R My Name Is Rachel Read Online Free PDF Page A

that, but he couldn’t imagine asking you to live in a house in this condition
.
    Some condition. There are holes in the roof
.
    Love from your friend forever
,
Rachel

CHAPTER SEVEN
    At the kitchen table, I tuck my letter to Miss Mitzi into my pocket. Then I tiptoe down the hall. Everyone is still asleep under coats and blankets. Cassie’s curls cover her face, Joey’s mouth is open and his arms are spread wide, and Pop snores gently on the end. I’m still wearing yesterday’s dress, two sweaters, socks that have holes in both toes, and a jacket. My wool hat is pulled down over my forehead.
    The light is strange this morning; something covers the windows. And then I realize it’s snow. The last time it snowed at home, there was only enough on the ground to make footprints along the avenue before it melted. I wonder if there will be more than that here.
    I tiptoe into the hall and look up. At the top of thestairs is a round stained-glass window. Even though snow lies over it like a blanket, I still see the pink and purple and orange. Miss Mitzi colors.
    Running my hands along the walls, I go up the stairs, steps creaking. At the end of the hall is another window. I go toward it, hoping to spot Clarence somewhere out back. The window is encrusted in snow; I blow on it and make a small clear circle. What I see is shocking.
    Outside, the world is gray; wind blows the falling snow sideways. It must have been snowing all night. I have a quick panicky feeling. How will we ever get out of here?
    And what about going to the new school? I dreamed about the glimpse I had of it on the way here. It was a happy dream.
    How could Clarence ever survive this? If he had so far, he must be terrified that he’s suddenly in a strange place, away from his tree and the butcher shop around the corner. It’s hard to catch my breath, but I remember something Miss Mitzi said once:
You can think of only one thing at a time. Choose wisely
.
    I hold my locket between my fingers as I walk along the hall, counting: four bedrooms, three with bare mattresses dotted with mouse dirt. Horrible. The last one is empty, no furniture at all. I step inside. The walls are covered with drawings of cats and kittens and a duck that waddles up toward the ceiling. Once this room must have been perfect, and so was the girl who drew the animals. I wish I’d known her. I twirl around looking at the pictures.I might even love sleeping in this room with those kittens and ducks smiling down at me.
    Out in the hall again, I push open another door. It’s a staircase with drawings on the wall all the way down: a stream with rocks like turtle backs, and willow trees dipping their branches in for a drink.
    At the bottom there’s a box of chalk with some of the colors missing. The girl must have forgotten them when she left. I push open the door and I’m in the kitchen.
    Cassie stands there, frowning. “Why are you lurking around in the closet?”
    Lurking!
    I try to remember that she saved Clarence yesterday. Only yesterday? “It’s a secret staircase,” I tell her, even though I should keep it to myself. Why should I share it with such a miserable girl?
    Pop comes to the doorway, combing his hair with his fingers, and hugs us. “Snow,” he says, not really paying attention to it. I know he’s worried about us and how cold we must be, standing there in that icy kitchen in coats and hats, with scarves slung around our necks.
    But on one wall there’s a fireplace, big enough to stand in; the wood inside is barely singed. Pop crouches on the floor and gets a fire going. In no time, the flames roar out at us, making me almost breathless with their warmth. If only I could find Clarence. He’d love sleeping by the fire, his tail wrapped around him.
    Cassie pushes curtains back from the ice-covered window. “The snow is really piling up out there.”
    Cassie loves snow. When it storms at home, she opens the window and scoops up a handful, working it into a ball.