After that Glenda's parents never bought anything for her, and never gave her any money. Since she was too young to work, this got to be a real problem. She got to be very good at patching up her old clothes, and even at taking apart different garments to combine them. However, she was running out of stuff to work with, and some of the other girls were starting to exclude her from their conversations.
Some of the girls she had been friendly with were starting to be distant; but some other girls started being nicer to her, and she started to become friends with them. None of them were as popular as the girls who had cut her off, but they were much more interesting to talk with.
Alice was a very quiet shy girl, whom Glenda gradually realized was extremely smart. When Alice said something she wasn't very pushy about it, but it was always something worth saying. Glenda began to listen carefully every time Alice spoke up. Alice was shorter than most of the other girls in the class, and had pale skin and pale blonde hair. Alice dressed very plainly - not like the more popular girls - but Glenda gradually realized that Alice was one of the prettiest girls there. Her parents were both professors, and Alice was their only child. Alice's parents travelled a lot, and never seemed to both be home at the same time; many nights Alice was all by herself.
Susan had dark brown hair, and was a fighter. The popular girls had learned not to pick on Susan, because she would always make sure they regretted it. (In third grade a group of girls had decided to get together and teach Susan a lesson; she went into detention for fighting, but so did six of the other girls, and two of them had beautiful black eyes the next day.)
Susan would come in with dark circles under her eyes some mornings, and Glenda heard Alice ask her, on one of those days, "Nightmares again?" Glenda learned not to try to talk much with Susan on those days, but just to give her a friendly touch. Susan would argue with anyone at the drop of a hat, so when Glenda didn't feel like arguing she was careful not to get Susan started.
Once Glenda asked Susan why she argued so much, and Susan said "For practice! Besides, it keeps them honest." Susan lived alone with her mother, but never ever said anything much about her mother, and the other girls never got to see the inside of Susan's house.
Mary was the funniest girl in the class. She particularly liked to make fun of the teachers, and of girls who were pompous or mean. Glenda got to be more friendly with Mary after calling her on one of her smart remarks about another girl: Glenda said to Mary, "Now you're being mean!" Mary looked thoughtful, and then surprised Glenda by apologizing to the other girl. Mary wasn't especially pretty, and her face looked a little strange, as if she were part human and part elf; but she could imitate anyone, with faces that looked screamingly funny.
Glenda called up Mr. Witherspoon for the first time about a year after the letter came. Her school picture was being taken the next day, and she had about run out of ways to fix up her wardrobe. She asked her mother again if she could buy a blouse at least, but her mother snapped "No! YOUR money is with Witherspoon."
Glenda's mother sounded angry and dangerous, so Glenda didn't say anything more; but after thinking it over she called up Mr. Witherspoon. She was embarrassed enough that it took her a long time to tell him why she was calling; but finally Glenda confessed that she was a little worried about her school picture tomorrow. There was a moment of silence, and then he said very cheerfully, "Well! Why don't Ruth and I come by in 30 minutes to pick you up - would that be OK?"
"OK," said Glenda, and sure enough they pulled up in front of her house 29 minutes later.
Glenda sat in back with Ruth, and they chatted while Mr. Witherspoon drove, so Glenda was surprised to realize that they were going back to the Barnett building again. "Here?" she exclaimed. "But I thought we were...."
"This building has more things in it than you would guess," said Mr. Witherspoon reassuringly.
"And some of the things in it are very up-to-date," added Ruth.
They went into the building, and went up to the apartment on the top floor as they had done before. This time Ruth led Glenda back into a back part of the apartment, and into a room where the walls were covered with closet doors. "Let's see," said Ruth, "Glenda needs some nice school clothes for her school picture; well-made things which will last, but which will look stylish."
"Glenda," she asked, "who is the best-dressed girl in your class?"
"Jenny," answered Glenda. "Everyone treats her like a princess, and her mother dresses her like one too."
"Well," said Ruth, "What if we could dress you up nicely, almost like Jenny, but a little more quietly and tastefully?"
"That would be wonderful!" said Glenda. "She wears the loveliest things, even if she is nasty."
"OK," said Ruth, "now hold out your arms and twirl around," and Glenda did. "Now look into this color mirror here," and Glenda looked into a mirror which sort of flickered, around her reflection, with different colors; and as she looked at it the flickering slowed down, until it was cycling through just a few patterns of colors around her reflection. "I think that russet blend might look very good on you," said Ruth. "The flecks of green pick up your eye color, and the overall color balance goes very well with your skin and hair color. What do you think?"
Glenda wasn't used to thinking about herself as part of an outfit, and she didn't know what to think. "I guess," she said uncertainly.
"Let's look around in here," said Ruth, but she didn't do much looking; the first closet she reached toward opened by itself, and there was a jumper and sweater combination in just the colors Ruth had talked about, together with blouse, shoes, and knee socks.
"Try it on!" Ruth urged; Glenda did, and it fit perfectly.
"There," said Ruth proudly, "that will change things a bit."
Ruth and Glenda went back out to the library part of the apartment, and Mr. Witherspoon was very complimentary. "Much better!" he said. "Now anyone can see that you're a little girl whom somebody cherishes!"
"And mind you, Glenda," he continued, "your grandfather did love a lot. I know he wasn't able to come see you, but he asked about you all the time - did you know that?"
"No," said Glenda, very very quietly.
"And your mother and father still haven't finished growing up, but I think that someday they may surprise you pleasantly."
Glenda really wanted to change the subject then, so she asked a question she'd been wondering about.
"These books," she asked, "can I read them? Can I take one home to read?"
"Yes and no," said Mr. Witherspoon.
"You can read them here whenever you like," said Ruth, "but you can't take them out of the building."
"But I can't come here by myself!" protested Glenda, "and my parents certainly won't bring me here, and I hate to bother you every time."
Ruth and Mr. Witherspoon exchanged looks, and then Ruth said, "We'll show you about that too."
"The winding staircase we came up here on," said Mr. Witherspoon, "is, um, ..."
"magical!" said Ruth.
"So it doesn't go to exactly the same place every time," Mr. Witherspoon explained.
"It's a very smart staircase," Ruth said.
"When you're ready to leave here," said Mr. Witherspoon, "We'll have the staircase take you directly back to your own closet."
"At home?" Glenda asked. "You're not talking about my own closet at home?"
"Exactly," said Mr. Witherspoon.
"You can do a lot of things with a good magic staircase," said Ruth.
"and when you're ready to come back here," said Mr. Witherspoon, "you just go into your closet, shut the door and your eyes, and call out for `Barnett staircase number three'!."
"A little flattery doesn't hurt either," said Ruth, "like maybe `Strong and incredibly beautiful Barnett staircase number three.'"
"And put your hand on your key while you say it," added Mr. Witherspoon. "Now, let's let it take you back to your house. Staircase, would you please take Glenda back to the interior of her own bedroon closet?"
And this time Glenda entered the staircase alone, and aftern going up, sideways, twisty and down, she opened the door into .... complete darkness.
Chapter 3
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