SECRET OF THE SCARLET DREAMCATCHERS

by

Rebecca Somoskey

"Why do you suppose the new girl hangs all those dreamcatchers in her window, Poppa?" Katie asked her grandfather one fall evening as they shared the porch swing.

"Why don’t you ask her?" Poppa pushed the swing with his toes.

Katie stared at her hands, twisted in a tight knot in her lap. "Because I’m afraid."

Poppa stopped the swing and studied her face.

"Why are you afraid?" he asked.

Poppa had taught her to face her fear. "Because most of the time fear is nothing but a big balloon filled with hot air," he always said. "Face it and it will burst. Then what do you have? Poof! Nothing!"

"She’s so strange," Katie said. "I’ve not seen her outside once since they moved into the mobile-home park last month. She doesn’t go to school. And every time I pass she’s just sitting there, staring out the window."

"Maybe she’s lonely," Poppa said.

"Once she waved at me. Just a little wave. Like she wanted to be friendly, but was afraid."

"Like you’re afraid to visit her?" Poppa asked.

"But she looks funny," Katie explained. "Every day she wears a different head band over those long black braids. Derrick and Tasha say she’s superstitious."

"Why do they say that?" Poppa asked.

"Because every day she hangs more dreamcatchers in the window until it is so full she can hardly see outside. Then she takes them all down and starts over again. All of them are scarlet. They say she puts them there to keep away bad dreams. If that’s true, she must have a lot of nightmares."

Poppa laughed. "I happen to know that your mystery girl is the daughter of the man who drives that tractor-trailer that parks out by the street sometimes."

Katie stared at him. "Really?" She thought a minute. "Maybe I should visit her. She could probably use a friend."

"Like you did last year when we first came to the mobile-home park. How long was it before you had a friend?" Poppa asked.

Katie laughed. "Almost all summer. There aren’t many kids my age in the park. And, because my last name was Kauffman, Derrick and Tasha thought I was a communist. They were afraid of me."

"And they think your mystery girl is superstitious?" Poppa asked.

"Kind of dumb, isn’t it?" Katie admitted. "But she is different."

"God loves her no matter who she is," Poppa said, "and she needs to know that. You can show her His love by being her friend."

"Then I’ll stop tomorrow after school," she promised.

"Good girl," Poppa said. "And invite her over for dinner. I’ll make my famous strudel for dessert."

The next afternoon as Katie and her friends, Derrick and Tasha, walked home from the bus stop, they paused in front of the new girl’s mobile home. She was staring out the window.

Derrick jeered as he pointed to the long beaded fringe hanging from the headband she wore. "Look at that thing she’s wearing today."

"That’s the funniest one I’ve seen yet." Tasha smirked. "She looks like she’s ready for the warpath."

Katie’s thought about those lonely days before Derrick and Tasha learned the truth about her. "Say what you want," she retorted. "I’m going to the door." It was time to meet the mystery girl.

"Then you’re not our friend any more," Derrick declared and stomped away.

"Yea," Tasha added, as she followed Derrick.

The girl in the window brushed her cheek. Could she be wiping away a tear? "Fine," Katie said, "if you want to be like that." She marched up the walk.

"She might be a witch and she could cast a spell on you!" Derrick yelled after her.

"I’ll take my chances, "Katie called back. She stepped boldly onto the front porch and pressed the doorbell.

All was quiet. She pressed it again. What if the mystery girl didn’t want to be friends? What if she told her to go away? Her legs suddenly felt like jelly. She rubbed her sweaty palms on the front of her jacket and tried to swallow the lump in her throat. Could the strange girl really be a witch? She turned to see if Derrick and Tasha were still watching.

Her friends stared in horror from the other side of the street. Maybe she shouldn’t have come. Just as she was ready to bolt from the porch the door squeaked open.

"Please come in," the girl with the headband murmured as she pushed open the screen.

Katie found herself staring into eyes the color of coal. But they were kind eyes. Not witches’ eyes. She stepped inside. "I’m Katie Kauffman. I live in space number seven. I came to say hello." She offered her hand. "Welcome to our neighborhood." The balloon burst and poof went her fear.

"I’m Emmaline Bird, but I’m called Emma." She squeezed Katie’s hand.

Katie looked around the room, then gasped, "Oh, my! Look at this!!" Dreamcatchers of every color and size were hanging from the ceiling, the lamps, the chairs. Circles of blue, purple, yellow, green and scarlet, all woven in the center with matching thread and filled with shiny beads, bits of bone and dyed-to-match feathers. Each one hung from a leather string.

"Please excuse all the dreamcatchers," Emma said. "My mother makes them for a craft shop in Oklahoma. We keep them hanging until they’re ready to pack so the feathers won’t get broken."

"They’re beautiful," Katie exclaimed as she smoothed the soft feathers of the bright red one nearest her. " Especially these scarlet ones."

"The scarlet ones are my favorite, too. That’s why I hang so many in my window. Each one is unique." Emma smiled, then asked, "Would you like to meet my mother?"

Katie nodded, then followed as Emma lead her through the living room into the dining room.

Emma’s mother was beading a headband, her fingers working the needle swiftly, filling the leather strip with colorful beads. Beside her on the table were several finished ones. "I’m her model. I wear a different one every day. Mother decides if they are satisfactory by seeing how they look on me. If not, then she reworks them. She’s working to preserve the traditional skills of our people. Sometimes I help when my school work is finished."

They stopped by the table and Emma made signs to her mother. "She can’t hear," she whispered to Katie.

Emma’s mother smiled and nodded, then returned to her work.

"Come, I’ll show you my room," Emma motioned to Katie.

"I look for you every day at school," Katie said as she followed Emma, "but you never come. "

"That’s because I’m homeschooled. We move a lot, and since I don’t like to leave Mother alone all day, we agreed it would be easier."

"So that explains why you’re not there," Katie said.

"Since you like my scarlet dreamcatchers, you can have this one." Emma slipped the largest one off its hook. "Do you like the headbands?"

"Yes!" Katie was thrilled. "Thank you."

Emma removed the one from her head. "This is my gift to you."

"Would you like to meet my friends?" Katie asked as she tied the exquisite band around her head.

"Oh, yes! I’ve been so lonely since we’ve been here. It’s just me and Mom until Dad comes home. He’s a driver for Eastern Transport." Emma chose two small dreamcatchers as they passed through the living room. "I’ll take these to your friends."

"This is Emma Bird," Katie explained to Derrick and Tasha when they reached them. "Her mother makes the dreamcatchers and headbands for a craft shop."

"I’m so glad to meet you," Emma exclaimed as she handed her gifts to Derrick and Tasha. "Because my mother is hearing impaired, we don’t go out very much. But maybe you could come to see me sometime."

With heads bowed, Derrick and Tasha accepted the gifts, mumbled their thanks, then trudged away.

"I have to go now," Katie said. "Poppa will be worried." Then she remembered what her grandfather had said the evening before. "Would you like to come over some evening for dinner? Poppa says he will make his famous strudel for dessert."

Emma smiled. "That would be good. I’ve watched you walking together in the evenings and wished I could join in your fun."

"Then we’ll stop by for you later," Katie said as she hurried away. She couldn’t wait to tell Poppa she had solved the mystery of the scarlet dreamcatchers, and found a new friend.