face, but Annie let the comment pass without so much as a blink.
“I’ll bet that something on his mind is you.” She stopped suddenly in the middle of the sidewalk. “Do you think he might be planning to propose?”
“I think it’s more likely he’s going to enlist.” Charlie glanced at her watch and walked faster. The first bell would ring in about five minutes.
Annie nodded. “Maybe both.”
“His mother would have a fit.”
“Why?” Annie asked. “Because he proposes to you or plans to join the service?”
“Both,” Charlie said, wondering what she would say if he did. “Anyway, he hasn’t done either one.”
“Yet,” Annie reminded her.
The closer they came to the school, the more Charlie found herself dreading going back into the building. Alma Owens had been delegated to take Miss Dimple’s class until she returned or a permanent replacement could be found, and the children across the hall had been boisterous all morning.
“I wonder what Alma plans to do with them this afternoon,” Annie whispered as they waited at the top of the steps for the second bell. “For a while this morning I thought a train was coming right through the building.”
Plump, jolly, and fortyish, Alma considered herself to be a friend to the children and played with them accordingly. That morning she had kept them entertained with games of fruit basket turnover and musical chairs, with Alma playing the xylophone. During recess she led them around the playground in a parade of rhythm band instruments she had apparently pilfered from the supply closet.
“They should be worn out by now. Maybe they’ll nap this afternoon,” Charlie said, knowing it was too good to be true.
And of course it was. After several rounds of “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” and “Are You Sleeping, Brother John?” Alma had the class competing in some kind of quiz in which the answers were shouted, and by the end of the day, Charlie felt as if someone were pounding an anvil inside her head.
“Take an aspirin and rest for a while,” Annie suggested as they left school that afternoon.
“I can’t. I told Mama I’d pick up a few groceries from Mr. Cooper. We’re completely out of butter, and I planned to make macaroni and cheese tomorrow.” Charlie fumbled in her purse as she spoke. “Thank goodness I remembered to bring my ration book. Maybe they’ll have some real butter today instead of that disgusting imitation stuff with the blob of food coloring in the middle.”
“Let me drop off some of these papers at Phoebe’s and I’ll go with you,” Annie said. “I need to get some writing paper from the dime store and I’m almost out of hand lotion, too.”
“Heard anything from Will?” Charlie asked. She knew Annie was waiting to hear from a friend of her brother’s she’d dated in college. Both men were training as pilots in the Army Air Corps.
But Annie frowned and shook her head. “They’re just beginning their training and it sounds like they have a long way to go. The last time he wrote, though, he said he might try to get down here to see me.”
Charlie laughed. “Maybe you’re the one who’ll get the proposal.”
But Annie only grinned. “And maybe the war will be over tomorrow.”
“Find out if they’ve heard any more from Miss Dimple,” Charlie said as Annie hurried inside. But one look at her friend’s face when she emerged a few minutes later told her nothing had changed.
“Phoebe said she passed the phone number along to Bobby at the police department but he hasn’t been able to get an answer yet,” Annie reported. “Bobby said he’d ask the police there to try and locate Miss Dimple’s brother. He’s hoping he’ll hear something by tonight.”
As far as Charlie could remember, nothing especially unusual had ever happened in Elderberry, but she had a horrible feeling that the events around the teacher’s disappearance were going to involve them in something they weren’t prepared for.
A
“I’ll bet that something on his mind is you.” She stopped suddenly in the middle of the sidewalk. “Do you think he might be planning to propose?”
“I think it’s more likely he’s going to enlist.” Charlie glanced at her watch and walked faster. The first bell would ring in about five minutes.
Annie nodded. “Maybe both.”
“His mother would have a fit.”
“Why?” Annie asked. “Because he proposes to you or plans to join the service?”
“Both,” Charlie said, wondering what she would say if he did. “Anyway, he hasn’t done either one.”
“Yet,” Annie reminded her.
The closer they came to the school, the more Charlie found herself dreading going back into the building. Alma Owens had been delegated to take Miss Dimple’s class until she returned or a permanent replacement could be found, and the children across the hall had been boisterous all morning.
“I wonder what Alma plans to do with them this afternoon,” Annie whispered as they waited at the top of the steps for the second bell. “For a while this morning I thought a train was coming right through the building.”
Plump, jolly, and fortyish, Alma considered herself to be a friend to the children and played with them accordingly. That morning she had kept them entertained with games of fruit basket turnover and musical chairs, with Alma playing the xylophone. During recess she led them around the playground in a parade of rhythm band instruments she had apparently pilfered from the supply closet.
“They should be worn out by now. Maybe they’ll nap this afternoon,” Charlie said, knowing it was too good to be true.
And of course it was. After several rounds of “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” and “Are You Sleeping, Brother John?” Alma had the class competing in some kind of quiz in which the answers were shouted, and by the end of the day, Charlie felt as if someone were pounding an anvil inside her head.
“Take an aspirin and rest for a while,” Annie suggested as they left school that afternoon.
“I can’t. I told Mama I’d pick up a few groceries from Mr. Cooper. We’re completely out of butter, and I planned to make macaroni and cheese tomorrow.” Charlie fumbled in her purse as she spoke. “Thank goodness I remembered to bring my ration book. Maybe they’ll have some real butter today instead of that disgusting imitation stuff with the blob of food coloring in the middle.”
“Let me drop off some of these papers at Phoebe’s and I’ll go with you,” Annie said. “I need to get some writing paper from the dime store and I’m almost out of hand lotion, too.”
“Heard anything from Will?” Charlie asked. She knew Annie was waiting to hear from a friend of her brother’s she’d dated in college. Both men were training as pilots in the Army Air Corps.
But Annie frowned and shook her head. “They’re just beginning their training and it sounds like they have a long way to go. The last time he wrote, though, he said he might try to get down here to see me.”
Charlie laughed. “Maybe you’re the one who’ll get the proposal.”
But Annie only grinned. “And maybe the war will be over tomorrow.”
“Find out if they’ve heard any more from Miss Dimple,” Charlie said as Annie hurried inside. But one look at her friend’s face when she emerged a few minutes later told her nothing had changed.
“Phoebe said she passed the phone number along to Bobby at the police department but he hasn’t been able to get an answer yet,” Annie reported. “Bobby said he’d ask the police there to try and locate Miss Dimple’s brother. He’s hoping he’ll hear something by tonight.”
As far as Charlie could remember, nothing especially unusual had ever happened in Elderberry, but she had a horrible feeling that the events around the teacher’s disappearance were going to involve them in something they weren’t prepared for.
A
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