The Aviary by Kathleen O'Dell

Author:Kathleen O'Dell
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: (¯`'•.¸//(*_*)\\¸.•'´¯)
ISBN: 9780375989353
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 2011-09-12T14:00:00+00:00

Clara was about to take the links out of the box when she heard Ruby and her mother speaking animatedly somewhere in the house.

Gathering up everything from the bed, she wished she had opened Mrs. Glendoveer’s album first. Now that discovery would have to wait as she tucked away her new finds in her bureau drawer, covered them with a pile of winter woolens, straightened her skirts, and went out to meet her mother.

“Well, Harriet, I’ve lived in this city half my life, and I’ve never seen a crowd like that in Lockhaven on a Thursday afternoon,” Ruby was saying as Clara entered the kitchen.

“Crowds?” asked Clara. “What for?”

“They’re showing a moving picture downtown,” Ruby told her. “They call it The Great Train Robbery. The old theater had lines around the block, and the trolleys are full!”

“Did you fear we were never coming home?” asked her mother.

“Oh, Mama,” answered Clara, “but you always do come home.”

Her mother seemed satisfied with this remark until something about Clara seemed to catch her eye. “Turn around,” she said.

Clara did, once.

“Whatever has happened to your hem?” Her mother knelt behind Clara and picked up the edge of her dress. “There’s a hole here big as a half-dollar.”

“Is there?”

“Yes,” she said. “Surely you heard it rip. How did you do it?”

Clara shrugged. “I can mend it myself.”

“I’m not concerned about the mending,” said her mother. “I’m concerned with how you managed to tear your clothing.”

“I can’t tell you how I did it,” Clara said evenly, though she could feel the heat rise in her cheeks. Today had already been full of too much novelty, and in her tired state Clara believed she might betray some emotion she would later regret.

Her mother bit the inside of her mouth, considered, and rose. “All right,” she said. “As long as you do mend it.”

Clara looked at her hands and hid them. Her nails were dirty, and she felt the dust of the boiler room clinging to her skin.

“It’s best you change out of those clothes before supper,” her mother said, looking her up and down. “And I think you could do with a bath as well.”

The days had lengthened enough to provide a dreamy, lingering twilight, and Clara loved delaying the lighting of lamps. Through the clerestory window above the tub, she saw the sky turning dusky blue, then soft purple. It seemed like a good time to talk to Cenelia Glendoveer.

“Mrs. Glendoveer, I’m going to open your album tonight. I hope that’s all right, seeing that you did trust me with your locket and the key. I’m trying to help your children. Do you understand?”

No sign manifested from the departed, which made Clara feel a little silly. The world had so changed for her that she could find herself chatting up the air one moment and wondering about her sanity the next. However, no news was better than “no” itself, and Clara took extra candles to her room that evening, intent on poring over Cenelia Glendoveer’s secret book.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.