Special Delivery (20 page)

If you don't mind an outing in the snow on this chilly Saturday, put on your boots and take a walk to a tiny fairy-tale cottage not far from Main Street. This is the home of Mary Woolsey, and on this morning she's looking eagerly through her mail. She has just received a packet of photographs from her newfound sister, and now she sees her and her brother and their children and even their grandchildren. Her hands shake slightly as she reads the note that accompanies the photos, the one confirming that in four weeks she and her sister will actually meet. Mary will open her door and, at her advanced age, greet her sister for the first time. Mary shakes her head in wonder.

Now follow the county route to the outskirts of town. Take a left on a rutted lane, and at the end of it you'll find a shabby but cheerful house with a small girl and a large dog playing in the yard.

“You be a reindeer,” Mae Sherman says to Paw-Paw, “and pretend to pull my sleigh. I promise I won't be mean to you like the Grinch was when he made his dog put on reindeer antlers.” Mae amuses herself for a while, but something is on her mind and eventually she leads Paw-Paw indoors. “Mommy?” she calls.

“In the kitchen,” replies Mrs. Sherman.

Mae removes her boots and mittens and coat and stands by the refrigerator.

“Is something wrong, honey?” asks her mother.

“How many days until Daddy comes back?”

Her mother pulls out a chair and sits down, holding her arms out to Mae. “Is that really what's on your mind?” she asks as Mae slides onto her lap. “I thought you were going to ask how many days until Christmas.”

“I know how many days until Christmas. But I wish Daddy was coming first so we could get that over with. That would be my best Christmas present.”

Her mother holds her close.

Several miles away, Mr. Willet is preparing for his first Christmas at Three Oaks. He stands in his small living room and surveys his decorations. He's not entirely pleased. The tree in the corner is fake, since evergreens are fire hazards and not allowed anywhere at Three Oaks. And he gave many of his decorations away before he moved. The ones he's left with are lovely, mostly heirlooms from his family and from Mary Lou's, but the room looks nothing like his old living room in the Row Houses, and he sinks onto the couch. But then he rises again and decides to take the flower arrangement that arrived that day from Min and Mr. Pennington downstairs to Mary Lou. It will brighten her room.

If you were to head back into Camden Falls now, you would reach Main Street as the day darkens and people begin to close their shops and hurry home. Turn onto Aiken Avenue and ahead are the Row Houses, lights winking on in the windows. In the Morrises' house on the left end, the children are still exclaiming over their first-prize ribbon.

“We won!” cries Travis.

“I never won anything before,” says Alyssa, awed. “Never in my life.”

Next door, the Hamiltons have parked in front of their house and Mr. Hamilton is struggling up the walk, dragging a Christmas tree behind him.

“Our first tree and our first Christmas in our new house,” says Willow.

Nobody mentions that Mrs. Hamilton won't be home for the holiday.

In other houses, cookies are coming out of ovens and gifts are being wrapped and cards are being displayed on mantels. In the fourth house from the left, Ruby is once again trying the door to the locked guest room. She still can't open it and she still hasn't discovered where Min hid the key. In the second house from the right, Robby has returned from his job, and he and his parents are wrapping a bagful of toys that they'll take to the children's shelter on Monday. In the house at the right end, the Fongs are getting ready for Grace's first Christmas.

And not far away, a new mother and her new baby are rocking quietly in a chair beside a fire. The mother strokes the baby's black curls and rocks and rocks and hums a lullaby while the fire crackles and outside the darkness becomes complete and the stars glow in the night sky.

Belle Teal

A Corner of the Universe

A Dog's Life

Here Today

On Christmas Eve

P.S. Longer Letter Later
written with Paula Danziger

Snail Mail No More
written with Paula Danziger

Ten Kids, No Pets

The Baby-sitters Club series

Main Street #1:
Welcome to Camden Falls

Main Street #2:
Needle and Thread

Main Street #3: '
Tis the Season

Main Street #4:
Best Friends

Main Street #5:
The Secret Book Club

Main Street #6:
September Surprises

Main Street #7:
Keeping Secrets

Copyright © 2009 by Ann M. Martin. All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Inc. SCHOLASTIC and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc.

First printing, October 2009

Cover art by Dan Andreason

Cover design by Steve Scott

e-ISBN 978-0-545-29572-7

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher. For information regarding permission, write to Scholastic Inc., Attention: Permissions Department, 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012.