“The freckles are put on,” answered Wing Tip the Spick. “When a girl goes away from the Village of Cream Puffs her mother puts on two freckles, on the chin. Each freckle must be the same as a little burnt cream puff kept in the oven too long. After the two freckles looking like two little burnt cream puffs are put on her chin, they remind the girl every morning when she combs her hair and looks in the looking glass. They remind her where she came from and she mustn’t stay away too long.”
“O-h-h-h,” said one uncle. “Um-m-m-m,” said the other three uncles. And they talked among each other afterward, the four uncles by themselves, saying:
“She has a gift. It is her eyes. They are so blue, such a clear light blue, the same as cornflowers with blue raindrops shining and dancing on silver leaves after a sun shower in any of the summer months.”
At the same time Wing Tip the Spick was saying to herself, “I know for sure now these are sweet uncles and I am going to have a sweet time visiting my relations.”
How the Five Rusty Rats Helped Find a
New Village
One day while Wing Tip the Spick was visiting her four uncles in the Village of Liver-and-Onions, a blizzard came up. Snow filled the sky and the wind blew and made a noise like heavy wagon axles grinding and crying.