Their mother always said that the only thing white bread was good for was toast.
“So,” their father said as he mopped up the last of his egg with the last of his toast.
Maisie’s stomach rolled. Something about the way he said
so
let her know he was about to make an announcement. She hadn’t heard a good announcement in almost a year, ever since that day when her parents told her and Felix they were getting divorced.
“What would you two say if I told you I was moving back to the States?” her father said.
Maisie shook her head as if to clear out any interference. If her father was leaving Qatar and moving back, then this was a very good announcement.
“I would say great,” Felix said.
“Then I guess you need to say great,” their father said, beaming.
“Great!” Felix said, so happy he thought his chest might burst.
Then their father draped his arm around Agatha’s shoulders,the way he did with their mother in the wedding album.
“And what would you say if I told you that Agatha and I are going to get married?” he asked.
Agatha was grinning and their father was grinning, but Maisie and Felix’s expressions had turned to stone.
“That’s great, too, isn’t it?” Agatha said, her voice so cheerful that Felix thought he might actually cry.
“It is great,” their father said, filling the silence Maisie and Felix had left. “I’m going to rent a studio downtown again and get back to painting, and Agatha will work at a gallery…”
The sound of his voice spinning all the plans he and Agatha had made turned into an annoying buzz in Maisie and Felix’s heads. Felix thought of Liliu, standing on that wide lawn beneath all those stars. It was their job, she’d said, to hold on to all the past had given them. How easy it was, Felix thought, to throw it away.
Soon they were on the subway to Penn Station, Agatha talking about places where they might get married and their father grinning and saying
Isn’t thatgreat?
about everything.
And then they were on the platform at Penn Station, the train chugging noisily to a stop. Their father easily carried both of their bags onto the train, and settled them into seats on the right-hand side so that they’d be sure to have a view of the ocean when they passed through Connecticut.
And then he was kissing them both good-bye, murmuring about how by June he would be living in New York City again and they could come to visit him all the time, maybe even for the whole summer.
And then he was gone and the train was pulling away. Maisie and Felix looked out the window and found their father standing on the platform, his arm around Agatha, both of them waving good-bye.
Felix picked up the book Jim Duncan had given him.
Moby-Dick
. He stared down at the cover. There, beneath the title, was the author’s name: Herman Melville.
“Maisie,” Felix said, holding up the book. “Herman Melville.”
“The guy who hid us from Gold Tooth?” she said.
Felix nodded. You never knew about people, he thought, opening the book.
Back at home, it seemed nothing had changed.
The Treasure Chest remained sealed. Great-Uncle Thorne spent all his time with Penelope Merriweather, and their mother spent all her time either at work or with Bruce Fishbaum.
School started up again, uneventfully.
The entire sixth grade, both Miss Landers’s and Mrs. Witherspoon’s classes, had to choose topics for research papers.
Felix decided on his immediately: whaling in the nineteenth century.
Maisie chose hers right away, too: the Kingdom of Hawaii.
“What are you doing yours on?” Felix asked Lily Goldberg at lunch that day.
The spring air still had a chill to it, but the sun was bright and the leaves shimmered a beautiful green beneath it. Felix and Lily had taken their lunches outside to eat.
“I’m not doing one,” she said.
Lily Goldberg looked especially pretty today, Felix thought. Her dress had a pattern of apples and pears, and her hair was poking out at funny
“So,” their father said as he mopped up the last of his egg with the last of his toast.
Maisie’s stomach rolled. Something about the way he said
so
let her know he was about to make an announcement. She hadn’t heard a good announcement in almost a year, ever since that day when her parents told her and Felix they were getting divorced.
“What would you two say if I told you I was moving back to the States?” her father said.
Maisie shook her head as if to clear out any interference. If her father was leaving Qatar and moving back, then this was a very good announcement.
“I would say great,” Felix said.
“Then I guess you need to say great,” their father said, beaming.
“Great!” Felix said, so happy he thought his chest might burst.
Then their father draped his arm around Agatha’s shoulders,the way he did with their mother in the wedding album.
“And what would you say if I told you that Agatha and I are going to get married?” he asked.
Agatha was grinning and their father was grinning, but Maisie and Felix’s expressions had turned to stone.
“That’s great, too, isn’t it?” Agatha said, her voice so cheerful that Felix thought he might actually cry.
“It is great,” their father said, filling the silence Maisie and Felix had left. “I’m going to rent a studio downtown again and get back to painting, and Agatha will work at a gallery…”
The sound of his voice spinning all the plans he and Agatha had made turned into an annoying buzz in Maisie and Felix’s heads. Felix thought of Liliu, standing on that wide lawn beneath all those stars. It was their job, she’d said, to hold on to all the past had given them. How easy it was, Felix thought, to throw it away.
Soon they were on the subway to Penn Station, Agatha talking about places where they might get married and their father grinning and saying
Isn’t thatgreat?
about everything.
And then they were on the platform at Penn Station, the train chugging noisily to a stop. Their father easily carried both of their bags onto the train, and settled them into seats on the right-hand side so that they’d be sure to have a view of the ocean when they passed through Connecticut.
And then he was kissing them both good-bye, murmuring about how by June he would be living in New York City again and they could come to visit him all the time, maybe even for the whole summer.
And then he was gone and the train was pulling away. Maisie and Felix looked out the window and found their father standing on the platform, his arm around Agatha, both of them waving good-bye.
Felix picked up the book Jim Duncan had given him.
Moby-Dick
. He stared down at the cover. There, beneath the title, was the author’s name: Herman Melville.
“Maisie,” Felix said, holding up the book. “Herman Melville.”
“The guy who hid us from Gold Tooth?” she said.
Felix nodded. You never knew about people, he thought, opening the book.
Back at home, it seemed nothing had changed.
The Treasure Chest remained sealed. Great-Uncle Thorne spent all his time with Penelope Merriweather, and their mother spent all her time either at work or with Bruce Fishbaum.
School started up again, uneventfully.
The entire sixth grade, both Miss Landers’s and Mrs. Witherspoon’s classes, had to choose topics for research papers.
Felix decided on his immediately: whaling in the nineteenth century.
Maisie chose hers right away, too: the Kingdom of Hawaii.
“What are you doing yours on?” Felix asked Lily Goldberg at lunch that day.
The spring air still had a chill to it, but the sun was bright and the leaves shimmered a beautiful green beneath it. Felix and Lily had taken their lunches outside to eat.
“I’m not doing one,” she said.
Lily Goldberg looked especially pretty today, Felix thought. Her dress had a pattern of apples and pears, and her hair was poking out at funny
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