Ivy Lost and Found Read online

  Contents

  Chapter One: Ivy

  Chapter Two: The Library

  Chapter Three: The Toys

  Chapter Four: Fern

  Chapter Five: Outdoors

  Chapter Six: Forgotten

  Chapter Seven: Down

  Chapter Eight: Found

  Chapter Nine: Just Right

  Chapter Ten: Happily Ever After

  Ivy’s first memory was the birthday party. There was music and bright balloons. A girl’s face lit up with joy.

  “A doll!” Anne had cried. She cut the strings and untwisted the ties that held Ivy in her store box. “I’ll name you Ivy,” Anne whispered into Ivy’s dark braids.

  After that, it was always the two of them: Ivy and Anne.

  On warm summer days, Anne played with Ivy outside in the garden. Ivy’s tiny blue boots left footprints in the mud.

  On gray, rainy afternoons, Anne made new clothes for Ivy. She stitched soft dresses and pants from scraps of fabric and lace. She made belts from string and rubber bands. She knit sweaters from leftover bits of yarn. Ivy loved them all.

  On icy winter nights, snow fell outside the windows. Anne tucked Ivy into blankets and read fairy tales to her. Ivy’s favorite part was always “happily ever after.”

  And every night before she fell asleep, Anne whispered her most secret worries and hopes to Ivy. Ivy always listened.

  She never imagined it could change.

  As Anne grew up, trips to the garden stopped. Ivy’s tiny blue boots stayed clean.

  She wore the same white pants and gray sweater for years.

  On icy winter nights, Ivy stayed on the shelf. She watched snow fall outside the window while Anne slept.

  Missing someone hurts, Ivy thought. This is how it feels to be forgotten.

  Then one day Ivy was brought to the attic. She was placed in a box with some old clothes.

  Ivy went to sleep. Memories came and went, like dreams. Over and over, Ivy remembered the birthday party, the trips to the garden, new clothes, and icy nights, tucked in blankets.

  Until one day. . .

  The box opened again.

  Anne’s eyes were older now, but they lit up with joy.

  “Ivy!” she cried. “I remember you.”

  Ivy peeked out of Anne’s tote bag. Everything was very bright after the dark box. There was so much to see!

  There were books on long shelves, in bins, and on bookcases. Shiny posters were on the walls. There was even a shelf of stuffed animals and toys with a sign: BOOK BUDDIES.

  Ivy had never seen so many children. Some played games. Some did puzzles at little tables. Others sat in beanbags, listening to their parents read.

  “Welcome to the library,” Anne called to everyone. “Story time will start in five minutes. Today I’m reading books about bears. Get ready to growl!”

  Anne carried Ivy to the Book Buddies shelf. A little girl with pigtails and overalls was patting the toy unicorn’s tail.

  “Hi, Sophie!” Anne said to the girl. “I have a surprise. I helped my mom clean out her attic yesterday, and look who I found!” She took Ivy from the tote bag. “It’s my old doll, Ivy.”

  Old doll? Ivy’s heart broke.

  “Today she’ll join the Book Buddies,” Anne said. “Children can borrow her and read stories to her, like I did.”

  Ivy didn’t want to be borrowed. She wanted to belong to Anne. She wanted to be her favorite toy again.

  Sophie smiled. “She can meet the other Book Buddies.”

  “That’s a great idea!” Anne turned Ivy toward a brown bear with a black nose. “Ivy, this is Banjo.” Next was a fluffy black-and-white hen with her yellow chick. “Here are Olive and little Roger.”

  Banjo and Olive looked sweet. Roger had mischief in his eyes. Ivy liked them all.

  Homer the owl had brown feathers, fierce yellow eyes, and white tufts on his head. Ivy tried to smile bravely.

  “And here’s Dazzle!” Sophie pointed to a snow-white unicorn with a sparkly pink tail. “Dazzle is a boy,” she told Ivy. “He likes stories with magic.”

  Piper was a gray-and-white flying squirrel. Next to him was a tiny mouse wearing a wool vest and an acorn-cap hat. “That’s Marco Polo,” Anne said. “He likes to explore.”

  “And this is Lilyanna. She’s my favorite!” Sophie said.

  Lilyanna was another doll. She had a gold crown and long sunshine-colored hair. She wore a glittery purple dress with laces up the front.

  A princess! Just like in the fairy tales.

  “They can be friends,” Anne said. “Lilyanna will love having another library doll.”

  Ivy thought she heard Lilyanna give a tiny sniff, like that wasn’t true.

  Ivy had always loved her own black braids, little garden boots, homemade pants, and gray sweater. But next to Lilyanna, she felt plain and not even a little bit glittery.

  Anne set Ivy gently on the shelf between the hen and the unicorn.

  “Come on, Banjo!” Anne picked up the brown bear. “You’re the guest of honor at story time today. Our first book is Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?”

  Anne carried Banjo over her shoulder. He smiled back at the other toys.

  Ivy wished she could hear the stories, too. Maybe if she closed her eyes and listened really hard. . .

  “Are they gone?” a deep voice asked.

  The unicorn stretched. “My legs hurt. I’ve been sitting still for so long,” he said in his deep voice.

  “I wish Anne would do another princess story time,” Lilyanna whined. “The last one was at the Valentine’s tea party. Anne put me on a special chair. She read fairy tales—”

  “Yes, dear. You’ve told us many times,” the hen clucked. “Where are our manners? We have someone new!” Olive put her soft wing around Ivy.

  Ivy smiled shyly at Olive. Maybe she could make a friend? Someone to help her understand this new place? Ivy had never had a friend before, except for Anne.

  “Whooo are you?” Homer hooted. “What’s your story?”

  “My story?” Ivy asked.

  Piper nodded. “Every toy has a story. I came from a yard sale. Before that, I used to fly through the trees.”

  “Only when your child threw you,” Homer said. “Flying squirrels don’t really fly. Not like owls. We fly up. Flying squirrels only fly down!”

  “I did fly,” Piper said quietly. “You don’t know everything, Homer.”

  The little mouse tugged on the edge of Ivy’s sweater. “I was a Christmas ornament! Anne cut off my string so I could be a real toy. She named me Marco Polo because I’m a brave explorer.”

  “Anne bought me new for the Valentine’s tea party,” Lilyanna said. “I’m not an old ornament or a hand-me-down toy.”

  “Shh,” Dazzle said. “I want to hear Ivy’s story.”

  Lilyanna sniffed.

  “I was Anne’s toy when she was young.” Ivy didn’t say favorite toy because she didn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings.

  “You must be very old!” Roger peeped.

  “Roger, it’s not polite to call another toy old,” Olive scolded her chick. “Better to say ‘well loved.’”

  “Tell us about Anne as a child,” Dazzle said. “She’s always been a grown-up to us.”

  “I was her birthday present,” Ivy began. Then she told them about the clothes Anne had made. She described the trips to the garden. She even told them about the stories Anne had read aloud on icy winter nights, tucked in blankets.

  Ivy didn’t tell them about being forgotten. It was too sad to remember that. “But that’s over now,” she said simply.

  “Maybe not,” Homer said. “I’ve been tucked in blankets with lots of children since I became a Book Buddy.”

/>   Olive nodded. “We’re borrowed for two weeks at a time. Roger and I always go together.”

  “Children play with us and read us stories,” Dazzle said.

  “I’ve been to Mexico,” Lilyanna bragged. “The family took me on vacation with them. I went to the beach and in a hot tub.”

  “I fell in the toilet once!” Roger said proudly. “The mother dried me with a hair dryer!”

  “It was terrifying!” Olive clucked. “Thank goodness the toilet was clean!”

  “Every borrowing is a new adventure,” Piper said. “We each have a journal. The child can draw or write what we did at their house. So our stories keep going and going.”

  Ivy tried to smile. Borrowing did sound better than being forgotten. It didn’t sound as good as belonging to your own child, though.

  Maybe these toys had never been loved like that? Once you’ve truly belonged, nothing else comes close, Ivy thought.

  “I hope I’m not borrowed by a baby this time,” Dazzle said. “The last baby drooled on me. Thank goodness I’m machine washable.”

  “I hope my next family doesn’t have a cat,” Marco Polo said. “I was almost swallowed last time!”

  “I know Sophie will pick me,” Lilyanna said. “I’m her favorite. She said so.”

  Homer’s ears twitched. “Shh, everyone! I hear the children coming. Get back to your places.”

  “Roger, fluff your fluff!” Olive said. “We want a child to pick us!”

  Ivy did not want to be picked. She leaned closer to Dazzle, hoping his big tail would hide her. She wanted to stay at the library. Then Anne would see her every day and remember how much she loved her.

  Children came rushing into the room. Ivy peeked out from Dazzle’s tail. Don’t pick me, she wished.

  Sophie stopped at the toy shelf with a little boy and an older girl. The little boy grabbed the flying squirrel. “Piper!”

  Sophie picked up the princess. “I want to borrow Lilyanna again!” She turned to the older girl beside her. “And look, Fern! A new doll. We can pretend our dolls are sisters. Just like us!”

  Ivy heard Lilyanna give a tiny sniff at the word sisters.

  Fern shook her head. “I don’t play with dolls, Sophie.”

  Whew! Ivy thought. That was a close call.

  Other children came to the toy shelf. Ivy peeked between the strands of Dazzle’s tail. She saw Homer being hugged by a girl. A boy was helping Marco Polo climb the puzzle boxes. Then a girl picked up Dazzle and tucked him under her arm.

  Ivy had nowhere to hide.

  “Quick!” Sophie grabbed Ivy. “Take her, Fern. Before someone else borrows her!”

  Ivy looked into Fern’s eyes. She doesn’t want me, Ivy thought.

  “Come on! We have to check out,” Sophie said.

  Fern sighed and took Ivy.

  Ivy was borrowed.

  Fern loved both her mom and her dad, but it was hard living in two houses.

  At Mom’s house, Fern was an only child. She had her own bedroom. She could put her things where she wanted. No one ever took them or moved them. At night her dog, Dusty, slept on the floor beside her bed.

  Dad’s house was louder and more crowded. After the divorce, Dad had married a woman named Nicole, who already had two children. Sophie was six years old and Ethan was four. Dad lived too far away for Fern to visit every week. So most weeks, Fern talked to Dad on the phone and sent him drawings and photos. But during school vacations and for two weeks in the summer, she came to Dad’s house to stay.

  When Fern lived with Dad, she shared a room with Sophie. The room was full of Sophie’s things. The bottom dresser drawer was supposed to be left empty for Fern. But when Fern opened the drawer to put her things away, it was never empty. There were always notes and drawings from Sophie.

  Fern knew that Sophie was trying to be nice, so it didn’t feel right to complain. It bothered her, though. Nothing at Dad’s was just hers. Not even her drawer.

  Fern had to go everywhere with Sophie and Ethan, too. She didn’t want to go to the library that morning. Story time was for younger kids, she said. Not for eight-year-olds.

  Nicole said she couldn’t stay home alone.

  So Fern sat in the back with the parents. While Anne read bear stories and the kids sang songs, Fern looked at a library book about fairy houses. It showed how to make them from natural things like sticks, pine cones, rocks, and leaves.

  It looked like fun! There were woods around Dad’s house. A perfect place to build a fairy house. If she went outdoors quietly, she might escape Sophie and Ethan for a little while, too.

  “Can I take this book home?” she whispered to Nicole.

  Nicole smiled. “Sure!”

  Fern didn’t want to borrow a doll, though. She didn’t even really like dolls. But when Sophie wanted something, it was hard to say no.

  “Fern and I are going to play dolls!” Sophie told Anne as they checked out their toys and books. “I’ve been waiting for her to come for weeks!”

  Anne smiled at Fern. “You’ll be the first child to borrow Ivy.” She scanned the bar code on the fairy-house book and Ivy’s small journal. “And I bet Ivy would love a fairy house! She always did like to go outside.”

  “That’s a great idea!” Sophie said. “We can make fairy houses for our dolls. There are lots of sticks and pine cones in the woods.”

  “How fun!” Anne said. “I’m excited to read about their adventures in their journals.”

  Fern held the fairy-house book tightly. I’ll wait until Sophie and Ethan are busy, she thought. Then I’ll sneak outside to build my fairy house by myself.

  “I’m going to make Lilyanna a campsite!” Sophie said as they walked out the door.

  Ivy hadn’t been outside to play in a long time. The sun warmed her hair. The breeze tickled her hands. The pine needles were a soft, sweet-smelling pillow to sit on.

  Next to her, Fern had gathered bits of bark, sticks, pine cones, small stones, and other natural things. “The fairy-house book says never use anything that’s still growing,” she said out loud.

  Is Fern talking to me? Ivy wondered. But Fern had said she didn’t play with dolls.

  For the base of the house, Fern had chosen an oak tree with space between its roots. She added long pine cones to make walls. Pine branches across the top made a roof.

  She put Ivy inside.

  It smelled like Christmas. Ivy leaned back, remembering. Anne had always wrapped a little Christmas present, just for her. One year Anne knit Ivy a scarf. Another Christmas there was a tea set with tiny plates and cups. The next year there was a small dresser for Ivy’s clothes.

  “I have a dog named Dusty at my other house,” Fern said quietly. “I wish he could come to Dad’s house with me, but his fur makes Sophie sneeze.”

  Fern was talking to her! Ivy saw tears in Fern’s eyes.

  “It’s not that I don’t like Sophie,” Fern said. “She’s never mean to me, but I have to share everything with her. It’s okay to share the room, but I wish I could have Dad to myself, even just for a few minutes. Sophie gets to have him all the time.”

  Fern is missing someone, too. Ivy’s heart hurt. She wanted to help Fern, but she didn’t know how.

  “I miss Dusty,” Fern said, making a pathway to the fairy house with small stones. “He’s a good listener.”

  I can listen, Ivy thought.

  “I don’t usually play with dolls,” Fern said, “but I like you because—”

  Suddenly, a voice rang out. “There you are, Fern! We’ve been looking for you!”

  It was Sophie and Ethan. Fern wiped her eyes quickly.

  “You didn’t tell us it was time to make the fairy houses!” Sophie said. “I’m going to build Lilyanna’s campsite right next to you! Then our dolls can visit!” She sat Lilyanna on the rock pathway to Fern’s fairy house.

  “Piper can fly into the trees!” Ethan threw the squirrel high. Piper swished between branches and past leaves. A few acorns fell to the g
round.

  “Piper is getting food for everyone!” Ethan said happily. He caught Piper coming down. Then Ethan threw Piper even higher into the oak tree.

  More acorns fell. This time, Piper didn’t come down with them.

  “Oh no!” Ethan cried. “He’s stuck on a branch!”

  “Don’t worry,” Sophie said. “We can get him down. Just throw something else at him. It will knock him loose.”

  “Ivy can rescue him!” Ethan grabbed Ivy from the fairy house, bumping the branches off the roof. Pine cones rolled off the walls. He aimed Ivy at the branches.

  “Ethan, stop!” Fern cried.

  It was too late.

  Ivy felt herself soaring upward. Leaves and branches brushed by her. She closed her eyes. Please let someone catch me! she wished.

  She landed with a thump on something soft. She opened her eyes.

  “Hi,” Piper said beneath her. “We’re in a tree!”

  Ivy looked over Piper’s shoulder and down toward the ground. She’d never been so high. If she fell from here, could she break her leg or arm?

  Below her, a sparrow jumped from branch to branch. Everything on the ground looked far away and small. The children looked up, but Ivy didn’t know if they could even see her between the branches.

  “Why do you always have to ruin everything?” Fern snapped at Sophie and Ethan. She turned and ran for the house.

  Sophie ran after her. Ethan followed, yelling, “I didn’t mean to!”

  Ivy waited for them to come back.

  She waited as the sun sank low in the sky.

  She waited as the bats came out of hiding and flew beneath her.

  She waited as the crickets started to chirp.

  In the dusk, Ivy could barely make out Lilyanna’s bright yellow hair on the ground far below them.

  Lilyanna would be easy to find, but what about her and Piper?

  “Someone will come,” Piper said. “The family only gets to borrow us for two weeks. They’ll get a notice if we aren’t returned on time.”