A Time to Dance-My America 3 (6 page)

Jane Ellen wiped tears of joy from her eyes. She said that Mrs. Edmonds was a fine woman. Jed hugged Pa and congratulated him. Baby Abe giggled as if he were happy, too.

I couldn't stop smiling. It's strange, but I believe I was happiest for Charles Edmonds. I think that little boy deserves a father like Pa.

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Tonight we are going to celebrate Pa and Mrs. Edmonds's engagement. I am preparing a funny joke to play on everyone.

Later

We had a wonderful party. Everyone seemed a bit awkward at first -- until I played my joke.

While Jane Ellen and Mrs. Edmonds were setting the table and Pa and Jed and Charles were staring at the walls, I snuck into Baby Abe's room. I quickly drew a beard and mustache on his little face. Then I called frantically for everyone to come see "the miracle!"

Everyone ran into the room. For a minute, they all just stared at Baby Abe. "He must have ordered Dr. Briggs's Grecian Compound!" I said. Then Baby Abe grinned, and we all burst

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out laughing. I have never seen Pa laugh so hard. Jed and Jane Ellen laughed hard, too. Mrs. Edmonds and Charles looked puzzled at first, but then they joined in.

Later, after supper, Pa brought out his fiddle. Jane Ellen played the piano. Jed danced with Mrs. Edmonds, and I danced with Charles. Even Baby Abe danced -- he held on to a chair and pumped his little legs to the beat of the music.

As I looked around the room crowded with people, I had an amazing thought. Less than three years ago, when Pa and Jed were missing outside Gettysburg, our family seemed to be made up of just one person -- me. Then Pa and Jed came back, and we were three again. Then Jed married Jane Ellen, and we were four. Then Baby Abe was born, and we were five. Now Mrs. Edmonds and Charles will join us, and we will be seven.

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The Bible says for everything there is a season:

A

time to kill, and a time to heal.

A time to break down, and a time to build up.

A time to weep, and a time to laugh.

A time to mourn, and a time to dance.

Tonight was our time to dance.

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Life in America in 1865

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Historical Note

When the Civil War ended on April 8, 1865, many people hoped that President Abraham Lincoln could lead the nation through the difficult period of healing with the same wisdom and compassion he had shown throughout the war. Those hopes were shattered when Lincoln was assassinated by the actor John Wilkes Booth at Ford's Theatre on April 14.

[Image: President Lincoln's bedside.]

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The task of rebuilding the nation fell to Lincoln's successor, Andrew Johnson. During the war, when he was vice president, Johnson had often called for harsh treatment of the South and its leaders. But as President, Johnson favored much more lenient treatment of the formerly Confederate states.

Many Northerners believed Johnson's Reconstruction plan was too generous to the South. The differences of opinion led to bitter battles in Congress. The disagreements eventually led Congress to call for Johnson's impeachment in 1868. He retained his presidency by only one vote.

At the end of the Civil War, New York City was a crowded, colorful world. The richest city in the country, it was home to many wealthy

[Image: President Andrew Johnson.]

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[Image: New A view of New York City in 1865]

merchants, bankers, and politicians. But its poor neighborhoods were crowded with immigrant families living and working in terrible conditions. For rich and poor alike, attending the theater was a popular source of entertainment -- and escape.

Edwin Booth is considered one of America's greatest Shakespearean actors. At the time his brother, John Wilkes Booth, assassinated Abraham Lincoln, Edwin Booth's fame was well established. The fallout from this terrible act forced Edwin to temporarily retire. Less

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than a year later, he returned to the stage in the role of Hamlet. Many people feared that the public would reject him and he would be booed off the stage.

This was not the case. Here's how one newspaper described the audience's reaction to Edwin Booth's first appearance in the play: "The men stamped, clapped their hands, and hurrahed, continuously; the ladies rose in their seats and waved a thousand handkerchiefs; and for full five minutes a scene of wild excitement forbade the progress of the play." Clearly, the New York audience did not hold Edwin Booth responsible for his brother's crime.

[Image: Actor Edwin Booth]

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About the Authors

Mary Pope Osborne and Will Osborne say, "Because of Will's career, we've been involved in the theater together for many years. It was wonderful to collaborate on A

Time to Dance

and explore the world of New York theater in the 1860s. We loved putting Ginny into that world and imagining her thrill at going onstage for the first time."

Mary Pope Osborne is the award-winning author of many books for children, including the best-selling Magic Tree House series;

Adaline Falling Star;

the My America books,

My Brother's Keeper

and

After the Rain;

and two

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Dear America books,

Standing in the Light

and

My Secret War.

Will Osborne has worked in the professional theater for many years as an actor, director, and playwright. He and Mary have collaborated on eleven books for young readers, including

Jason and the Argonauts, The Deadly Power of Medusa,

and the Magic Tree House Research Guides series.

Mary and Will divide their time between New York City and Goshen, Connecticut, with their Norfolk terrier, Bailey.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank their editor, Amy Griffin, for her wonderful support and guidance, and Lisa Sandell for her assistance. They would also like to thank Dr. jack Hrkach of Ithaca College for his excellent research and advice, and the New York Historical Society for providing access to the Spirit

of the Times, Harper's Weekly,

and other periodicals from the time.

Grateful acknowledgement is made for permission to reprint the following:

Cover Portrait by Glenn Harrington

Page 101: President Lincoln's bedside, Culver Pictures, New York.

Page 102: President Andrew Johnson, Library of Congress, via Scholastic's Online Digital Archive.

Page 103: View of New York City, Culver Pictures, New York.

Page 104: Edwin Booth, Culver Pictures, New York.

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Other books in the My America series

[Image: Two American flags.]

Corey's Underground Railroad Diaries

by Sharon Dennis Wyeth

Elizabeth's Jamestown Colony Diaries

by Patricia Hermes

Hope's Revolutionary War Diaries

by Kristiana Gregory

Joshua's Oregon Trail Diaries

by Patricia Hermes

Meg's Prairie Diaries

by Kate McMullan

Virginia's Civil War Diaries

by Mary Pope Osborne

110

For Cecilia deWolf

***

While the events described and some of the characters in this book may be based on actual historical events and real people, Virginia Dickens is a fictional character, created by the author, and her diary is a work of fiction

.

Copyright © 2003 by Mary Pope Osborne and Will Osborne

All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Inc.

SCHOLASTIC, MY AMERICA, and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission of the publisher.

For information regarding permission, write to Scholastic Inc., Attention: Permissions Department, 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Osborne, Mary Pope. Osborne, Will.

A time to dance / by Mary Pope Osborne and Will Osborne.

p. cm. -- (Virginia's Civil War diary ; bk. 3)

Summary: Virginia records the events of her life as her family moves to New York City in the aftermath of the Civil War, and she begins to dream of a life in the theater.

ISBN 0-439-44341-5; 0-439-44343-1 (pbk.)

[1. Theater -- Fiction. 2. Diaries -- Fiction. 3. New York (N.Y.) -- History -- 1865-1898 --Fiction. 4. Reconstruction -- Fiction.] I. Titles. II. Series.

PZ7.O81167Tk2003

[Fic] 21 2002044581

CIP AC

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1.03 04 05 06 07

The display type was set in Colwell Roman.

The text type was set in Goudy.

Photo research by Amla Sanghvi

Book design by Elizabeth B. Parisi

Printed in the U.S.A.23

First edition, August 2003

***