Lucy’s Wish Read Online Free PDF Page B

talking, either.
Someone to love me. My wish has come true. I’ll have someone to love me
, she thought.
    As they left Springbrook and entered a quiet country road, Mr. Snapes asked, “Would you like to hold the horses’ reins?”
    â€œOh, yes!” Lucy said.
    Mr. Snapes showed her how to hold the reins and told her what commands to give the horses. Then he sat quietly by her side.
    He’s a kind man
, Lucy thought,
and that’s what counts.
    As the horses plodded on, Lucy gazed at the countryside. She loved the rolling hills and the tidy farmland.
    When Mr. Snapes took the reins and guided his horses up a road to a small farmhouse, Lucy was delighted. The house was part of her wish, and her wish was coming true.
    The wagon stopped, and Lucy quickly jumpeddown from the seat. She was eager to meet Mrs. Snapes. Would she be as nice as Mr. Snapes?
    But the middle-aged woman who stepped onto the front porch didn’t have a welcoming smile on her face. Her lips were tight and angry, and her forehead was creased into a frown. She stared at Lucy and snapped, “She’s too small, Wilbur. Take her back.”
    Mr. Snapes shook his head firmly. “No, Mabel. I won’t. You sent back the last one because she was running around the house making noise and upsetting Emma. ‘Don’t bring me any girls who act like boys,’ you told me. Well Lucy won’t. She’s a quiet little thing. She’ll do. You’ll see.”
    Lucy was so shocked she leaned against the wagon for support. Sent back? Their last orphan train rider was sent back? This wasn’t the way her wish was supposed to turn out. Where was the smiling mother? Where was her dear little sister? Where was the love?

“T ake Lucy inside, Mabel,” Mr. Snapes said quickly. “Lucy and Emma should get to know each other.”
    Numbly Lucy walked up the porch steps and into the house. There, on a sofa, sat a girl who was probably twelve or thirteen. There was something different about her eyes, as if they didn’t see things the way other people did. Her lower lip sagged, too. But she perked up when she saw Lucy.
    With a start, Lucy realized that Emma seemed to be very much like Mrs. Olney’s Henry. Especially her eyes. What was it that Mum had said?That Henry was simple. Lucy was sure that Emma was simple, too. She was older than Lucy and much larger. Emma was not the cuddly little sister of her daydreams.
    â€œThis here is Lucy,” Mrs. Snapes said to Emma. “She’s come to live with us and help take care of you.”
    Lucy remembered Henry and how much he needed and wanted kindness. She smiled and said, “Hello, Emma.”
    Emma smiled, too, and climbed from the sofa. Her walk was clumsy and slow. As she came close to Lucy, her arms reached out and she took Lucy’s hand. “Play outside,” Emma said.
    When Mrs. Snapes didn’t say anything, Lucy looked up at her. “Emma said she wants to go outside to play.”
    Mrs. Snapes sighed. “Emma just makes noises. She doesn’t know how to talk. So don’t start imagining that you know what she says. We just let her babble on and keep doing what’s best for her.”
    Maybe that’s what
you
do
, Lucy thought.
But I know what I heard. Emma asked to go outside to play.
Mum had been able to understand Henry, and Lucy had learned, too.
    Lucy tried to remember the things Mrs. Olney had said about Henry. “Has Emma been like this since she was born?”
    Mrs. Snapes’s mouth grew even tighter. “Yes,” she muttered. “It was a difficult birth, but that’s neither here nor there. Can’t nothing at all be done about it. Come with me, and I’ll show you your room. You’ll share it with Emma.”
    It was a large room, but the tan-and-brown wallpaper made it look dark and dreary. Lucy thought the wallpaper was ugly. But Mrs. Snapes said, “I see you’re admiring the