bitty

  No.

  Grace

  Definitely not.

  “Okay,” said Elinor.

  “Eight pounds,” said Papa. He looked tired.

  “About the size of this,” said Gran, holding up a ham.

  “Dark hair. Beautiful, like you were, William,” said Papa.

  “What about me?” asked Elinor in a whiny voice.

  Bitty

  Remember the Whining Fairy.

  “You were, of course, beautiful from the beginning, Elinor,” said Papa. “We can go visit Mama and Nicholas today,” he added. “Well, not you, Bryn.”

  Bryn

  Why not?

  “Because you’re a dog,” said Papa.

  The minute he said it he knew it was a mistake.

  Bryn was insulted. Grandfather laughed at the terrible look Bryn gave Papa. Which was how we came to be driving to the hospital, Elinor strapped into her car seat, shouting at bad drivers—four dogs sitting in the car with us.

  “Now,” said Papa, talking to the dogs, “I can’t sneak you in. You understand that. Right?”

  Bryn

  Yes.

  Bitty

  You could sneak me in.

  Papa sighed and looked in the rearview mirror. Gran and Grandfather were following us in their car. When I turned to look at them, I could see their smiles.

  “They’re laughing at us,” said Papa.

  “They are,” I said.

  Papa put the brakes on as a car pulled out in front of him.

  “Go to your house!” shouted Elinor.

  Bitty

  Read a book!

  Neo

  Watch a movie!

  Papa looked sideways at me, and we smiled all the way to the hospital.

  Mama looked the same. Nicholas was bundled up in a white blanket and lay in a little bed of his own. He was almost the size of Lula. He stared at me with dark eyes. I took his hand and his fingers curled around mine right away.

  “He is not pretty,” said Elinor, making Mama laugh.

  “No. But you will think he’s beautiful very soon. Trust me,” said Mama.

  “See?” she said to me. “Things are just the way they were before.”

  “Except better,” said Papa. “We have four dogs waiting outside to see you.”

  “What??”

  Mama got out of bed and stood at the window, looking down in the parking lot. Gran and Grandfather stood there with Neo, Bitty, Bryn, and Grace.

  Mama opened a side window and waved to them.

  “If anyone saw me waving to dogs they’d think I was nuts,” said Mama.

  “What are you doing?” a nurse asked Mama. She had come into the room with medicine.

  “She’s waving to our dogs,” said Elinor.

  The nurse’s name tag said HELEN. She came over to the window and looked out.

  “Well, isn’t that just about the sweetest thing you ever saw?” she said, smiling. “I have two dogs at home, waiting for me to get off shift.”

  Helen waved too. Gran and Grandfather waved back.

  And then Marvelous Murphy swept into the room, wearing a scarlet knitted hat and a peasant shirt with bangles that made metallic sounds. She brought wrapped packages and an armful of flowers. She wore at least seven necklaces of different colors. Elinor’s eyes widened at the sight.

  “Wow,” said Helen. “I’m going. I think, however”—she looked at Papa—“your wife will need to rest soon.”

  Papa smiled and nodded at her.

  Marvelous burst into tears when she saw Nicholas, which made us all love her. Papa handed her his handkerchief and Elinor held her hand.

  Helen left, waggling her fingers at us and rolling her eyes the way Papa said Grace might do one day if she learned how.

  Soon Marvelous would leave. It would be peaceful and quiet. I could relax without the funny feeling in my stomach that something more would happen.

  Chapter 19

  BUT IT DID HAPPEN. Something more exciting happened late on the day Mama and Nicholas came home from the hospital.

  The dogs were excited. They got to sniff and examine Nicholas in his little blue baby seat.

  Bryn

  Beautiful.

  Grace

  I think he is very intelligent.

  Bitty

  Highly trainable.

  Neo

  I like him.

  I smiled at this. Neo liked everyone. Even Marvelous Murphy.

  Mama smiled too. Not because she heard the dogs’ talk, but because she could see they liked Nicholas.

  Mama was happier than I had seen her for a long time. She kissed us all. She hugged the dogs.

  “I’m glad to be home,” she said. “Home with Nicholas, who is the most perfect baby. Home with all my perfect children and our perfect dogs.”

  “And Lula,” said Elinor.

  “And Lula,” repeated Mama, “the perfect cat.”

  “And your husband,” said Papa, “who has not been perfect.”

  The smell of Gran’s ham filled the house. Sun filled the house too. Grandfather put together his famous rhubarb pie that he’d bake when the ham was out of the oven. We could hear him talking about it in the kitchen.

  “Yes, it smells good,” he said.

  “Yes, it is beautiful, thank you,” he said.

  “Who are you talking to?” called Mama.

  There was a little silence.

  “Myself,” said Grandfather. “I’m talking to myself. It is allowed.”

  All of us, except for Mama, knew he was talking to Bitty, who was always interested in pies and cakes and cookies—anything sweet, gooey, or that dripped.

  Nicholas didn’t cry much, except when his diaper needed changing or he was hungry. Mostly he looked at all of us, whether or not he could focus on us. And once he smiled.

  Bryn

  A smile!

  And he stared at us over Papa’s shoulder when Papa danced Nicholas around the room, singing “The Muffin Man” to him.

  Grace

  Singing. Another thing dogs can’t do.

  Bitty

  There is always howling.

  Neo

  Maybe we could learn to howl in tune.

  We ate ham and biscuits and corn, the dogs sleeping under the dining room table. It was just before we were to eat Grandfather’s rhubarb pie with the crisscross crust that the telephone call came.

  “Hello,” I said.

  “Is Mrs. Watson there?”

  It was a kind of familiar voice at the other end.

  I looked at Mama. She shook her head. She was tired.

  “Could I take a message?”

  “Well, this is Julia from the animal shelter.”

  I remembered the spiky-haired woman when we got the dogs.

  “This is William. Her son.”

  I turned from the phone.

  “Julia, the shelter woman,” I said to Mama.

  Mama looked at Papa. The dogs all sat up.

  Papa got up and took the phone.

  “This is Joe, Janey’s husband. Could I help you with something?”

  We watched Papa’s face. It changed f
rom interested to more interested. One time he looked at the dogs, then at Mama.

  “They’re all fine. They’re terrific. Janey’s just home from the hospital with a new baby. So, why don’t I come down?”

  There was more silence.

  “A half hour, then,” said Papa.

  He hung up the phone and looked at us. He went over to Mama and leaned down and whispered to her. We were all quiet, even the dogs, who watched very carefully. Suddenly, in the middle of Papa’s whispering, Mama grinned. Papa stood up.

  “Well now, there appears to be one lone dog at the animal shelter. He is a smallish brown dog who needs a home. And the woman . . . Julia . . . thought about us. She said he is very friendly and smart and loving. And . . .” He shrugged.

  “Go,” said Mama. “Go now. And take Elinor and William. She’ll want them there. We’ll eat the pie when you get home.”

  “I’ll make coffee,” Grandfather said.

  “And I,” said Gran, leaning down to pick up her knitting bag.

  “We know what you’ll be doing,” said Grandfather.

  Neo walked over to Papa.

  “No,” said Papa. “We have to do this without you, Neo. We’ll be back soon.”

  “Joe,” called Mama.

  “Yes?”

  “Take a leash,” said Mama.

  And we put on our coats and boots and went out the door, getting into the car, without talking. Papa backed out of the driveway.

  “Well, what do you think?” he asked after a minute.

  “I think it is a good thing,” I said.

  “Me too,” said Elinor in her car seat.

  “And we all know how Mama feels,” I added.

  “Strange things happen, don’t they?” Papa said. “Of course this dog may not be for us, you know.”

  “You’ll know when you meet him,” I said.

  “Maybe,” Papa said.

  We reached the shelter driveway and drove up to the front door. Julia came to meet us.

  “Hello, kids,” she said. She shook hands with Papa. “And congratulations on your new baby.”

  “Nicholas,” said Elinor.

  “Nicholas is a good name,” said Julia.

  She took us into the same shelter room where we had first seen Grace, Bryn, Bitty, and Neo.

  Elinor touched one cage.

  “This is where Grace was,” she said.

  A small brown dog sat up and looked at us when we got near. He had a rough coat and dark brown ears. He looked at Papa. He wagged his tail, a little slowly at first, then faster when Papa talked to him.

  “Hello, boy,” said Papa. “How are you?”

  All of a sudden my breath caught in my throat.

  “Papa?”

  “What?”

  I thought maybe I’d cry, but I didn’t.

  “Look at his name, there on the front of the cage.”

  Papa looked. And then I thought he might cry.

  “What is it?” asked Elinor. “What’s his name?”

  “Scooter,” said Papa so softly that Elinor had to lean over close to hear. “Scooter.”

  In the car, driving home, Scooter sat next to Elinor in the backseat. She reached out to him and he licked her hand.

  “Do you think we should have called Mama and asked her if this is all right?” asked Papa.

  “She knows,” I said. “She told you to take a leash.”

  Papa drove on, looking in the rearview mirror every so often to make sure Scooter was all right.

  “I don’t suppose you talk, Scooter,” said Papa, making a joke.

  Scooter

  I do.

  Papa was so surprised he nearly ran through a red light.

  Elinor and I were not surprised.

  Chapter 20

  WE GOT HOME and drove in the driveway. Papa got Elinor out of her car seat and we put the leash on Scooter.

  Scooter walked up to the front door and waited for Papa to open it. But Mama opened it first and stood there looking at us.

  “Hello!” said Mama cheerfully.

  Scooter

  Hello!

  Mama held on to the door frame. She didn’t say anything for a moment. Neo, Grace, Bryn, and Bitty walked up to stand behind her.

  “This is Scooter,” said Papa.

  “Joe,” said Mama, looking a bit frightened, “Scooter talks.”

  Papa laughed and we all walked inside, the dogs all sniffing at Scooter in dog sniffs.

  “He does, Janey,” said Papa. He kissed Mama. “They all talk.”

  Mama turned and looked at all the dogs.

  “You do?” she asked.

  Bryn

  Yes.

  Neo

  We do.

  Grace

  We talk when we have something to say.

  Bitty

  And sometimes when we don’t.

  “Lula talks too,” said Elinor.

  “Lula?” repeated Mama. She looked at the dogs. “Why didn’t I ever hear you?” she asked, holding on to Papa’s hand.

  Bryn

  You were busy having a baby.

  Grace

  You were busy listening to Nicholas.

  Mama smiled her great smile then. It was not just a smile. Mama was something more—a word I had once found in one of Papa’s stories.

  Mama was joyful.

  It was late. Papa was dancing with Nicholas in the living room, singing him to sleep. Mama was sleeping next to Bryn, who took up much of the big bed. Elinor slept with Lula.

  I looked up the stairs to the attic room on my way to bed. I could see a light at the top. Papa’s computer was still on. Slowly I walked up the stairs and sat down in Papa’s chair.

  There was a poem on the computer.

  EYES

  All your dark eyes are the beacons

  Showing me

  Who I am

  Who I love

  Where the magic is

  And where I belong.

  Forever.

  At the end of the poem was a single sentence:

  Good night, William.

  I smiled and walked back down the stairs and into my room, where Neo and Bitty already slept. I turned back the covers and got in bed.

  Scooter lay there, his head on my pillow.

  I scratched under his ear.

  “Move over a bit, Scooter,” I said softly.

  Scooter

  You betcha.

  Patricia MacLachlan is the author of many well-loved novels and picture books, including Sarah, Plain and Tall, winner of the Newbery Medal; its sequels, Skylark and Caleb’s Story; Edward’s Eyes; The True Gift; and Your Moon, My Moon, illustrated by Bryan Collier. She is a board member of the National Children’s Book and Literary Alliance. She lives in western Massachusetts.