Free Anna All Year Round by Mary Downing Hahn, Diane de Groat

understand a thing her aunt says.
    Aunt May kisses Anna and smiles at Mother. "There, you see, Lizzie? Our secrets are still safe—for now, that is. But with such a clever girl in the house, we must be careful what we say, or Anna will learn all our secrets."
    Mother shakes her head and sighs, but Father chuckles. Turning to Anna, he says, "Do you smell what I smell, Anna?"
    Anna breathes in the sweet aroma of fresh-baked pastry drifting up the hill from Leidig's bakery. "Ladyfingers," she says. "I can almost taste them."
    Father takes Anna's hand. "Come, let's walk down to the corner and treat ourselves."
    "Bring something back for Lizzie and me, Ira," Aunt May calls. "
Bitte?
"
    "Don't forget me," Uncle Henry shouts from the doorway.
    Anna skips ahead of Father and arrives at the bakery long before he does.
    "Well, well, Anna,
mein Liebling,
" Mr. Leidig says. "What will you have this evening?"
    Anna closes her eyes for a moment and breathes in the sugar-sweet smell of the bakery. Then she opens her eyes and studies the pretty pink and yellow icing on the cookies, the brown sugar melting on the strudel, the cinnamon swirling on the apple dumplings, the chocolate oozing out of the éclairs, the custard bursting out of the ladyfingers. How can Anna choose? She wishes she could have two or three of everything.
    But if she ate that much, she'd soon be as fat as Mr. Leidig. Father says it's a baker's duty to taste all his cakes and cookies to make sure they taste good. It must be true because Mr. Leidig looks like a gigantic gingerbread man, his round face frosted pink, his eyes little dots no bigger than raisins, his hair as white as spun sugar.
    When Father arrives, Anna picks a ladyfinger. Father orders half a dozen. Anna watches Mr. Leidig put the ladyfingers in a white box and tie it shut with string. In her head she's counting—one for Father, one for Mother, one for Aunt May, one for Uncle Henry, and one for Anna. That's five. Who is number six for?
    "You bought one too many," Anna tells Father.
    "My goodness." Father stops at the bakery door. "Shall I return it to Mr. Leidig and ask for a refund?"
    "No, no," Anna says hastily. "I'm sure someone will eat it."
    "Who do you think that will be?" Father asks.
    Anna seizes Father's hand. "Maybe it will be me?"
    Father laughs. "That's just who I bought it for."
    While Anna watches, Father opens the box and hands her a ladyfinger. "This will give you the energy to climb back up the hill to our house," he says.
    When they are halfway home, Anna and Father meet the lamplighter coming slowly down the street. He lights one gas lamp after another, leaving behind him a trail of shining glass globes.
    Father and Anna pause to watch the old man light the lamp on the corner. "Soon Baltimore will be electrified," Father says, "and the streetlights will come on all by themselves."
    Anna smiles. She thinks Father is joking.
    "Mark my word, Anna," Father says. "By the time you're my age, the world will be very different."
    Anna realizes Father is serious. He works for the newspaper, so she guesses he knows more than most people about everything. "Will the world be better?" she asks.

    "It will be different," Father repeats. "Some things will be better, others will be worse."
    "Which will be better?" Anna asks, clinging to his hand. "Which will be worse?"
    Father shakes his head. "I don't know, Anna."
    Anna holds Father's hand tighter. She cannot imagine anything changing. It frightens her to think of streetlights coming on by themselves. What will the old man do if he has no lamps to light?
    "There will be more motorcars," Father says. "And fewer horses."
    Even though Anna loves riding in Uncle Henry's boss's big limousine, she isn't ready to give up horses.
    "Why can't we have both motorcars and horses?" she asks Father.
    He pats her hand. "The world isn't big enough for both," he says softly. "Automobiles go faster than horses. They are new and shiny. People like your uncle want