Free Coming Apart (9780545356152) by Ann M Martin Page B

a replacement owl here at Heaven, where things were cheaper. Heaven was where Ruby had bought plastic rings and rubber bracelets, sparkly hair combs and once a silver seagull, a birthday present for Min. Except that it wasn’t silver, as it had turned out. It was pewter, which Flora said Ruby should have known by the price: $11.49. And also by the fact that the tag was stuck to the bottom of the gull. A silver gull of that size would have been hideously expensive, according to know-it-all Flora, and would never have had anything stuck to its bottom. The tag would have been tastefully arranged (facedown)
next
to the gull. Ruby had never spent more than the $11.49 on any one item at Heaven. So she was keeping her fingers crossed that in the display in the window or in one of the cases inside the store she might find an owl that looked like the one she had broken. Even a glass owl would be fine. Ruby didn’t care. Glass, crystal. Would Min really know the difference?
    Ruby blew on her bare hands as she scanned the earrings and necklaces and watches in the window. She realized her hands were freezing and felt in her pockets for mittens. But her pockets were bare. The winter had been so warm that Ruby had rarely needed either mittens or a hat. She found herself wishing for both now.
    Ruby saw nothing resembling a crystal owl in the window, so she stepped inside and began a careful examination of each display case. It was while she was standing in front of a rack of silver (well, pewter) earrings and wondering if she might have enough money for an owl
and
a pair of earrings in the shape of ballet slippers that she became aware of the radio playing somewhere in the store. And then she realized what single word had just captured her attention:
blizzard
.
    â€œWhat?” said Ruby aloud. She stepped back and stood in the aisle, listening intently.
    â€œThat’s right, ladies and gentlemen,” the announcer was saying, and Ruby detected a hint of excitement in his usually calm voice. “A blizzard. All of our computer models are predicting that it will arrive late Friday afternoon. We’re expecting high winds, temperatures well below freezing, and — good news for the kiddies — more than two feet of snow. Yup, twenty-four to thirty inches of the white stuff. This could be the worst storm in forty years.”
    Now, ordinarily if Ruby had heard such an announcement, particularly in a winter that so far had yielded a scant flurry here and there, she might have jumped up and down and cheered, even in the middle of Heaven. But at the moment, all she could think was: Friday. The weather guy said the storm is supposed to come on
Friday
. Friday
afternoon
, no less. There was no way they would get a snow day out of the blizzard, even the worst one in forty years, if it began late on Friday afternoon.
    â€œRuby? What’s wrong?”
    Ruby jumped and returned her attention to the jewelry case, where, she now saw, Margaret Malone was standing. She had forgotten that Margaret worked at Heaven. She’d started her new job after the holidays in order to earn money for college.
    â€œDid you hear that?” asked Ruby.
    â€œHear what?”
    â€œWhat the weatherman just said. A blizzard is coming on Friday.
Friday
. We won’t get a snow day. All that snow, and what good will it do?”
    Margaret laughed. “Well, it should be exciting. And fun. Aren’t you excited, even a little?”
    â€œI guess,” replied Ruby. She scanned the display cases again.
    â€œAre you looking for anything special?”
    â€œWell …” Ruby hesitated. Should she mention the owl to Margaret? She didn’t want Min to hear that she was going around town looking for a crystal owl. On the other hand, if she could find a cheap owl here, it
would
make things much easier. “I don’t suppose you have any owls,” said Ruby finally.
    â€œAny owls?”
    â€œI’m looking for a