Oddfellow's Orphanage (7 page)

A FEVER FLOWER

W
EEKS
passed, and the air grew even warmer. Oddfellow’s halls were hot and bright from the great windows lining the walls. There were no classes in the summer, so the children spent all day playing. They picked blackberries in the woods, climbed trees, and read books.

The days’ warmth stretched into the evenings, and every night Delia found herself kicking off her covers. Late one night, as she sleepily and grumpily kicked at the too-warm quilt, she heard Ava’s finches chirping. Their chirps sounded worried, and Delia realized that she had never before heard them chirp in the night.

Delia climbed drowsily out of bed and padded over to Ava’s side. She turned on the dim lamp. Ava’s licorice-black hair
stuck to her forehead, and her breathing was strange. Ava opened her eyes and just looked at Delia.

Delia thought of the way her own mama had always known what to do when someone was sick or hurt. She knew what bandages to use, what teas to make, and how to put on a puppet show to take your mind off a sore throat. But Delia didn’t know what to do. She went back to her own bed and grabbed her pencil and notebook. She wrote a note, and then showed it to her friend.

Ava shook her head. “Nurse Effie,” she whimpered.

Delia didn’t want to leave Ava alone. She looked at the other girls, sleeping in their beds. Delia went to the next bed and tapped Imogen.

Imogen sat up and said something that sounded like “Whatsahmmmph?”

Delia pointed to Ava and wrote:

Imogen’s eyes opened wide and she quickly got up. “I’ll stay here,” she whispered. She went to sit on the edge of Ava’s bed.

Delia crept as quietly as a mouse from the room and into the hall. Moonlight through the windows cast a shadow three times bigger than the girl walking quickly in her bare feet. She hurried to the east wing of the house, where the grown-ups’
rooms were.
It’s a strange feeling to be awake in a house full of sleeping people
, Delia thought.

Furniture sat empty and the halls were ghostly still. The darkened floral wallpaper looked like a night garden that stretched on and on through the long corridors. At last, Delia reached a hall lined with a row of numbered doors, which led to the grown-ups’ apartments.

Which is which?
Delia wondered. She had no idea which door was Nurse Effie’s!
I’ll start at the first one
, she thought, and knocked softly on the door.

Delia heard a muffled exclamation, a great rumble, and then the sound of heavy footsteps. The door opened, and the headmaster peered out. “What’s the matter?” he asked.

Delia scribbled in her notebook and held it up.

“Nurse Effie?” Headmaster Bluebeard said, completely awake now. “Well, we better scoot down there. On the double, Delia!”

Delia kept up with the headmaster as he walked briskly to the door marked with a brass number five and knocked. A few moments later, Nurse Effie appeared in her robe, her curls messy.

“Someone is sick, and Delia has come to fetch you!” the headmaster announced.

“Is it one of the other girls, dear?” Nurse Effie asked, looking down at Delia’s worried face.

Delia nodded.

“Give me a minute,” Nurse Effie said. She disappeared into her room and came back shortly carrying a large bag. “I’ll take care of everything!” Nurse Effie whispered to the headmaster. “Don’t worry!” Then she took Delia’s hand, which made Delia feel instantly better, and they started off down the hall.

When they reached the little-girls’ bedroom, all the bedside lamps were glowing and Ava’s finches were chirping nervously. The other girls were awake now, and everyone was gathered around Ava.

“She’s shivering, but she’s burning up!” Imogen cried as Nurse Effie hurried to Ava’s bedside.

Nurse Effie placed a thermometer in Ava’s mouth. “I know just what’s the matter.” She turned to the ring of little girls. “I need something from the garden—something very important. Two of you will have to fetch it for me.”

Delia, having made up her mind to be her bravest self, looked at Imogen, who nodded at her. They stepped forward.

“We’ll go,” Imogen said.

“Good,” said Nurse Effie. “Do you know the plant with the little red flowers that grows in the back of the garden?”

The girls nodded.

“Good,” said Nurse Effie. “Fetch me one leaf and one flower. Now hurry!”

As Delia and Imogen raced down the hall, they nearly ran right into a tall figure in the hallway. It was Headmaster Bluebeard. “I just couldn’t go back to sleep,” he said, his forehead wrinkled with worry. “How is the sick one?”

“It’s Ava. We’re off to fetch a flower for the nurse,” Imogen said. “I think it’s for medicine.”

“Take my lantern,” the headmaster said, placing it over Imogen’s arm.

The girls ran lightly down the staircase and to the front of the house. When they opened the front doors, the air outside
was inky black. Imogen lifted the lantern and Delia followed, so focused on their mission that she barely noticed the darkness. They made their way through the garden, all the way to the back row. Spying the small green leaves and vermilion petals they wanted, Delia pointed excitedly. She carefully plucked one flower and one leaf.

“Good eyes!” Imogen whispered.

Delia’s hands were shaking, but she held the plant gently all the way to the house. Delia and Imogen hurried back through the halls and up the stairs. They burst through the bedroom door, where the headmaster had joined the group around Ava’s bed. Delia placed the flower and leaf in Nurse Effie’s hand.

Nurse Effie ground the plant with a mortar and pestle that came from her bag. She added drops of colored liquids from tiny glass bottles, and finally filled a small silver spoon with the red potion. “Here you are, dear,” she said as she lifted it to Ava’s lips.

Ava swallowed.

Delia wrote in her notebook and held it up to the nurse.

Nurse Effie replied, “I think she will. I hope she will.”

At that moment, Ava stopped shivering. Her eyes opened, and Delia could tell that Ava could see her. “What happened?” Ava asked, looking around.

“The worst Summer Fever I have ever seen,” Nurse Effie replied with a tired smile. “And your friends brought the remedy.”