Wanderville by Wendy McClure

Author:Wendy McClure
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Penguin Group US
Published: 2014-01-23T05:00:00+00:00

They started with knot-tying lessons. Jack seemed to lack the patience to sit on the log bench practicing bowlines, so Alexander showed them how to get a rope looped around a tall tree branch without climbing the tree. Frances and Harold watched while Jack threw the rope and pulled it taut.

“Guess it’s not too hard,” Jack said. It was like when he’d help his mother loop her clothesline over the fire escape rails.

Frances was looking up at the rope. “What kind of knots would you need to tie at the end to turn that rope into a good swing?” she asked.

“Excellent question!” Alexander replied. “A few figure eights would do the trick.”

“Then show me,” Frances said.

Frances proved to be a quick study with the knots. She figured it came from her needlework lessons at the orphanage. “Crochet’s just a fancy kind of knotting,” she said.

An hour later, everyone had tried the rope swing and agreed that Frances deserved high marks in knot-tying.

The berry-foraging lesson turned out to be a berry-foraging lecture, since it was still May and berries weren’t in season yet. But Alexander still tried to give the others a few tips that were easy to remember.

“Do you like red licorice or the black kind?” Alexander asked Harold.

“Red!” Harold said. “The black licorice tastes funny.”

“Well, it’s sort of the opposite with berries,” Alexander explained. “The black and dark purple ones are more likely to be edible than the red ones.”

Jack raised his hand. “Actually, I like black licorice better. Does that mean I should look for red berries instead?”

“No, no,” Alexander said. “I was just trying to illustrate a point about how it’s better to look for black berries than red ones. Also, you should never eat white berries.”

Harold raised his hand. “What about white licorice?”

“There’s no such thing as white licorice,” Jack said.

“There is too,” Harold insisted.

Frances raised her hand. “Wait, I was practicing my knots and I wasn’t paying attention. Can you repeat the part about making licorice? Do you have to boil the berries or something?”

“Never mind,” Alexander sighed. “Let’s just move on to building campfires.”

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