Free All the Way Home by Patricia Reilly Giff Page B

“Want one for yourself?”
    She knew he was telling her he felt bad about the window business, so she smiled and put her package down. He reached around the door and handed them to her. “Good girl,” he said.
    Benny sat back as she held her hand out flat with both sugar cubes for Daisy to nuzzle. “It’s the princess all dressed up,” Benny said. “On your way to a party in the rain?”
    “I need a favor, Benny,” she said, looking at Daisy, afraid to look up, afraid he’d say no.
    “Want an old rag? Want a dozen?”
    “A ride, please.”
    “I’m not going very far,” he said, grinning. “No castles on my route.” He wiped his face with the back of his sleeve.
    “I need to go to Manhattan.”
    His eyes widened. “That’s far enough. What are you going to do there? Not running away, are you?” She saw him look down at her legs, biting his lip, sorry he had said that.
    She picked up the bag. “I have to get this to a friend on Canal Street,” she said, “but Loretta has to work.”
    All true, every bit of it.
    He shook his head. “After Manhattan, I have to go to the Bronx. I’m doing extra time, extra money for mygirl Gracie’s birthday present.” He hesitated. “That’s a long way. Are you sure Loretta wouldn’t mind?”
    Mariel smiled. “Loretta says I can do anything. Besides …” She pulled at the elastic under her chin. “I don’t need to come back. My friend …” She let her voice trail off, let him think she had a ride.
    “All right then,” he said. “I could drop you near the bridge. Know where that is?”
    “Sure.” She had never seen anything more than the top of it poked up when she went shopping with Loretta.
    Benny held out his hand, fingers hard, palms callused, and pulled her up next to him. They began to move, the old clothes shifting in back of them, the sleigh bells jingling, and Daisy trotting along in the puddles.
    Mariel wondered if she’d really find Brick. Was she making a mistake going to the far end of the bridge? Should she wait on the Brooklyn side instead? She thought about it. It was a long bridge, she remembered that. If Brick started across before she got there, she’d miss him. She hated to think about that, waiting at the bridge all night, never seeing him, wondering what to do.
    She closed her eyes and listened to Benny click his tongue against his teeth to spur Daisy on. He began to sing then, “Daisy, Daisy, I’m half crazy, all for the love of you …”
    After a minute, she began to hum with him. Daisy went faster now, and they turned down a cobblestonestreet with the wagon rocking from side to side. “Daisy moves right along when she thinks she’s going home,” Benny said. “She has her own way of getting to the bridge.”
    Mariel nodded, holding on to the seat with both hands. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if she found Brick? Wouldn’t he be surprised?

19

Brick
    H e had found it. After circling blocks, going past the same vegetable store more than once, he glanced up to see the sign in front of him. FLATBUSH AVENUE !
    He looked down at the paper:
Take Flatbush Avenue all the way to the bridge and cross into Manhattan
.
    Easy directions, a long walk in the pouring rain. At first he jogged along the street, not minding it. He even stopped for a moment to watch the cars. He had seen more cars in the last few days than he had in his whole life: Model A Fords, and even a Packard or two.
    He’d tell Claude all about them when he got there. He felt a quick stab of pain in his chest. Mariel had to be wrong about how long it would take. If only she were wrong! Giant buildings appeared in the distance,hazy against the clouds, the buildings of Manhattan, he was sure. But after walking blocks, they didn’t seem closer.
    He began to listen to the sound of his footsteps. The wet sidewalk was so much harder than the packed dirt of the Windy Hill road. He couldn’t stop thinking of the cement against his feet. His sock kept pulling down inside