Mystery of the Sisters

 By Destyni F. age 11

#5 Two Lost Sisters

Chapter 1

“Andi, Andi!”, shouted her brother, Mitch. “It’s time to go. You’re going to be late if you don’t get up now!"

Andi had slept in again. Her eyes scanned the grandfather's clock in her bedroom as she awoke. School was about to start in ten minutes. Yikes! Andi quickly put on her clothes, brushed her hair and teeth, and made her bed. She hurriedly climbed the stairs and realized she'd forgotten her book. Oh, never mind about those; she was already late.

Andi ran out the door, seeing Mitch. The redness of his face showed that he was angry. He was late because he had to be at his job an hour ago. She climbed into the wagon. A word was not said the whole way.

When they entered the town, Andi quickly scurried out and apologized,“ Mitch, I’m sorry that I made both you and I late. I know it was my fault. Will you forgive me?"

“Sure, Andi. A brother can’t be mad at his little sister for too long.” Mitch mischievously grinned.

“Oh, thank you, Mitch!” Andi cried. 

“Now, Andi, you better get going. You don’t want to be late, and neither do I.”

 

       Chapter 2

Andi happily skipped to the school building with joy. That school day, she learned about long division, writing a descriptive paragraph, and Thomas Edison and his latest invention, the light bulb. At recess, I was finally able to master the double Dutch trick on the jump romp.

When school was out, she checked out the new church building that was being built. As she was walking, she saw two girls, one on a large, beautiful, beaten-up, rare Gypsy Cob horse. The girls looked between five and seven. The seven-year-old was leading the horse, while the five-year-old was lying on the horse. Andi couldn’t see the girls’ parents anywhere. They looked scared and lost.

Andi decided to go over to them and try to talk with them. When she got close to them, the worried look on their faces seemed to grow.

"Are you lost?”

Nothing.

“You have such a beautiful horse; does he have a name?”

A nod comes from the seven-year-old. 

“What is his name?”

“L-Laszlo”, the seven-year-old stuttered.

“Oh, what a beautiful name!” Do you want to come to my house for cookies?”

A nod again

“Let’s go then.”

The horse, the little girls, and Andi went to Andi’s house when Chad was visiting to say hello before he went to work again. Andi and the girls put Laszlo

in the barn. It took some time to assure the girls that Laszlo wasn’t going to be taken. The girls and Andi went into the house, and instantly she saw the shocked faces of Mother and Chad.

“My, my, what do we have here?”, Mother asked.

 

“Mother, I saw these girls with a beautiful horse, which we just put in the barn. I didn’t see their parents anywhere. I was also asking them if they wanted cookies, which they do,", Andi replied.

“Yes, certainly they may have some, and also a bath and some clean clothes will do them good.”

“Thank you, Mother!"

“What are their girls' names?”

“Mother, I totally forgot to ask them.”

Andi walked over and tried to ask them their names, but not a word was said. These girls are very strange, Andi thought.

The whole night, the girls did not say a word at all; they were both silent. Andi stayed up all night while trying to think of the reason why these girls were so mysterious and so quiet. Andi soon figured out the reason.

 

 

Chapter 3

As Andi was walking to school with Mitch, who was dropping her off, she decided to look at the news board in the city center.

 

“A wanted poster!” Andi said it in surprise. 

“Andi, look, it shows the girls that you took to our house the other day.” Mitch realized.

“Yeah, you’re right, Mitch. It says they're both five and seven, the ages I guessed. Their names are Hanna and Elsa. It looks like they were Swedish immigrants who escaped. They escaped being servants for Miss Abdot. Missus Abdot lives in Chicago. Wow, Mitch, that's like 2,000 miles from here."

“Andi, look here; a rare horse was stolen the same day they left. And the horse was Gypsy Cob.”

“Mitch, we have to tell Mother and the girls tonight at dinner.”

After leaving it at that, they agreed to meet on the news board when they were done. Andi left for school, and Mitch did his work at the mill. The second school was over, Andi raced over to the news board, and after about five minutes of waiting, Mitch arrived. They walked home, talking about what Andi learned that day. They arrived home, and everything went fine—until dinner, that is.

When Andi started talking to Mother about what happened, she could read shock all over Mother’s face. And Hanna’s and Elsa’s too. Later that night, she asked them what it was like to work for Miss Abdot and why they left. Elsa did all the talking, slowly. 

“She didn’t like us. When Ma and Pa passed away, she just wanted two little workers for her. She would yell at us all the time, and she would make us work long hours. We had to just leave. I promised Ma I would take the best care of Hanna.”

Andi dared not say anything else to either of the sisters for the rest of the night. 

 

 

                                    Chapter 4

“Andi, why don’t you take Elsa and Hanna to school? It would be such a big step for them. It’s also good to get used to children their own age.” Mother asked.

“Yes, Mother.” Andi replied.

Andi was walking to school when she saw a man who was hammering another wanted poster of Hanna and Elsa on a tree. Anger bubbled up inside of her. When the man left, she tore it off the tree, crumpled it up inside her hands, and threw it on the ground. She stomped over to the school building in fury.

After returning home, she skipped supper and thought hard in her bedroom. The more time passes, the more I see those wanted posters. The last time I saw those posters, the price for them was over three hundred dollars. They must be very valuable servants. I love them like sisters. Mother would never approve of adopting them. She’s always saying that she is too old for more children. 

Andi fell asleep with thoughts. The next thing she knew, she heard banging on the doors. Who would that be, so early in the morning? It was Saturday, so most people would be sleeping in. 

“Open up! We are looking for two Swedish girls, Hanna and Elsa. We have been told by an anonymous person that you have them.” She heard a man shout. He must’ve been the person looking for and capturing Hanna and Elsa for Mrs. Abdot.

Fear rose up in Andi’s body. No, they can’t. We didn’t tell anyone. It occurred just then that she remembered what the old black lady down the street said about catching slaves and servants. They wouldn’t abandon the search until they found what they were looking for. 

As mother reluctantly opened the door, the servant catchers stormed in. Andi soon realized she forgot to hide Hanna and Elsa. When the servant catchers found Hanna and Elsa, they dragged them outside. They went into the slave catchers prepared wagons with both hands tied together. Hanna’s and Elsa’s screaming and wailing filled the ears of those who heard them.

 

 Chapter 5

The next couple of months were hard for Andi. It seemed like everything she saw and did reminded her of Hanna and Elsa. She still wished they were both her sisters, which she never had. Though Melissa counted, she was way older than Andi. So she decided to do something about it: ask her mother to adopt Hanna and Elsa. After dinner one night, she asked, “Can I have sisters?"

“Honey, I’m too old to have any more.” Mother replied.

“No, I’m talking about adopting," uttered Andi.

“You mean having Hanna and Elsa as sisters.” Mother slowly murmured.

“Yes”

“I wanted those two as daughters ever since they stepped foot into this house.” Mother said while crying.

“Do you think we could buy them back from Mrs. Abdot?”

“We have four hundred dollars in our emergency jar.”

“Well, I kept an old poster. And it has Mrs. Abdot’s number on it.”

“We can go over there in about a couple weeks to try to have them as your sisters. Sounds good?”

“Yes!”

 

Chapter 6

So then it was planned. Mother and Andi set off on a train to Minneapolis. They arrived and checked into their hotel. Then they went out to search for them.  After looking around for the right place at the address that Andi had kept, they could not find it. “Mother, this is going to be almost impossible."

“I know Andi, but we’ve got to keep trying. We’re going to find that house, and we're going to adopt those girls."

Mother was right. Soon they found the house, and with clammy hands, Andi knocked on the door. When the door opened, there was a butler. He seemed to know immediately what they were here for because he showed Andi and her mother to Mrs. Abdot. In Andi’s mind Mrs. Abdot looked frightening, especially with her stern face. 

When Mrs. Abdot gestured them in, Andi and Mother both took their seats. As Mrs. Abdot talked, she was saying that she was going to sell Hanna and Elsa. She also included that they were both “lazy” and “useless”. Andi knew none of this was true. When Hanna and Elsa lived with Andi and her family, they did their chores dutifully and diligently. When Mrs. Abdot and Mother agreed the price for Hanna and Elsa, which was three hundred dollars, Mother, Hanna, Elsa, and Andi left Mrs. Abdot house before she changed her mind.

 The next stop was to go to the courthouse to adopt Hanna and Elsa. When they all arrived at the courthouse, Mother had a conversation with the judge to let him know why they were here. When he read the papers that Mother had brought, he motioned Hanna, Elsa, Andi,  and Mother to the his office. After looking at the papers, he hit the gavel, and said congratulations. Andi knew exactly what that ment. She told Hanna and Elsa, and all of the people in the room started crying. Hanna and Elsa were finally Andi’s sisters and Mother’s daughters. They leave the courthouse and ride back home, together as a family.