The next day came which was a Sunday which meant that Opal and her father had to get to church.
"He doesn't wanna be left alone is all," Opal said as she tied up Winn-Dixie before making an excellent point. "Can't we bring him? You let Atticus bring Patch."
Winn-Dixie even whined about being left alone.
"That mutt ain't got a home yet?" Mr. Alfred complained.
"Uh, no, not yet, but we're working on it." Daniel smiled nervously.
"I got myself a dog like that myself, a real howler," Mr. Alfred said. "But I got him to shut up."
Atticus soon came over with Patch and the girls, minus Cherry.
"You did?" Daniel asked. "How?"
"I shot him." Mr. Alfred smirked.
"Well, you can't shoot a church goin' dog," Opal argued. "It'd be a sin!"
"She's right." Darla added.
Winn-Dixie began to bark. Daniel soon gestured for Opal to untie Winn-Dixie and let him come along, but on one condition. Patch would make sure Winn-Dixie wouldn't make any trouble.
In church, everyone sat together while Daniel stood as the choir sang Amazing Grace. It seemed to be going well until Winn-Dixie started howling because he missed Opal already.
"Winn-Dixie, calm down, it's not like they're gone forever," Patch told the scruffy dog. "Just wait until after church is over."
"I miss Opal." Winn-Dixie whined.
"I know, but it won't be long." Patch replied.
The twin boys in church started to mock Winn-Dixie's howling and one of them began to imitate it only to get smacked by his mother with a pamphlet.
"Alright, alright, that's enough, everyone stop, just please stop," Daniel told his patrons. "Thank you. Opal?"
"He doesn't know the words is all." Opal shrugged.
"Opal?" Daniel asked his daughter firmly.
"But he sure is moved by the spirit?" Opal smiled nervously.
"Get that dog now." Daniel told her.
"Yes, sir." Opal replied before going outside, and where she took off Winn-Dixie's leash and put it away before bringing him inside.
Patch looked over and soon followed them inside of the market/church. The church patrons seemed to have a problem with this and laughed once Winn-Dixie came inside.
"Are dogs allowed in church?" An older girl asked her mother beside her.
The older girl's mother simply shrugged.
"Sit... Sit!" Opal whispered sharply to Winn-Dixie.
Winn-Dixie soon sat down by her feet while Opal sat in her chair and Patch came to Atticus's feet.
"We, uh, we recently celebrated the hundredth anniversary of man learning to fly," Daniel said to the patrons. "Now, that's the sort of miracle that we tend to take for granted nowadays. But for hundreds of years, man was taking that same kind of leap of faith, and falling right on his butt."
Everyone soon laughed a little as that was funny, and where Winn-Dixie barked once. Darla giggled behind her hand.
"Yep, folks, they was tyin' themselves to kites, and homemade wings and hurlin' themselves off of barns, and crashin' off of cliffs," Daniel continued as Winn-Dixie looked over and he soon saw a mouse loose in the church. "So how did the Wright Brothers do it when everyone else was nose-divin' for centuries?"
"Don't even think about it." Opal whispered sharply.
"They saw the unique value in all the inventors around 'em," Daniel continued to educate his patrons while Opal tried to restrain Winn-Dixie. "Did you know that part of their wing design was actually the same design as a railroad bridge?"
"Winn-Dixie, just leave the mouse alone." Patch whispered to the scruffy dog.
"Yeah, isn't that a genius leap? Using a bridge to fly?" Daniel continued.
"That's a new one on me, sir." Atticus spoke up with a small smile.
"Winn-Dixie, please stay." Patch whispered.
"That mouse is mocking me." Winn-Dixie growled and he soon began to chase the mouse, getting out of Opal's grip.
"Keep on preachin'! I got him!" Opal told her father as she went after the dog.
"Oh, man, this is a bigger disaster than those Beethoven movies!" Patch cried out.
"Should we join in to help get Winn-Dixie?" Darla whispered to her brother.
"Come on then." Atticus whispered back to his little sister.
They soon went to help Opal out as Winn-Dixie made a fuss because of a mouse while Daniel continued to preach, but it was rather difficult with the ruckus.
"Winn-Dixie, please stop." Patch told the scruffy dog.
"But that mouse!" Winn-Dixie whined in defense.
"It's just a mouse, let it go." Patch told him.
Winn-Dixie pouted to that.
"Stop..." Patch warned.
Winn-Dixie soon sighed and then gave up.
"Who knew one little mouse could cause so much trouble?" Atticus tutted and shook his head as he picked the mouse up by its tail. "You don't look like Jerry though."
The mouse looked confused by that name. Atticus went to the door to let the mouse back out into the wild. The mouse then scurried off around the ground, leaving the market/church.
"Let us pray." Daniel suggested.
'That could have been a bigger problem.' Darla thought to herself.
"For that mouse." Daniel then said.
Some of the patrons chuckled as that was a bit funny.
"I'm sorry." Winn-Dixie pouted to Opal.
Patch could understand that Winn-Dixie didn't mean to chase the mouse. Darla was just relieved that Winn-Dixie didn't get in trouble.
Eventually, church ended, and everybody left for the day.
"That was eventful." Amber said.
"We should tell Cherry," Annabelle said. "This was a lot more interesting than sleeping an extra hour."
"I hate to leave Cherry all alone, but she's not really a church person." Atticus said to them.
"Ohh." The girls said.
"We'll see you a bit later, okay, Opal?" Darla called.
"Okay..." Opal smiled. "I'm really glad you guys are here for the summer."
"Same here." Amber smiled back.
They soon separated for that time being with Atticus and the girls going back to the hotel.
"I really hope I'm doing a good job helping keeping an eye on Winn-Dixie." Patch said to himself, but he was.
"I'm sure you are, Patch." Atticus soothed his dog.
"I just wanna make sure that Winn-Dixie can stay with Opal and her dad." Patch said.
"I'm sure he will," Atticus replied. "Give it time. I'm not sure about the Pound Puppies or if they can see this or not, but I'm very proud of you, Patch. You're a good dog."
"Thanks, Atticus." Patch smiled.
"Of course, Patch." Atticus smiled back.
Time had passed again and Opal was coloring the map she made in her sketchbook as the girls had another lazy summer day together outside.
"Doesn't it look better?" Opal smiled to Winn-Dixie.
Patch soon came over and saw what was going on and decided to check on the map with Winn-Dixie.
"Hey, boy." Darla smiled to her brother's dog.
Patch smiled back to her. Opal soon continued to color until Winn-Dixie began to go off suddenly, yet again. Patch became curious as to where Winn-Dixie was going this time as he followed him.
They soon went off with the dogs walking while the kids rode on their bikes and were soon followed by twin boys.
"That dog looks like a dirty carpet!" Dunlap mocked.
"Yeah!" Stevie laughed with his brother.
"Oh, be quiet!" Darla glared.
"I can hear you!" Opal added. "I can hear you guys behind me!"
"You better watch out!" Dunlap smirked. "Those dogs are headed right for the witch's house!"
"Winn-Dixie! Patch! Get back here!" Amber cried out.
Patch went after Winn-Dixie as they ran ahead of the kids on their bikes.
"Winn-Dixie, why are we headed to that house?" Patch asked the scruffy dog.
"There's someone here... Someone seems... Lonesome..." Winn-Dixie said. "Like Miss Franny from the library."
"Ohh." Patch smiled.
"You better get your dogs out of there!" Dunlap continued.
"Get lost, you Bald Head Babies!" Opal glared at the twin boys.
"Hey, that witch is gonna eat those dogs for dinner and you girls for dessert!" Dunlap smirked. "I wouldn't go in there, Baloney Breath!"
"Is the person in that house really a witch or is that just a rumor?" Darla asked.
"Trust us," Dunlap smirked. "She's weird, and you're all doomed."
"Hm... I feel like she might not be a real witch, and they're just talking out of their butts." Darla whispered to Amber and Annabelle.
"She can't be worse than Claudia." Annabelle whispered back.
"Or Cruella." Amber added.
"Let's go inside and find out ourselves." Darla said.
Opal and the girls then went to go on ahead, doing their best to ignore the Dewberry boys who mocked them endlessly.
"We'll tell the preacher what happened to y'all!" Dunlap called out.
"Just ignore them." Amber told the others.
They soon went to go in after the dogs. They felt a bit scared since they might meet an actual witch, but they did their best to keep calm and brave, and soon called out for Winn-Dixie and Patch quietly and carefully.
"Let go! Give it! Give it to me!" A woman's voice was heard struggling.
"That must be the lady that lives here." Amber said.
Patch tried to make Winn-Dixie let go as the woman seemed to struggle from the scruffy dog's behavior. The woman soon fell over which made Opal fall and feel scared because she was told that this woman was an evil witch.
"Oh... Who's there?" The woman cooed as she reached out to touch Opal.
"Please don't eat me. D-D-Don't eat me!" Opal cried out in a panic. "I don't taste good! I don't taste good!"
"Sorry, ma'am, we were just told some rumors that you were a witch." Darla said.
"A witch?" The woman chuckled. "You silly children!"
"Where are the dogs?" Amber asked.
"Did you eat our dogs?!" Opal yelped.
"Hardly, but one of 'em darn near bit my hand off stealin' my sandwich!" The woman replied as she moved her hands around. "Where are they? Where are the dogs?!"
"Winn-Dixie, that's not even yours!" Patch scolded as the scruffy dog ate from the woman's picnic table.
"We are so sorry that Winn-Dixie ate your sandwich, ma'am." Amber apologized.
"Where's the dog?" The woman asked as she used a cane to get around. "I can hear him smackin' his lips! He sure loves peanut butter."
"I'm sorry we got on your property." Opal added to what Amber said.
"We didn't mean to intrude." Darla said.
"It's all right..." The woman replied. "Who are you all?"
The girls soon gave their names.
"My name is Gloria..." The woman replied, though she didn't seem to like her name. "Gloria Dump. Ain't that a terrible last name? Dump..."
"My last name's Buloni; sometimes the kids at school, they call me 'Lunch Meat'." Opal said.
"Lunch Meat..." Gloria repeated. "Well, I'm pleased to meet you, Lunch Meat."
Opal then shook hands with Gloria as they became friends.
"What you call your friend here?" Gloria then asked about the dog.
"Oh, that's Winn-Dixie." Opal replied.
"And next to him is Patch." Darla added.
"Patch... And Winn-Dixie..." Gloria replied, curious about the other dog's name. "You mean like that grocery store? Now, that takes the strange-name prize, don't it?"
"Um, yeah, I suppose." Annabelle smiled bashfully.
"I bet you girls would like some sandwiches." Gloria suggested.
"Yes, ma'am." Darla smiled.
The girls soon sat down with Gloria to have some sandwiches. Winn-Dixie touched Gloria and looked still hungry.
"Oh, no. Hmm-mm. This one's mine. I'm gon' eat this one," Gloria told the dog, setting him on the ground before taking a drink. "You know, baby girls, these eyes of mine, they don't see too good no more."
"You can't see?" Amber asked her.
"Well... You know, I can, I can see only the general shape of things, so I rely on my heart," Gloria explained. "Why don't you go ahead and tell me everything about yourselves, so I can see y'all with my heart?"
The girls knew Opal would go first.
"Well, the first thing you should know about me is that my dad's the preacher, which was why we moved to Naomi." Opal began to explain and told Gloria just about everything like she had shared with Darla in her letters over the past year until summer vacation.
"I see... I see..." Gloria replied as she was truly listening to every word.
"But the most important thing you should know about me is that I don't have a mama." Opal told her.
Annabelle nodded as she could relate to that, though her mother had died while Opal's mother abandoned her and her father.
"You don't have a mama?" Gloria replied.
"Somethin' happened to her that made her go away, and I don't know what it was." Opal explained what she knew.
After talking for some more, the rest of the girls soon told Gloria all about them.
"You had movies, huh?" Gloria asked Darla.
"Yeah... I was pretty popular for a while..." Darla replied.
"I thought your voice sounded familiar," Gloria said. "I believe I had my TV on with you there once... You sing like a little angel."
"Thank you." Darla smiled.
"I'm sorry about your mama." Gloria said to Annabelle.
"It's all right, but thank you..." Annabelle replied. "She told me all about fairies, and even gave me a special book."
"Yeah, and where it is a very special book." Amber smiled.
"That's nice..." Gloria replied. "You girls sound like you have quite the stories. Especially you, Amber, with your aunt raising 101 Dalmatians."
"It's getting smaller recently, but yes." Amber smiled as she hugged Patch as he was one of those Dalmatians.
Eventually, they had to leave Gloria, but it was really nice to talk to her because she was such a good listener, and the girls promised to visit her again very soon, and where Patch decided to stay with Winn-Dixie again as his dog senses told him there would be another thunderstorm. Daniel didn't mind Patch there as long as he wouldn't cause trouble, though he was sure that the Dalmatian was not as he was more behaved than Winn-Dixie was.
Opal was fast asleep at first, but once she heard the storm outside, she woke up instantly because she knew that Winn-Dixie would have some trouble, and where Patch made sure to keep Winn-Dixie calm. Opal looked relieved and thankful that Patch was such a sweet and helpful dog, and so was Winn-Dixie because he would have just ran all over the place like if he was a bowling ball. Winn-Dixie looked around.
"It's okay, Winn-Dixie... Thunder can't hurt you." Patch soothed.
"Y-You sure?" Winn-Dixie shivered.
"Trust me, you'll be fine," Patch comforted. "Um... Think of your favorite things."
"Okay." Winn-Dixie smiled.
Patch gave a small smile back before going to get some sleep with Winn-Dixie as he tried to think of a few of his favorite things. Opal gave a smile herself until she began to think back to her stories with Gloria Dump as she began to think about her missing mom again, and where since she missed her mom again, she decided to go and ask her dad to tell her more about her mom.
Patch looked over to Opal while Winn-Dixie eventually put himself to sleep. Opal began to come out of bed while looking at the dogs, giving a small smile to their friendship. She soon made her way to her father's bedroom. Daniel appeared to be fast asleep. Opal soon came to her father's side and began to shake him to wake him up.
"Opal, is the storm botherin' you?" Daniel asked once he woke up.
"Daddy... I'm ten-years-old now..." Opal said. "I think that you should tell me ten things about my mama."
Daniel knew that he should have seen this coming. "Why don't you just go back to bed, Opal?" he then sighed a bit.
Patch peeked his head in, curiously.
"Just ten things, that's all!" Opal pried. "One thing for each year I've been alive. I thought it sounded like a reasonable request."
Daniel sighed and sat up before shaking his head softly. "You remind me so much of your mama."
Patch smiled as he knew that Daniel would tell Opal more about her mother.
"Really?" Opal smiled to her father.
Daniel simply nodded.
"But that doesn't count as the first thing, okay?" Opal then asked.
"Okay... All right..." Daniel said as he let her sit in the bed next to him. "Ten things, and then it's off to bed, okay?"
Opal nodded in agreement.
"Okay, let's see..." Daniel replied. "1. She was funny. She could make just about anybody laugh. 2. She had fair hair, and big eyes."
"Just like me." Opal smiled to that.
"Exactly like you." Daniel smiled back.
"I kinda remember that." Opal nodded.
Patch smiled as he was happy to hear that.
"Do ya?" Daniel asked his daughter as she nodded to that. "3. She liked to plant things. She had a talent for it. She could stick a tire in the ground and grow a car."
Opal smiled, happy to know that. Patch looked as if he were trying to imagine a woman growing a car out of the ground.
"4. She could run," Daniel continued. "Oh, she was fast. You couldn't ever race her, you know. I mean, if you did, y-you couldn't let her get a head start. Otherwise, she'd beat you for sure."
"What's number five?" Opal asked.
"She couldn't cook," Daniel replied. "Burned everything, even water."
Patch thought that sounded a bit funny and terrible at the same time.
"6. Your mama loved a good story. She could sit and listen to anybody tell a story," Daniel continued. "She especially liked funny ones, mm-hmm. 'Cuz she loved to laugh."
"What's number seven?" Opal asked.
"She knew all the constellations. Every planet in the nighttime sky," Daniel replied. "And she could name 'em, you know? Point 'em out. She never got tired of looking up at 'em."
Patch gave a small smile as that sounded nice.
"Number 8..." Daniel then said before his tone got soft and a little emotional as he soon carried Opal off back to bed. "She hated being a preacher's wife. She said she couldn't stand havin' all those ladies at church judgin' her on how she sang and what she was wearing and what she cooked. She said it made her feel like a bug under a microscope."
Patch felt a little bad that Opal's mother felt that way and wished there was someway he could bring her back because it was obvious that both Opal and Daniel missed her very much even though no one knew where she was.
"What's the ninth thing?" Opal asked as she was getting put to bed.
"Number nine... Is... Your mama loved you," Daniel replied as he tucked her in. "She loved you very much."
"But she left me." Opal frowned.
"She left us." Daniel replied softly.
"Why'd she leave us?" Opal asked as she gripped her sheets.
"She just... Packed her bags and left us..." Daniel told her. "Just... Yeah... Didn't leave one thing behind."
Patch couldn't understand why Opal's mother would leave them.
"She didn't leave anything?" Opal asked.
"Nope... Nothing." Daniel shook his head with a sad smile.
"What's number 10, Daddy?" Opal frowned.
"I think that's enough for now." Daniel replied.
"But that's only nine things?" Opal reminded him.
Daniel soon kissed her forehead and decided to leave. "It's late."
Patch decided that nine was enough for that night.
"You'll think of number 10 for me, won't you?" Opal asked hopefully.
"Good night, Opal." Daniel sighed as he turned off the light and let his daughter get some sleep as he left the room.
Patch frowned as he had a feeling there wouldn't be a number 10. Opal began to think about what her father taught her as she thought about her mother and what she did. She could see her face, but just a little bit from what she remembered. That night, she decided to write down what was told to her so that way, she would never forget them.