Hidden Powers by Jeannine Atkins

Author:Jeannine Atkins
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Published: 2022-01-18T00:00:00+00:00

The Garden Shed

A string of bells jingle on the bakery door.

A plump woman cheerfully says, Guten Tag, Frau Professor!

Lise chooses an apple cake, says, Danke,

and asks, as always, How is your little girl?

Good! The saleswoman grins and folds the cake in paper

as tenderly as if dressing a baby. She carefully creases

the paper and winds it with red-and-white twine

she unspins from a big spool. She blesses

Lise as she puts the wrapped cake into her hands.

It seems lovely until Lise sets it on Elisabeth’s table

by a cake Andrea Wolffenstein made,

with waves of chocolate frosting. Women coo

as they discover caramel between the sixth and seventh layers.

Lise drags straw-bottomed chairs into the parlor.

Guests without chairs sit on the floor or on pillows,

some with plates of the seven-layered cake on their laps.

They listen to Andrea play violin, quite perfectly.

During applause and happy chatter

between pieces, Lise steps outside.

Elisabeth joins her by pink snapdragons. Lise says,

I should have brought you a fancier cake and roses.

Andrea is my sister’s friend. Elisabeth reaches

into a pocket, pulls out the striped bakery twine.

She playfully loops it over Lise’s shoulders.

We can cut some snapdragons. I’ll get my clippers.

Lise follows Elisabeth into the potting shed,

which smells of clover and good earth.

As her eyes adjust to the dimness, she sees

stacked clay pots, a watering can, a rusty spade,

and notebooks with covers that waffle from moist pages.

A photograph of Lise and Elisabeth at the river

is tacked to one wall. Their bare legs stretch

to the water, their straw hats tossed to the side.

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