| Chapter Twenty-Four A Little Mouse Brings Hope |
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Wendy! Wendy a voice called as the door burst open. Wendy jumped from the seat of the window and threw her arms around little Sarah. �I�ve missed you,� she cried. �Daddy took us to the park in town and yesterday we went swimming at the pool.� Wendy stood and listened as Sarah rattled on about the past couple days events. It all sounded like so much fun and Wendy wished she could have gone with them. �Does Daddy know you�re here?� Wendy asked. �Yes. Daddy said I could come see you. He�s downstairs putting a bandage on Nadia�s knee. �What happened to Nadia?� Wendy asked. �She fell and scraped her knee at the park. I asked Daddy when he was going to unpunished you and let you come out. He didn�t tell me when, but he said if I wanted to see you, I could. I came as fast as I could Wendy.� Wendy looked down at Sarah and smiled. I�m so happy to see you Sarah. I�ve missed you so much and I�m sorry I haven�t been able to play with you.� Sarah hugged Wendy. �It�s ok. Daddy explained it to me why you couldn�t come out of your room. I think he�s going to let you out today,� she whispered. Wendy went to the door and peeked down the hall. There were a few girls going in and out of their rooms but the floor was relatively quiet. Wendy closed the door, took Sarah by the hand and led her to the window seat. �Has Daddy said anything else about me?� Sarah shook her head no. �Sarah if I ask you some things will you promise not to tell?� Sarah shook her head yes. �Where did Daddy move Jessica to?� �She�s been sleeping in one of the rooms down below this floor. Don�t know which one.� �Have you seen Alex anywhere the last couple days?� �Yes. She�s been keeping me company. She said it would help me since I couldn�t see you since Daddy made you stay in here.� �She hasn�t been sad or said anything about being in trouble cause of a book or anything?� �Ohhh yeah. She said something bout her mother scolding her about not finishing the book, but she didn�t get into trouble over it. Patricia helped her pick out a different one to read. Wendy breathed a sigh of relief. If Alex had gotten punished, she would have never forgiven herself. Wendy sat and Starred at Sarah. She wanted to know about Ricky, but she was afraid to ask. Sarah turned her back to Wendy as they sat starring out the window. She scooted back and rested the back of her head on Wendy�s chest. �So you really know why Daddy�s punished me to my room for three days? Wendy asked. �Yeah I know what you did, but I don�t care that you kissed him. Although I don�t know why you�d wanna kiss a boy!� Wendy smiled and wrapped her arms around Sarah. �One day when you�re older, you�ll kiss a boy too. Sarah reached up and touched the window. She traced the lines that encased the small pane of glass with her tiny fingers. �Wendy. Don�t you wanna know about Ricky? Wendy�s heart raced with anticipation and fear at the same time. �Do you know about Ricky? �Uh hu,� Sarah Replied. �I know he got three whippings.� Wendy stiffened her body and sat straight, pushing Sarah forward. �Three!� she cried. �Yeah. Daddy gave him one the night he found you guys. The next morning he got one from mean old Mr. Stein and Mr. Parker�.. Mr. Parker!! No!�.. Sarah turned around. �Yeah that�s what I said. Mr. Parker went to Ricky�s room and whipped him with the strap for coming over here.� �Sarah.� �Yes sissy.� �Ricky�s still here isn�t he? �He talked to me at breakfast.� she replied. �What did he say?� �Well he asked me if I could keep a secret. I said yes, then he gave me this note.� Sarah reached into the tiny pocket on the front of her jumper and pulled out a note. Wendy grabbed it from her and started fumbling with the pages when a knock came to the door. Wendy stuffed the note under a pillow just before Mark walked into the room. �Sarah time to go.� Sarah crawled from the seat, turned and gave Wendy a hug. Sarah trotted over to Mark and asked. �Daddy, is Wendy done being punished now? Sarah it�s time for lunch. Mark sat the lunch tray down on the table, took Sarah�s hand and walked from the room. Wendy didn�t even mind that he didn�t speak to her this time. She wanted to read the note from Ricky. She waited for a couple minutes, then peeked out her bedroom door. The hallway fell silent as the last child went down for lunch. Wendy starred at the tray of food, picked up the tray and took it to the window seat with her. She stacked the pillows from her bed into the corner of the window seat and made herself comfy. Wendy reached under the pillow where she had stuffed the note and opened it. My little Sweet Pea, I can only imagine how lonely you must be confined to your room. I know I have been terribly lonely without you. I miss your laugh and your smile. I�m so sorry I got you in so much trouble with your dad. Jessica told me what he did. I should have listened to you. Mr. Stein finally let me out of my room today and although I�m basically in isolation, it doesn�t feel like it now that I am back with the noise of the cafeteria. I wish you could be here with me. �I don�t have a room mate anymore and Mr. Stein said I�ve blown my chances to be unsupervised when not in my room. I get locked in my room at night. I never really intended to stay here. Until I met you. Wendy I don�t care what they say. I love you. I think your dad is pretty pissed with me, so for a while I think we should steer clear of each other until they tell us we can talk again. We can talk through notes although it won�t be the same. I hope you understand it�s for the best right now. I hope you still like me and I�m really sorry your dad gave you such a whippen because of my stupidity. I won�t let that happen again. Love Ricky. Wendy folded the letter and placed it against her aching heart. Her entire bedroom became nothing but a blur as the tears fell from her eyes. Wendy looked around the room trying to think of a place to keep the secret letter. She wiped her tears and headed for the bureau. As she approached the center of the room, she heard a light knock then her bedroom door opened. Wendy stopped mid step and looked up at her father. Guilt and fear covered Wendy�s face. Mark held out his hand. Wendy pried the note from her chest and handed it to her father. It too Mark no more than a few seconds to read the note before he cast his eyes onto Wendy. She stood before him trembling with fear. Daddy couldn�t whip her again. She hadn�t done anything wrong. Mark folded the note, turned and left the room. Wendy burst into tears and ran to her room. She had no way to warn Ricky. Wendy feared that Mr. Parker would now send Ricky away and he would be lost to her forever. An hour passed before the door opened again. Wendy jumped from her bed. Mark took a step forward. Wendy took a step back. �Come here!� Wendy stepped forward and closed her eyes. The next thing she felt, was the comfort of her fathers arms as they wrapped around her. Wendy rested her head against Marks stomach and cried. She had waited so long for his comfort. �Wendy I want you to go shower and get dressed. I�ve decided you�ve been punished enough. I want you to strip your bed and take the linen down to the laundry. Get fresh linen and make up your bed. Open this window and air out your room. You may help Jessica move back in, but you may not join the rest of the school until supper. You will be sitting at my table for a while for all of your meals. When I feel you have earned the privilege, then you may sit with friends again.� Mark lifted Wendy�s chin. �I do love you sweetie, but you lied to me without remorse. I hope you don�t do it again.� Wendy looked into her fathers eyes. �Daddy. You told me to think while I was punished to my room and I�ve been doing lots of thinking. I�m sorry I lied to you. I�m sorry I disobeyed you. �I�m just so sorry for making you not trust me anymore. � Mark wiped the tears from her eyes. �This is done and over now. I trust it won�t happen again.� Wendy shook her head no. Mark reached into his pocket, pulled out the note he had taken from Wendy earlier and handed it to her. After supper, you, me, Mr. Stein and young Ricky are going to be having a talk about the guidelines for your friendship. I had a brief chat with the young man and it Seems as though I might have made an impression on him after all. I just hope he remembers his place.� It made Wendy�s heart dance to think she and Ricky would get to be close even though her father and others would be present. She knew if she could just get a close look, she would be able to tell if things between her and Ricky were still ok. Mark gave Wendy a quick hug before leaving the room. Wendy took to her tasks. She opened the window to her room. Stripped her bed and put on new linens. Wendy gathered up her things and headed down to the laundry. As the warmth of the summer sun filled the room, Wendy helped Jessica move her things back in. Wendy tossed Jessica�s shoes into the closet. �I�m sorry I got into so much trouble and you had to bunk with someone else.� �It�s ok. I know what Daddy did and I just couldn�t be in here with you anyway.� Jessica replied. �How come?� Wendy asked. Wendy sat her basket of clothes onto the bed and crawled into the seat by the window. �Because if I hadn�t told Daddy what you were up to, he wouldn�t have punished you so severely.� Wendy placed Jessica�s books on the dresser and crawled into the window seat next to her. �Jessica. It�s not your fault I got punished. It�s my fault. I was mad at you, but I�m not anymore. You�re like a sister I never had and I love how you watch out for me. Like I watch out for Sarah and Nadia� Jessica looked up at Wendy. Her eyes were filled with tears. �I�ve missed you.� Wendy said. Jessica threw herself forward and wrapped her arms around Wendy. �I�ve missed you too,� she cried. Wendy spent the rest of the afternoon catching up on her laundry. For the first time in days, she enjoyed the last minutes of her solitude. As the hour hand on the clock rang near to 5:30, Mark entered. Wendy looked up from her book. �It�s time for supper.� he reminded. Mark held out his hand. Wendy placed the marker in her book, closed it and placed it on her neatly made bed. Wendy looked around the room. She thought of the days spent incarcerated inside these walls. Though it hadn�t been pleasant, it had given her many hours to think. To think about Ricky, her father, and her life at the school. She ran her hands over her navy blue jumper, patted her pocket that held the note from Ricky, and with a smile, she took hold of her fathers hand. |