The Hollow under the Tree Read online

  “Miss Clemons is right, Sadie. You have to be careful.”

  “Maybe something in the park was hungry. After all, we eat birds, too.” Sadie pointed to the platter. “What’s the difference?”

  Her father looked at the chicken. “About fifty dollars, I should think.”

  As if it wasn’t bad enough that she couldn’t find food, now the police were becoming interested. But what could she do? She thought about the lion for the rest of the evening. She had trouble falling asleep, and found it on her mind when she woke up in the morning. As always, she helped get breakfast on the table and cleared the dishes afterwards, went to school and came home again to make her deliveries.

  She wasn’t much in the mood for Theodore Junior, but there he was at the back door. He wore a black tuxedo with a bow tie and a silk hankie in the pocket and even a top hat.

  “You going to start tap dancing?” Sadie said.

  “It’s for our family trip to Europe. On an ocean liner. I have to dress for dinner.”

  “Any chance you’re leaving soon?”

  “Not for a couple of months. I’m trying to get used to the outfit.” He took the box from her. “So what kind of pie is it today?”

  “I didn’t notice. You want me to stick my thumb in and see?”

  “That depends. Is your thumb clean or dirty?”

  Sadie was in no mood to joke. She turned to go. But then an idea made her stop.

  “So, tell me, Theo Junior. Do you know what you’re having for dinner?”

  “Sure. Big, juicy T-bone steaks.”

  “You wouldn’t by any chance want to give them to me?”

  “You’re a funny egg. I can never tell when you’re joking.”

  “I’m not joking.”

  Theodore Junior looked at her seriously.

  “I guess so,” he said finally. “Cook won’t be very happy, but I’ll tell her I have a craving for spaghetti.”

  He took the pie into the house while Sadie waited. If there was a slower boy on earth than Theo Junior she had never met him. But at last he came back with a package wrapped in butcher’s paper closed not by string like Mr. Hathway’s but with a gold seal.

  “That’s great.”

  “It must be hard when your family can’t afford to buy food.”

  “It isn’t for my family! Maybe we don’t have steaks but we still eat.”

  Sadie reached out for the parcel, but Theo Junior pulled it away.

  “If it’s not for your family, what do you want it for?”

  “It’s for a friend.”

  “Your friend must be awfully hungry.”

  “He’s got a big appetite.”

  “I’d like to meet this friend.”

  “Trust me, you don’t want to. Besides, you might get in trouble.”

  “I’ve never been in trouble before. I’m interested to know what it feels like.”

  Could Sadie risk taking him? His interested expression was annoying, but it wasn’t mean or sneaky.

  “All right. You can come with me.”

  “Great. I just have to change out of my tuxedo.”

  “You’re going to make me wait again?”

  But Sadie did wait, and when Theo Junior came back in his everyday clothes, she made him carry the parcel of steaks. It took hardly any time to walk to the east gate of the park.

  “Are we going into High Park?” asked Theo Junior. “I’ve always wanted to see what it was like.”

  “You’ve never been in the park? What a bunch of malarkey.”

  “Is it like the Tuileries Garden in Paris or Hyde Park in London? I’ve been to them. Hey, look at those swings! Want to go on?”

  “We’re on a mission here, Theo Junior.”

  “Just for a minute. Please.”

  “Fine. Get on and I’ll push.”

  So Theodore Junior climbed up on the worn wooden seat of the swing, and Sadie got behind and pushed him.

  “Not too high!” he cried, but Sadie just pushed harder.

  “You get on one, too.”

  It had been a long time since she’d played in the park. When she wasn’t in school she was helping her father in the kitchen or delivering pies or doing homework. So she got on the swing next to Theodore Junior and pumped her legs hard to catch up.

  “Hey, I forgot how fun this is,” she said.

  “I didn’t even know how fun this is!”

  But five minutes later she insisted that they start walking again. They turned off the path, through the wooded area and into the clearing.

  “This is a nice spot,” Theo Junior said. “Are we going to make a fire and cook the steaks for your friend?”

  “Not exactly.” She took the parcel from him and put it on the ground, tearing off the seal so that she could spread open the paper. Then she stepped back.

  “I don’t get it,” Theo Junior said.

  “Sssh! Your voice will spook him.”

  “Spook who?”

  She knelt down. “That’s okay, you can come out. Come and get your dinner.”

  “Is somebody in there? But, Sadie, you can’t possibly know somebody who lives under a —”

  Theo Junior stopped talking. He stopped because two yellow eyes had just appeared in the dark. The eyes grew larger and then a soft nose became visible, and the lion stepped into the late afternoon light.

  “What?” said Theo Junior. “What?”

  The lion padded up to the parcel and licked the top steak. He let out a sigh as he lay down, pulling the T-bone between his paws.

  “Ah, ah, ah …” said Theo Junior, his eyes as wide as silver dollars.

  “Go on, lion. I know you’re hungry. See, Theo Junior? He likes your steaks. Theo?”

  Sadie turned but Theo Junior was gone. Then she heard the sound of a branch cracking and looked up.

  Theo Junior was in a tree. He had climbed impressively high.

  “You really can come down,” she said. “Anyway, I think lions can climb trees.”

  Slowly he came down again and stood beside her.

  “That’s a real live lion, Sadie.”

  “Yup.”

  “In High Park. A lion living in High Park.”

  “Say something nice to him. You have to make friends.”

  Theo Junior cleared his throat. “I’m pleased to make your acquaintance.”

  The lion paid no attention. Instead, he began to tear the meat from the last steak. When he had finished the meat, he began to crunch on the bone.

  “Where did you get him?”

  “I didn’t get him. I found him.”

  “Well, it must be finders keepers. Sadie’s lion.” He repeated the words. “Sadie’s lion.”

  Sadie rubbed her chin. Was the lion really hers? The animal picked up the remains of the bones with his teeth and trotted back into the hollow. They couldn’t see him, but they could hear him gnawing away.

  “He’ll go to sleep soon,” Sadie said. “He likes to nap after dinner.”

  “This is amazing, Sadie. This is stupendous! I can’t wait to tell my friend. Wait, I don’t have a friend. Wait till I tell the cook —”

  Sadie grabbed his arm.

  “No, no, no. Absolutely not. You can’t tell anyone. Not unless you want me to be sorry I brought you.”

  8

  Manners

  On the way home, Theo Junior found that he was trembling. He even held out a shaking hand. Sadie was more interested in explaining exactly why he couldn’t tell anybody about the lion. People would panic. The Parkside Gang might come with rocks and sticks. The police might even shoot him.

  “What’s the Parkside Gang?” Theo Junior asked.

  “Never mind. Do you get my point?”

  “Sure. But a lion can’t stay in the park forever. Somebo
dy is bound to see him. Or he might get scared and eat, er, bite someone. You know, by accident.”

  “We have to figure something out. But until we do we’ll have to feed him so he won’t eat any more animals and attract attention.”

  Sadie stopped in front of her house.

  “Is this where you live?” Theo Junior said. “It’s so small.”

  “It used to be bigger, but it shrank in the rain.”

  “That’s funny. But I meant it in a nice way. It looks cozy.”

  “I’ll see you tomorrow. You’ll get more meat?”

  “I can ask Cook to put in an extra order. You know, Sadie, it is supper time about now.”

  “So?”

  “So it’s been a common practice since ancient times to invite a hungry traveler to share your meal.”

  “You’re not a traveler. You live three blocks away. Besides, won’t your parents be expecting you?”

  “They’re spending a month in Bar Harbor, wherever that is. So it’s only the cook and the maid and the chauffeur. I can telephone and tell them. I mean, if you invite me.”

  “You’re awfully pushy,” Sadie said. But she let Theo Junior follow her inside. Most houses in the city didn’t have telephones, but her father needed one to receive his orders. Theo Junior telephoned home and then they washed their hands and joined Miss Clemons at the dining-room table.

  “And who is this boy you’ve brought home?” Miss Clemons asked as she tucked her napkin onto her lap.

  “My name is Theodore Kendrick Junior and I am pleased to make your acquaintance.”

  “Such fine manners! Young man, your expressive eyes remind me of the great opera singer Feodor Chaliapin. Do you see this young gentleman, Mr. Menken?”

  “I certainly do,” said Sadie’s father, coming in with a cast-iron pot. “And we’re glad to have you with us, Theodore.”

  “Just a moment,” said Miss Clemons. “Did you say Kendrick? Of the Kendrick Oatmeal Porridge fortune?”

  “Yes, ma’am, that’s us.”

  “Dear Sadie, I had no idea that you hobnobbed with such high society.”

  “Neither did I,” said Sadie. “What’s for supper?”

  “Monday’s leftover stew, I’m afraid,” said her father. “I had a last-minute order from the King Edward Hotel for twenty pies.”

  “I think stew tastes even better the next day,” said Theo Junior. “At least, I imagine it does.”

  Miss Clemons questioned Theo Junior about his family, about whom she had often read in the society columns. Sadie found the conversation very dull. Theo Junior had proved himself useful as a source of meat, and it had felt good to tell her secret to somebody. But could she count on him to keep it to himself?

  Not long after supper was over, the doorbell rang.

  “That’s good old Grierson, who’s come to pick me up,” said Theo Junior. “Mr. Menken, thank you for having me in your lovely home. Miss Clemons, it was delightful to meet someone as interesting as you.”

  “Feodor Chaliapin! You have the very same manners. If only you had his bass singing voice. But you certainly must come back,” Miss Clemons said.

  “I will if I’m invited.”

  Sadie rolled her eyes. She walked with him out to the porch. The chauffeur stood by the Lincoln limousine at the curb. It was the biggest car she had ever seen, with shiny black fenders and square windows and round silver headlights.

  “You sure know how to butter up the adults. Now get into your jalopy and go home. And don’t forget to bring the meat tomorrow.”

  “I won’t. This is the most exciting thing that has ever happened to me.”

  “Remember, you can’t tell anyone.”

  “You’re not very good at trusting people.”

  And with those words, Theo Junior skipped down the steps and ducked into the back of the limousine. The chauffeur shut the door, got into the front and drove away. Sadie guessed that it would take them about one and a half minutes to reach their house.

  9

  Monster

  The next day, Theo Junior met Sadie at the entrance to the park, a parcel of ground sirloin in his leather satchel. And the day after, and the day after that. He grew easier around the lion, although he still kept a step or two behind Sadie.

  “I prefer to observe wildlife from a respectful distance,” he said.

  “Applesauce! You keep behind me so that if the lion pounces, he’ll eat me first.”

  The lion clearly enjoyed the high quality of his suppers. After eating he would lie on the grass, cleaning his fur or just sitting with half-closed eyes and purring. The sound reminded Theo Junior of a small motor boat.

  Sadie noticed that the animal’s ribs didn’t show as much. His eyes shone and his fur looked thicker.

  May turned into June and each day seemed more beautiful than the last. Sadie felt as if the world was brighter and clearer than it had ever been. The lion came out of the hollow eagerly now, and once when Theo Junior was unwrapping the parcel, he felt a rough tongue on the back of his hand. He couldn’t speak for five minutes afterwards.

  * * *

  “Where are my reading glasses?” Miss Clemons said one night at dinner. “Ah, here they are, right on my nose. I must read you this distressing newspaper article. It seems our city is inhabited by a monster.”

  “A monster?” said Sadie’s father, serving the fried fish. “How exciting.”

  Theo Junior and Sadie looked at one another. Theo often ate supper at the Menken table these days.

  Miss Clemons began to read.

  Police Pursue Peril in Park

  Last night a gentleman made a startling report to the Toronto Police. He had been strolling in High Park just after dusk when a terrible beast leapt out at him.

  “We had gone off the path,” said Herbert Biswith, a veteran of the Great War. “I picked up a stone and threw it into the dark. Just for fun, you see. A moment later this monster leapt out of nowhere. It had huge burning eyes and spikes around its head and teeth as large as butcher knives. I’ve never been so terrified, not even in battle. It clamped its teeth on the brim of my new hat. I turned and ran as fast as I could.”

  It seems that even the police can no longer ignore these strange events in High Park.

  “We are taking immediate action,” said Sergeant Jaworski. “We will do a complete search of the park. We will look under every rock and behind every tree. If there is a monster, we will find it. And rest assured, we will make sure it disturbs the good citizens of Toronto no more.”

  Miss Clemons took off her reading glasses.

  “It’s about time, I say. Sometimes I think it’s no longer safe to walk in this city. If I were you, Mr. Menken, I wouldn’t let Sadie go into the park until this is settled.”

  Sadie’s father served the green beans and mashed potatoes. “My Sadie is a smart girl. She knows to keep out of trouble. Still, it probably is a good idea to stay out of the park for the time being.”

  Sadie kept her eyes on her plate. She no longer had much appetite, and only wanted to talk alone with Theo Junior. But she had to wait until her father asked her to clear the plates and make tea and serve everyone a piece of broken peach pie.

  “What are we going to do?” Theo Junior asked as they waited on the porch for the chauffeur. “They’ll find the hollow. And the lion in it.”

  “Can you meet me here at midnight?”

  “Your father said you shouldn’t go into the park.”

  The black limousine pulled up to the curb.

  “He said it was probably a good idea not to, but he didn’t forbid me. Will you come?”

  And even before he spoke, Sadie knew what Theo Junior’s answer would be.

  * * *

  Ninety years ago, when these events occurred, parents didn’t worry so much about children being outside on
their own. From a young age they walked to school alone and visited friends or went to the store to fetch a tin of baking powder or a spool of thread.

  But even then, children were not supposed to be out at midnight.

  Sadie did feel bad about deceiving her father, but she couldn’t see any other way. She lay in bed, already dressed, and waited for the grandfather clock in the hall to strike twelve. Then she grabbed her jacket and her canvas knapsack, and crept out of the house.

  Standing on the dark porch, she heard a rustling sound and saw something emerge from the bushes.

  “Psst!”

  Sadie jumped.

  “Is that you, Sadie?”

  “No, it’s Charlie Chaplin.”

  Theodore Junior stepped up onto the porch. He turned on a flashlight and the beam hit Sadie’s eyes.

  “Point that thing somewhere else,” she said. Theo Junior pointed it at himself. He was wearing a white pith helmet, a vest with a dozen pockets, short pants and hiking boots. He held a butterfly net in his other hand.

  “What are you supposed to be?”

  “My parents bought this outfit at the natural history museum in New York City. I’m supposed to look like Stanley, or maybe Livingstone.”

  “Never mind, let’s go. And turn off the flashlight. Somebody might see it.”

  They walked silently to the park. At night the trees became dark and twisted forms, and the farther off the path they went, the less they could see.

  “Stay close,” said Theo Junior. “I, uh, don’t want you to get scared.”

  “It’s too late for that.”

  A few moments later they stepped into the clearing. The moon cast a silvery light on the grass and the tangled roots above the hollow.

  “Hey, lion,” Sadie called softly. “Come on out.”

  There was no sound. No yellow eyes.

  “Lion?”

  Theo Junior turned on his flashlight. He pointed it into the hollow.

  It was empty.

  “How are we going to find him?” Sadie asked. “We have to get him out of here before the police search the park.”