Feathers girl, p.1
Feather's Girl, page 1
part #2 of The Morley Stories Series
Feather’s
Girl
Jacquelyn Johnson
©2020 Crimson Hill Books/Crimson Hill Products Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this book, including words and illustrations may be copied, lent, excerpted or quoted except in very brief passages by a reviewer.
Cataloguing in Publication Data
Jacquelyn Johnson
Feather’s Girl
Description: Crimson Hill Books ebook edition | Nova Scotia, Canada
ISBN: 978-1-989595-39-8 (ebook - Ingram)
BISAC: YAF000000 Young Adult Fiction: General
YAF022000 Young Adult Fiction: Girls & Women
YAF058020 Young Adult Fiction: Social Themes – Bullying
THEMA: FXB – Narrative Theme: Coming of age
YXO -- Children’s / Teenage personal & social issues:
Bullying, violence, abuse & peer pressure
YXHB -- Children’s / Teenage personal & social issues:
Friends & friendship issues
Record available at https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/Pages/home.aspx
Front Cover Image: Cristina Zabolotnii
Book Design & Formatting: Jesse Johnson
Parts of this story formerly appeared in the novel Morley & Feather published in 2019.
Crimson Hill Books
(a division of)
Crimson Hill Products Inc.
Wolfville, Nova Scotia
Canada
As Morley Star’s 11 birthday dawns she’s convinced her wish to adopt the rescue cat she’s fallen in love with will finally come true.
Surely finally getting Feather as her own is the big surprise her mother has promised?
But Morley is about to have a very different birthday and summer vacation than the one she’s hoped for. There will be surprises and secrets revealed as she learns what it really takes to make your fondest wishes come true.
A sweet middle grade story about being a modern girl who dreams big, friendship, family and finding out who you truly are, second in the Morley Stories Series for readers ages 10 to 13.
Also In
The Morley Stories
Series:
Just Me. Morley
Feather’s Girl
Gifted
Rules for Flying
Find them all at www.CrimsonHillBooks.com
“Hope” is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul
And sings the tune without the words
And never stops - at all.
- Emily Dickinson
one
On the day before my 11th birthday, Sam sends an email saying she hopes I finally get Feather. He’s the kitten I want to adopt from the pet shelter. I’m pretty sure that getting him is going to be my surprise gift.
I’ve wanted to adopt Feather for so long, to finally get him is so exciting I feel like I’m going to burst with happiness, just thinking about it.
In just one more day.
It will be…
The first time I get to cuddle him at home. Our home, not at the shelter where he’s been for three months.
The first time he sits on my lap, purring, while I’m drawing or making bracelets. Or maybe he’ll want to sit on my desk and watch.
The first time he curls up beside me while I’m falling asleep.
I’ve pictured this in my mind and also in my sketch book so many times that to have it be true at last is…well, it’s the best thing that’s happened this year. Or maybe in my entire life!
Or it will be. In just one more day. Just one more. I’m counting the minutes!
Sam’s letter says she’s in Tuscany now, a place in Italy. It’s where lots of movie stars have fancy homes. She’s staying in one of them. It used to belong to a famous singer.
It’s a palazzo. That’s the name for a house that looks like a palace. She says she’s having a great time. She sent my present and really hopes I like it.
Jayden, my other best friend, sends postcards with pictures of all the places they stop on their trip. He writes to say he’s pretty tired of living with his parents in a little tin can trailer, but that it is interesting to drive across the country, especially when they were going through the Rocky Mountains. And he likes having so much time with his mom.
He says he mailed me a gift and to tell him all about my birthday. And how much he misses me and Sam and his horse, Spirit. But not school.
I’ve been away from home too, spending a week with my favourite aunt at her place. My Aunt Eira called it a time out for me and for my mother.
Things aren’t much different at home. It’s still hard to get along with my mother, and I don’t think it’s because she’s going to have a new baby.
My little sister, Daisy, is still roaring around. My mother is still cranky a lot, mostly with me. We still have the BnB guests to look after, and all the baking she does and the jewellery I make to sell at the market on Saturdays. We still don’t know when Danny’s going to visit, exactly. He’s Daisy’s father, but not mine.
Mom did decide to go to the police about me being bullied by Julia Maclean, a girl in our grade but she’s a year older than me and my friends.
My mother took the pictures that Eira took of my front and my back and my arms, showing the bruises I got from Julia hitting me. I had to tell the whole story again, to the police.
But then a strange thing happened. Some dog-walking people who where there when Julia attacked me also went to the police. The man said when he looked more closely at the video they made that day with their phones, it looked like two kids were fighting in the background. When they looked really closely, it looked like one of the kids was that girl who did the videos about why kids need pets and pets need kids, and also how to get your pet that are on YouTube.
He meant me.
Then the police looked more closely at that video.
And saw that everything I’ve been saying about Julia is true.
I wasn’t the one who hit her and ripped her clothes and did the cut on her face, like she told everyone. She attacked me. Just like she has been doing since she moved here for grade 4.
It was embarrassing that strangers saw me getting beat up. And crying.
And to find out that the police showed that video to Mr. Maclean. That’s Julia’s dad. Also our school principal, or he was last year, at Seabright Primary.
My mother is surprised about the video.
She doesn’t apologize to me about not believing me about the bullying. Not exactly.
But she does stop being mad at me all the time. And to tell the truth, I don’t really want to talk about the bullying. Or not to her.
So I ask her about the new baby. She says she’s happy about it.
She says she feels like it might be a boy, this time.
She says she knows it means extra work from me and she’ll even expect Daisy to help out.
She says it is so exciting and wonderful for us to be getting a new baby brother. Or sister.
I don’t ask her about Danny coming home any more. He’s been gone for months and never comes to visit, though sometimes Daisy goes to see him. I figure Danny’s not coming back to be with us. Even though I’m pretty sure he is the new baby’s father.
I do ask my mother about my father. I’ve never met him. I don’t even know his name or where he lives or anything about him. Usually, she just tells me never mind about him. So it’s a surprise when she tells me that she loved him very much, once. When they were young. Maybe too much. And she thought he loved her. Just not enough.
He lived in Ireland, not here. When she knew him.
She has no idea where he is now.
She tells me his name is Malcolm. That’s his first name. And she says maybe when I’m a bit older she’ll maybe try to find him. Maybe we could search for him together. Some day. When I’m older.
She says maybe she should have told me this sooner. But she didn’t think I was old enough to understand.
She says she worries that I’m still not mature enough to understand. That’s why she won’t tell me his last name, she says. Because it could just stir up trouble.
But she knows where he lives. Or used to live.
Doesn’t that mean he knows where we live?
But then why doesn’t he come to visit? Is he a bad man, maybe even in jail so he can’t come to Seabright to see me?
Or just someone who doesn’t like kids? And doesn’t even want to be a dad?
What if he’s a good guy and he’s tried to find us, but he can’t?
Mom just shrugs when I ask. I think maybe she knows the answers, or some of them. But she doesn’t like to talk about things, or at least not things I think are important. She’d rather talk about making cookies and what we need to do next for the guests that stay at our house and what chores I have to do next. You know, ordinary stuff.
I don’t ask her about Feather. I think getting him must be my big birthday surprise. I don’t want to spoil it.
I wake up on the day of my birthday really, really excited. Today’s the day, finally, when I KNOW I’ll bring Feather home. I’m so sure that’s what I’m getting, because the wish bracelet for getting him broke, didn’t it? That’s the magic about wish bracelets.
Even though it was Julia who broke it on purpose, I think my wish bracelet should still work. Because that’s what wish bracelets are meant to do. They break and then the wish you made the very first time you
I’ve made hundreds of them and sold them at the market. That’s what I always tell people who buy them.
Everything is ready for Feather to come home. I have his litter box set up and food dishes and food and some toys.
I’ve got the pet carrier, to bring him home.
And I’ve read all about having a cat and what they need and how to care for them. Because of the Get A Pet Project, I know a LOT about cats. And because of being a volunteer at the pet shelter, I know a lot about being a responsible pet owner.
I hurry through breakfast and try to make Daisy hurry, too. I know the pet shelter opens at 10 a.m. We’re ready long before that.
But then, my mom just starts baking. And says we can go get whatever it is I want for my birthday dinner.
There’s no party. I already knew that. How could I have a party without my two best friends being there? Most of the kids I know are away for vacation. Aunt Eira and her boyfriend, Dom, have gone up north to his parents’ cottage for two weeks.
My other aunt, Sorcha, and her kids have also gone away, to see their grandparents in Winnipeg. There’s nobody to celebrate with except my mother and Daisy.
The three of us go out for lunch. I get to pick where. I choose the Peony Garden. It’s got Chinese food. I really like the chicken fried rice and you get fortune cookies.
As I’m chewing my honey chicken, I wonder what Sam and Jayden are doing right now. Probably not eating lunch, because it’s a different time where they are. I know, because I looked it up. Time for breakfast where Jayden is now, out in Vancouver. It’s already night in Paris, where Sam is. I really wish they were here.
My fortune cookie says, “You will soon receive a gift of great riches.” I haven’t been thinking about being rich. I want a gift of great furriness.
Daisy’s says, “Sweetness and joy will light up the days of your life.” I guess that’s already true for her. Mostly. She’s already as happy as her name, when she’s getting her own way.
Mom doesn’t say what her fortune says. She just reads it, frowns and says, “They’re just silly,” and stuffs it in the pocket of her shorts.
After we eat, she pulls out a bag of gifts. I wonder if we’re going to the shelter to get Feather right after lunch. Or if he’ll already be at home when we get there, because she says the big gift from her and Daisy is at home, in our room.
My gift from Sam is a wire jewellery-making kit with lots more bracelet designs in it, plus a gift certificate to the craft store. Jayden sent me a book of funny facts about pets and a poster of kittens and cats.
Mom says I can choose what colour frame I want for my poster. Danny sends a card with money in it and so does my grandfather. Mom says that can go straight to my bank savings account.
Eira and Dom also got me a card. Inside, there’s a certificate for 12 art lessons with Maudie Lewis, a local artist whose work really blows me away. I’m super excited to meet her and get to paint with her.
Daisy gives me a card with lots of fairies playing with dancing kittens. It gives me an idea for a bedtime story for her. But maybe, this time, I should write it down and draw it, like a graphic novel. Or, better yet, let her draw it.
Now that it’s summer, one of my jobs is thinking up fun stuff for her to do so mom gets lots of baking time and some rest time. Daisy drawing a book of fairy pictures could keep them both happy for a while, I think.
When we leave the restaurant, we drive to the craft store, where I pick out some more jewellery-making supplies and a frame for the poster Jayden gave me. Then I think we must be going to the pet shelter. But instead, mom turns towards home.
“Look in your room to find your gift,” she says when we get there. “I know you’re going to love it!”
I run down the hall. “Feather?” I call. “Feather?” I look all over, but don’t see him. And I don’t hear him, either, in my head.
Is he hiding? I can’t tell.
My mother comes into our room behind me. “Isn’t it pretty? I really hope it fits,” she says.
It fits? Then I see it, on my bed. It’s a new bathing suit with green and purple splodges and huge pink and red flowers. And there’s a matching stretchy beach skirt. And a pink sun hat. And a new pair of sunglasses. And a bright pink tee shirt, with a skinny white cat on it. The cat is wearing pink sunglasses.
“I know how disappointed you were that you couldn’t swim at your friend’s party. But that’s the last cast you’re going to have on your arm, so soon you can swim again. I know you’ve missed it. I thought you’d love a new suit.”
It’s just about the ugliest bathing suit I’ve ever seen.
“So, are you going to try it on?” Mom says. “Isn’t it so cute?”
No, it’s not. It’s hideous. Like the most ugly wallpaper you’ve ever seen. Times a thousand. But you’re never supposed to say that, about a gift.
I don’t know what to say. It isn’t anything like what I’d pick out, if I was going to get a bathing suit, which I’m not going to put on. Not until the bruises are gone. Plus, putting on a stretchy tight thing like a bathing suit is still really hard, with one good arm and one kind-of weak arm in a cast.
I might be able to get it on. But, after swimming, when your swimsuit is wet and plastered to your body, it’s even harder to get off than it was to get on. I’m not going to let my mother or anyone else help do that.
“But…it’s not Feather.” I say. “You said wait-and-see about getting him and I did wait. And wait. For a really long time. So I thought…”
“Feather? What are you talking about?”
“Feather, the kitten…”
“At the shelter? No, Morley. I told you, we aren’t getting any pets. So please just stop whining about it. Believe me, I have my reasons for no pets. Very good reasons…”
“What are they?” I say, shoving the ugly bathing suit aside so I can sit on my bed. I wish she’d just take it back to the store. “Because I explained for every single reason you had to say no, there was a way to not have that problem. It was all in my pet project presentation. Everything, even how I can pay for Feather, so I thought you ca…”
“I’m sorry, Morley,” she says, interrupting me. “Listen to me. Now isn’t the right time to get a cat. We’ve just had a lovely lunch out together and you have some beautiful gifts. Why don’t you have a look at them? You need to remember to be grateful for what you’ve got. And you have some Thank You letters to write too, don’t you?”
Thank you letters are another rule at our house. You have to write them the same day you get a gift. Just saying, “Hey, thanks,” in an email isn’t enough, Mom says.
That would be if I could send an email. There’s a no computer rule in our house, and I’m not allowed to use her phone. Also, I can’t have my own phone.
I’m so disappointed, I want to cry. Or maybe yell at someone. I’m too upset to make jewellery, or draw something, or read, or do anything.
“Yeah,” I said. “Maybe. Later. I’m, uh, going for a walk…”
“Fine. Be back by 4, because we’re going to the beach. I promised Daisy…”
I grab my bike that Dom fixed almost like it was after Julia stomped on it and head for the pet shelter.
There, I check on Feather. He’s still in his cage, curled up, falling asleep.
Feather, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, I tell him in my mind.
Girl. Gone, he says. Then he’s sleeping.
I race through all the tasks they ask me to do, watching the clock. I get those jobs for the other pets done in record time, so I can have a long, long cuddle with Feather. I wash my hands and lift him out of his cage. I sink my face into his soft fur. His head smells like carnations and cinnamon.
Girl, he says.
Morley, I remind him. I’m Morley.
Want to go home, he says. Take me home.
He starts to purr. He has a really soft purr, so soft you have to be cuddling him to even hear it.
He looks up at me and puts one soft white paw on my cheek.
I whisper to him about what it will be like, when he comes home with me.
When he is mine.
And I am his.
I promise him that it will be soon. I say it out loud. Because I need to hear it. I need to believe.
