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the opportunity to use the hall. So all those in favor of having our tea at the Sports Club, put your hands up.”
    Arms shot up into the air. An excited mumur filled the room.
    “Excellent. I’ll call the manager first thing Monday morning and firm up the date. Now, I’m sure you all want to get back to work on your badges,” she said, “especially the Canaries. So … color party, fall out!”
    A few minutes later, all the Canaries, including the two flag-bearers, were once again huddled in the corner of the room, by the kitchen.
    “We’re lucky,” Jean said. “We’ll be the hostesses for the most elegant tea our company has ever had. If we run into any problems, Mrs. Cowan will help us. She’s really nice.”
    “Let’s explain our plans to Alex,” Christie said. “Each of us is expected to bake a cake or something. Then we all have other jobs on top of that. I’m responsible for the invitations.”
    “Isabel and I will be making party sandwiches,” Jean offered, nodding in her friend’s direction.
    “I’m in charge of decorations,” Molly said. “Do you want to help me?”
    “I’d love to. I have two rolls of crepe-paper streamers left over from our last birthday party,” I said, looking at Jean. We were both born at the end of November and always celebrated our birthdays with a joint party. “I can bring the decorations with me to next week’s meeting,” I offered.
    “For sure! Most of the work is done the day before the tea, but we have to organize our supplies,” Molly said. “You should also decide what you want to bake.”
    “I’ll talk to my mother. She has a lot of good recipes.”
    Just then, Christie glanced at her watch and jumped up. “It’s almost noon,” she said. She walked to the center of the hall and called out, “Campfire time!”
    With the familiarity of custom, the entire company gathered in a circle and launched into “God Save the Queen.” Then we sat on the floor and linked hands. In the center of the circle, joined to a plug in the wall by a long cord, was a single lightbulb encircled by orange crepe-paper flames. Piles of twigs surrounded it on all four sides, making a splendid indoor campfire. My mind was full of silvery lakes, canoes, and sizzling marshmallows toasted over real campfires, but I came back to earth when the rest of the company started singing the closing song:
    Day is done, gone the sun,
From the lake, from the hills, from the sky,
All is well, safely rest,
God is nigh.
    A sense of warmth and fellowship and peace entered my heart. The feeling dissipated only when Mrs. Cowanhad dismissed the company and we’d all spilled out into the bright afternoon sunshine.
    “It’s so mild that I can’t believe school will be starting in a couple of days,” Christie said, groaning.
    “I could use another month of holidays,” Jean said.
    “You mean
two
months!” Molly cried.
    We all laughed, breaking into smaller groups to head for home.
    “I’m glad you finally joined Guides, Alex,” said Molly as we waved goodbye to Christie and Jean. “I hope you’ll come to camp at Caddy Lake with us next summer. It’s so much fun!”
    “If Mom and Dad will let me.” Though I didn’t say so, I thought that was unlikely. I wasn’t even allowed to sleep over at friends’.
    We soon reached my house, and I was already on the flagstone walk leading to the front door when Molly called after me: “We’ll pick you up for Sunday school at the usual time.”
    Like me, she attended Sunday school and Mass at St. Stephen’s Roman Catholic Church. Religion wasn’t a big deal in our family, so I usually went to church with Molly and her parents, instead of my own.
    As I opened the front door and entered the foyer, I came face to face with my father and his friend Dr. Wolfe.They were leaving for their weekly tennis game at the Sports Club.
    On his way out, Dad paused and gave me a hug.
    “How was your meeting, Alexandra?”
    “A lot of fun, Dad.”
    “Better