Read Online The Doll Shop Downstairs by Yona Zeldis McDonough - Free Book Online

dress—which I have washed, sewn, and ironed—and that completely hides the crack. By Thursday, all three dolls have been mended.
    â€œThere!” I say proudly. “They look just grand!”
    â€œThey do,” agrees Sophie.
    â€œBut what about the other three dolls?” Trudie asks.
    â€œThere are other dolls?” asks Mama.
    We bring the other three dolls so that Mama can see. Two are baby dolls—I don’t know why, but I’ve never liked baby dolls—and the other is a tiny boy doll, the kind you would use in a dollhouse. Still, they need fixing, so it seems only right that we should fix them. One of the babies has a cracked head, and both are very dirty. It’s easy enough to wash them off, and Mama disguises the crack with an old baby bonnet that belonged to Trudie. The other baby doll is missing both legs. Papa doesn’t have any more doll legs that fit, but suddenly, I have an idea: using an old square napkin, I wrap the doll up as if she were a real baby wrapped in a blanket. Everyone agrees this is a very good solution. The tiny boy doll is also missing a leg, but because he wears long pants, it’s easier to stuff some old cloth into the pants leg to fill it out. He is still without a foot, but Papa fixes that by carving and shaping a small piece of cork and then painting it black, to match the doll’s other shoe.
    â€œThat’s better,” Trudie says, when all those dolls are fixed, too. “But what do we do with them?”
    Mama and Papa look at each other. It seems like they haven’t thought of that.
    â€œWe could keep them here and try to sell them,” Sophie says.
    â€œIt might be hard to sell them in this condition,” says Papa.
    â€œMr. Karnofosky might buy them, though,” I say. Mr. Karnofksy buys and sells old stuff that people are getting rid of. We got our worktables from him.
    â€œNow that’s a good plan,” Papa says. “I’m sure he’ll give us something for them. Not a lot, but something.” Papa looks at his watch. “He should be by very soon, too.”
    When Mr. Karnofsky comes down the street with Bessie and his wagon, tooting his long tin horn, Papa steps outside to flag him down. Mr. Karnofsky stops in front of our building.
    â€œHey, Breittlemann,” he says to Papa, clapping him on the back. “What have you got for me today?”
    â€œAnna, can you show Mr. Karnofsky what we have?”
    I give him the dolls, one at a time. He looks them over very carefully and then reaches into his pocket and pulls out a quarter.
    â€œHow’s that?” he asks, handing the money to Papa but looking at me.
    â€œThat’s just fine,” says Papa. They seal the deal with a handshake, and Papa gives Sophie, Trudie, and me a penny a piece for candy.
    â€œA penny! I want to spend it right now!” Trudie says.
    â€œIs that all right, Mama?” Sophie asks. “Can we get some candy now?”
    â€œWhat if we went to the bakery instead?” I say, before Mama can even answer. “We could buy some fancy cookies and have a doll tea party. We haven’t had one in such a long time.”
    â€œA party!” says Trudie, “That’s even better than plain old candy. Can we, Mama? Please? Can we?”
    â€œI guess that would be all right,” Mama says.
    Papa and Mama have finished working for the day, so Trudie and I go back inside and clean off one of the tables, while Sophie goes around the corner to Zeitlin’s Bakery on Grand Street to get the cookies. Then Mama and Trudie go upstairs. Mama has some mending to do before supper, and Trudie is going to get the tea set. I am left alone in the shop, and just as I have finished wiping the counter clean someone walks in. It is an old lady wearing a dark green dress and long, dark gloves. Her hat is dark, too, and adorned with a few faded but soft looking flowers. She moves slowly, one hand resting on a