“Hmm.” Nikki paused thoughtfully. “I kind of like the idea of using Mrs. Grindle to further our cause. Okay, let’s make plans.”
Three days later, Nikki Sherman was awake and dressed by seven-thirty.
“Goodness, you’re up early,” said her mother.
Nikki shrugged. “I don’t want to waste any of the summer.”
Mrs. Sherman eyed her but said nothing.
“So how’s the job?” asked Nikki.
Mrs. Sherman smiled. “It’s wonderful. It’s really wonderful. I know the hours are long and that that isn’t easy on you and Tobias and Mae. But I love working at Three Oaks. Everyone there is so nice. My co-workers, the residents.”
“That’s great, Mom,” replied Nikki seriously. “I never heard you say that about any of your other jobs.”
Half an hour later, Mrs. Sherman’s car was disappearing down the drive, and Nikki, having peeked into Tobias’s room to make sure he was sound asleep (he was), was unlocking her bicycle. Fifteen minutes after that, following one of her fastest rides ever into Camden Falls, Nikki relocked her bicycle at a rack in front of the library, looking over her shoulder all the while. Main Street was quiet, though, and Olivia had been right: Stuff ’n’ Nonsense wouldn’t open until ten. Relieved, Nikki ducked into the doorway, trained her eyes across the street — and saw that four thick envelopes were already stacked by the entrance to Needle and Thread.
“No way,” said Nikki under her breath.
She slouched away from Stuff ’n’ Nonsense, hands in her pockets.
It was now eight-twenty. Nikki had half an hour to kill before Flora, Olivia, and Ruby would arrive at Needle and Thread with Min. She set off down Main Street, a very different place at this early morning hour. Nikki saw that she was one of just a handful of people in town. She watched as a teenage boy, with lank brown hair falling across his eyes and jeans falling well below his waistline, unlocked the door of the T-shirt Emporium. Across the street, Zack was letting himself into the hardware store. Farther down the block, a customer hurried into the post office, which, Nikki knew, Jackie and Donna had opened at precisely eight o’clock.
Nikki ambled along the sidewalk in the direction of Boiceville Road. In the windows of many of the storefronts, she saw signs advertising Nelson Day, the fund-raiser to help the Nelson family. She paused to read one of the signs. Nelson Day — which would feature a street fair with sidewalk sales, food, and music — would take place on Labor Day, which was also the end of summer vacation. And then … and then Nikki, Olivia, and Flora would officially become students at Camden Falls Central High School. They would be members of the youngest class, in there with all the older kids, kids as old as eighteen. Nikki shivered despite the heat that was gathering. Olivia wasn’t the only one who was nervous about September.
Nikki shook herself and opened the door to Frank’s Beans. After checking her pockets, she stepped up to the counter, greeted Frank, and, feeling extraordinarily grown-up, ordered an iced tea with extra ice. She selected a seat facing Main Street and sat by the window, sipping her drink, until she saw Min, Olivia, Ruby, and Flora approaching Needle and Thread. In a flash, Nikki tossed her cup in the trash and ran out the door. But she slowed down after she crossed the street. The plan was for Nikki to saunter down the sidewalk and pretend, for Min’s sake, that she had just arrived in town.
“Hi!” she called to her friends.
Min was unlocking the door. “Hello, Nikki,” she said. “I didn’t expect to see you so early.”
Ruby held out the packages. “Look what’s here!” she cried. “What a surprise! Did anybody have any idea it was time for the next books to arrive? And what a coincidence — we’re all here to open them.”
Olivia poked Ruby. “Tone it down, tone it down,” she murmured.
Ruby scowled, but Nikki said brightly, “I can’t wait to see what we got.”
Min held the door open for the girls, and they rushed inside with the packages.
“Who brought them?” whispered Ruby loudly as soon as Min was behind the checkout counter.
“SHHH!” hissed Flora. “Min’s already suspicious because Olivia wanted to come with us this morning.”
“I don’t care!” exclaimed Ruby. “Who brought them?”
“I didn’t see,” confessed Nikki. “I got here at eight-fifteen — as soon as I could — and the packages were already in the doorway. Someone must have left them overnight, or else really, really early this morning.”
“Dang,” said Olivia.
“Oh, well. Let’s open them,” said Flora. “I don’t care if the mystery person is still a mystery. It’s more fun that way.”
Nikki and her friends sat on the couches, each holding her package. “One, two, three … open!” cried Nikki.
Olivia was the first to withdraw the book. “The Summer of the Swans, by Betsy Byars,” she said. She flipped through it. “It’s short.”
“It has pictures, just like Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH,” commented Ruby approvingly.
“You know what?” said Flora. “This book won the Newbery Medal, and so did Roll of Thunder and Mrs. Frisby.”
“What’s the Newbery Medal?” asked Ruby.
“It says right on the book. It’s an award for ‘the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children.’”
“Cool,” said Olivia.
“Let’s read the letter,” said Nikki. She unfolded hers and after a moment said, “Guess what the Saturday activity is. We’re supposed to hold a Brave Saturday and each do something brave. I wonder why.”
“I guess we’ll know after we read the book,” said Flora.
“Let’s read it right now!” cried Olivia.
“What — the whole thing?” asked Ruby.
“Sure. Why not? It’s short. I’ll bet we could finish it in a few hours. Does anybody have anything else to do today? We could go right across the street to the library and read in those comfy chairs.”
“Okay. Let me just call Tobias and tell him where I’ll be,” said Nikki.
It was not often that Nikki spent an entire day on Main Street, but on that sticky July day she didn’t return home until nearly suppertime. After she and her friends read The Summer of the Swans (the older girls entertained themselves on a computer while they waited for Ruby to read the last several chapters), they left the library for College Pizza, where they sat at a booth and ordered sodas.
“Now I see why we’re going to have Brave Saturday,” said Nikki. “All the books we’ve read so far, except maybe The Saturdays, are about bravery.”
The Summer of the Swans was the story of Sara Godfrey, who spends a night in the woods searching for her little brother, Charlie, after he disappears trying to find six swans that have shown up that summer.
“Does Charlie have the same thing Robby does?” asked Ruby as they waited for their sodas.
Olivia shook her head. “Robby has Down syndrome. And Charlie — I don’t know. He doesn’t talk.”
“The kids are mean to him,” said Ruby.
“The kids are mean to Sara, too,” Nikki pointed out, “because her family is different and they don’t have much money. I know exactly how Sara feels. I know a little how Cassie feels in Roll of Thunder, too. Outcasts.”
“Things are better for you now, though, aren’t they?” asked Flora anxiously.
“Better,” agreed Nikki. “But I think once you’ve felt that way, it stays with you.”
“Probably we all feel like outcasts sometimes,” said Olivia.
Nikki played with her straw paper, folding it back and forth, back and forth, into an accordion. Then she dripped water on it and watched it spring to life. No one spoke.
The waitress brought their sodas. When she had left, Ruby said, “Well, I don’t know what I’m going to do on Brave Saturday. I’m not afraid of anything.”
Flora snorted. “Everyone’s afraid of something, Ruby.”
“You’re afraid of so many things, you’l
l have trouble choosing,” Ruby retorted.
“Girls, girls. No fighting now,” said Olivia in her best Gigi voice.
“Let’s have Brave Saturday this Saturday,” said Nikki.
“This Saturday?” exclaimed Olivia. “But that’s so soon.”
“Do you have anything else to do?” asked Flora.
“No,” admitted Olivia.
“Well, okay then. Let’s start thinking.”
“I have an idea,” said Ruby. “Let’s keep our brave things secret until Saturday. We won’t reveal them to each other until we’re ready to do them.”
“Remember,” added Nikki, “the letter said we each have to do something truly brave.”
“How are we going to decide who goes first?” asked Ruby.
It was Saturday. To be more exact, it was the first Saturday of August, which was the month in which Ruby would begin her Turbo Tappers class, the month in which the girls’ garden would finally begin producing vegetables, and the last month of summer vacation.
It was also Brave Saturday, and Ruby and her sister and friends were sitting in the shade of a beech tree in Min’s backyard. Daisy Dear, who had been resting beneath a lawn chair, front legs stretched daintily before her, now crawled out from under the chair, padded across the lawn to the girls, and lowered herself to the grass at Ruby’s feet. Her sides were heaving and she was panting, her mouth open wide.
“Daisy looks like she’s smiling,” observed Olivia.
“She’s just as happy as we are to be outside,” Flora replied. “Even if she is hot. I asked her two times if she wanted to go indoors, and she wouldn’t budge. I think she’s tired of being cooped up in the air-conditioning.”
“Ahem,” said Ruby. “I asked a question.”
“Who will go first today?” said Nikki.
Ruby nodded.
“How about if we draw straws?” said Flora. She turned to Olivia and Nikki. “That’s what our father used to suggest when we needed to make a choice,” she explained.
“That won’t work,” objected Ruby. “We need a fifth person to hold the straws.”
“Okay, then let’s make four slips of paper,” said Nikki, “and write a number — one, two, three, or four — on each slip. We’ll put the slips in a bowl and each choose one. With our eyes closed. Whoever gets number one will go first and so on.”
“Perfect!” said Ruby, who ran inside and returned with a piece of paper, a pencil, and a plastic mixing bowl. “Now,” she said when the slips of paper were ready, “who gets to draw first?”
Olivia giggled. “This could go on forever. We’ll all draw them at the same time, okay? Everybody, close your eyes. On your mark, get set, go!”
After a brief scramble of hands in the bowl, Nikki said, “Does everybody have one?”
“Yes,” said Olivia, Ruby, and Flora.
“Then open your eyes.”
“Uh-oh,” said Flora, peering at her piece of paper. “I guess I’m going first. Well, I’ll be glad to get it over with. Who’s going second?”
“Me,” said Nikki.
“I’m going third,” said Olivia.
“And I’m last,” said Ruby. “Darn. I’ll probably have to wait all day.”
Three heads turned to Flora.
“So what are you going to do?” asked Olivia.
Flora drew in her breath. She let it out slowly and said, “I’m going … to hold a snake.”
Ruby screamed.
“Cool,” said Nikki.
“Where are you going to find a snake?” asked Olivia.
“At the Cheshire Cat. I’m sure Sharon will let me hold one.” The Cheshire Cat, Camden Falls’s pet store, sold pet supplies and small animals — but no cats or dogs, since, as Sharon the owner pointed out, there were already plenty of stray cats and dogs who needed homes.
“Is this really a brave thing you’ll be doing?” Nikki asked Flora.
“Are you kidding?” said Flora, just as Ruby said, “For Flora it is.”
“All right, then. Let’s go.”
The girls led Daisy Dear back into Min’s house and then headed for Main Street. When they reached the Cheshire Cat, they stood in a row and looked through the window.
“Maybe they don’t have snakes right now,” said Ruby.
“Yes, they do. I already checked,” replied Flora. “Little garden snakes or garter snakes. I can’t remember. But some kind that doesn’t bite. Not that it matters. I’m afraid of every single thing about a snake.”
“I think you’re going to be surprised when you actually hold one,” said Olivia.
“What if it slithers out of my hand and escapes?”
“Then I’ll catch it,” replied Olivia. “Come on.”
The girls entered the store, found Sharon, and told her about Brave Saturday.
“And so,” said Flora, “I’ve decided that what I’m going to do is hold a snake, since I’m very, very afraid of them.”
“You’re sure about this?” asked Sharon, who was smiling.
“Positive. Unless you think it’s mean to the snake or something.”
“No, just be gentle.”
Sharon reached into a cage and withdrew a small green snake. “Hold out both hands,” she said.
Flora obliged, and Sharon laid the snake across them.
“Aughhh!” shrieked Flora, but she held still. The snake began to slide forward, and Flora moved her hands with it. “It’s soft,” she said after a moment. “It isn’t slimy like I was expecting. It feels sort of silky.” She paused. “How long do you think I’ve been holding it?”
“About ten seconds,” said Nikki.
“That’s enough.”
Sharon took the snake back, and at once Flora began jumping up and down, wiping her hands on her shorts. “I did it! I did it!” She turned to Sharon. “Can I go wash my hands?”
Five minutes later, Flora, Ruby, Nikki, and Olivia were once again standing on Main Street. “Your turn,” Ruby said to Nikki.
“Okay. Well … all I have to do is go to the post office.”
“What for?” asked Olivia.
“I have to mail a letter. It’s right here in my pocket.” Nikki patted her jeans.
“That doesn’t sound very brave,” said Ruby.
“It’s a letter to my father.” Nikki looked sternly at Ruby. “And I’m not going to tell any of you what’s in it. That’s private.” She kicked at a pebble. “At first I thought maybe my brave thing would be telling Mrs. Grindle, to her face, exactly how I felt last summer when she accused me — in public — of taking the necklace. But then I decided that that had happened too long ago. Anyway, just believe me, sending this letter to my dad is very brave. There are a few things I wanted to say to him.”
A portion of the letter flashed through Nikki’s memory: I don’t know if it’s correct to say that you “abandoned” us, since you didn’t love us. Don’t you have to love a person in order to truly abandon her? I don’t know. Maybe not. But anyway, you had a responsibility to us, and you chose to leave us. So now I think I have the right to tell you what kind of a father you were to me. Nikki winced.
Olivia, Flora, and Ruby were quiet until finally Flora said, “You know where your father is, then?”
“Sort of. He writes to my mom from a post office box in a town in South Carolina. That doesn’t necessarily mean he lives there. Mom thinks he lives somewhere nearby.”
“Nikki,” said Flora, “I know you don’t want to tell us what you wrote, but I can sort of imagine. Are you sure you want to send the letter? I think it was pretty brave of you just to write down your feelings. Maybe you could leave it at that.”
Nikki looked at her friends. “No,” she said after a moment. “I mean, thank you, but I want to mail the letter. For me, that’s the truly brave part. And I want to make absolutely sure the letter goes out. I’m not going to drop it in the mailbox. I want to hand it personally to Donna or Jackie.”
The Cheshire Cat was located next to the post office. N
ikki turned now to look through the post office window. Inside, she could see Donna and Jackie standing behind the counter, waiting on customers.
“Are you ready?” asked Olivia.
Nikki nodded. She pushed the door open and her friends followed her inside.
Nikki stepped up to the counter. “Hi, Donna,” she said. “I have a very important letter here and I want to make sure it gets mailed. Can I give it to you instead of dropping it in the slot?”
“Absolutely,” Donna replied seriously, and she held out her palm.
Nikki placed the letter on it. For a moment, she felt like jumping up and down and wiping her hands on her jeans, as Flora had done after handing the snake back to Sharon. Instead, she turned slowly from the counter and walked toward the door. She looked back at Donna once, and Donna said, frowning, “Are you certain you want to mail this?”
“Yes.” Nikki walked out the door.
Ruby, Flora, and Olivia waited a few moments before following her.
“Nikki, are —” Flora started to say.
But Nikki cut her off. “Okay, Olivia. It’s your turn now.”
“Let’s go sit on the benches,” said Olivia, pointing across the street to the town square. “I have to explain something to you guys before I do my brave thing.”
The girls found an empty bench by a water fountain and sat on it in a row.
Olivia, at one end, leaned forward so the others could see her. “All right. Here’s the thing,” she began. “This probably seems silly to you, but it isn’t silly to me —”
“What isn’t?” asked Ruby.
“I’m going to tell you! It probably seems silly to you,” Olivia continued, “but I can’t stop thinking about Tanya’s party. You just don’t know how much it hurts to be left out of something.”
“I do,” said Nikki.
Olivia nodded. “Maybe. But I was left out of something two of my best friends were invited to. That’s mainly why I was so upset — I felt like I was being torn apart from you guys. And right before we move to the central school, where I think I’ll need you more than ever. Plus, I feel like you two just got bumped up to something better — you know, socially — and I was left behind with the b —” Olivia, glancing at Ruby, caught herself before she said the word babies. “And I was left behind.”