The Sky is Falling by Kit Pearson

Author:Kit Pearson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: PENGUIN GROUP (CANADA)

14

Bernard

Norah woke up early and peeled off her wet sheet before she had time to think about it. Then she got back on top of the bed and reviewed her plan, listening to the slow clomp of the milkman’s horse in the street.

She had decided to play truant. Never before had she done something so risky. In Ringden, where everyone was aware of everyone else’s affairs, she would be spotted immediately if she were out of school. But Toronto was a large city; no one would know or care.

She had noticed that when Babs had forgotten to bring a note last week, Miss Liers hadn’t insisted on one. “Try to remember next time,” was all she had said. Perhaps Norah could get away with pretending she’d been ill.

But what if she didn’t? What if she were caught? The worst consequence she could imagine was the Ogilvies and the school being very angry. Maybe she would even be sent to live with another family. It had always been upsetting to have her parents or her headmaster angry with her, but she had no warm feelings towards either the Ogilvies or Prince Edward School. And being sent to another family couldn’t be any worse than being here; it might even be better.

The black cloud mood descended and she felt reckless and defiant. She could have a whole day of freedom, without the aggravation of either the Ogilvies or school.

“May I take my lunch to school?” she asked at breakfast, trying to keep the nervousness out of her voice.

Aunt Mary looked pleased. “That would be a help today. Mother and Gavin will be at the museum and I have an Altar Guild meeting. It would give Hanny more time to do the grocery shopping.”

Norah left the house as usual and went straight to her retreat in the ravine. She still hadn’t made a fort, but she’d pulled logs together to form a kind of chair. She perched on it jubilantly, stripping the leaves off a twig and trying to ignore guilty thoughts of her parents.

What would they think if they knew? Well, they didn’t; they were too far away. What if Aunt Florence knew? The fact that she didn’t made Norah grin with triumph. The only people she wished could see her now were Charlie and his gang—then they’d know she wasn’t a coward.

She stayed in the cool glen for a long time, hugging her knees to her chest. She had only planned as far as not going to school; how to fill the day in front of her was a challenge. It might be interesting to explore Toronto, as long as she avoided the museum. But she didn’t know where that was, anyway. Perhaps she could go for a ride on a streetcar. Aunt Florence had begun to give her pocket money—she called it “allowance”—every week. She could have a streetcar ride, then go somewhere to eat her lunch. There was still the afternoon, but by then she might have thought of something else.

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