The Secret Book Club (5 page)

“Exactly.”

“Are you bored now?” asked Min.

“Bored?” said Ruby. “What's that?”

Nikki Sherman was sitting and thinking. She liked sitting and thinking, especially on a clear, warm Saturday, when she could sit and think in peace on her front stoop. Nikki breathed in the summertime smells: honeysuckle and clover and sun-drenched grass. She leaned over and pinched a bit of lavender from the plant by the stoop, then breathed in its scent. “Heavenly,” she said aloud, and, eyes closed, was transported to her mother's bedroom. On summer mornings, Nikki liked to lie on Mrs. Sherman's bed and watch her get ready for work. The last thing Mrs. Sherman would do, before taking one final glance in the mirror, was pour a drop of lavender oil from the purple glass bottle on her dresser and dab it behind each ear. Lavender was the scent of Nikki's mother.

On the stoop next to Nikki were her copies of
The Saturdays
and
Mrs. Frisby
. Nikki was waiting for Mr. Walter to bring Olivia, Ruby, and Flora by. The girls planned to spend the afternoon at Nikki's — the first of their special Saturdays. Nikki had been looking forward to this day, but she had a feeling that the Melendys' adventures would surpass any adventures the members of the secret book club would share this summer. Just for starters, the Melendys lived in Manhattan (a fact that was bound to impress Ruby), and they had such things as museums and opera houses at hand. What was at hand in tiny Camden Falls? wondered Nikki. Then she scolded herself. Who knew what summer adventures lay ahead? Her own Saturdays might well be as exciting as the Melendys'.

Nikki's ears caught the sound of a car on the road, and moments later she saw a small cloud of dust as Mr. Walter's Toyota rumbled along the dirt road to the Shermans' house.

“Bye, girls! Have fun,” said Olivia's father as Flora, Ruby, and Olivia scrambled out of the car and ran to Nikki.

“Bye!” chorused the girls. And Olivia added, “Remember, Min is going to pick us up later.”

Mr. Walter honked his horn. Then he turned the car around and headed back to Main Street.

The four girls, holding their books, now stood awkwardly in front of the Shermans' house.

“So,” said Olivia, looking uncertainly at her friends. “How do you think we start our first meeting?”

“I guess we talk about the books,” said Flora.

Nikki consulted the letter that had accompanied the books. “And then we think about our green project.”

“Are we supposed to hold an actual meeting?” asked Olivia. “Is someone supposed to call it to order?”

“What do people in book clubs
do
?” asked Ruby.

“They have
fun
,” said a voice from behind the screen door. The door opened and Tobias stepped outside. “You girls are so
serious
,” he went on. “Just grab some sodas from the fridge, go up to Nikki's room, and lie around on the beds. Isn't that what girls do when they get together? Have some bonding time or something?” (Flora giggled.) “Anyway, you guys are on your own. I'm going to take Mae over to the Shaws' for a while.”

“We're going to look for fish in their pond!” exclaimed Mae giddily as she charged through the door and joined her brother on the stoop.

Five minutes later, Tobias and Mae were gone, and Nikki, Flora, Ruby, and Olivia were doing what Tobias suggested: They were sprawled around the room Nikki and Mae shared, drinking sodas. Flora, book club letter in hand, led off the conversation with, “Okay, the first thing to talk about is Mrs. Frisby and bravery,” but she was interrupted by Ruby, who said, “I hope we're
not going to follow the letter
exactly
, like a worksheet in school. Let's just talk about the books. And I say, let's start with
The Saturdays
, even though it's our bonus book, and all the questions and everything are about
Mrs. Frisby
.”

“Ruby,” said Flora, a note of suspicion in her voice, “you did read
Mrs. Frisby
, didn't you?”

“I loved the first twelve chapters!” said Ruby rapturously.

“What about the rest of the chapters?” asked Olivia.

Ruby paused. “I'm sure I'll like them just as much.”

“Ruby! Our very first meeting and you didn't even finish the book!” exclaimed Flora.

“How could you stop in the middle?” cried Olivia. “I think
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH
might possibly be the most exciting book I ever read!”

“Well, to begin with, there were
two
books. And
Mrs. Frisby
is very long,” said Ruby. “The printing is tiny,” she added. “Teeny-tiny. The printing in
The Saturdays
is much better and easier to read.”

There was a brief silence, after which Olivia said, “The sad thing is that Ruby doesn't even know what a great story she missed. I feel very bad for her.”

“Hey!” Ruby cried. “That is not your business, Olivia. It's mine.”

“No, you're wrong. It's
our
business. Aren't all the members of a book club supposed to read the books so
that they have a shared experience? If we all read
Mrs. Frisby
, for instance, then we've all —
all
,” she repeated, looking at Ruby, “shared that experience. We have it in common.”

“Bonding,” said Flora. “Tobias was kidding, but I think he has a point.”

“Can't we bond over
The Saturdays
?” asked Ruby.

“Look, you guys,” said Nikki. “Let's just start talking about the books, okay? If Ruby can join in, great. If she can't, well, maybe she'll want to finish future books.” (It was Nikki's turn to eye Ruby.) “And I don't think,” she added hastily, glancing at Flora and Olivia, “that we have to talk about every single thing listed in the letter. Let's just use the letter as a guide. I think the main purpose of this particular club is to have some fun adventures this summer.”

“Like the Melendys,” said Ruby pointedly. “And don't you guys think it's good that I at least finished one book?”

“Yes,” said Flora.

“You want to know what my favorite part of
The Saturdays
was?” asked Ruby. “It was when Oliver went to the circus. All by himself, and he was only six years old. I know it was naughty, but that's why I liked it. Also, I liked it when he came home with the policeman and puked on the doormat.”

Olivia laughed. “I liked the part when Rush found the dog. I wish I had a dog.”

“I liked that the Melendys were so independent,” said Nikki.

“Do you think all New York kids are as independent as they are?” asked Ruby dreamily.

“Not nowadays,” said Flora. “Did you guys notice when this book was published? Way back in 1941. I'll bet things were really different then. I'll bet New York kids couldn't do any of those things today. Not by themselves, like the Melendys did. A grown-up would have to go with them on their Saturday adventures now.”

“I think
that's
sad,” said Ruby. “I'll bet we're more independent here in Camden Falls than kids our age in New York City.”

“That's funny,” said Nikki, “because while I was waiting for you guys to come over, I was feeling a little jealous of the Melendys and their adventures, but now I don't feel so bad.”

“Do you think the Melendys showed bravery on their adventures or were they just having fun?” asked Olivia. “I was looking at the first thing to talk about in the letter — about bravery in
Mrs. Frisby
— and I was about to say that Mrs. Frisby showed a lot of bravery while the Melendys just had fun, but then I realized that might not be true.”

“I think the Melendys mostly had fun,” said Flora, “but some of the things they did were brave, too. I mean,
it's kind of silly, but when Mona got her hair cut, that was brave.”

“Not nearly as brave as what Mrs. Frisby did to save Timothy!” exclaimed Ruby. She turned to Olivia. “See? I can still contribute to our discussion.” Olivia smiled a tiny smile. “Mrs. Frisby had to brave Dragon the cat,” Ruby continued, “and Jeremy the crow, and the owl — I don't think we ever find out the owl's name, do we? Anyway, Mrs. Frisby was
really
brave.”

“But when Mona cut her hair, it changed her identity,” said Flora. “That's brave, too, just in a different kind of way.”

“Overall, though,” said Olivia, “I think there was more bravery in
Mrs. Frisby
. The rats were brave when they were trapped in the cages at NIMH.”

“Mrs. Frisby's husband had been brave,” said Nikki. “That's why the rats were so nice to Mrs. Frisby when Timothy was sick.”

“Nicodemus the rat was brave,” said Flora. “He came up with the plan for the rats' escape.”

“There's something I've been wondering,” said Nikki. “This isn't in the letter, but I can't stop thinking about it: Do you believe that the seven rats who died in the hardware store were Jenner and his group, who split off from the others? You know, the renegade rats? Because if they weren't, then they could still be out there, planning to —”

“Stop!” cried Ruby. “Don't say another word! You mean Jenner wants to come back and get revenge on Nicodemus or something?”

“Do you really want us to answer your question or do you want to finish the book?” asked Olivia.

“Now I want to finish the book. So don't talk about anything that will give away the rest of the story.”

At this, Flora looked highly put out, but Nikki said, “Wait. Here's something we can discuss that won't give the end away.” She read from the paper. “‘Tell your friends about something you did that was brave.'”

Ruby jumped up. “I am brave every time I stand on a stage in front of an audience.”

Flora frowned. “Really? I thought you liked being onstage.”

“I do,” said Ruby, “but it's still brave.” She sat down.

There was a little silence and then Olivia said, “I felt like I had to be brave when my parents were out of work and didn't know what they wanted to do.” She paused. “Actually, I felt like I
should
have been brave, but I wasn't really, so I guess that doesn't count. I don't feel like a brave person.”

“Me, neither,” said Flora. “But I think I was brave the night of the car accident. Ruby and I were at the hospital and we knew something bad had happened to Mom and Dad, and then this police officer started asking me all these questions about who to contact in an emergency. So I told myself I had to be brave for Ruby
and stay strong and take care of things.” Flora looked at Nikki. “What about you?”

“Something about my father,” muttered Nikki, “but I don't want to talk about it.”

The girls didn't press their friend. They talked instead about the characters in
Mrs. Frisby
and which ones they were most like. They wanted to talk about what might have happened after the end of the story but were hampered by Ruby's insistence that they not ruin the last sixteen chapters for her. So finally Olivia said, “Well, what about our project — to help make Camden Falls a greener place?”

“What does a green project have to do with
Mrs. Frisby
?” asked Ruby.

“You'd know if you'd finished the book,” said Flora.

“You'll find out,” added Nikki in a kinder tone of voice, “when you get to the part about the rat race.”

“All right,” said Ruby, sounding contrite. “I guess the point is that we have to think of something to do to make our town greener. But what
can
we do? We're just kids.”

“The rats were ‘just rats' and they thought of something,” said Olivia.

“Hey, I know!” exclaimed Nikki. “How about if we plant a vegetable garden?” She turned to Ruby. “That will make more sense to you after you finish the book.”

“Oh, that's a good idea,” said Flora. “And we could
keep some of the vegetables for ourselves, but we could donate the rest of them to the food bank — to help feed people who don't have enough to eat.”

“This is great,” said Olivia. “I love it. But is it too late to start a vegetable garden? It's almost July. And what's that old saying? Corn is supposed to be knee-high by the Fourth of July? Our corn would have to grow awfully quickly to catch up.”

“Plus, we don't know anything about vegetable gardening,” pointed out Ruby.

“But I know who does,” said Olivia. “Mr. Pennington.”

“Let's call him!” said Nikki.

So Olivia phoned him but got no answer.

“Well, I think we can do it anyway,” said Flora. “This is going to be fun. What should we plant?”

Flora, Olivia, Nikki, and Ruby made lists and charts. They looked up the answers to several questions on the Shermans' computer. They called the food bank. They made more lists. By the time Min's car pulled up, Ruby was bouncy with energy and plans. So when, to the girls' surprise, Mr. Pennington climbed out of the passenger seat, Ruby ran to him, nearly knocking him off his feet.

“Mr. Pennington! I can't believe you're here! We tried to call you! We're going to start a vegetable garden! For the food bank!”

Ruby's words tumbled out in such a rush that Flora had to step in and give Mr. Pennington and Min a more coherent explanation.

“Well, I think I can help you out,” said Mr. Pennington. “It is a bit late to be starting a garden, but you can do it.”

He answered the girls' questions patiently, and by the time Min said that they really had better be on their way, the girls had decided exactly what they needed for their garden, and Olivia had suggested that the garden be planted in her backyard, conveniently next door to Mr. Pennington in case his help was needed. “Which,” said Olivia, “I'm sure it will be.”

At last Min's car, now carrying five people, drove down Nikki's lane. As Nikki watched it disappear in the distance, a slow smile spread across her face. This Saturday, she said to herself, had been as much fun as any of the Melendys'.