Best Friends (Nancy Pearl's Book Crush Rediscoveries) Page 5

  Co Co peeked out from behind Suzie and whispered, “Bonjour, Monsieur,” and curtsied.

  Mr. Wagner said, “Suzie, I’m glad to see you. Good morning, Clothilde, I hope you will allow us to call you Co Co, also.”

  Co Co nodded and whispered, “Oui, Monsieur.” They followed Mr. Wagner into his office and Co Co murmured, “Oh, Suzie, my English—it is leaving me.” She put an ice cold hand in Suzie’s and hung back.

  Mr. Wagner took some forms from his desk drawer and began to fill them out. He talked quietly, asked Co Co a great many questions, and didn’t seem to notice that most of her replies were in French. When he was through, he explained the school rules and schedule. Co Co nodded, but she still appeared so confused that Suzie asked, “Mr. Wagner, could you take a tour of the school with us? Mother says that makes a new child feel less strange.”

  Suzie crossed her fingers in her lap because her mother hadn’t said that at all, but she knew the Select Seven wouldn’t dare be rude and make fun of Co Co if Mr. Wagner was standing right there.

  As they walked through the halls, Mr. Wagner was so kind and friendly that Co Co was soon chattering away—part in English and part in French, just as if she were talking to Suzie.

  Meanwhile Suzie was watching Mr. Wagner and trying to think of him as Miss Morrison’s date. He was really quite handsome, but it was hard to imagine anybody thirty years old having a date.

  Mr. Wagner stopped in front of Miss Morrison’s room. “And this is Suzie’s room, where you will be. It might help you to remember that every once in a while one of our pupils goes to France to live. It is more difficult for them than it will be for you, because they do not have the advantage of knowing two languages. Miss Morrison is an especially good teacher, isn’t she, Suzie?” He winked and opened the door and led them up to Miss Morrison’s desk.

  “Miss Morrison, children, this is Co Co Langdon. I am sure you will be especially courteous to her because she is not only new to the school, she is new to the country as well. Good-bye, Co Co, and good luck. Be sure to come to me if you have any further questions.”

  Miss Morrison smiled and said, “Good morning, Co Co. Suzie’s mother has told me all about you. We are especially glad to have you in our room, because you are the first French child we have had the privilege of knowing.”

  There was a gasp from the class as Co Co curtsied and said, “Bonjour, Mademoiselle Morrison.” There was a loud “Ohhhh!” when Miss Morrison said something to Co Co in French. Whereupon Co Co’s face lighted up and she cascaded a torrent of French, gesturing with both hands as she spoke.

  Miss Morrison turned to the churning, whispering class. “This morning we have a very exciting new pupil, Clothilde Langdon. Her friends call her Co Co. She is an American who has always lived in France, and I know you will be especially courteous to her.” She led Co Co to a seat across from Suzie.

  Millicent turned and stared at her.

  Co Co said, “Pardonnez moi, Mademoiselle Morrison. I have lived in France more than any other country, but I have traveled so much.” Her voice dropped and she blushed. “That I have never attended school.” She sat down and folded her hands.

  There were whispers from all over the room and round-eyed stares as Miss Morrison introduced each of the children. “This is Johnny Allen, Co Co. Johnny is excellent in arithmetic and our best football player.” Johnny mumbled “Hi” and watched Co Co from under his lashes. “And these are Rich and Ray Clark. They are twins as you see, and they are famous for their experiments—particularly the one where they try to confuse me so I can’t tell them apart.” She put her arm around a lovely little girl with black hair and bangs. “This is Sumiko Ito, who draws so beautifully. She, too, is an American who has spent most of her life in another country. Until last year Sumiko went to school in Japan.”

  As Miss Morrison moved up and down the aisles, saying something kind about everyone, Suzie didn’t blame Mr. Wagner for wanting to marry her. She was so pretty and so neat and she always made everyone feel proud.

  When Miss Morrison finished the introductions, she said she thought it would be fun, instead of having language arts, to spend the first period entertaining Co Co. “Let’s start with ‘The Plaint of the Camel’ by Charles Carryl. Suzie, you may say the verse and we will all join in the chorus.”

  Co Co sat perfectly still with folded hands and downcast eyes and Suzie felt so sorry for her, that instead of blushing and stammering as she usually did when she had to recite, she marched right up in front of the room and with a smile began: “Cats you’re aware, can repose in a chair . . .” All during the verse she fixed her eyes on Co Co, and when the class shouted, “Any load does for me,” Co Co finally smiled.

  When Suzie finished there was almost a breeze from the frantically waving hands. Miss Morrison said they wouldn’t have time for everybody, so perhaps it would be best if they each said one verse of his favorite poem. When it was Millicent’s turn, she simpered, “I’d like to say ‘Little Orphant Annie.’” She used such baby talk and made so many gestures that Co Co couldn’t understand her.

  Rich said, “Boy, are you corny!” Ray pretended to gag, and Millicent tossed her head and twitched her skirts and sat down.

  Rich said, “Miss Morrison, Ray and I know a special poem we’d like to say for Co Co.” Miss Morrison nodded and they walked to the front of the room, grinned at Co Co, and bowed formally to one another.

  Ray began, “My dear Gaston, you may call a woman a kitten.”

  Rich continued, “My dear Alphonse, but you must not call her a cat.”

  They alternated with mouse and rat, chicken and hen, duck and goose.

  When they had finished, Co Co laughed hardest of all and said out loud, “You see, my Suzie, English is a bizarre language.”

  Millicent turned around. “Of all the nerve—talking right out loud in school.”

  Co Co blushed and again sat with downcast eyes and folded hands.

  Suzie muttered, “You shut up, Millicent!” and Millicent waved her hand to tattle, but Miss Morrison ignored her and told the class to get out their arithmetic books. When she finished putting the assignment on the board, Suzie was horrified to see two large tears on Co Co’s cheeks. She whispered, “Don’t worry. I’ll help you,” but Co Co just shook her head and wound her hands together.

  Miss Morrison came and sat beside Co Co and pointed to a page of problems in the book. “We’ll have to see how much arithmetic you have had. Can you do these problems?”

  “Oui, Mademoiselle.” Co Co did them neatly and rapidly.

  Miss Morrison said, “Excellent!” She turned to another page. “Can you do these also?”

  “Oui, Mademoiselle.” Co Co also did the fractions.

  Suzie, who was leaning over and watching, noticed that although her long division looked strange, the answers were right.

  Miss Morrison said, “You’ll have no difficulty at all. Is there anything you would like to have me help you with?”

  Co Co nodded and turned over the pages until she came to some word problems about Henry building a fence. She swallowed. “Mademoiselle Morrison, I cannot help Henry. If he wishes a fence he must take his own measures in meters.”

  Miss Morrison laughed. “It might be a little difficult to help Henry at first, but that will come. You do what you can, and I’ll help you with the rest. Your arithmetic is excellent.”

  Co Co sighed and began to copy the problems on the board. Suzie checked her paper when she was through, and although her problems looked peculiar, every single one of them was right.

  The bell rang and Suzie said, “Come on, it’s time for physical education. We’ll play baseball and it’s loads of fun.”

  With misgivings, Suzie introduced Co Co to Miss Wright, the gymnasium teacher. Miss Wright was neat, but she did slap you on the back and talk loud, and her hearty manner might frighten Co Co.

  Miss Wright asked Co Co if she played baseball.

  Co Co murmured, “Non, Mademoiselle.�
��

  Miss Wright said, “You’ll be okay.” She slapped Co Co on the back and blew her whistle and Co Co jumped and stared at her. “OKAY, come on. Suzie and Ray will be captains today. Ray will have first choice. Come on, let’s get going.”

  Co Co said, “Please, Mademoiselle, may I watch this game?”

  Miss Wright nodded and Rich said, “I’ll stay out and explain it to her.”

  The Select Seven pointed to Co Co and Rich and whispered and giggled until Miss Wright blew her whistle again and shouted, “Come on everybody, let’s play ball.”

  When the teams were chosen and positions assigned, Ray, having given himself the favorite place as catcher, went up to bat. Professionally banging his bat on home plate, he yelled, “Batter up—batter up—come on—let’s play ball!”

  Suzie began the windup Rich and Ray had carefully taught her.

  “Why does Suzie wave her arms?” Co Co whispered.

  Rich said, “Every good pitcher does that, my girl, and Suzie is plenty good. You watch!”

  Suzie pitched, there was a roar from the children, and Miss Wright called, “Strrr-i-k-e one!”

  With a triumphant grin, Suzie caught the ball and wound up again. “Strrrr-i-k-e two!” “Strrr-i-k-e three! Ray’s out!” The children roared and Suzie swaggered around in the middle of the field.

  Rich said, “Come on, Co Co, old girl. You’ll never play ball by watching.”

  The class yelled, “Come on, Co Co!”

  Suzie ran over to her and whispered instructions. Co Co picked up the bat. Rich yelled, “Keep your eye on that ball, slugger.” There was a loud whack and a roar of astonishment as Co Co’s ball sailed over the heads of the fielders. “Run to first,” Rich yelled. “Keep going to second—atta baby. Look at her go! Keep going!”

  Suzie was jumping up and down, screaming, “It’s a homer! Co Co, come on home—run!”

  Like a streak of lightning, Co Co came in to home plate. Rich pounded her on the back. “Wow! What a slugger! Can you run! Oh baby!”

  Co Co’s eyes were gleaming as she said, “Oh baby! I like the base-ball!”

  Miss Wright slapped her on the back. “French dressing is just what this team needs. Ha-ha!”

  Rich muttered under his breath, “Oh that cornball and her jokes!” and Co Co giggled.

  They played until Miss Wright blew her whistle. “That’s all for today. Don’t dawdle.”

  The rest of the morning, in spite of admiring glances from the boys, and encouraging smiles from the girls, Co Co continued to sit with folded hands and downcast eyes.

  Suzie whispered, “Miss Morrison wants school to be fun. She always tells us to relax and enjoy ourselves.”

  At lunch, Helen Blaine and Marjorie Desmond and Betsy Rhodes, and Linda and Penny and Barbara and even the Select Seven all fought to see who would sit next to Co Co and help her get her lunch and open her milk.

  Co Co said, “Merci, merci!” to them all but sat next to Suzie and whispered, “They are kind, but I am not accustomed to children who shout.”

  After lunch the girls all trooped toward the benches under the willow tree to watch the boys play baseball. The Select Seven promptly surrounded Co Co and began to whisper and giggle. They completely ignored Suzie, whose eyes filled with tears, in spite of her determination to be brave and happy. She turned her back and thought, “Oh, if they get Co Co, too, I just don’t know what I will do.”

  In a few moments Co Co came and sat down beside her. “Suzie, I do not know what they say. They speak fast and the numbers—it confuses me.”

  Millicent, always the spokesman for the Select Seven, came over and stood in front of them. “Come on, Co Co. Gee whiz, it’s an honor to be asked to join our club. We talk in code and call up boys and make them guess who is calling. Come on.”

  Co Co put her arm around Suzie. “And have you given my Suzie an invitation also?”

  Millicent tossed her head. “Gosh no! Her mother’s a teacher and she’s a goody-goody and anyway she hasn’t got a boyfriend.”

  Co Co gave her a chilly smile. “Merci. I think Suzie and I do not care for the club.”

  Millicent stuck her nose in the air. “OKAY, suit yourself. But you won’t get asked again.” She gathered up the Select Seven and they all stalked away.

  Suzie said, “Oh thanks, Co Co, but you shouldn’t have said no. They’re all just neat girls—it’s only the Select Seven—they don’t mean to be snobby—it’s Millicent.”

  Co Co shrugged. “You are my friend. If they do not have you, they do not have me. Now, tell me more about the school.” The girls who were not in the Select Seven clustered around, and they all giggled and gossiped and had a dandy time.

  They went to the Art Shack after lunch to choose the May Day posters. Suzie had been dreading this because two of the Select Seven were on the judging committee and she just knew hers wouldn’t be chosen.

  Miss Morrison suggested that Co Co be added to the committee, as a special courtesy. The posters were lined up against the wall, and the class marched solemnly by. Suzie heard Co Co say, “But Suzie is indeed an artist. It is excellent. It is a picture of the American school.” She was even more astonished when she heard the rest of the committee eagerly agreeing with Co Co, and Suzie’s poster was chosen to represent their class.

  During social studies, Miss Morrison asked Co Co if she would mind pointing out on the map the various countries she had visited and telling something about each one. “It makes the countries seem so much more interesting to know someone who has been there,” she added and smiled encouragingly.

  Co Co blushed, but she walked up to the map and picked up the pointer. “If you will be so kind as to forgive my errors in English . . .” She had ridden on a camel and a donkey and an aerial tramway—she had traveled on canal boats and steamers and gondolas and trains and planes. She had skied in the Alps and had swum in the Mediterranean. The class all asked questions at once, and Co Co began to feel as if they were her friends instead of a group of strange children.

  When the class was over, Suzie was so proud she said, right out loud, “Boy, Co Co, you make social studies seem just like television!”

  Millicent turned around. “Well, teacher’s pet, I suppose you think you can talk out loud now, just because Co Co does!”

  Suzie’s eyes again filled with tears and she blushed. Whereupon Co Co leaned forward and said, “Taisez-vous Millicent! You are a beast!”

  Millicent looked surprised but she said, “Tay zay voo? What does that mean? Can’t you even speak English?”

  Co Co raised one black eyebrow and said coldly, “Indeed I can. Taisez-vous means ‘shut up.’ Do not be rude to Suzie again.”

  Both Rich and Ray gave a howl of delighted laughter. “Atta girl, Co Co. Give it to her.”

  Fortunately the bell rang so Miss Morrison didn’t have to say anything.

  Chapter Five

  A New Code

  Every day Co Co came out from the hotel early in the morning and went to school with Suzie. She gradually lost her habit of sitting with downcast eyes and began to enjoy herself. She was formal and chilly to Millicent and the Select Seven, but friendly and natural with the other girls. Except for Rich and Ray, she was aloof with the boys until they complained to Suzie that she acted mad or something.

  Friday morning on the way to school, Suzie said, “You don’t have to act boy crazy, but you don’t have to act as if boys were poison either. Johnny and Dick and Pete think you’re mad at them.”

  Co Co’s eyes glinted through her lashes. “I believe, Suzie, if I approved of the boy crazy, which I most certainly do not, I would smile at Rich. He is teaching me American words.”

  Suzie giggled. “If I approved of the boy crazy, which; I most certainly do not, I’d—I’d absolutely ignore them. Big smarties. Always showing off.”

  When they arrived at school, Miss Morrison said, “Let’s settle down now and get as much done as possible before lunch. Then we can spend the afternoon working
on the decorations. Remember, May Day is only one week away.”

  They all tried to settle down, but a warm spring wind blew through the open windows, flowering trees perfumed the air, birds sang as they flew back and forth. It was a lovely sunshiny day and everything outdoors seemed bent on distracting their attention from schoolwork.

  Rich said, “Hey, Co Co, watch this!”

  Miss Morrison turned from the board where she was explaining a long division problem, just in time to see Rich snap a rubber band and send a paper dart toward a fat robin perched on the window sill.

  Miss Morrison sighed. “Rich, may I have your attention, please?”

  Just then there was a knock at the door and a little girl from the second grade came in with a note. The children leaned forward to watch Miss Morrison read the note and then swiveled their necks around to watch the second grader. There was a burst of laughter when, as she opened the door to leave, a large shaggy gray dog walked solemnly up to Miss Morrison’s desk and stood in front of the class.

  Miss Morrison said, “Good morning, friend. Where did you come from?” and the class roared with laughter.

  Ray said, “Oh, oh, he must have followed us.”

  Co Co left her desk and ran up to pat the dog as Millicent was saying, “Miss Morrison, that horrible old thing has been hanging around the school grounds all day. I think we should call the dogcatcher. He might have hydrophobia or something!”

  There was a clamor of enraged protest from the children. Co Co came back to her desk and asked Suzie what a dogcatcher was.

  “He is a man from the pound who drives around in a green truck and picks up dogs. The pound is kind of a dog hotel where stray animals are kept until their owners call for them.”

  “And if no one comes to get them?” Co Co asked.

  Millicent turned around. “They gas them, and in case you don’t understand plain English, that means they put them in a big tank and turn on the gas until they are dead.”