Chapter Five – The Finale

Christmas morning, we were all up and in our nice dresses. In the bathroom, Tessie muttered: "I think these are dresses we sewed for one of her 'projects.'"

"Probably are. At least we get to wear these," I returned lowly.

I'd never imagined being in a limo, let alone been in one. Miss Hannigan ordered us around and then acted like maybe only she would go. However, the driver put her in her place.

"I am here to pick up the orphans for the party, on order of Mr. Warbucks," the driver said briskly. "Will you be coming too, or shall I simply take them?"

Miss Hannigan seemed to hesitate for an instant. July motioned toward me, without her seeing it. July's intention was clear – Molly and one of us two would go no matter what. Molly would go so she could be with Annie – we'd decided in an older girls' meeting that no matter what, Molly would not be coming back – and either July or myself to stop anything fishy.

"Oh, of course, I'll bring them all," Miss Hannigan said abruptly. "You should hear them sing."

I think she was trying to figure out how to leave and keep us there, but she knew that wouldn't work. Even if we hadn't been up, we were told later, even without our call, the driver had very strict instructions to bring us to the Warbucks'.

We figured they had everything under control, but we weren't totally sure; maybe 98%. Actually, I had a weird thought on the way over – what if they were her parents but Miss Hannigan thought she could swindle them?

At any rate, soon after we entered, the impostors did. And, Mr. Warbucks was ready for them – he knew they weren't really Annie's parents. We'd helped point him in the right direction, though, and the Mudges and Miss Hannigan were all arrested for fraud and conspiracy to kidnap.

"Say, Mr. Warbucks, Mr. President," I said – yes, Franklin Roosevelt was there, too. "Miss Hannigan told us to be ready to perform; could we do a couple songs for you?"

I got a big kick out of Pepper – she was slow to get into these things at times, though she would grow more willing to do so quickly over the next days and weeks. As we started singing, she got the most incredulous look on her face, her eyes bulging like crazy. She actually pinched herself to see if this was real. We performed "Never Fully Dressed" along with a couple of our "teaching numbers," songs Miss Hannigan had asked us to sing for others to convince people we were learning. Well, we were, but not through any effort on her part.

"I'll tell you what," Mr. Warbucks said after we finished, "I'm going to see if Bert Healy can get you on to sing 'Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile' on his show sometime in the new year. Annie has already shown off her singing talents."

"Thank you," I said, bouncing excitedly.

"So, would some of you like to go back to help us get your things?" A few of us stared a little oddly at Mr. Warbucks. However, July seemed a bit more certain of what he meant than the rest of us as she grinned a little and glanced skyward in thanksgiving. "You're certainly not spending another day there. Besides, you saw Miss Hannigan hauled off on Federal charges, but I'm going to make sure charges are brought for the sweatshop, too."

"Oh, my goodness! You really mean it?" Tessie asked excitedly.

"Of course; I'm going to make sure all of you get good families. First of all, let's have an early brunch; my chefs have prepared a great meal." With that, we continued to mingle while we prepared to eat – a lot.

Grace, his private secretary, announced that she was leading a group of Mr. Warbucks' staff. I piped up right away. "I'll go; we have some stuff we've written and drawn and things." I turned to Pepper. "Come on, you want to make sure you got all your cartooning stuff."

Pepper nodded slowly. "Yeah. Good idea."

I could tell something was on her mind as we walked to the limo. "You know, I'd be okay with living here, even with others here as sisters. If you want to stay here, I'm sure he'd let you." I already knew he'd be adopting Molly, who had bonded with Annie, as well.

"It's a good backup plan. I wanna get some sleep, though," Pepper replied, unsure of how much she wanted to reveal about her feelings. She really needed to relax; she'd been so tense.

Grace guessed that was it. "Annie told me you ran fire drills and kept the girls safe from Miss Hannigan. You especially worried if she got too drunk. Mr. Warbucks told me to instruct the staff to give each of you girls a health spa treatment fit for a queen. I'll bet you'd like to go first." Pepper's cynical, rough exterior began to melt away with that comment.

Grace turned back to me as we approached the orphanage.

"You are all such good dancers – you especially, Duffy. Annie says you taught all the girls. I'm really into dance myself," she said, hoping to spark a conversation.

"Thanks. That's how I coped, just like Pepper with her writing and comics."

"Except Tessie draws people better. She doesn't like eyeballs, but otherwise," Pepper chimed in.

"That's become one of our running jokes." I looked at Pepper and patted the back of my best friend. She seemed to have a natural tenseness about her because of all that worrying. No wonder July liked to call her "Jack Dempsey." Yes, Pepper was going to love being pampered; just like I always pictured the top stars received. "This is how we hoped it would be. The others are all safe, and here we are coming back one last time."

"Hoped…" Pepper muttered. She'd wondered if she'd dared to dream it. I didn't bring up what she worried most about – that she'd get all of us to safety by staying back and fighting Miss Hannigan off, taking who knew what while I returned with the police and an ambulance. Oh, Pepper was tough, and would have fought tooth and nail to the point Miss Hannigan knew it wasn't worth it. She knew Pepper could rough her up plenty if she wanted to, so she never crossed that line. But, Pepper had a lot of worries like that which – unlike Tessie – she never expressed, partly for fear of scaring the little ones, partly to keep from scaring herself.

"I figure you both want to avoid the sewing room," Grace said. We each nodded vehemently. "We'll have some of our workers give a cursory glance, then we'll seal it off. It'll likely be labeled as a crime scene. Annie told us there was no physical brutality stemming from it, but if you have anything you'd like to tell, you can talk to me now or someone when we get back."

"No, just mental torture. And, we were all a little afraid, though Pepper and I made sure the little ones would be protected. It was our job to take care of Molly, in fact," I related.

Pepper seemed to be thinking out loud, getting used to framing the orphanage in the past tense. "If she had ever tried… She knew not to, though." Her fists balled up tightly for a moment, not in the playful way she and July went at it on rare occasions. We all got the implication of what Pepper had left unsaid.

"You don't have to worry about her anymore," Grace promised tenderly.

"I know," Pepper said, still considering how unreal it seemed.

"I think your friend has a lot to let out," Grace whispered to me as Pepper glanced around to make sure we had all of the comic strip and story material for what would become "Little Orphan Annie." "We'll make sure she has a very warm, loving family who can give her lots of one-on-one attention."

"Thanks." I really appreciated hearing that.

We carried boxes to the waiting limo, then went back for a few more – the others had a few little things, too. For example, there was an old almanac from the early 1920s, an original Lincoln Library from 1924, and a slightly older copy of "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" someone had donated during the Harding Administration, if not the Wilson one.

Finally, we packed everything up and left. Pepper mumbled a "good riddance," but I was more introspective. I had honed my dance talent there for ten years. It's funny how things happened in years ending in "3" – I went there in 1923, left in 1933, and then in 1943 met and later adopted my oldest from what had become Warbucks Home for Girls – which looked totally different once Mr. warbucks remodeled it. And, I had married John at the end of that year. Maybe that's another reason I'm writing this in 1953.

Anyway, back when it was still 1933, I began to think about my Nona. "Miss Ferrell, you said you like dance. Are you good at it?" She said she was very good; she'd done some shows in high school. "Who inspired you?"

After she finished telling me, as we began to unload boxes and enter the Warbucks estate, I shared about my Nona.

"That's wonderful, Duffy. I'm sure she'd be very proud."

"Yeah." It's funny. I thought Pepper was the only one who found it hard to verbalize things, but right now, I wasn't quite sure how to continue myself.

Fortunately, Pepper interrupted. She tried to let me – or someone else – have first dibs. I insisted that she go first.

"Pepper," I persisted, "Miss Ferrell is right. You have been preparing yourself for the fight of your life." I knew what she was going to say when she opened her mouth. "Okay, a fight to protect their lives. Either way, it's over now. We don't have to keep protecting them anymore. Now you can write stories, and I can sing and dance, and all that stuff for fun. Go relax and enjoy it."

Pepper nodded and walked toward Mrs. Greer, who made a comment that "Queen Pepper's Royal Spa" was now open, a comment she would make for each of us, with our own names being inserted of course. Pepper turned back toward me and smiled. "Thanks," she said simply. She knew I put my foot down and insisted that she behave when it was necessary – just like any friend should to keep their friend safe and on the right track in life. However, even at my young age, I could tell there might be some anxiety that she wouldn't really let out till she got to her new adoptive family.

Annie walked up to me. "It is kinda funny how we're all getting our hair done real nice, with manicures and pedicures and stuff. It's supposed to snow like crazy tomorrow," she said. "We'll all be out playing in it, anyway."

"True. But, I think we'll all love it," I told her.

Annie agreed. "Yeah. And, since we're gonna get all messed up, we can all do it again in a few days."

The next few days felt like a blur. Pepper needn't have worried like she did; she got a very kind, loving family to adopt her, thanks to Mr. Warbucks. She actually was certain of hers a bit before I was of mine. And, once she got home with them that Sunday, she really did find that faucet of tears coming on that she knew she might not be able to stop. She would overcome in an amazing way after that, though, and go on to do great things during the war, even though she wasn't in regular combat.

Back to 1933, though… well, partway throughf 1934 by then. I'd made contact with people who could help my career, but the family I really felt comfortable with didn't surface till the first few weeks of the new year. Of course, Christmas and New Years being on Monday and a huge snowstorm the day after Christmas had delayed things some. I was around for Oliver Warbucks and Grace Ferrell's engagement on New Year's Eve, though when it actually took place, I was inside with a movie camera while they were outside in the snow for a few minutes.

We got together at varying intervals over the next few months. One time in particular was very special, though.

I happened to be there visiting Annie and Molly. July and Kate had also come; their new dad was a doctor and he was performing a house call.

I hadn't quite been sure how to say "goodbye" at times like this, even though I knew this would be more like "so long." Oliver Warbucks came up to me, though, and provided a great segue way this time.

"Girls, guess what," he said, clapping his hands together excitedly. "I've just finished talking with Bert Healy. He's rather booked, of course – I just got in quickly with Annie that time at first by trading a few favors." I imagined he might mean money, too. "At any rate, I'm going to call all your future parents and ask if they can have you there some Thursday next month, so all of you can perform – especially 'Never Fully Dressed Without A Smile.'"

Molly quickly turned to Annie. "Wow, did you hear that? We get to do it together!" They hugged – I could tell they were really excited.

We were off school, so we also stayed overnight that evening; it was pretty late I continued to be amazed; we had actually performed coast to coast, live. What an amzing feeling!

The next day, after my friends and I exchanged hugs, since we had a little time, I turned to Oliver Warbucks and shared how grateful I was for everything he'd done. I could tell I was on my way to being a star – I'd actually already been introduced to Ethel Merman, in fact, who remains a very good friend.

"Thanks, Mr. Warbucks, for all you're doing. I'm going out to play a bit before I go, okay?"

He said it was okay. We chased each other around for fun quite a bit. Then I slipped away from the others. I started to do a couple simple things like cartwheels. Then, I twirled a little, fell on my face – not on purpose this time, the last of the snow was very uneven by now after all our playing – and got up giggling with a scarf filled with snow

Annie and Molly had copied me a little with my dancing, but then they simply stood and watched as I looked skyward, sensing the glistening in my eyes wasn't just from the snow. I gazed wistfully into the sky, now darkening enough before supper you could see a few stars if you were in the country, and grinned broadly. Images flooded my mind of the last dozen years of mostly drudgery in that orphanage, and then of the last few months. I was finally out and preparing for what I hoped could be a professional career.

I inhaled deeply, broke into a huge grin, and nodded slightly. "Thanks, Nona, for all your help. We made it. I know I made you proud," I proclaimed. "Thanks for the love of dancing, Nona. And, thank you, Lord, for whatever my future holds."

A/N: I have a lot more responsibility now, so I might not be able to do any more. This is why this is stopping here rather than having more parts from Duffy from earlier and later. I have one other idea which, as I thought about it, might actually be able to be tied in with the 2014 Annie; no reason why they can't be in the same universe, though the idea of one of the orphans' connections doing the movie decades later is also nice. But, maybe it happens and is then made into a movie in their world. Any of them, especially Molly or Kate, could still be alive in 2014, my guess is only one or two would be.

For now, though, this is my 832nd retirement and might be for good. :-) And remember, you're only a single, sincere prayer of repentance to Jesus Christ away from eternal life. Godlife dot com slash gospel is a site from a great ministry that will help if you have questions.