Free Always, Abigail by Nancy J. Cavanaugh Page B

Ditto
    9. Ditto
    10. Ditto

The Announcement That Came over the Loudspeaker before Homeroom Began
    â€œMs. Jenson’s out sick, so pom squad practice is canceled for today.”
    My DESTINY would be delayed one more day.

The Thank-You Note from Mrs. Carwell, Which Old Hawk Read Out Loud in Homeroom
    Dear Gabby and Abigail,
    Thank you so much for coming to our class. The children have not stopped talking about you. One of them asked me if you two are Dr. Seuss’s kids.

One Thing Jackson Dawber Whispered to Brent While Old Hawk Was Reading the Letter
    (Of course his whisper was loud enough for a few kids nearby to hear, but not quite loud enough for Old Hawk to hear.)
    â€œDr. Seuss maybe. Dr. Stupid for sure.”
    If I hadn’t been so tired, I would have punched him, but I barely had the strength to get mad about it.

One Thing Old Hawk Asked before Continuing to Read the Letter
    â€œIs there something you would like to share with the rest of the class, Mr. Dawber?”

The Rest of the Letter from Mrs. Carwell
    The boys and girls drew pictures to thank you for spending time with us. We do hope you will come back soon.
    Love,
    Mrs. Carwell’s Kindergarten Class

The Thing Gabby and I Did after Homeroom
    We looked at all the pictures the kindergartners had made for us. Some were of me in my Sam I Am hat, holding up the plate of green eggs and ham. Some were of Gabby in her hat, scrunching up her face, getting ready to eat the green eggs and ham. And some were pictures that didn’t have anything to do with Green Eggs and Ham . But they were all cute! And they were for us!

The Thing That Happened While We Were Looking at the Pictures from the Kindergartners
    Other kids leaving homeroom tried to look over our shoulders to see what the pictures looked like. And I knew no matter what Jackson Dawber or anyone else said, they were wishing the pictures were for them. I could just feel it. It was the same feeling I’d had when I thought I’d made captain of the pom squad.

Something I Said to Gabby While Waiting for Algebra to Start
    â€œI want to show these pictures to my mom and dad.”

Two Things I Thought About after I Said It
    1. Gabby didn’t have a mom to show them to.
    2. Did she have a dad?

Something Gabby Said after That
    â€œYeah, I think I’ll ask Old Hawk to make copies so I can send them to my dad.”

The One Question I Wanted to Ask Gabby, but Didn’t
    Where is your dad anyway?

The Reason I Didn’t Ask Gabby about Her Dad
    Whatever the answer was, I was worried that it would somehow make me feel even more guilty.

Things to Do
    1. Ask Old Hawk if I could take a few of her picture books home.
    2. Read the picture books tonight and find another good one for Gabby and me to read to the kindergartners.

One Thing I Said at Dinner before My Dad Even Had a Chance to Ask If Anything Interesting Happened
    â€œWait ’til I show you the cute thank-you notes the kindergarten kids gave Gabby and me.”

Two Things My Brother Said
    1. “Are you talking about Gabby Marco?”
    2. “Didn’t her brother drop out of school to become a lumberjack or something?”

The Thing I Said That Sort of Surprised Me
    (Actually the Way I Said It Is What Surprised Me)
    â€œHe’s a tree climber, and it’s superdangerous. And for your information, he had to quit school to take care of Gabby.”

The Only Thing My Neanderthal Brother Said Before Stuffing an Entire Dinner Roll inTO His Mouth
    â€œCool.”

The List of Books I Showed Gabby the Next Day that We Could Maybe Use for Our Next Storytelling with the Kindergartners
    1. Sylvester and the Magic Pebble
    2. Stone Soup
    3. Miss Nelson Is Missing!
    4. Abiyoyo
    5. Jack and the Beanstalk

Three Things I’ll Always Remember about My First Practice as a Real Pom-Pom Girl
    1. The minute I walked into the gym, AlliCam and J&M saluted me with the secret wave. Then they ran to me screaming,