Cassie Binegar (10 page)

“Drat,” said Uncle Hat, staring through the scope. “Two more just flew by. Where did I leave off?”

Baby Binnie's building of pots and pans fell, and she looked up. “One hundred and ninety-two,” she announced, putting a small finger in her ear.

“What?!” Cassie and Margaret Mary began laughing.

“Say it again, Binnie,” said Cassie.

“Say one hundred and ninety-two,” pleaded Margaret Mary.

Baby Binnie looked up at them and silently began rebuilding her tower.

“She won't say it again!” exclaimed Margaret Mary. “Only once. It's almost as if we dreamed it, isn't it? Like catching fog, didn't you say?”

“Snow, Margaret Mary,” said Cassie softly as she looked up to see Gran standing in the doorway, the light behind her. “Like catching snow.”

“Ah,” said Uncle Hat, smiling, still staring through his telescope, “we're old friends, aren't we, Binnie?”

“Murp,” answered Baby Binnie, nodding her head up and down, smiling up at Uncle Hat.

Cassie dreamed of a hermit crab, scuttling through the sands of her sleep. She awoke in the dark, smiling. There was no dream of Papa. She knew that dream would not come again. She turned on the light, got up, and opened the drawer of her dresser. She searched through the tumble of socks and underwear and notebooks until she found the tissue-wrapped grandfather doll. Carefully she unwrapped it, smoothing the white shirt. She walked up the attic stairs, quietly, so as not to wake anyone. The old (tollhouse sat in a corner of the attic, behind the boxes and suitcases of Cassie's life before. All the dolls lived within; the mother, the father, the brothers, the grandmother. Cassie put out one finger and softly touched the gray hair of the grandfather doll. Then she put him in the house with the others. She thought of the girl doll who lived in James's pocket. “It's the same as being here,” she said, her voice like a whisper in the attic.

She found her notebook and sat by the old round window, watching the moon over the stretch of sand and sea before her. She read her poem “Spaces.” And then she wrote:

THE END
Cassie wrote in small letters under the poem. She stared at it a bit, wrinkling her brow, tilting her head to look at the paper. She shook her head suddenly. And she crossed out
THE END,
crossing out each letter carefully, and wrote instead:
THE BEGINNING.

Very quietly she left the attic. No one but Cassie heard the soft final click of the attic door.

Coralinda Wills, nee Binegar, bearing a plethora of nasturtiums, sea roses, marigolds, and plastic leaves intertwined with rosemary sprays lovingly picked by Margaret Mary Brindle, friend of all present, married Jason Thomas Moreau on the shores of Snow Shore on September 22 at sunrise. The bride was preceded by her daughter, Belinda, who strewed, tossed, and pitched rose petals. The bride was accompanied by her maid of honor, Cassandra Kate Binegar, who wore a lavender-and-lace dress worn by her mother on her wedding day as well as by her grandmother, Mrs. Morris Blythe. The bride wore a dotted-swiss dress decorated with feathers.

The bride was given in marriage by her father, Hatfield Binegar, who also presented the wedding party with a poem composed for the occasion entitled “Nine twenty-two/Much Joy for You.”

Judge Bender performed the ceremony in the company of family, friends, and sandpipers. Katherine Binegar, cousin of the bride, played a flute processional. Best man John Thomas Binegar and usher James Binegar led those present in the round
“Dona Nobis Pacem.”

The wedding breakfast, consisting of nearly ripe cantaloupe and eggs over, was served on the porch of the Binegar home amidst much laughter and some tears. Afternoon activities included music, swimming, and a pleasant bay ride in the Binegar fishing vessel, named the
Cassandra-Kate.
The boat was decorated for the wedding by the owner, Brendan Binegar, and his daughter, Cassandra. Some members of the wedding party fished unsuccessfully, though it is reported that Mrs. Morris Blythe caught a seven-pound cod.

The groom, newly appointed managing editor of the
Barnstable Recorder,
is also a writer of fiction. His first short story, entitled “Catching Snow,” will appear in the April issue of
Pacific Magazine.

The bride wishes to acknowledge the kindness and forethought and care of all the Binegar family and friends. The groom wishes to thank the family for making it possible for him to meet and love and marry the bride.

Photo by John MacLachlan

PATRICIA M
AC
LACHLAN
is the celebrated author of many timeless books for young readers, including
Sarah, Plain and Tall,
winner of the Newbery Medal. Her novels for young readers include
Arthur, For the Very First Time; The Facts and Fictions of Minna Pratt; Skylark; Caleb's Story; More Perfect Than the Moon; Grandfather's Dance; Word After Word After Word;
and
Kindred Souls.
She is also the author of many much-loved picture books, including
Three Names; All the Places to Love; What You Know First; Painting the Wind; Bittle; Who Loves Me?; Once I Ate a Pie; I Didn't Do It; Before You Came;
and
Cat Talk
—several of which she cowrote with her daughter, Emily. She lives with her husband and two border terriers in Williamsburg, Massachusetts.

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Sarah, Plain and Tall

Skylark

Caleb's Story

More Perfect Than the Moon

Grandfather's Dance

Arthur, For the Very First Time

Through Grandpa's Eyes

Cassie Binegar

Seven Kisses in a Row

Unclaimed Treasures

The Facts and Fictions of Minna Pratt

Word After Word After Word

Kindred Souls

Mama One, Mama Two

All the Places to Love

What You Know First

Three Names

WRITTEN WITH

EMILY M
AC
LACHLAN CHAREST

Painting the Wind

Bittle

Who Loves Me?

Once I Ate a Pie

Fiona Loves the Night

I Didn't Do It

Before You Came

Cat Talk

Cover art © 2002 by Barbara McGlynn

Cover design by Andrea Simkowski

Cover © 2002 by HarperCollins Publishers Inc.

The portion of the poem “Old Old Woman, Little Girl” by Brendan Galvin that appears as an epigraph is reprinted from
Atlantic Flyway
by permission of The University of Georgia Press © 1980 by The University of Georgia Press.

C
ASSIE BINEGAR

Copyright © 1982 by Patricia MacLachlan

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

MacLachlan, Patricia.

Cassie Binegar.

p.   cm

“A Charlotte Zolotow book.”

Summary: During the summer Cassie learns to accept change and to find her own space.

ISBN 0-06-024034-2 (lib. bdg.) — ISBN 0-06-440195-2 (pbk.)

EPub Edition March 2013 ISBN 9780062285720

[1. Family life—Fiction.] 1. Title.

10 11 12 13
LP/CW
20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12

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