September Surprises Read online

  In memory of Uncle Paul

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Map

  Dedication

  Chapter 1 A Peek in the Windows

  Chapter 2 Monday, September 1st

  Chapter 3 Tuesday, September 2nd

  Chapter 4 Wednesday, September 3rd

  Chapter 5 Thursday, September 4th

  Chapter 6 Friday, September 5th

  Chapter 7 Saturday, September 6th

  Chapter 8 Sunday, September 7th

  Chapter 9 Monday, September 8th

  Chapter 10 Tuesday, September 9th

  Chapter 11 Wednesday, September 10th

  Chapter 12 Thursday, September 11th

  Chapter 13 Friday, September 12th

  Chapter 14 Saturday, September 13th

  Chapter 15 Sunday, September 14th

  Chapter 16 Monday, September 15th

  Chapter 17 Tuesday, September 16th

  Chapter 18 Wednesday, September 17th

  Chapter 19 Thursday, September 18th

  Chapter 20 Friday, September 19th

  Chapter 21 Saturday, September 20th

  Chapter 22 Sunday, September 21st

  Chapter 23 Monday, September 22nd

  Chapter 24 Tuesday, September 23rd

  Chapter 25 Wednesday, September 24th

  Chapter 26 Thursday, September 25th

  Chapter 27 Friday, September 26th

  Chapter 28 Saturday, September 27th

  Chapter 29 Sunday, September 28th

  Chapter 30 Monday, September 29th

  Chapter 31 Tuesday, September 30th

  Chapter 32 October

  About the Author

  Also Available

  Copyright

  If you have never been to Camden Falls, Massachusetts, you might feel a small thrill, a little shiver up your back, the first time you see one of the signs reading WELCOME TO CAMDEN FALLS. There are four of these signs on the outskirts of town — one on the approach from the county road near where Nikki Sherman lives, one several miles out on Boiceville Road, and two on Route 6A, one facing north and one facing south. The people who live in Camden Falls take little notice of the signs. They pass them often, and the signs have become part of the landscape of their lives, like trees and rock walls and their own driveways — comfortable and comforting, but unremarkable.

  If you are a newcomer to Camden Falls, though, consulting your map and following directions as the road unfurls before you, you might feel a surge of relief and excitement when at last you see one of the signs. Fourteen months ago, two sisters, Flora and Ruby Northrop, saw the north-facing sign and knew their lives were about to change forever. The girls felt neither relief nor excitement and tried hard not to cry. But on this late August day, a man driving along Route 6A comes to one of the signs and begins to smile. It’s not the first time he’s seen the sign, but it’s one of the first times, and the experience still makes his heart sing. He’s ready for a new phase of his life, ready to settle down in this small town where everybody knows everybody, or at least almost everybody. In Camden Falls, he imagines, you can walk along Main Street and greet the shopkeepers and appreciate the changes, great and small, that each season brings.

  This newcomer hasn’t yet met his neighbors, hasn’t experienced Halloween on Main Street, hasn’t seen the field of pumpkins at Davidson’s Orchards, isn’t acquainted with Min and Gigi and Mrs. Grindle and the Walters and the other Main Street shopkeepers, and doesn’t know that Flora Northrop (now a different and much happier girl) will be one of his memorable seventh-grade pupils at Camden Falls Central High School this year. Still, the sign makes him smile, and he relaxes as he turns right off of 6A, then right again onto Main Street, and finally through town to his new home, pleased with himself for already knowing the route.

  This man — Vincent Barnes is his name — steers his car confidently toward his new house and his new life. Leave him for now and take a closer look at Main Street. If you stand with your back to Stuff ’n’ Nonsense, you’ll see Needle and Thread, Camden Falls’s sewing store, across the street. It’s the end of the day and Min and Gigi, co-owners of the store and grandmothers to Flora and Ruby Northrop and Olivia Walter, are closing up shop. Min looks at her watch, then out the window, and remarks, “The days are already growing shorter. Have you noticed? Not Labor Day yet, but fall is on the way.”

  Turn right and walk to the end of the block. Kitty-corner across the street are the neon lights spelling out MARQUIS DINER. The signs of the fire that destroyed the building at the beginning of the summer are barely visible, and the diner will re-open shortly. The Nelsons, the family who owns the Marquis, are locking the door and leaving for their rented home. “If,” says ten-year-old Hilary Nelson, “there had never been a fire, we wouldn’t have to go anywhere when it was time to close up. We’d already be at home.” She looks wistfully at the apartment above the diner that was destroyed along with the Marquis. It’s been a difficult summer for Hilary and her family.

  Now turn left on Dodds Lane, then right on Aiken Avenue. The long stone building ahead of you is home to Min, Flora, and Ruby, to Olivia Walter and her family, and to six other families. Eight tidy yards, eight front doors — these are the Row Houses, and the people who live here make up a small community of their own. A peek in the windows shows you that it’s nearly supper time for most of these families. In the house on the left end, the Morris children are helping their parents by setting the table. Mr. Morris is stirring spaghetti sauce, Mrs. Morris is chopping vegetables for a salad, Travis is saying, “Can we eat dinner outside?” and Alyssa, the youngest Morris, is saying, “When I start kindergarten, can I have a new bedtime?”

  Next door to the Morrises is the quietest house in the row. It’s the home of Mr. and Mrs. Willet, but earlier this year, Mrs. Willet moved into a nursing home, and Mr. Willet, married to his beloved Mary Lou for decades and decades, has decided to join her there. He can’t bear to be alone any longer. Now he’s standing in front of the freezer, trying to decide which frozen meal to heat up for his dinner. His cat, Sweetie, sits on the counter, watching him.

  At the other end of the row, Mr. and Mrs. Fong are feeding their baby and their dogs and making their own dinner at the same time. “Bedlam,” says Barbara Fong, looking fondly around the kitchen, although it really isn’t bedlam at all.

  In the middle two houses live Flora and her family and Olivia and her family. Min is still closing up Needle and Thread, but Flora and Ruby, in the fourth house from the left, have gotten supper underway on their own.

  “We’re almost like real cooks,” says Ruby, who’s ten. “I wish I had a chef’s hat.”

  “Min’s going to be surprised by dessert,” replies Flora. “She doesn’t know we learned how to make brownies.”

  Flora and Ruby have only recently been allowed to use the stove when Min isn’t home, and they are proud of themselves.

  Next door, in the fourth house from the right, Olivia and her mother stand side by side in the kitchen, while in the living room, Olivia’s brothers fight over the remote control for the television. “Do you ever get tired of cooking?” Olivia asks her mother. Her parents own a store on Main Street called Sincerely Yours. Among the items for sale are candies and baked goods made by Mrs. Walter.

  Mrs. Walter pauses. “It’s my passion,” she replies.

  Olivia nods. She understands passions. But she isn’t sure her friends understand her passion, which is science. “Mom,” says Olivia, “I don’t want to go to the central school.”

  Mrs. Walter considers her daughter. “I know you don’t. But your dad and I are here to help you. Always remember that.”

  In every corner of Camden Falls, stories are unfolding. Peek in the window
s of houses, of stores, of businesses, of workshops, and you’ll find drama and ordinariness and life marching forward. Here is Mr. Barnes unlocking the door to his new home. Here is Alyssa Morris waiting impatiently for kindergarten to begin. Here is Mr. Willet poised to leave the Row Houses. And here are Flora and Ruby Northrop, Olivia Walter, and Nikki Sherman — best friends — at the end of another summer with a new school year stretching ahead. They are about to turn the corner to September, leaving August behind.

  Flora Northrop paid close attention to the passage of time. She enjoyed counting things. In June, she had counted the days of summer vacation that lay ahead (seventy-five). She liked knowing how many days until her birthday and until Christmas. One year, she had begun counting the days to her birthday on the day after her previous birthday, and so all year long she woke up thinking, Three hundred and sixty-four days. Or, A hundred and eighty-three days. Not until she reached fifty did she start adding the word just at the beginning of each thought: Just fifty more days. Just seventeen more days. And at long last, Just one more day until my birthday!

  On Labor Day, September 1st of the year in which Flora would move to the big central school and begin seventh grade there, she found herself doing quite a lot of counting. Only one more day of summer vacation, was her first thought of the morning. She was still lying in her bed, and when she peeked over the edge, she found Daisy Dear sprawled on the floor below, looking hopefully up at Flora, her golden tail sweeping the floor. Flora reached down and rubbed Daisy’s belly.

  “Can you believe that Ruby and I have lived here with you for …” (Flora closed her eyes and thought) “for fourteen months,” she said after a moment, “and I’m not sure how many days. Seven or eight, maybe. Can you believe it, Daisy? I can’t. And tomorrow school starts. Then nine and a half months of school —”

  “Are you talking to yourself again?” called Ruby from her bedroom across the hall.

  “Sort of,” said Flora.

  “Either you are or you aren’t.”

  “I am.”

  “I bet you’re counting stuff, too,” said Ruby. “Starting with days left of vacation. And ha-ha, I have three more days.”

  Flora didn’t reply. She trailed her hand up and down Daisy’s furry tummy and wished dogs could purr.

  “Flora?” said Ruby.

  “Shh. I need my thinking time.”

  “Okay. But you don’t want to be late for Nelson Day. If today does have to be your last one of vacation — your last one, not mine, ha-ha — at least it’ll be a pretty good day.”

  “I know. But I still need my thinking time.”

  No further sounds issued from Ruby’s room. Flora returned to her thoughts. She wondered if maybe tomorrow couldn’t be considered a vacation day as well. Or at least not a school day, since it wasn’t officially the first day of school. What it was, officially, was orientation for the seventh-graders at Camden Falls Central High School, the huge school that served all the students in grades seven through twelve from Camden Falls and six surrounding townships.

  No wonder we need orienting, Flora thought. Not only was the school unfamiliar (and giant), but most of the students would be unfamiliar, too. The only ones Flora would know were those who had been with her in the sixth-grade classes at Camden Falls Elementary, the school Ruby would have the good fortune to attend for two more years.

  Flora felt a surge of panic. It rose from her belly into her chest. “Come up here with me, Daisy,” she said desperately, and she patted her blankets and coaxed the galumphing golden retriever until at last Daisy heaved herself onto Flora’s bed. A bit reluctantly, Flora thought. Still, it was pleasant and very comforting to be able to fling her arms around Daisy Dear and hold tight, something she hadn’t been able to do before she and Ruby had moved to Camden Falls to live with Min. Daisy was Min’s dog, and before the momentous change in Flora’s life, Flora had known only cats — a trail of them, ending with King Comma, who now lived under Min’s roof as well and, to Flora’s relief, had made his peace with the idea of sharing close quarters with a dog.

  The momentous change in Flora’s life had taken place nineteen and a half months earlier, on a bitterly cold and stormy January night. A truck traveling too fast on a slick road had collided with the car in which Flora was riding with Ruby and their parents. Flora and Ruby had survived, unhurt; their parents had been killed instantly. And just like that, Flora’s life had changed. Oh, she knew that her life — that everybody’s lives — changed every single second of every single day. But there was no denying that some changes were bigger than others, and had much bigger consequences. The accident was one of them. Flora thought, in fact, that there was a good chance no bigger change would ever happen to her or to Ruby.

  After the accident, Min had temporarily left behind her life in Camden Falls and had gone to stay with Flora and Ruby in their home. But by the end of the school year, she had sold their house, packed up their belongings, and moved her granddaughters back to Camden Falls — to the row house in which not only Min had grown up, but Flora and Ruby’s own mother as well. Flora, who had thought she would live in her hometown until she went to college, now found herself in a different town — in a different bedroom in a different house with different best friends and a very different life.

  “Flora? Are you done thinking?” called Ruby.

  “I guess.”

  “Well, come on, then. We don’t want to miss a second of Nelson Day. Min’s going to leave soon.”

  Flora looked at Daisy. “You can go now,” she told her. “I know you want to.” Daisy leaped off the bed and skittered out of the room, and Flora closed her door so she could have privacy while dressing.

  From the hallway she heard Ruby’s voice again. “Is Olivia coming with us or is she going to meet us in town?”

  “She’s meeting us in town. Nikki, too,” Flora called.

  “I hope Nelson Day raises lots and lots of money for Hilary’s family,” said Ruby. “And to think it was all my idea.”

  Flora, fully dressed, opened her door. “At least you’re modest about it,” she said.

  “Girls?” Min’s voice floated up from the first floor. “Are you coming with me? I need to leave for the store in twenty minutes.”

  “Coming!” Flora and Ruby dashed down the stairs and into the kitchen. They ate a hurried breakfast while Min drank one final cup of coffee.

  “You should see the corduroy that came in on Friday,” Min remarked. “Some really lovely florals and paisleys.”

  Ruby, who had no interest whatsoever in corduroy or fabric or sewing, said nothing. But Flora looked eagerly at her grandmother. “Really? Could I make something for one of the store displays? A vest, maybe?”

  “Hey, could we decorate the window for Halloween?” said Ruby, without waiting for Min to answer Flora. She remembered with sudden happiness the hours she, her sister, Nikki, and Olivia had spent decorating the window of Needle and Thread for Christmas the previous year.

  “Yes to both of you,” replied Min.

  “Thank you,” said Flora.

  “Sweet!” said Ruby.

  “Ready?” asked Min. And she and her granddaughters set out for Main Street and Nelson Day and the last bits of summer vacation.

  “It’s over, it’s over,” moaned Olivia, as she slid into her place at the breakfast table.

  “What? Vacation?” asked her brother Henry with a smirk. He grinned across the table at Jack. “Not for us. We still have two more days.”

  “No. Not vacation,” replied Olivia, making a face. “My life.”

  “Olivia,” said her mother. “For heaven’s sake.”

  Olivia slid her plate aside and buried her head in her arms. “Well, it is. The central school is too big. And I’ll probably be the youngest student there. Everyone is going to tease me. Only now there’ll be a million more kids to do the teasing. Why did I ever have to skip a grade?”

  “I’m sorry you’re so smart,” said her father.

 
“And what kind of an attitude is that?” asked her mother.

  “A pitiful one,” mumbled Olivia. “But I don’t care.”

  “Well, if you go off to school in this frame of mind,” said Mr. Walter, “you’re bound to have a bad day. No matter what happens.”

  Olivia said nothing.

  “How long does orientation last?” asked her father more gently.

  “I think it’s over at eleven.”

  “Why don’t you come to the store afterward and tell us all about it? Bring Flora and Nikki with you, if you want. We’ll buy sandwiches at the market and you girls can have a picnic at the store.”

  “Hey, why do they get a treat?” asked Jack, dropping his spoon indignantly into his cereal, causing a splash.

  “Everyone gets treats at different times for different reasons,” said Mrs. Walter evenly. “Now, come on, Olivia. I insist you eat breakfast before you leave. No skipping meals.”

  “Maybe that’s why she’s so small for her age,” murmured Henry. “Maybe —” But he was silenced by a look from his parents.

  Wordlessly, Olivia ate her breakfast, then dropped a pad of paper into her backpack, in case she needed to take notes. As she headed for the front door, she said over her shoulder to her family, “This may be one of the last times you see me alive. I’ve heard what the older kids at Central do to the seventh-graders on the first day of school. So you all better enjoy me today. I might not survive tomorrow.”

  She slammed the door behind her and didn’t hear Jack’s startled question: “What do the big kids do on the first day of school, Mommy?”

  Olivia crossed her yard and trudged up Flora’s front steps. She was about to ring the bell when the door opened and out stepped Flora, her own backpack slung over one shoulder.

  “Good luck, girls!” called Min from the kitchen. “Flora, stop in at the store on your way home, okay?”

  “Hey, my dad said to come to Sincerely Yours for —” Olivia started to say, but she stopped when a window above her was flung open.

  “Have fun at school, ha-ha!” Ruby shouted from her bedroom. “I’ll just be up here, playing on the computer and —”