front window again. The Star Girl Review was out of sight.
“You’d need Star Girl X-ray vision to see it now,” said Sophie.
Her brother Arthur came riding his bike up on the sidewalk, the badges on his Jughead hat shiny with rain. “Hey, Sophie,” he said, his tires splashing through the puddles. “Martian’s waiting for you. It’s your turn to look after Zephram while she’s at work, remember?”
“I’m coming. I’m coming.” Sophie took one last look at the pile of comics then turned to follow her brother home.
“You know, I’ve never realized it before, but Arthur looks just like you!” said Marcie.
“Yeah, right. If I was six inches taller and wore thick glasses and a stupid Jughead hat all the time, maybe.”
“No, I mean it. You’ve got the same curly hair, same dark brown eyes, same round chin. And besides you’re both so skinny.…”
“I’m not that skinny,” said Sophie, standing straight and tall. “Anyway, I’ve got to get home. See you at school tomorrow.” She pulled the hood of her hair which got frizzy when it got wet. Marcie turned down Saint Michel Road and Sophie walked straight up past Our Lady’s church.
She peeked between some boards in the fence around the vacant lot beside the church. Her secret hideout would have to wait; it was too wet today to check it out. Besides, she had to hurry home.
As she splashed through the puddles, she thought about what Marcie had said and decided she definitely was not anything like her brother. Arthur was twelve, two years older than Sophie, and he and her two other older brothers, Joseph and Henri, got to do all the interesting things she was never allowed to do—riding their bikes to school, playing street hockey or baseball in the alleys.… She knew it wasn’t just because they were older. It was because they were boys. Boys got to do more interesting things than girls, and that’s all there was to it. It just wasn’t fair. But if she had Star Girl’s powers.… Maybe if she got every single Star Girl comic and studied them for clues, she’d discover Star Girl’s secret.
It had been raining all day and there were puddles to splash in everywhere. Her winter boots leaked, so by the time she got to their apartment above Plouff’s Shoe Store, her socks were soaked right through.
She sloshed up the back stairs and burst into the apartment. It smelled of Maman’s delicious cabbage soup simmering on the stove.
“Maman! I’ve got to have my allowance today,” she announced as she entered the kitchen.
Her mother was packing her good dishes into a big cardboard box, wrapping each cup separately in newspaper. The kitchen light made her curly hair look like a fluffy blond cloud.
“But today’s only Wednesday, Chérie,” she said, shaking her head at Sophie. “You know you have to wait until Saturday for your allowance.”
“Oh, please, please, please, Maman!” begged Sophie. “I really, really need it. Just this one time.”
“It seems to me that every week, you say you really need your allowance early. You must learn to be patient, Sophie, and wait for things. It’s all part of growing up. How will you ever become a proper young lady.”
Sophie knew her mother was going to say no. She always said no, but Sophie had to try anyway. She kicked off her boots and yanked off her wet socks.
“There’s another postcard on the piano for you from your cousin, Danielle.”
“Finally!”
The postcard showed a fishing boat plowing through high ocean waves. Danielle, who was a year older than Sophie, and her best friend besides Marcie, had moved to Newfoundland last September. Her mother had found a good job teaching French in the high school in St. John’s.
It’s so cold here there are real icebergs in the harbour although it’s supposed to be spring. Most of the time it’s so foggy we can’t even see them. I can’t believe you’re moving to the west coast! You’ll be so far away. Will I ever see you again?
Ton amie toujours, Danielle xxxx
Sophie read the card aloud to Maman. “See. She doesn’t want me to go either,” she said. “If we have to move, why can’t we move to Newfoundland instead of B.C?”
“Papa has been offered an excellent job in B.C. You’ll make new friends once we get there. You’ll see,” she said.
“But we haven’t even seen where we’ll be living.”
“Papa’s new boss has found us a good house to rent near where hell be working,” said Maman, taking off her flowery apron and shaking it out. “Now, Zephram’s still sleeping, but he’ll be awake soon. Could you please set the table so well be ready for supper when I come back upstairs at six?”
“Okay.”
Maman hung her apron on the hook beside the ice box and went downstairs to Plouffs’ Shoe Store where she worked afternoons.
While Sophie set the big wooden table in the kitchen for herself, Maman, Papa, Arthur, Joseph and Henri, she thought about Danielle and the stashed Star Girl Review. Danielle liked Star Girl as much as she and Marcie did and she would have loved the new issue too. Sophie just had to have that one for her collection.
She’d have plenty of time to buy it on Saturday when she got her allowance. If only she could be sure Roberta Smith didn’t get to it first.
On Thursday after school, Sophie and Marcie walked by Tussaud’s Epicerie. They checked the comics in the window.
“Can’t see it, can you?” said Marcie.
Sophie shook her head. “Roberta will never even know it’s there. Oh, look!” She’d spotted two glossy brown crickets hiding under the window ledge.
“They’re waving their antennae at us,” said Marcie.
“I could add them to my bug collection,” said Sophie. “You have anything I could put them in?”
“Here’s my lunch bag,” offered Marcie, taking a neatly folded paper bag from her pocket.
Sophie quickly caught the two crickets and popped them into the bag. She folded the top down so they wouldn’t escape. “I have to hurry home and put them into a jar. See you at school tomorrow, Marcie.”
When Sophie got home, she put her new crickets into a big jar with a lid that had holes punched in the top of it so the crickets could still breathe. Then she lined up her whole bug collection on the window sill where her mother’s fancy ornaments had been before they were packed away.
The afternoon sunshine streamed through the window and warmed the glass jars. Sophie could see her bugs scuttle about, fluttering papery wings and wriggling eyelash-thin legs and antennae.
“There. Now you can see outside,” she told them, patting the glass sides.
As well
