“Do you think she’ll get in?” Flora asked her grandmother as they walked to Needle and Thread. It was early on a brisk October Saturday morning, and Flora was feeling pensive. Today was the day of the first teddy bear class, but Ruby wouldn’t be there, because today was also the day of the tryouts for the Camden Falls Children’s Chorus. Lacey Morris was trying out, too, and Mrs. Morris had offered to take Ruby along to the auditions.
“Get into the chorus?” said Min. “Well, I don’t know. She does have a beautiful voice, and she’s been in a chorus before, so I suppose her chances are good. It depends on the competition. I suspect, though, that the director of the chorus will try to take on as many truly interested children as she can.” Min paused. “Ruby is going to be awfully busy between her dance classes and the chorus.”
“And the play,” Flora reminded Min. “Don’t forget about that. I’m sure she’ll get a part in the play.”
“Sakes alive. I hope she’s going to be able to find time to do her homework.”
Flora scuffed through the leaves on Aiken Avenue, thinking of Ruby — and of Ruby’s classes and activities and all the people she’d meet and how she was fitting into life in Camden Falls as if the town were a jigsaw puzzle missing a piece, and Ruby was that piece, and Camden Falls had just been waiting for her to come along.
Where does that leave me? Flora wondered.
Flora and Min turned onto Main Street and Flora said, “Ruby’s going to miss the very first teddy bear class.”
“I know,” said Min, “but I don’t think she minds. You know she doesn’t care much for sewing. Not the way you do.”
“But she helped plan the classes. And she helped Olivia and Nikki and me get all the materials ready.”
“So you think she should be here today?”
“I just think she could care a little more.”
Min stopped walking and took Flora by the hand. “What is this really about, honey?” she asked. “Is it about Ruby not participating, or is it something else? I know what the teddy bears meant to you and Ruby after the accident.”
Flora bit her lip and looked past Min at Main Street. “I don’t even think Ruby cares about her bear anymore. She still has it, but it’s jammed in the back of her closet.”
“Do you think that because Ruby doesn’t need her bear and she’s getting involved in so many activities here, she’s forgetting about your other life — and your parents?” asked Min.
“I don’t know.” Flora pulled her hand from Min’s. “Let’s just go,” she said. “Olivia and I have to get everything set up. The class starts in an hour.”
Feeling crabby, and not liking herself for feeling crabby when Min was trying to understand things and be helpful, Flora marched ahead of her grandmother and threw open the door to Needle and Thread. Then she marched past Gigi to the class table at the back of the store and began setting out the kits that she and Olivia and Nikki and Ruby had worked so hard to assemble.
“Good morning, Flora!” Gigi called pointedly from her seat at the register.
“Hi.” Flora kept her eyes on her work. But she could hear Gigi say to Min, “Bad morning?” and Min reply, “I’ll tell you later.”
Flora examined one of the kits. The girls and Gigi and Min had decided that in order to save time (since making an entire teddy was a big project, and each class was only several hours long), most of the main parts of the teddies should be cut out before the classes began. So Flora, Olivia, Nikki, and Ruby had cut out the pieces for teddy legs, arms, tails, bodies, and heads, leaving details such as noses to be decided on and cut out later by the students. Flora, Olivia, and Gigi, who would be teaching the classes, would show the students how to stitch together and stuff the smaller pieces and then help them attach them to the bodies. After that, the kids could make the faces of their choice, using buttons, felt, and embroidery thread.
Flora, standing back from the table and looking at the eight teddy kits, one each in front of eight folding chairs, couldn’t help but feel a surge of excitement. This was how she felt when she began any project. She would look at a new skein of yarn and a pair of knitting needles, or at a stamp pad, rubber stamps, paper, ribbons, fancy braids, and everything she needed to make a greeting card, and feel a small thrill, a skip in her heart, as she imagined taking the very first step toward creating something all her own.
Flora let out a satisfied sigh and turned back to Min and Gigi.
Fifteen minutes before the class was to begin, Robby strode into Needle and Thread, followed by his father.
“I’m here, Flora!” he announced. “Here to make a teddy for a kid in need. Only I want to give my teddy to Mrs. Willet.”
Flora opened her mouth, then closed it. She understood why Robby wanted to give his bear to Mrs. Willet, but Min and Gigi had promised to give all the finished teddies to Helping Hand, a Camden Falls group dedicated to helping children in need. Flora raised her eyebrows at Gigi, but Gigi just smiled at Robby and said, “First let’s concentrate on making your bear. Have you done any sewing, Robby?”
“My mom showed me how to sew on buttons, and sometimes she lets me use her sewing machine.”
“Robby’s pretty good with the sewing machine,” spoke up Mr. Edwards.
“Excellent,” said Gigi. “Why don’t you go on back and choose a place at the table? The others should be here in a few minutes.”
Olivia arrived then, breathless, and said, “Wow, Flora, you got everything set up already.”
“We just need the name tags,” replied Flora. Then she added in a whisper, “Are you nervous?”
“A little,” admitted Olivia. “I’ve never taught a class before.”
“Me, neither,” said Flora.
“I’m glad Gigi will be helping us.”
“Let’s pass out the name tags,” said Flora. She reached for the stack of tags she and Olivia had made and decorated the day before, shuffled through them, and handed Robby his. “Here, put this on,” she instructed him.
Robby regarded the tag. “But you already know who I am,” he said.
“I know, but some of the other kids won’t. If we’re all wearing tags, then we’ll all know each other’s names. Even Olivia and Gigi and I are going to wear tags.”
“Okay.” Robby fastened the name tag to his shirt. “Who else is in the class?” he asked.
Flora handed him the cards.
“Kirsten,” Robby read slowly, sounding out the word. “Violet, Melanie, Lydia. Hey, is that Lydia Malone?”
“Yup,” said Flora.
Robby frowned. “Lydia was mean to Nikki,” he said.
“Yes, but Lydia’s trying very hard to be nice now. Wasn’t she nice when she baby-sat for you?”
Robby shuffled his feet. “Yes.” Then he added quietly, “Even though I’m not a baby.”
Flora felt her cheeks grow hot. “I know, Robby. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. Look. Let’s see what other names are here. This one says Jade. I don’t know who she is. But these say Henry and Mathias. And here they come,” said Flora.
“Here comes just about everybody,” added Olivia. She was looking at the stream of kids who were heading for the table while their parents perched on the couches and began to talk quietly.
“I see Henry and Mathias!” exclaimed Robby. “And there’s Lydia,” he added.
“And I think that’s Melanie,” said Flora. “She’s in Ruby’s class in school.”
Flora watched the kids hesitantly take seats around the table. The ones who were friends sat next to each other — Henry and Mathias, Violet and Kirsten. Robby eyed Lydia, then sat on the other side of Mathias.
Flora glanced at Gigi, who gave her a nod as if to say, “This is your class. You lead the way.”
“Okay. Um, hi. Hi, everyone,” said Flora. “Well, um, some of you already know me. My name is Flora Northrop. And this is Olivia Walter. And this is Olivia’s grandmother.”
“You can call me Gigi,” Gigi spoke up, pointing to h
er name tag. “Welcome, everybody.”
“We’re going to be teaching this class,” Flora continued.
“Do you all know what we’re here to do?” asked Olivia.
“Make teddy bears?” said Jade.
“That’s right. You’re going to learn to sew by making teddies. Then the bears will be given to kids who really need them.”
“How many of you have done any sewing?” asked Gigi. “Any sewing at all?”
Robby, Lydia, Violet, and Kirsten raised their hands.
“Great,” said Gigi. “And it’s also fine if you’re a beginner.”
“Look at the things in your teddy bear kit now,” said Flora. “Take out all the pieces and spread them in front of you. You should have two pieces for each arm, two for each leg —”
“I didn’t know bears had arms,” said Violet. “I thought they had four legs.”
“Okay. Well, we’re going to call their front legs their arms. You should also have two pieces for the tail,” said Flora, “two for the body, and two for the head. We’ll talk about noses and eyes and ears later.”
“The first thing we’re going to do,” said Olivia, “is sew together each arm and leg, then stuff it with fiberfill.”
“And did you know,” said Flora, “that when you sew things together, you almost always put the right sides together, then turn your piece inside out after you’ve stitched it?”
“Why?” asked Melanie.
“Because that way the seam winds up on the inside,” Flora told her. “You don’t see it. It’s almost like magic.”
The students set to work pinning the pieces together and taking turns at the sewing machines. Flora, Olivia, and Gigi bustled among the kids, helping with the machines, occasionally ripping out seams, demonstrating how to turn curved edges, and offering encouragement, especially to Robby and Melanie, who became frustrated quickly.
Flora was surprised to look at the clock later and find that an hour had gone by. “Let’s take a break,” she said.
The kids wandered around the store, and Flora sat for a moment with Min, who was talking to some customers.
“Needle and Thread,” Min was saying, “is going to have an exhibit of antique quilts during the birthday celebration next spring. I think we’ll have a float in the parade, too. We’ll be wearing costumes that we’ll make ourselves.…”
Flora looked around at the bustling store. The kids, without being told, were already drifting back to the table and setting to work again. Mary Woolsey had arrived and was conferring with customers. Min jumped up to help someone choose a pattern.
“Flora! Can you please come here?” called Jade. “I think I’m ready to sew the arms and legs to the body.”
Flora smiled. Here at Needle and Thread, in the midst of fabric and projects and sewing machines, she almost felt at home.
Several hours later, at the end of Needle and Thread’s first teddy bear class, eight proud students stood back to admire eight finished teddies.
“Beautiful!” Gigi pronounced. “Absolutely beautiful!”
“Hey, Dad!” Jade called, and her father, seated on one of the couches, swiveled around. “Look what I did!” Jade held up her bear. “And he’s going to be a present for someone who needs him.”
“Why, he’s wonderful,” Jade’s father was saying when the door flew open and Ruby and Lacey hurtled into the store.
“I’m in the chorus!” Ruby cried. “We both are! Lacey got in, too!”
“My stars and garters,” exclaimed Min, “what wonderful news!” Min turned to Flora. “Isn’t that wonderful news?”
“Yes,” said Flora. “Wonderful.”
“Flora? Can I please give my bear to Mrs. Willet? Please?” Robby stood before Flora, holding out his finished teddy. “I think she needs him.”
Flora, watching her beaming sister accept praise and congratulations, felt as if she were spinning up and away until she hovered above the crowd of people in Needle and Thread, until she hovered above Main Street and Camden Falls. She looked down at her sister and thought she could almost see the puzzle piece snap into place.
“Flora?” said Robby again.
“Okay. You can give your bear to Mrs. Willet,” said Flora, and she turned and walked out the back door to stand in the alley and take deep breaths until the threat of tears had disappeared.
The autumn days were growing shorter, sunrise later each morning and sunset earlier each afternoon. “Darker at both ends,” Min remarked. On some days, by the time Ruby came home from a dance class or a chorus rehearsal, it was already twilight.
“Remember at the beginning of the summer when it was still light at nine o’clock?” asked Flora.
She and Olivia and Nikki were sitting in Olivia’s yard after school one day.
“In three weeks, we’ll set our clocks back,” said Olivia. “Then the days will really end early.”
“I like the short, dark days,” said Flora.
“Not me,” said Nikki. “I’d rather be outside.”
“You know what else happens in three weeks?” asked Olivia. “Halloween. I can’t believe it’s already Halloween again. What are you guys going to be?”
Nikki shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. I never go trick-or-treating.”
“What?!” exclaimed Olivia. “What do you mean?”
“I mean I never go trick-or-treating.”
“You’ve never been once in your whole life?”
Nikki shook her head. “We live way out in the country. There’s no place to go trick-or-treating.”
“Don’t you go in town?” asked Olivia. “That’s why the stores stay open late on Halloween. So everyone will have a safe place for trick-or-treating.”
Nikki squirmed. “My dad doesn’t approve of Halloween.”
“I don’t get it,” said Olivia. “Doesn’t —”
Flora nudged Olivia’s foot with her sneaker. “Olivia,” she said.
“But I really want to know,” replied Olivia. “Doesn’t Mae go trick-or-treating? Have you guys ever even worn costumes? What do you do if your teacher says you can bring your costume to school for a Halloween party? How come your father doesn’t approve?”
Nikki stared across the street. “I guess it isn’t that he doesn’t approve. It’s more like he just doesn’t want us to have any fun.…” Nikki’s voice trailed off.
“But that’s —” Olivia started to say.
“Olivia, I really don’t want to talk about it.”
Flora turned to Nikki. “Do you think you could secretly come trick-or-treating with us this year?”
Nikki turned pale. “No! Are you kidding? If I got caught doing something like that, I — I —”
“Nikki, it’s okay. Never mind,” said Flora. “It was just an idea. What about talking to your father? What if you told him we really, really want you to come with us?”
“Maybe,” said Nikki.
“Hey, here comes Robby,” said Olivia, looking down the row of houses.
“And Ruby and Lacey,” added Flora, looking in the other direction.
Presently, as often happened at the Row Houses, all the kids except for the Malone sisters soon gathered.
“What are you guys doing?” asked Robby, and Ruby thought he sounded sullen. What had happened to the cheerful Robby she knew?
“Talking about Halloween,” said Olivia.
“Huh. That’s for babies.”
“Well, then I’m a baby,” said Olivia, “because I really like Halloween.”
“What are you going to be this year?” Mathias asked her.
Olivia frowned. “I’m still deciding.”
“I’m going to be a ghost,” said Alyssa.
“A ghost!” exclaimed Henry. “Can’t you be more original?”
“Well, I wanted to be something else, but my mom said no.”
“What did you want to be?” asked Robby.
“A piece of cake.”
Flora laughed. “That would be a little hard. But I bet w
e could make you into a cupcake.”
“Or a candle,” said Olivia.
“A candle?” Alyssa grinned. “I like that.”
“How would you make her into a candle?” asked Ruby.
“Simple. Put her in a pink leotard and make her a yellow flame hat,” Olivia replied.
Nikki smiled.
“I want to be Bugs Bunny,” said Jack.
“I want to be a firefighter,” said Travis.
“What about you?” Ruby asked Robby. “Are you going to go trick-or-treating?”
“I don’t know. Maybe.”
“Hey, everybody!” called a cheerful voice.
“Oh, no.” Robby let out a groan.
“Robby, it’s Lydia,” said Olivia. “What’s the matter?” She stood up and waved to Lydia, who was striding down Aiken Avenue.
“Hi, Robby,” said Lydia. She shrugged off her backpack and set it on the sidewalk. “Let me just stick this in my house, then I’ll go tell your mother I’m here. I hope she didn’t think I was going to be late.”
“Late for what?” asked Lacey.
“Baby-sitting for Robby.”
“I told you — I. AM. NOT. A. BABY.” Robby turned a furious face on Lydia. “Didn’t I tell you that?”
“Robby, I — I’m sorry. Really.” Lydia looked helplessly at Olivia.
Ruby remembered the many late-summer days when she had seen Robby and Lydia happily walking into town or reading under the ancient maple tree in the Edwardses’ yard.
“All right, look, Robby,” said Lydia. “Stay here with the other kids for a few minutes and I’ll be right back.”
Lydia disappeared into her house, then reappeared and dashed across the yards toward Robby’s. As she did so, Robby muttered, “And I’m not a kid, either.”
“Hey!” exclaimed Henry. “I know what I want to be for Halloween — a pirate.”
“Ooh! Ooh! We have an eye patch you can wear!” exclaimed Lacey.
The younger kids ran to the Morrises’ house, leaving Flora, Nikki, and Olivia sitting in the Walters’ yard, knees drawn up to their chins. Robby sat alone on Olivia’s front steps.
“Hey, you guys. I never told you about the great idea I had,” said Flora. She glanced behind her at Robby, who looked away from her.