“Won’t it?” she said with a knowing smile. “Hadn’t you better come along and see.”
They took the short-cut. Muffs always wanted to take the short-cut now so she wouldn’t have to pass the dragons’ house but she soon discovered that Mr. and Mrs. Lippett and everyone else in the valley were coming to the party. Not only that, there were big, expensive-looking cars from the other side of Lookoff Mountain and a whole bus load of school children. The road was full of parked cars and the grove at the end of the short-cut was crowded with children. There was a great circle of them playing “Drop the Handkerchief.” Muffs slipped into the circle quietly but as soon as they saw her the whole crowd of children called out, “Surprise!”
“But it isn’t my birthday,” Muffs objected.
“It’s a farewell party because you’re going, Muffs,” Mary whispered.
“Speech! Speech!” they all shouted.
“I—I can’t speak. I wouldn’t know what to say.”
“You can sing, honey,” her mother said softly.
So Muffs stood on tiptoe and her voice trilled an old love song her mother had taught her. When she had finished she saw that the headless man had been standing under a nearby tree listening to her. She waved to him but he had his handkerchief out blowing his nose and didn’t notice. Then Muffs turned to her mother, or to the place where she thought her mother would be standing. There was no one there.
“Where’s Mother?” she asked Tommy.
He pointed to a chair. “She went over there and sat down,” he said. “Her face got awful white. I guess she’s sick.”