Shadow-Catcher by Betty Levin

Author:Betty Levin [Levin, Betty]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-06-206296-3
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2000-02-15T00:00:00+00:00

19

It was still dark when Grandpa went out to feed Teddy. By the time the rest of the household was in the kitchen for breakfast, dawn was just breaking. Grandpa chivied everyone. If they hurried, he would be the first vendor in Firth Field, where most of the activities would take place. He wanted to secure his usual position near the big oak tree that would shade Teddy through the hottest time of day.

The two Mrs. Noones held firm against him. The day would be long, they said as they poured coffee and flipped pancakes and turned bacon. The children should start it with a nourishing meal.

Jonathan, who hadn’t shaken the memory of those first hungry days on the road with Grandpa, ate as if to ward off starvation. But Annie was on Grandpa’s side. Even though the wagon was already loaded up, she still had last-minute touches for the harness. She kept popping out of her chair, only to be ordered back to the table to finish what was on her plate.

“I can’t,” she protested. “I’ll be ill.”

“In that case you’d better stay home,” her mother told her.

Annie mopped up maple syrup with the last forkful of pancake and stuffed it into her mouth.

Later, admiring Teddy, his black mane and forelock sporting red, white, and blue streamers, she said, “He belongs in the parade.” But Jonathan’s eyes were on all the decorations in town and then, after the steep drive uphill, on the imposing granite pillars and solid stone wall that marked the entrance to Mr. Firth’s residence. Grandpa drove Teddy past that entrance and on along a cart track that led to the fenced field that Mr. Firth made available every July Fourth for the town’s festivities.

Just inside the field Grandpa turned Teddy full circle and stopped with the wagon angled away from the wire fence. This created a protected area for selling baskets and novelties and for picture taking. The beribboned horse was tied to a weathered fence post near the tree that would shelter him from the afternoon sun.

Grandpa and the two Mrs. Noones, who stayed to set up the wagon studio and the sales booth, let Jonathan and Annie take off to scout out a spot for watching the parade. On the town green, the final loop of the parade route, they chose a tree with a low limb for a perch. The limb, which elbowed out and then up, allowed them to see over the heads of those who lined the street.

That started a trend. Pretty soon more boys and a few girls were using trees as perches, until a father called two girls down and scolded them for making an unladylike show of themselves. One of them defended herself bypointing to Annie, only to be told that such behavior could be expected from that sort of girl.

“What does he mean?” Jonathan asked Annie, who was staring straight ahead, her face expressionless.

“You know,” Annie said.

“I don’t,” Jonathan insisted.

“He’s talking about mixed breeding. As far as he reckons, I’m nothing.

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