By Gregg Glory [Gregg G. Brown]
Chapter One Off Key with the Choir
"Sarah Tone! Sing out! You can reach that note yet." The instructor, in his red Ridgefield vest, gestured upward with a sharp baton for Sarah to keep stretching the note she was hitting into a higher one. His blue eyes were about to pop out of his fat cheeks, and his belly was as big as a golden tuba.
"Just a bit higher, Sarah. Thatta girl! That's a beauty!"
The others in the choir were falling away as the song reached its crescendo, leaving only Sarah to stretch upward to the highest branch of the melody. Her voice was as quick as a bird's, and her face became more calm as she drove out all other thoughts. There was only the sought-after note, the highest and farthest part of a long liquid trill.
"With sorrow, deep sorrow, my bosom is laden, All day I go mourning in search of my love! Ye echoes! oh tell me, where is my sweet man then?"
"Very good girls. Excellent harmony. Now, Bart and Basher come in as low as you can."
"'Maiden, oh Maiden, He sleeps 'neath the green grass by the furrowed Ash Grove.'"
"Excellent. Basher, hold the last note a bit longer next time. 'Ash Gro-o-o-o-oveeee.' Now, just Sarah. High, high up!"
"With sorrow, deep sorrow, all night I'll go mourning, A maiden who wanders without any love!"
Behind Sarah, two of her choir-mates, done with their own parts as the echo, noticed that Sarah was standing tip-toe, as if to reach the highest note by raising herself higher up. Her eyes were closed in total concentration. Bart grinned at Basher as he surreptitiously rolled a stray crab apple right under the ball of Sarah's left foot. As soon as she came back down, even by as little as half an inch, Sarah would be thrown off balance and pitch into the grass.
"With-o-o-u-t an-ny l-o-o-ove....!"
Just as Sarah reached the last note in "love," she began to come back down off of the tips of her toes and put her weight down squarely on the maliciously placed crab apple. "Wah-ah-oooh!" she cried as she fell heavily into the line of singers in front of her, knocking Betsy Butterworth into Hannah Ringly, who flailed out to grab Alan Baxter by his coattails and Missy Quicknass by her flaxen hair to steady herself. Before you could count "Two," half the choir had crash-landed wrong-way-up on the sward.
After a few moments of utter confusion, in which Bart and Basher had a great laugh, Mr. Hecatomb tried to restore order with a great deep "Hrrumph!" When this proved ineffective among all the squeals and yells of the choir members, Mr. Hecatomb did the only thing he practically could under the circumstances. He gave up.
"Children! Children! Besty, Bobby, Bart! Sarah, Hannah, Alan! Baxter, Missy, and the rest! Please consider choir practice completed for today. Dismissed!"
Mr. Hecatomb gathered his dignity, hitched his great red Ridgefield vest as closed as he could get it, turned on his fat heel, and left.
"Sarah," said Betsy as soon as Mr Hecatomb was out of sight, "what's the matter with you? Why'd you have to knock into me so hard?"
"Aw," said Basher, "She's just a gawky squawker is all."
"Yeah," suggested Bart, "she's too tall to sing AND stand up straight!"
The others soon joined in and were attacking Sarah vociferously.
Sarah didn't pay attention to the mean words flying around her. She straightened herself up on the grass, pushing down the unruly billows in her skirt, and making shushing sounds with her hands as she tried to brush off the dead grass and dirt. She soon realized that the grass stains wouldn't come out so easily and stopped brushing to look around her. She zeroed in on Bart. She caught his eye and said, just loud enough so that he alone could hear her, but clearly enough so that there was no mistake about what she said.
"You'll regret your foolishness soon enough, Bartholomew. Every laugh today will be a tear tomorrow."
The other kids were still hurling insults at Sarah and frowning. But Sarah ignored them and continued to hold Bart's gaze until the laughter died on his lips. Bart looked away and tugged at Basher. "C'mon. Let's get out of here."
Sarah had learned that trick from her Grandmother. "When someone trips you into a puddle when you ain't looking, you just rear back and give them a straight look, and let them know that you know who done what and who ain't. And never let someone diminish you in your own eyes, girl. That's just pushing yourself into a puddle for someone else's giggles." Her Grandmother was full of sharp advice about important things like playground etiquette, or who was right in a quarrel. Things which her parents seemed oblivious about.
Sarah felt sure her Grandmother would have approved of her making Bart and Basher slink off into the woods. But even so, Sarah was sure that she wasn't half as brave as her Grandmother would want her to be more than half the time.
By now, the others had picked themselves up and were organizing a game around the old well near where they held choir practice. They began to form a ring all the way around the well. They were going to play "the singing game." Each singer intones one note in the song, and then passes the tune on to the next person in the circle. Before very long, the song is revolving faster and faster around the circle. The words of the songs they sung in this game were very very old, Sarah's Grandmother said. Almost too old for even grown-ups to really understand.
Everyone was already in the ring holding hands. There was no open spot for Sarah. Betsy with her black curls and light blue eyes was holding tight onto Alan's hand, whose back was to Sarah. Across the way were Hannah and Bobby; they wouldn't have let Sarah into the circle even if she hadn't knocked everyone over. But everyone knew that Sarah had the best voice in the choir, and that the game would be better if she was singing along with the others. Finally, Missy Quicknass, on the midway side between Betsy and Hannah, slowly looked over at Sarah and even more slowly pulled her hand out of Betsy's grip and gestured for Sarah to step in between herself and Betsy.
Sarah stepped in and took their hands, not looking either left or right, but just at the well. She could see a little bit into the well because she was taller than the others. "OK," said Alan. "Now we can begin."
The game began with a composed silence. There was only a soft sighing of the wind over the lip of the well, like when you blow across the top of a soda bottle, but deeper. It was a hollow soft sound like your ear against a pillow, only softer. The trees surrounding the grassy open area made their endless shhhh-ing. And then Missy began the song, as it always began, with the youngest voice.
"Winds may still be blowing And gardens still be growing When Withers Day wakes with woes."
Missy's voice was as little as a bee in cup, and also somewhat flat. Singing was still more like sing-song with her. Then Hannah took up the song, supporting Missy's little voice, followed right on by all the girls together except Sarah.
"Dead men still are smiling And the moon is still beguiling Although the worm chokes the rose."
Alan and Bobby came in, with Sarah singing a lulling accent line behind them that had no words. There were more words about wolves and winter rains and the moon going into eclipse because of a witch. All this was spooky and just as it was supposed to be. But slowly, as their voices grew bolder, and as the song passed around the circle faster and faster, it seemed that something more than just their voices were singing. A something sharp, like sinister laughter, seemed to be coming from the trees all around them. The children began to glance around at each other as a shiver passed through them, sent along from hand to hand.
Betsy glanced at Alan and smiled. Alan smiled back. It was thrilling to hear their voices create such an odd, ghostly effect. Round and round the old words went. Storms and murders and more. The children could feel the hair on the back of their hands stand up as if lightning were about to strike.
"Crack!"
A sound as big as and thunderbolt came crashing down behind the children. Their singing stopped on the instant and little Missy let out a sharp yelp. Even Sarah caught her breath.
END OF CHAPTER ONE