Penny Dreadful (13 page)

Penny nodded firmly. “I do.”

“The short version,” said Delia, “is that we inherited this house, but with it we inherited a great deal of debt—ridiculous debt—that my aunt amassed caring for a herd of rare, sick llamas, who all died anyway. If you can believe that.” Delia let out a frustrated sigh. “When Betty needed money, she borrowed from the bank, against the house, so now that
we
own the house,
we
are supposed to pay that money off. We are supposed to somehow pay them a huge amount every month, starting
next
month.”

“Oh,” said Penny.

“Which,” said Delia, “we did not budget for when we left The City. And which we do not have, since the real estate agent hasn’t managed to rent out the city house!”

“Oh,” said Penny again.

“The
other
problem,” added Delia, “is that we also inherited all of Betty’s friends, so we don’t have the option of selling
this
place, because anyone who might want to buy it would also have to take the tenants rent-free, by the terms of the deed.” Delia sighed again. “Though, if the bank forecloses on
us
, the terms of the deed will be null and void. So the
bank
could turn everyone out, or charge whatever they like in rent.
That
hardly seems fair!”

Penny was trying to follow, but it all sounded very complicated.

“It’s quite a situation,” added Dirk with a sour smile. “Just the sort of thing someone might put in a novel. Ironic, eh?”

“But what will we do?” asked Penny.

Delia shrugged. “Tonight? Eat soup, I guess. Think it over. Crunch some numbers. Hope for a solution. Pinch pennies. Look for a job.”

“Oh,” said Penny one more time, since she didn’t know what else to say. She waited for her parents to tell her that everything would be fine, but all she heard was the buzzing of a fly caught against the window screen.

Delia looked at Penny. “I’m sorry the news isn’t happier, but do you feel better now that you know?” she asked.

Penny thought about the question and shook her head. “Not better, really. But different. I think maybe I’ll go eat in the living room now. Thanks for telling me—I guess.”

“You’re welcome,” said Delia. “
I guess
. Enjoy your dinner, dear. I still need to do this paperwork, and your dad has offered to tackle the dishes, but we’ll come in to see you later. Maybe we can all play a hand of cards or something.”

Only they didn’t. Dirk and Delia stayed in the kitchen for hours. Eventually Penny crawled into her
creaky bed and went to sleep without reading. She had other things to think about tonight: real things, worrisome things.

The next morning Penny woke up and headed into the kitchen as usual. At the sight of Penny’s rumpled hair, Delia smiled apologetically. She made room at the table and shoved a pile of napkins on top of the calculator and the pad full of scribbled numbers. “I’m sorry I was so cranky and busy last night, dear.”

“It’s okay,” said Penny.

“No, it’s not,” said Delia. “But I promise, your father and I are done talking about money. For now, at least. Raspberry jam? Or strawberry? Both look good.”

“Both
are
good,” said Dirk. “They came from a little stand over at the gas station. Where they also happen to sell antiques and bluegrass records.”

“I don’t know,” said Penny. She still felt a little confused about the money matters from the night before, but since her parents both appeared to be feeling better, Penny decided to cheer up too. She grinned. “I’ll have both!”

“Nice move,” said Dirk, handing her two pieces of toast, thickly spread with jam. Then he poured her a glass of milk.

Delia made more toast while Dirk told Penny about
the various fruit trees he’d discovered on his walk in the garden. Finally Delia cleared her throat and patted Dirk’s hand. She said, “That’s fascinating about the orchard, darling, but I think Penny said she’d made a friend. Wouldn’t we rather hear about that?”

“Oh, yes, certainly!” said Dirk, pouring more cream into his coffee. “Do tell, Penny.”

So, at
last
, with her mouth full of sticky jam and toasty crumbs, Penny had a chance to tell her parents about the day she’d spent with Luella, about the fort and the worms and the cookies. She even explained in detail what a noogie was, and generously offered to show them, though they declined. The whole time, her parents sipped their coffee and listened to her, looking quite happy despite their complicated woes.

“My grampy,” Delia said at last, with a smile that looked a little wistful to Penny, “would be so glad to know you’re here, running around like he did.”

“Hey,” said Dirk, “I bet you make even
more
friends today! I bet there’s a whole slew of kids around here. You should just go knock on all the doors and say hello, introduce yourself, see who’s around!”

Penny thought briefly about the girl with the shining blond hair and the flowers. She remembered standing at the bottom of the porch steps and blushed faintly at the
memory. Then she thought of Luella and shook her head. “I only need one friend,” she said. “One best friend.”

Just then the doorbell rang. Penny jumped up and shouted out, “Hey! I bet that’s her now!”

Delia smiled and reached for the newspaper as Dirk stood and headed for the sink full of soapy dishes.

But the person Penny found at the door did not look like her tangle-haired friend at all.
This
girl had her wild dark curls neatly pulled into two short pigtails.
This
girl had rolled the ends of a clean pair of cutoffs so that they looked like smart denim shorts.
This
girl was wearing a pair of blue sneakers tied with flowered laces.

“You look—different!” Penny couldn’t hide her surprise.

Luella (because, of course, it
was
Luella, just cleaned up a bit) raised her hands to her little pigtails and gave them a twirl. “Eh, I figured I could try something new,” she said. “Besides, it probably won’t last long.” As she said this, a curl escaped a pigtail and sproinged crazily to the top of her head.

Delia made a place for Luella at the table, and while Penny ate her toast and a yogurt, Luella drank a glass of juice and planned their day. Penny licked jam from her fingers and nodded at Luella’s suggestion of a walk to
Main Street for penny candy. The two girls chattered as Delia read the paper and Dirk fussed about at the stove. It was all very pleasant until Luella began to read over Delia’s shoulder.

“What’re you looking for?” she asked, craning her neck to see what it was Delia had been reading. “Employment section, huh? You looking for a job? I heard my mom say the town needs a new garbageman. The last one
drank.
” She made a tipping motion with her hand as though chugging a beer.

Delia folded the paper, saying, “Sometimes, dear, it’s nice to respect other people’s privacy.”

“Oh,” said Luella with a slight frown. “Sorry. I was only trying to be helpful, but if you’re not interested, suit yourself.” She turned away and took a loud sip of juice.

Penny glanced over at her friend and considered that perhaps Luella was still working on the being honest thing herself.

Dirk rinsed a plate and gave a chuckle.

“What’s so funny, Daddy?” asked Penny, looking up.

“Nothing, really,” said Dirk. “I was just trying to imagine your mother as a garbagelady.”

Delia turned around and looked at him intently. “What’s so funny about that?”

“Oh, well,” said Dirk, registering surprise at her reaction. “I guess I just think of you as someone who likes pretty things. Nice smells and fresh flowers and good art. I just don’t think of you as a garbage kind of girl.”

Delia said nothing in response, but Penny noticed that the firm gaze she’d had at the law office had returned to her eyes.

“What kind of job
do
you want?” asked Luella. “What do you
do
?”

Dirk answered for her. “Delia here is good at all kinds of things, but when
I
met her, she was singing in a swanky nightclub in a long red gown. She was something else!” He whistled appreciatively.

“That’s true,” added Delia quietly. “And thank you, dear. But before I moved to The City and met you, I did all sorts of jobs. Some things even
you
don’t know about, Dirk.”

“Is that so?” asked Dirk. He looked surprised.

Delia nodded.

“Huh!” said Dirk. “Well, were you ever a garbagelady?”

“No,” replied Delia thoughtfully. “No, I never was that. But I waited tables and gave piano lessons and worked at a pet store, and one summer I was a nanny to a family with
seven
kids. I’ve done
all
sorts of things.”

Penny, who didn’t even know her mom played piano,
was curious to hear more, but she was still in her pajamas, so she excused herself to get dressed.

When she got back to the kitchen, Dirk stood up. “Anyway, day’s a-wasting. You girls want a ride anywhere?” he asked. “I need to run back to town. I want to see if I can find some saffron for this marinade recipe I found in Betty’s old cookbook. It sounds interesting.” He was holding his finger to a stained page in a dusty notebook.

“Nah,” said Luella. “Walking is half the fun. Right, Penny?”

“Yeth,” said Penny as she stuffed in her last mouthful of toast. As she swallowed, she couldn’t help wondering how much her father
really
wanted to get back to his writing.

“Suit yourselves!” said Dirk, reaching for his keys.

Delia spread out the newspaper again and began to read.

“Are you ready?” Penny asked Luella.

“Always,” said Luella.

B
ETTER
S
ORRY
T
HAN
S
AFE

P
enny and Luella had just reached the porch when a terrible bellow began to sound. Penny gasped, but Luella didn’t bat an eye. In fact, she didn’t even seem to have noticed the noise. She merely continued picking orange juice pulp from her teeth.

“Luella!” cried Penny. “Listen! Should we get my dad?”

“No,” said Luella, rolling her eyes. “That’s just Mr. Weatherall, and it’s almost certainly no big deal. But I guess we can go check it out. That way you can meet Duncan!” She took off in the direction of the little red house made of doors.

“Who’s Mr. Weatherall?” asked Penny, running to keep up. “And who’s Duncan?”

“You’ll see,” Luella called over her shoulder. “Come on!”

The screams continued as they ran. Just as they reached the door of the red house, everything went quiet.

“Oh!” said Penny. “I guess that means they’re okay.”

Luella made a face. “No. That just means Benadryl.”

“What?” asked Penny. “Huh?”

“It’s really nothing serious,” said Luella, knocking on the door. “This happens about once a week. Duncan sneaks around and eats something that’s on his list of allergy foods. When Mr. Weatherall catches him, he yells his face off. Then he stops yelling and gives him some Benadryl, just in case. It’s kind of weird.”

“
Kind of
weird?” Penny thought it sounded upsetting. “Mr. Weatherall is Duncan’s dad?”

Luella nodded.

Just then the door swung open and a haggard-looking man peeked out, rubbing his chin worriedly. “Hello?” When he saw it was Luella, he pushed open the screen door. “Come in, come in. Maybe
you
can talk some sense into Duncan. He listens to you. I don’t know what’s gotten into that boy lately. He’s been
eating
again.”

“Yeah, I heard,” said Luella, a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

“I just don’t understand him!” fretted his father. “Why does he take such risks? Perhaps he needs to see another specialist. Do you think he has a problem?”

“I think
someone
might have a problem,” said Luella, rolling her eyes at Mr. Weatherall, who was too overwrought to notice.

Penny followed Luella, who made her way straight through the house. In the back bedroom they found a boy sitting on a bed. He looked like almost every other boy Penny had ever seen. He had brown hair and a few freckles, and he was wearing a striped shirt. Penny wondered why boys seemed to wear stripes all the time.

The average-looking boy was sipping a glass of water and frowning at the same time. Penny couldn’t help noticing that the bed had guardrails on it, which seemed odd for a kid her own age.

Luella noticed too. “What’s with the rails?” she asked.

“A new safety measure,” groaned the boy. “In case I fall in the night. It was Mom’s inspiration. She read some newspaper story about a kid who had night terrors.”

Luella patted him on the back in sympathy. “Your dad said you’ve been eating again. What’d you get caught with this time?” she asked. “You big dummy.”

“A grape,” said the boy. “Man, oh man. This time he shook me so I’d spit it out. I hadn’t even chewed it yet. It just flew right out of my mouth and hit his forehead!” He seemed a little proud of himself.

“Why do you
do
that?” asked Luella. “It only makes things worse. If you’d stop getting into trouble, they might actually let you come over and play more often.”