Rebecca & Heart. Deanna K. Klingel

taking herself out of the confusion of words and voices. Heart lies perfectly still inside the box, where I wish I were.

      The mistress of Somewhere Else comes to say goodbye. She spots me on the railing and raises her hand with the swatter. I zoom over her head, a narrow escape. The man picks up the box.

      “Ugh,” he grunts. “This is very heavy. One wouldn’t expect a waif to have so many belongings.”

      “We’ll throw everything in that box into the garbage dump as soon as we get home. She’ll have everything new for her new life,” says the woman.

      Uh, oh, I thought. This isn’t going well. Panic washes over Rebecca. She pounds her ears with her hands. ‘No no, I don’t hear that,’ her hands and ears are saying. She sways in larger circles. She looks at her feet, wishing them to move.

      “Waif? Waif? What is waif?” Rebecca speaks so softly, I’m sure I’m the only one to hear. “Will this be my new name? Will they call me Waif?”

      This isn’t my first ride in a motor car, but I’m sure it’s a first for Rebecca and Heart. When I ride in a motor car, I get very claustrophobic and start banging my head against the window in a pitiful request to open the window and let me out. I think Rebecca is claustrophobic as well. I notice she does the same thing. Heart lies still in the box, probably sleeping. Soon Rebecca is still and closes her eyes. I may as well drop to the floor and nap. The motorcar chugs along.

      Chapter 5

      Family

      After what seems a very long drive, Rebecca and I wake up. We notice we are in a large city. There are wagons, and horses, and other motor cars. People are walking and several are pointing at our nice motor car.

      Rebecca is very interested in the people walking their creatures on ropes. I’m quite certain she’d never seen such a creature before Heart. She looks worried. She wonders if this is where these creatures live. Maybe she’s afraid he’ll want to live with them. The thought crosses my mind, as well. I’m happy he’s in the box where he can’t see his kin.

      Our motor car travels through the busy city and eventually arrives in a quieter, greener neighborhood of large houses, shady trees, and gardens full of flowers. This is to be our new home. Rebecca trembles. I hang near the motor car door for a quick escape. Heart is wonderful at keeping still inside the box.

      The man lugs the box into the big brick house and up the stairs behind the woman who tries to pull Rebecca by the hand. Rebecca yanks her hand back. I fly excited circles up the stair way.

      The woman chatters anxiously about many things, none of which make any sense to Rebecca. Rebecca’s knowledge of the world outside the orphanage is more limited than mine. She has no wings. The girl’s not been around, at all, at all.

      “Here!” the woman says proudly, opening a polished wooden door. “This is your room.”

      I fly into the large room and rest on the canopy of the four-poster bed. It’s covered in lavender ruffles. Piles of pillows make a heap on the bed. Rebecca stares. On the lavender-papered walls, a gallery of pretty pictures hangs in frames. The floor, also lavender, is soft as grass. There are flowers in vases, dolls in a dollhouse, and books on a shelf.

      Rebecca looks bewildered. She looks toward the woman without making eye contact, cocks her head inquiringly, and stares at the wall beyond.

      “Yes, all for you.”

      Rebecca looks around in confusion. I understand how she must feel. She doesn’t sleep in a bed, but on a cot. She doesn’t sleep in a room with one bed, alone. A room full of cots and girls is all she knows. What is she to do with all these things? Won’t she be in class and then busy shelling peas or dusting rooms or scrubbing floors? Nothing looks familiar to poor Rebecca. She doesn’t like change.

      Now me, I’m a bit more flexible, and I’ve been around more. I think it’s a fine looking room.

      The woman takes Rebecca’s hand. She pulls it away. The man lays his hand on her shoulder. She shrugs it off, making a growling noise.

      “This is your new home,” they both tell her.

      “We’ll take good care of you. You can go to school and learn to read. You’ll have a good life. We love you, Rebecca.”