The Doll in the Garden

Chapter 17

Louisa and Carrie

AFTER WHAT SEEMED like a very long time, Miss Cooper opened her front door and walked slowly toward us. She was carrying Anna Maria as if she were a real baby, and I noticed she'd washed the doll's face and clothes and curled her hair. Except for the chip on her nose, Anna Maria looked almost as good as new.

When I reached for the doll, though, Miss Cooper shook her head. "No," she said, "I'm going with you. If there's any truth in this, I want to see it for myself."

"But Louisa won't know who you are," I said. "She thinks you're still a little girl."

Miss Cooper frowned and stuck her Up out as if she were Kristi's age. "If you want the doll returned, you have to let me do it."

I could tell by the expression on Kristi's face that she didn't want Miss Cooper to come, but to me it made sense. Since she had taken Anna Maria, it seemed right for her to give her back to Louisa.

"Maybe it won't work if she comes," Kristi said to me.

"Maybe it won't work if you come." Miss Cooper clutched Anna Maria and scowled at Kristi.

While the two of them glared at each other, Snowball brushed against Miss Cooper and meowed. Forgetting everything else, the three of us followed him around the house and across the backyard. As we approached the gap in the hedge, I looked up at our apartment, hoping Mom wouldn't see us parading across the lawn. She was nowhere in sight, but I could hear the clatter of her typewriter.

"He's waiting for us." Kristi tugged at my arm and pulled me toward Snowball. The cat was standing by the hedge. His green eyes were huge as he watched Miss Cooper walk slowly toward him and stop a few feet away.

"Come on," I took the old woman's arm and tried to pull her toward Louisa's yard.

"I'm afraid." Miss Cooper resisted me. In the hot sunlight, she looked as old and fragile as the doll she held in her arms. "What will happen to me if I go with you?"

Kristi and I looked at each other. "Nothing," I said, but how did I know?

"What's Louisa like?" Miss Cooper asked. "Is she a ghost? A spirit?"

"She's just as real as I am," I said. "She's thin and small and her hair is long and golden, the color of honey."

Miss Cooper's mouth twitched, but she didn't say anything. Lowering her head, she caressed Anna Maria's curls. "I fixed her up the best I could," she said, "but I couldn't do anything about her nose. I hope Louisa won't be mad about it." Miss Cooper looked at me. "Do you think she'll forgive me for treating her so badly?"

From what I knew of Louisa, I was sure she wouldn't bear anyone a grudge. Gently, I led Miss Cooper toward the hedge, and the three of us followed Snowball into the dusky world on the other side.

***

The first thing I noticed was the darkness. It wasn't twilight this time but mil night. The moon shone high overhead, and Snowball's fur shimmered as he ran through patches of shadow toward Louisa's house. The air was cool against my skin and a breeze made me shiver.

Kristi grabbed me. "She's gone," she whispered. "She didn't come after all."

"Miss Cooper?" I looked behind me into the dense shadows near the hedge. The leaves stirred and rustled, and, as Kristi and I watched, a little girl appeared. She was shorter than I was, and her long straight hair tumbled around her thin face. In her arms was Anna Maria.

While Kristi and I stood staring, the girl gazed at the house, her eyes scanning the upper story. One light shone from a window. In the silence, I heard her draw in her breath.

Clutching Anna Maria, Carrie Cooper walked right past Kristi and me. Without looking at us, she slowly climbed the back steps and paused at the door where Snowball sat waiting. Cautiously she turned the knob and slipped inside with Kristi and me behind her.

We followed Carrie through an old-fashioned kitchen, down a dark hall, and up a flight of carpeted steps. Scarcely daring to breathe, Kristi and I watched her stop in front of a closed bedroom door. A crack of light shone under it, and Carrie pressed her ear against the wood. Hearing nothing, she opened the door quietly and peered into the room.

Although Kristi and I tried to go with Carrie, Snowball stopped us on the threshold and forced us to stay in the shadows like an audience in a darkened theater watching a play unfold upon a stage.

The room was lit softly by a heavily shaded lamp beside an old oak bed. In a chair next to the bed sat Aunt Viola, fast asleep. In the bed, her head propped up on a lacy pillow, was Louisa. The lamplight gleamed on her hair, turning her curls to gold, but her eyes were closed and deeply shadowed. Her face was ashy white and her thin hands clutched the covers.

While we watched, Carrie approached the bed, holding Anna Maria like an offering. In the light from the lamp, I could see her sharp face and small, pointed chin, her dark eyes, and the frown creasing her forehead.

As Carrie bent over the bed, Louisa opened her eyes. "Carrie," she whispered. "Is it really you?"

"I brought her back." Carrie laid Anna Maria in Louisa's arms. "I just wanted to borrow her for a little while. I didn't mean to keep her so long." Carrie ran a finger lightly over the doll's hair, but her eyes were fixed on Louisa's pale face.

Louisa smiled. "It's all right," she said, hugging the doll. "You knew how much I needed her, so you brought her."

"I would have come sooner," Carrie said, "but your aunt wouldn't let me in the house." She stole a glance at Aunt Viola who sighed without opening her eyes.

"She tries hard to do what's best for me," Louisa said, "but she makes mistakes sometimes."

"Are you sure you forgive me?" Carrie came closer to Louisa, and I could hear the tears in her voice.

Louisa reached out and grasped Carrie's hand. "You're my best friend, Carrie. Nothing can ever change that."

Holding Anna Maria tightly, Louisa lay back on her pillow and smiled at Carrie. For a moment her eyes sought mine and Kristi's, but when I tried to approach the bed, Snowball pressed against me, keeping me in the hall.

"Don't leave me, Louisa," Carrie said. "Get well, and I'll be a better friend, you'll see. I'll never tease you or take your things. I promise."

Louisa turned her head and coughed. When she looked at Carrie again, her face was paler. "I'm very tired now," she whispered. "Perhaps you'd better leave. If Aunt Viola awakes and finds you here, she'll be cross."

But Carrie fingered. She smoothed the pillow under Louisa's head and brushed her curls lightly with one hand. "You have Anna Maria now," she said. "She'll make you get well, I know she will."

But Louisa shook her head. "Soon I'll be with Mama and Papa. I heard Doctor McCoy tell Aunt Viola when he thought I was sleeping."

Carrie stared at Louisa, but the little girl's eyes were already closing. Bending down, she kissed Louisa's cheek. TU always be your friend, I promise," Carrie said. "And when you're well, we'll have tea parties in the garden again and you can read to me from your fairy tale book."

Louisa lay still, her eyes closed, a little smile curving her lips. Once more Carrie touched the doll, and then without looking back she ran from the room.