Read Online Dragonfly Secret by Carolyn J. Gold - Free Book Online

back door. “I’m going to take Willow into my room for a while,” Jessie said.
    â€œGood idea,” I agreed. “We don’t want Mother getting curious about why you spend so much time in my room.”
    Mother was sitting in the living room sewing a button on one of my shirts. I nodded to Jessie to go ahead through the laundry room and went into the front room just as a knock sounded at the front door.
    â€œI’ll get it,” I told Mother. I opened the door. “Good morning, Miss Ryderson,” I said politely, the way Mother taught us to greet special visitors. “Won’t you come in?”
    â€œNathan!” I heard Gramps screech my name from the hallway and turned away from the door. “The fairy’s gone!” he cried. Then he caught sight of Miss Ryderson and stopped, his mouth opening and closing as if the words were stuck in his throat.
    Mother sat stock-still with the mending clasped to her the way Willow had held the baby the first day. It was a wonder she didn’t stick herself with the needle.
    Miss Ryderson recovered first. “I seem to be interrupting something. Would it be better if I came back?”
    â€œNo, no,” I said, finding my voice. “Come on in.” I turned to Gramps. “It’s all right. Jessie took the fairy in her room to work on the story.”
    Gramps swallowed.
    â€œHonest,” I said.
    Mother threw her mending back in the basket. “I wish you’d finish that story and do something else,” she snapped. “What’s wrong with playing ball in the backyard? Every time I turn around you’re talking about fairies.” Then she seemed to remember why Miss Ryderson was there. “I’m sorry. I guess I got up on the wrong side of the bed. I’m so worried about your report I can’t seem to sleep. I’ll be glad when that’s over, too. Let me get you a cup of coffee.”
    Miss Ryderson set her briefcase on the coffee table and sat down on the sofa. She looked at me. “Does your fairy have a name?” she asked with a smile.
    â€œYes,” I said with reluctance. “We call her Willow.”
    â€œA pretty name. Does she have a magic wand?”
    I shook my head.
    â€œHow about your three wishes? What are you going to wish for?”
    â€œShe isn’t magic,” I said, wondering how I could get out of this conversation. “She’s like a tiny person with wings.”
    Miss Ryderson laughed. “If I were inventing a character for a fairy story, I’d have made her more magical. What if she could grant wishes, Nathan? What would you wish for?”
    I looked at her, wondering if she was trying to trick me. I couldn’t tell. “I’d wish that Gramps could stay with us,” I said at last. “But that isn’t up to fairy magic. That’s up to you.”
    She looked down at her hands, a little embarrassed, I thought. “Nathan, I don’t decide what will happen. I only make recommendations. Sometimes older people get confused enough to do foolish, dangerous things. It’s my job to determine whether they are likely to do things to hurt themselves or the people around them.”
    Mother came back with the coffee, and I took the chance to escape. I went outside, and sat on the grass beside the flower bed, thinking about the way everyone is always making decisions for other people. Parents decide what’s best for kids. Grown-ups decide for old people like Gramps. Even Jessie and I were deciding what was best for Willow and Reed. No matter how sure we were, no matter how much we cared about them, we could never really know what other people thought or needed.
    Mother came outside with a pair of scissors. She walked over to the flower bed and looked at the roses. She cut a pink one and two red ones and a couple of white ones. Then she came over and sat on the grass beside me, her knees drawn up under her chin with her arms