Author's Note: This is a new chapter. I focused a lot on the newspaper than I normally would, and I could have made this chapter longer if I wanted to balance out this chapter or diversify it like I usually do, but I am trying to make these chapters about the same length, so I kinda cut it off short. Sorry. lol.
Molly had been with her orphan friends for about two months now, and she had been established as part of the "club" so to say. Kate and Pepper were 12, Annie was 8, Duffy was 6 and July, Molly and Tessie were 4. Molly had a very affable, innocent personality, and even though Pepper still was always bullying her, she had almost the most friends in the orphanage.
Molly liked to play pretend and act like other orphans, or celebrities. Everyone's favorite was when she played Miss Hannigan. When Miss Hannigan would leave, Molly would mimic what she just said in a silly voice and imitate her personality. One day Miss Hannigan was telling the orphans to scrub basement walls.
"You're gonna scrub these walls until you can see your reflections in them. You made them this dirty, so you are gonna have to clean up after yourself! Do it or else!"
All the orphans were in the basement, including Molly, and right before Miss Hannigan walked out of the door Molly began her act in a shrill, mimicky voice.
"You're gonna scrub these floors until I can see my beautiful reflection in them. I'm so pretty. Lalalala…"
Molly's jocular attitude ceased as she heard Miss Hannigan walking down the steps after catching her mockery.
"Is there something funny Molly?" Miss Hannigan inquired. "Did I hear you mocking me?"
Molly was petrified, and started to cry out in fear and ran to Annie. Miss Hannigan made Molly stay in the basement until dinner after the rest of the orphans were finished cleaning, but Annie volunteered to stay down there with her.
Miss Hannigan never thought it was important enough to teach her orphans how to read or write, and the New York Board of Orphans was not strict enough to enforce a curriculum for them to follow, so the girls relied on the older girls to teach them. Kate knew a little bit about reading before she came, and taught Annie, Pepper, Tessie, Duffy and July together. Every Sunday she turned their bedroom into a little classroom with some chalk and slate that she found playing outside one day.
But they had no books. Miss Hannigan wouldn't spend a penny towards them, and books were so scarce in the city that none were ever donated. Kate and Annie once asked Miss Hannigan if she could buy them a book.
"Miss Hannigan, we have nothing to do and we would love to learn to read. Would it be too much if you could buy us a book? Please?" asked Kate.
"No. Why would I spend money on a useless piece of paper for some useless kids. I ain't got no money and you girls better be sure it isn't gonna go to no lousy books!"
But one day a paper boy was shouting outside of the orphanage courtyard. Pepper went outside and asked him for one.
"It costs 5 cents." the boy replied.
"We don't have any money."
"It still costs five cents."
"Please can you give us one if you don't sell all of them! We really need something to read and we have nothing to learn with." Pepper begged.
"I'll tell you what, If I don't sell all of them at the end of the day then I will let you have one." the boy made a deal.
Pepper thought reading was lousy and hard, but she heard that if she got to read a book or a newspaper, then it would be interesting. And she also wanted to get something for the other girls too.
Pepper, when she was finished working, ran outside into the cold snow just in time to catch the paperboy packing up.
"Wait. Do you have a paper left that you can spare?"
"I have one left, here you go."
Pepper ran inside to the orphanage crying out, "Look what I got guys! I have something to read!"
"Finally!" girls yelled.
Kate sat the paper down and read out the headline.
"'We'd like to thank you Herbert Hoover.'" Kate read.
"Who's Herbert Hoover?" asked Duffy.
"I think that man." Kate replied as she pointed to the man on the cover of the times. He was a short man with a baby face and hair parted in the middle.
Kate read on, and after dealing with a question every sentence from her young friends, was finally finished with the newspaper. She then lead them each in reading a sentence or two. Annie, July and Pepper did alright, but Tessie and Duffy struggled.
"Oh my goodness. This is too hard Kate I don't know how to read!" Tessie cried.
"Don't worry Tessie, with enough work, you will get better and you will be writing great, magnificent stories in no time." Kate told her.
Each Sunday, they worked on reading part of the paper, and Annie in her free time tried to help Molly read it herself. After 5 weeks, they each learned to read the newspaper from front to back, and they also learned much about the current events affecting New York City.