The Orphan of Awkward Falls Read Free Page B

and reminded her of Hollywood stars she had seen in old black-and-white films. The woman, wearing an elegant evening gown and feathered hat, was very beautiful, while the man was dashingly handsome in spite of his wild mop of white hair. They both looked very excited, as if something wonderful was about to happen.
    She turned the picture over and saw something scribbled on the back:
My dear Sally, can you ever forgive me? Forever yours, C.
The picture was dated 1936.
    How sad, she thought. They look so happy in the picture, but something bad must have happened afterward.
She wondered who Sally and C were. The picture was so old, they were probably dead by now. She looked at the man’s face and tried to guess what the C stood for. Charles? Nah. He didn’t look like a Charles. Calvin? No. Cole? Cameron? With that hair, it was probably something too unusual to guess. As always when Josephine’s curiosity was piqued, she began to nibble on the nail of her pinkie finger. Since this was a commonoccurrence, the poor nail was tiny. She decided to make it her mission to find out who the people in the picture were. She had two entire weeks to kill in this outpost before school started, and heaven knew she needed something to keep her busy.
    “I call this room!” she yelled down to her parents. “I’m on the top floor.” She hurried back downstairs to get her suitcase and officially moved in.

The head of surgery at the Asylum for the Dangerously Insane, Dr. Herringbone, had tried his best to discourage the governor’s visit to the institution. The cautious doctor could easily imagine many a thing that might go wrong in such a hastily planned event featuring his most notorious patient. But, once the mayor had gotten wind of the wondrous new procedure pioneered by the doctors at the asylum, he had called to arrange a visit right away. A demonstration was scheduled, complete with photographers and lots of fanfare. The mayor was anxious to claim credit for a groundbreaking achievement in criminal rehabilitation during his administration. Dr. Herringbone had been left with little choice but to grant the request. A mere doctor did not say no to the mayor, after all.
    Preparations for the event began when aides from the mayor’s office arrived and began setting up the asylum’s drab old surgical theater as if it were going to host a Broadway musical. Programs were printed featuring Stenchley’s ugly mug shot on the front. Fancyred and blue letters above the picture read “See insane killer receive amazing new treatment!” The press was notified. Festive bunting was draped here and there. A buffet of questionable snacks, utilizing several tub-sized cans of the local sauerkraut, was set up in the rear of the surgical theater.
    Since no one would willingly have chosen to come to the Asylum for the Dangerously Insane for an afternoon’s entertainment, the mayor’s staff had had to use their influence to fill the theater. A number of prominent doctors from other mental institutions were whisked away from their duties and put on a bus to the asylum, as was a chemistry class from Awkward Falls University. A group of vacationing orthodontists from Florida, lured by the promise of free food and a show, piled into the bus as well, and they all made their way to the outskirts of town, where the asylum loomed ominously.
    The uneasy crowd, now wondering what it had gotten itself into, was ushered into the dismal gray fortress. Inside, smiling hostesses handed them each a program and a paper cup of punch. An adventurous orthodontist picked up a sauerkraut hors d’oeuvre and tossed it into his mouth, realizing his mistake too late to do anything about it.
    The mayor entered next, smiling as if he couldn’t imagine being anywhere more fabulous than an insane asylum. Photo-graphers’ cameras clicked and flashed to record the moment. The governor’s wife, who never missed anything that took place inside a theater within three hundred miles,