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| The following piece is chapter from the fictional book, Morning Glory Afternoon. Read the introduction and the story carefully. As you read, take time to make notes in the right-hand column of any thoughts, comments, or conclusions you have. (All written notes will help us score your paper by showing us how you think while you read.) After you have read the story, thoughtfully respond to the questions that follow. Jessamyn Faber, called Jessy for short, traveled alone during the summer of 1924 from her childhood home in eastern Kansas to Ardensville, Kansas, near the Colorado border. She had come to Ardensville to try to forget a tragic accident that had killed her friend, Farley Baxter, to start a new life working as a telephone operator at her cousin's independent telephone company. When Jesse first saw Ardensville, she was charmed by the tree-lined streets and neat houses. In her short time in the new town, Jessy had became familiar with many people, including Lilli, her new friend, Lombard A Hale, the powerful Mayor of the town, his daughter Anna Cora, and Cecil, a local handyman. Soon, Jesse realized that, lying below the surface of the peaceful town was an ugly prejudice that she could not ignore. As soon as they had ordered sandwiches, Lilli leaned forward. "It's time to use our password." She took a nervous sip of ice water. "The McGuire family are going to have trouble again. Tonight." "Lilli, are you sure you aren't imagining things?" Lilli's intense look showed that she enjoyed this cloak and dagger stuff. "You'd better listen." Lowering her voice, Lilli said, "I was walking home from the grocery store a few minutes ago and I saw Lombard Hale arguing with Anna Cora. Arguing. You know how he is about her most of the time." Jessy nodded, but she didn't say anything. "I heard Anna Cora beg her father, 'Don't make Cecil go with you tonight, Papa, not to the McGuires'. A fire is bad. Cecil, or somebody else, might get hurt.' She was really worked up," Lilli said. "When I passed them, Hale tried to shush her. She started to cry, Jessy. And Hale mumbled something about '...just the coal shed to teach a lesson.' Then he hurried Anna Cora away, down the street." Jessy felt numb. "Did you tell the McGuires what you heard?" she whispered. "Can't. Hale saw us at Joe's, remember? He knows what side we're on. I kind of hummed to myself when I walked by them, and I hope he thinks I didn't hear anything. If I was seen going to the McGuires', he'd know I did and they'd do it some other time probably. Some time when we wouldn't know. You can't go tell them, either. But through your switchboard, Jessy, using the secret message, you can warn them!" Jessy wavered. "Are you sure about what you heard, Lilli?" "Absolutely positive. And we have to do something. Make the call, kid." "I wish someone else...," Jessy began. "Shouldn't we call the county sheriff this time?" "And accuse somebody of a crime that hasn't happened? Everything is too sketchy for that," Lilli reminded her. "All right. I'll try to decide how to work the words 'morning glory' into a halfway sensible conversation. I sure hope the McGuires know what I'm doing." "They'll know," Lilli assured her. "I managed to make the rounds late one night when I wouldn't be seen. Right after we cooked this up, I told everybody what they needed to know. Don't think I missed anyone." Back at work, Jessy handled calls automatically. For some time she put off making the warning call, worried that she might give everything away to the wrong people. Plugging into a line, later, she was startled to recognize Mrs. McGuire's voice, asking, "Central, will you ring the Jorgensens for me?" Jessy's mind swam. What marvelous good luck! "How are you, Mrs. McGuire?" she asked, trying to sound casual. "Isn't this a lovely day? It's going to be warm, though." She thought fast. "Our - our morning glories and petunias, of course, will need lots of water. Water," she repeated. "Hope it cools off by tonight, don't you?" She took a breath. "I'll ring Jorgensens for you." "Wait," she heard Mrs. McGuire say softly at the other end. A silence seemed to go on forever. Then Mrs. McGuire replied, "Morning glories do take lots of water, when it's hot." She understood! Jessy could have cried in relief and surprise that it worked. She'd done it. Whatever happened now was up to others. Jessy didn't sleep sound that night. At any minute, she expected a pounding at the door to announce a fire. Nobody came; the night passed. Had the morning glory warning worked then? She wasn't very surprised when Lilli dashed in during the afternoon. "It worked, Jess. You did it!" Lilli danced a quick jig and hugged Jessy, almost pulling her off the stool. "The McGuires were ready when the Klan got there." "What happened?" Jessy laughed at Lilli's excitement. "Mama and Papa McGuire and all nine kids were armed with buckets and dishpans and tubs of water," Lilli crowed. "The Klan rode up to their yard about midnight. But the white robed nincompoops didn't get to strike a match. Mrs. McGuire thought she saw a spark." Lilli giggled. "She yelled for the whole family to throw their water. They soaked the Ku Kluxers, kid. Oh, I wish I could have been there." "How'd you find out about it, Lilli?" "Mary Lewis, one of my permanent boarders, is a friend of Mrs. McGuire. Mary found out about it this morning. And, Jessy, people are laughing! Making jokes about all the sheets on clotheslines around town today, and it not being Monday washday, either. Things like that. You know, I think we may have more friends than we thought. "It sounds good, Lilli," Jessy admitted. "But we were lucky this time. It might not go this way again." "Jessy, don't give up. If it worked once, it will work again. Just stop and think what you accomplished. By saying those few words, you prevented a fire, maybe kept people from getting hurt." Lilli was right. Jessy smiled. "I am glad I did it." "And you know you have to keep warning folks," Lilli said, "at least until we can figure something else out." A few days later, Jessy placed a call for Lombard Hale to Mr. Pierce at the drugstore. Possibly busy with customers, Mr. Pierce didn't pick up the phone at the first ring, or the second. Hale began to mumble to himself. The back of Jessy's neck prickled. "Slick Italian," she heard him hiss. "Surprise guests at Garibaldi's card party. Wilford can get our friends together." Jessy shoved the key closed. But what if someone was going to get hurt? She opened the key. "Mr. Hale," she asked, "did Mr. Pierce answer?" "No, Miss Faber. Ring him again, please." This time, Jessy stayed on the line, feeling both fear and guilt. Her heart pounded loud in her ears, but she managed to catch the words she needed to know, " --the boys tonight," the mayor whispered to himself, "we'll rough up that sinning wop--" Jessy sat trembling. Lilli'd told her that the Klan was against immoral acts as well as everything else. Mama and Papa didn't hold with card playing, either, but they wouldn't think anyone had a right to go into someone's home, break things up, and tell the people what they could and couldn't do. Feeling cold all over, but committed, Jessy rang the Garibaldi residence and waited for an answer. "Mrs. Garibaldi?" She sat up straighter. "This is Central. I just wanted to tell you that the paint you've been wanting, morning glory blue, is in now at the hardware. You might want to pick it up tonight." Mrs. Garibaldi let out faint shriek, then more calmly, said, "Thank you, Central. Thank you." As usual, Lilli had the inside track on what happened, and before Jessy could tell her about the warning she'd sent, Lilli came to tell her, "Rose and Marco Garibaldi canceled their party. They were sitting home alone listening to Rudy Vallee singing on the radio when the Klan got there, charging up real ferocious to the Garibaldi's door. I heard that some of the Klan was awful disappointed when they found nothing 'immoral' in progress. They wanted to bust things up anyway. But they didn't. They just rode off like dogs with their tails between their legs." "Besides the Ku Klux Klan and the Garibaldis, I thought I would be the only one to know about this." Jessy shook her head in perplexity. "With your job, you should know that there aren't many secrets in a town as small as Ardensville, Jessy." She nodded. "True. And it's only a matter of time before Hale and the Klan find out it's me who's warning people." Lilli hugged her. "You can't quit, kid. Folks are beginning to see that the Klan's violence is directed toward dangers that are mostly imaginary." A few moments later they parted. Saturday morning, Etta Moorehouse called Jessy to tell her that Hatch still could not get away to come to town. Another week without seeing him? How could she get through it? She didn't often go to the movies, except with Hatch on Saturday night, but on Tuesday evening Jessy decided she would go, to help pass the time until she could be with Hatch again. At the Orpheum's entrance, Jessy was surprised to see Lombard Hale coming toward her, a wide smile on his face. Something in his look caused her to tremble, her throat dried. As she turned toward the ticket stall, the mayor stepped in front of her. He tipped his gray felt hat, "My"- his voice was silk - "wasn't this a lovely morning glory day, my dear?" Jessy could hardly keep from screaming. He bowed and chuckled and moved on down the street. He knew! He knew what she'd been up to and why! Jessy groveled in her purse for money, threw it at the ticket girl, blindly grabbed the ticket offered her and ran down the aisle in the dark theater and fumbled into a seat. He knew. She stared unseeing at the moving figures on the screen and listened to the piano playing background music for close to two hours. For several minutes after the movie was ended, Jessy sat. Then, cold clear through, she ran from the theater. She let herself into the telephone office next door and locked the door. Now that Hale knew, would she be next on the Klan's list? Or did Hale know that by scaring her senseless, she wouldn't try anything else? How had she gotten herself into this mess, anyway? It was Lilli's fault. No, it was her own. Jessy sat on the edge of her cot, with Cowboy in her lap, too gripped by fear to cry. A sudden knock on the telephone office door sent Jessamyn to her feet as though she'd been yanked by a cord. She stood frozen. Tears started down her cheeks. Were they here? Had the Klan come for her, finally? With tar, whips, a match? A muffled, faraway voice spoke, "Central, I need to talk to you." It sounded like Cecil Kinglake. Jessy tiptoed from her room to look. The large shadowy figure outside was Cecil. She went to grasp the doorknob and turned it. Cecil Kinglake was alone, wearing his ordinary clothes, no sheet. In a sheet he would be the Klan's tool; as himself, she was sure she could trust him. "I - I'm sorry, Central," Cecil said, staring at her damp cheeks. "I didn't mean to sc-scare you." Jessy attempted a smile. "Wh-What do you want? Is it an emergency? Did someone else, Mr. Hale, send you?" He shook his heard hard, no. "C - come in, and let's sit down. You did give me a scare." She found the extra stool for Cecil and sank down on hers in front of the quiet switchboard. "Why did you come?" Worry had replaced his usual happy expression. He wagged his shaggy blond head. "I come, I come to tell you. Before Mr. Hale - he knows the morning glory secret." Cecil moaned softly as though about to cry. "Anna Cora said I had to come and tell you." Jessy admitted quickly, "I know he knows, Cecil." "You do?" Cecil looked amazed. "Only this afternoon I told him." He wrung his big hands. "Anna Cora's daddy made me tell him all about it. I didn't want to "But how did you know about the warning plan, the secret words, morning glory?" A sweet smile lit Cecil's face. He spoke proudly, shoulders erect. "Anna Cora told me. She's so smart, she - she likes to listen on her phone to other people talkin'. An', an' she kept hearing people say stuff about morning glories, you know?" "I'm afraid I know," Jessy said, blushing. "After people talked about morning glories," Cecil was saying, "our Klan club would have trouble. Every time," he said wonderingly. "Anna Cora's Papa would be riled! Because we couldn't surprise people anymore." Jessy nodded sympathetically, hiding the fear she felt, and waited for Cecil to go on. "Mr. Hale blamed me," Cecil told her. "He said it was me tattling, going around telling people where our club, telling people where our club, the Klan club, was going to visit next time. Anna Cora knew it wasn't me. Central, I had to tell him it was the morning glory words on the telephones that got people ready for us. Mr. Hale says you're a troublemaker; he doesn't like you anymore. I'm sorry I told on you, Central." His pale eyes filled with tears. "I'm sorry, too, Cecil," Jessy said with a shiver. "But you're right. You had nothing to do with how I found out what the Klan was going to do. I - I wasn't too smart, I guess. I imagine a lot of people, not just Anna Cora, knew what we were up to." She had wondered about it for some time, and now she asked, "Cecil, why did you join the Ku Klux Klan?" He looked at her. "Nobody ever asked me to be in a club before. I wanted to. All the time I was a little kid. They always said, 'No, no, not you, you looney.'" He drew a quick breath and continued, "Then Mr. Hale said I could belong to his club. Help our town be nice, make people be good. I got to wear a sheet like the other fine gentlemen." His shoulders sagged, and he looked at Jessy, bewildered. "Anna Cora says our club is bad. She don't like her father doing things. You know visiting people. She wants me to stop being in the club. Do you think our club is bad, Central?" "Yes." Jessy sighed. "I'm afraid I do. Cecil, do you understand that it's bad for the Ku Klux Klan to hurt folks who haven't done anything to deserve it?" "My club does hurt nice people." He nodded. "I don't like that part. But I don't want to get out of my club, the only one I ever got to be in, Central. But if - if we have to hurt any more people," he added sadly, "I'll maybe quit like Anna Cora wants me to." "I think you will be a lot better off if you do quit the Ku Klux Klan, Cecil. I hope you will. I'm glad we talked tonight." A few minutes later Jessy saw the handyman to the door. She watched him shuffle down the street, his pockets jingling, loud in the deep, still night. Poor Cecil was going to get hurt, she was afraid. She sighed. But as long as the Klan was around, who was safe? |
Reading Level: 8 Benchmark 3
Notes on my thoughts, |
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©1981 by Irene Bennett Brown. Written by Irene Bennett Brown. All rights reserved.
Permission granted for use by OPEN and Oregon Reading Assessment purposes.