Chapter 5-2
547 Words
It was a short drive from the end of Clover Hill Lane to downtown Dogwood. Penny looked out her window as they passed the school. Some younger kids played on the merry-go-round, slide, and jungle gym. The football field next to the school was empty, but Penny saw more kids, some her own age, in the city park on the other side of a tall fence. Most looked like they were just passing through, on their way to one place or another. But a small group of boys played baseball, and a girl sat alone under a tree close to an aged gazebo reading a book.
“She’s new here too,” Susan said, nodding toward the reading girl. “She comes in every few days to browse my books.”
Penny did a double take at the lone girl.
“Can I go to the park?”
“Of course you can,” Susan said, and smiled at her. “That’s the advantage of small town living, kiddo. You can go out by yourself.”
This was a new concept for Penny. In the city, her mom only let her out with the babysitter. So even though there was more to do there, she still didn’t get to go out often.
Here she was free to go out on her own, and the enormity of this new freedom was a little shocking.
Dogwood, small as it was, suddenly seemed huge with possibilities.
“There it is,” Susan said, pointing at a shop front with a blue awning and a sign that said Sullivan’s.
Penny peered through the front windows as they passed, catching a glimpse of a plump teen, Jenny, she assumed, with thick glasses and short brown hair, turning on lights inside. She also caught a glimpse of the shop next to Sullivan’s. The windows of that shop were still pitch black. The sign hanging above the door said: Golden Arts – Jewelry, Time Pieces, Minerals, and Gems. At the end of the block, they turned down a side street and pulled into a parking lot behind the row of main street shops.
Penny followed Susan through the plain-looking back entrance, passed through a small storage area, then stepped into the shop as Jenny flipped the sign from Closed to Open and turned a key in the front door’s lock. When she turned and saw Penny standing there, her face lit up.
“Well, you finally decided to come.” She stepped forward and scooped Penny into an unexpected and awkward hug. “I was beginning to think Susan had an imaginary friend.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” Penny said, forcing an uncomfortable smile as she waited for Jenny to let her go.
Penny let her eyes wander around the shop, taking in the aisles of shelved books in the back half. The front half was a less interesting maze of office supplies and stationery.
“Eyeballing the stock already,” Susan said, moving behind the till and turning it on. “Diana raised a reader then.”
Penny regarded her curiously for a moment, then understood. She was not used to hearing her mom referred to as Diana. “Well, I can read.”
Susan turned to Penny again, her eyes narrowing. “Oh, I see.”
Penny felt like shrinking under the sharp gaze, but Susan couldn’t hold the stern look. She broke into a smile.
“If you aren’t a reader now,” Jenny said, “you will be by the time we’re finished with you.”
- Writer
