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By Root 577 0

on the beach would marvel at her brave silhouette against the sky. As soon as the boys were out of sight, she clambered up onto the rocks. Climbing was harder than she expected. The rocks were slick and sharp, and there was nothing to hold on to. Almost at once she fell, bruising her leg and skinning the palm of one hand. She took half a dozen steps and fell again. This time, she didn’t get to her feet right away, but sat still, licking the blood off her palm. It was easy to imagine slipping off the jetty into the rough waves. She didn’t know how deep the water was, and she had no one to forbid her to break her neck. Slowly she got up and retraced her steps, anchoring each foothold before shifting her weight. When she reached the shore, she let out her breath. Another time she would walk on the jetty. Not tonight.

She left the jetty for the boardwalk, which she had never had time to explore. The next night she strolled from one end to the other, perusing every sign and peering through doorways. She learned that Ping-Pong was not a delicacy but a sort of parlor game. She risked a nickel on a bag of buttered popcorn and found it tasted even better than it smelled. Once it was gone, she scolded herself — Muffet’s gift was too precious to be squandered on food. She must make it last. The next evening, she happened upon a pushcart where damaged books could be had for a nickel. Maud pawed through it and emerged triumphant with a copy of Ragged Dick: Or, Street Life in New York with the Boot Blacks.

She rode the merry-go-round every night. It was balm to her injured pride to utter the words “One ticket, please” at the ticket booth and to present her ticket to Rory. The carousel keeper greeted her laconically, “Rob a bank?” — to which Maud replied, “No, sir,” in her primmest voice. She was faithful to Angel and rode him night after night, turning a blind eye to the tiger and the stag. It took all her self-control not to ride twice in a row. Each evening, she slid from the saddle with greater reluctance.

There was risk in riding the merry-go-round. More often than not, Maud caught sight of Mrs. Lambert in the surrounding crowd. The rich woman’s gaze was no longer fixed on Caroline’s sea monster. Instead, her eyes followed Maud. One night, as Angel dipped and soared, Maud yielded to impulse: she raised one hand in Mrs. Lambert’s direction and flickered her fingers.

Mrs. Lambert’s face lit up. Her face expanded in a smile; she lifted her gloved hand and waved back so vigorously that Maud could not help herself. With every rotation, she waved at Mrs. Lambert, and Mrs. Lambert beamed and wagged her hand.

It was a mistake — Maud knew it. Once the merry-go-round stopped, she jumped off Angel and fled to the other side of the carousel. As soon as her toes touched the ground, she ran. She didn’t look back until she reached the edge of the ocean. The rich woman stood on the boardwalk, beneath the electric lights. Her eyes scanned the dusk without seeing.

Maud turned away and began to walk at the water’s edge. She told herself she would never wave at Mrs. Lambert again. She would keep away from the carousel the next few nights. There were plenty of other things to do, after all. She would save her crusts and feed them to the seagulls. She would gather shells for the collection she was hiding in the box room. Even as she planned for the next night’s amusements, she was wading deeper and deeper into the water, enjoying the fizz of the foam about her knees. Before long, her dress was soaked to the waist.

Maud sighed. Now she had disobeyed Muffet. She would just have to hope that the hired woman wouldn’t be in the kitchen when she returned. She supposed that she might as well go on bathing. She played alertly, bobbing up and down with the waves, retreating whenever they rose to her armpits. When she skipped home, it was with the smug conviction that she had learned how to handle the ocean.

But her luck was out. Muffet met her at the kitchen door. At the sight of Maud’s wet dress, the hired woman’s face turned to stone. Maud flinched. No