Calico Illustrated Classics: Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farms
sunshine the brook catches it It’s always full of sparkles I know a lake like that in Milltown said Mr Cobb Then I hope to see Milltown one day said Rebecca I suppose it’s bigger and grander than where I come from Is it more like Paris She reached into her pocket My beaded purse is from Paris Look how it opens with a snap I’ve twenty cents in it It’s got to last three months for stamps paper and ink Mother says Aunt Miranda won’t want to buy things like that when she’s feeding and clothing me Knowing Miranda like he did he knew her mother was right Paris ain’t great said Mr Cobb It’s the dullest place in the state of Maine Oh no Mr Cobb Paris isn’t in Maine It’s the capital of France said Rebecca The French are such polite people He ignored her Milltown ain’t great neither But if your Aunt Miranda will let you 10
I’ll take you down to Milltown this summer As long as the stagecoach ain’t full he added To think I should see Milltown It’s like having a fairy godmother who asks you your wish and then gives it to you Did you ever read Cinderella or The Fair One with Golden Locks No said Mr Cobb cautiously Where’d you get a chance to read so much Oh I’ve read lots of books answered Rebecca I’ve read The Lamplighter Ivanhoe and David Copperfi eld What have you read Nowadays I get along with the Almanac He pointed to the green fi elds ahead When we get to the top of that hill we’ll see the chimneys of Riverboro in the distance Rebecca’s hand stirred nervously in her lap I didn’t think I was going to be afraid Want to go back asked Mr Cobb I’d never go back I might be frightened but I’d be ashamed to run Going to Aunt Miranda’s is like going down the cellar in the 11
dark There might be ogres and giants under the stairs But as I tell Hannah there could be elves and fairies and enchanted frogs Mr Cobb laughed at Rebecca He admired her enthusiasm We’ve had a great trip You won’t forget about Milltown will you Never she exclaimed And you’re sure you won’t either Never Cross my heart vowed Mr Cobb There’s the stage turning into the Sawyer girls place said Mrs Perkins to her husband She saw a little girl in calico with fl owers in one hand and a pink parasol in the other That must be the niece from up Temperance way It seems they wrote to Aurelia and invited Hannah the oldest But Aurelia said she could spare Rebecca better She’ll be good company for our Emma Jane There was no way for Mrs Perkins to know that the girls would become kindred spirits It was a new day for Rebecca 12
2 The Spinster Aunts They had been called the Sawyer Girls all their lives Although Miranda and Jane were in their fi fties Riverboro still called them the Sawyer Girls They were spinsters But Aurelia the youngest had married long ago Her sisters called it a mighty poor decision Miranda and Jane had washed their hands of Aurelia when she married Lorenzo de Medici Randall The sisters didn’t trust Lorenzo’s spending ways He had a poetic way of using Aurelia’s money to make investments for each child that blessed their union A birthday present for our child Aurelia he would say A little nest-egg for the future 13
