Odette's Secrets Read Online Free PDF

needs her hands back to clear away the glasses.
    â€œNo time for that.
    We must get Odette to the railway station
    as we planned.”
    I look up at my mother.
    â€œYou’ll come with me, won’t you, Mama?” I ask.

Torn in Two
    Mama’s sad eyes turn to me.
    â€œNo, Odette,” she says, “I must leave you now.
    It’s time for you to go to the country,
    with our friends.”
    Mama’s brown curls quiver just a little
    as she tries to smile.
    She takes me in her arms and rocks me back and forth.
    Then she kisses my cheeks three times.
    She wipes off my tears with her fingers in between.
    With one last quick hug, she leans over
    and begins to tie her shoes.
    â€œMama!” I scream.
    I clutch her, hard.
    â€œDon’t go!”
    Mama puts her finger to my lips.
    â€œShhh, Odette,” she says.
    She drops her coat, then kneels next to me.
    We look at each other, face-to-face.
    Mama’s fingertips trace my cheeks, my ears.
    â€œI must go now, right away,
chérie
,” Mama says.
    â€œMaybe I can warn your aunt and cousins about the trucks.”
    â€œLet me come with you!” I beg.
    â€œI’ll be good … I promise. Please!”
    I feel like I’m being torn in two.
    Mama’s face twists away.
    â€œNo, Odette,” she says. “That would be too dangerous.
    You must go with our friends to a safe place, remember?
    Cécile and Paulette and Suzanne
    will be waiting for you at the train station.
    You girls will all go together.”
    Mama stands up.
    â€œDon’t be sad, Odette,” she says.
    â€œIt’s only for a little while …
    until we can be together again.”
    She blows me a kiss,
    and she slips through the glass-topped door.
    I watch her in the hallway.
    She belts her coat tightly around her.
    Then she opens the huge wooden door
    and disappears into the street.

Courage
    I look up at my godmother, trembling.
    My heart pounds down in my stomach.
    I know I have to go with Paulette and Cécile and Suzanne.
    We have known each other all our lives.
    Our mothers are friends.
    But we are not together, not yet!
    How can I go to the railway station all alone?
    Madame Marie plucks away the last few threads
    left on my dress from my star.
    She smoothes the fabric with her fingertips.
    Suddenly, I grab her and bury my face in her dress.
    I cling to her and sob.
    How can I leave my home,
    my mother, my godmother too?
    I won’t do this!
    I’ll never be able to do this!
    â€œ
Courage, ma petite
,” Madame Marie says,
    and pats my back.
    â€œDon’t worry.
    I’ll fetch Henri from work.
    He’ll take you on the
Métro
to the railway station.”
    I take a deep breath.
    My heart rises back into my chest.
    Monsieur Henri,
    with his walrus mustache and his kind, droopy eyes,
    is as big and strong as the mountains he comes from.
    I know he’ll protect me.
    â€œCome now,” says my godmother
    as she wipes my face.
    â€œI’ll help you pack.”
    She tiptoes into the hallway and listens.
    No one is coming downstairs.
    Together we creep up to my apartment.
    Madame Marie closes the door,
    then the bedroom shutters.
    The school year has just ended.
    My godmother takes
    my notebooks and pencils out of my schoolbag.
    She puts in clean underwear,
    the blue sweater my mother knitted,
    a print dress she made for me.
    I bring her my doll.
    â€œAh, no, my little rabbit.
    Charlotte cannot go in this bag.”
    â€œI have to bring Charlotte!” I say.
    Panic rises into my chest …
    I can’t go without my doll!
    â€œNo,” says Madame Marie, her mind made up.
    â€œYou can take only a small bag.
    A big one might attract attention,
    and Charlotte cannot fit in here.”
    She puts a finger to her lips
    to tell me to be quiet.
    â€œYou and Charlotte say good-bye for now.
    Then come downstairs.
    I’ll have your breakfast waiting.”
    My godmother slips out the door.
    I take Charlotte