The Christmas Ornament

Chapter 4 - A Surprise Visit

          Holly's alarm went off at 6:30 AM Monday morning. She reluctantly crawled out of bed and went to Penny's bed.

"C'mon sleepy head, time to get up and get ready for school." she said, gently shaking her.

"Oh...do I have too?" Penny yawned and stretched.

"Yes you do...now let's go!" Holly said insistently.

          Both of them went and showered, got dressed for the day and went down to get breakfast. The two of them sat at the same table as Holly was eager to hear about Penny's interview with the Connor's.

"So...how did your interview go? Did you like the Connor's?"

"Oh, yes. You were right, the Connor's were very nice. Did you know they have a daughter my age?"

"No, I sure didn't!" Holly said in astonishment.

"Yes, her name is Stephanie. Mrs. Connor said she wasn't able to have anymore children and they would like to have another child and Stephanie to have a sister." Penny continued.

"So how do you think they felt about you?" Holly asked with keen interest.

Penny pondered her question for a few seconds. "It's hard to say. They seemed to like me...but they could have been just being kind." Penny said nonchalantly.

"Well I bet they thought you were terrific!" Holly replied exuberantly.

"What happened between you and Mrs. Pembroke? I could tell she was upset when she came back into the room. She spent the whole time during the interview tapping her fingers on the table!"

          Holly proceeded to tell her everything that transpired in the hallway and how she had found a package addressed to her in the locked cage inthe storage building and that Mr. Harris said the Mrs. Pembroke was the only one with the key.

"Wow...that's the most amazing thing I've ever heard of happening around here!" Penny said excitedly!

"Now I just have to figure out where she keeps the key and how I can get it from her." Holly sighed.

"I hope there's some way I can help" Penny squealed in delight.

"If there's anything I can think of, I'll let you know." Holly assured her.

         After finishing their breakfast, Holly escorted Penny to the bus stop located on the road just outside the orphanages entrance. It was the orphanages long standing policy that 1st through 9th graders attended public school while 10th through 12th graders took online classes on the computers in the library.

Holly wasn't exactly sure why it was that way but she had heard rumors that there had been some trouble with girls attending public High School in the past. If she had to guess, she assumed it had something to do with the girls becoming involved with boys or trying to run away. She was inclined to believe the latter if they had an administrator like Mrs.Pembroke, she mused.

          After seeing Penny off to school Holly headed to the library and spent the next three hours completing her school assignments. At 11 AM she reported to Mary Stapleton for her kitchen duties.

"What would you like me to do first?" she asked while putting on a hairnet.

"Let's see...why don't you set out the beverages at the serving station." Mary pleasantly asked.

          Holly got a kitchen hand cart and walked to the refrigerator and loaded it up with milk and a variety of juices. After setting everything in place she returned to Mrs. Stapleton.