Isabelle and Little Orphan Frannie: The Isabelle Series, Book Three (11 page)

“Man, that'd be the life,” he sighed. “Eating up a storm and getting paid big bucks for it. Man, oh, man.”

But where
was
Frannie?

“If anything had happened to her,” Isabelle's mother said soothingly, “we would've heard.”

“Who from?” Isabelle demanded. “We don't know where she lived or her telephone number. I don't know her Aunt Ruth's name, even. And she didn't go to school so we can't even check with the principal to find out. There's nobody who would tell us if anything had happened to Frannie.”

Then Isabelle stopped worrying and got mad.

“Boy, she has her nerve,” she said. “After we were so nice to her and all, she could've at least told us she was going away.”

“Such a sad little thing she was,” Isabelle's mother said, shaking her head.

“Sad!” Isabelle cried. “She wasn't sad. She was a tough character is what she was. A really tough character. I never knew anybody like her.” She thought a minute. “Not even Mary Eliza Shook.”

“But she had to be tough, didn't she?” Isabelle's mother said. “She didn't have much choice.”

Once in a while Isabelle's mother astonished her.

“Yeah,” she said, mulling over what her mother had said. “Yeah, I guess you're right, Mom. She didn't have much choice.”

TWENTY-FOUR

The day before. Halloween, a postcard arrived for Isabelle.

“Mail for you, scuz,” Philip said, tossing it at her.

“Oh, no,” Isabelle said with a big grin. So Sally Smith had kicked through at last. Good ole Sally, she's true-blue, Isabelle told herself. There was a picture of a big moose standing by a very blue lake. It was a beautiful picture and struck Isabelle as very artistic. She turned it over to see what Sally had to say.

But it wasn't from Sally Smith.

The message read:

Dear Isbel
,

I go to scool now. I can read some
.

Your a good teach. Thanx
.

Yr frend, Frannie D
.

“Yippee!” Isabelle shouted. “Hurrah!” And although she was already late for school, she dashed up to her room, and wrote, “
ONCE UPON A TIME
” in big letters on the blackboard. Then she raced back down.

She'd finish the story when she got back.

About the Author

Constance C. Greene is the author of over twenty highly successful young adult novels, including the ALA Notable Book
A Girl Called Al
,
Al(exandra) the Great, Getting Nowhere
, and
Beat the Turtle Drum
, which is an ALA Notable Book, an IRA-CBC Children's Choice, and the basis for the Emmy Award–winning after-school special
Very Good Friends
. Greene lives in Milford, Connecticut.

All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 1988 by Constance C. Greene

Cover design by Connie Gabbert

ISBN: 978-1-5040-0436-7

This edition published in 2015 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.

345 Hudson Street

New York, NY 10014

www.openroadmedia.com

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