Tilly’s Strange Secret

By Christine Noble Govan and Sari

The third installment in the series about Polly and Jenny focuses on their less fortunate friend Tilly, who has moved to the country to live with Aunt Ellen and Uncle Ben. Tilly has become an avid reader, and when she discovers that the school has no books, she creates a plan to remedy the lack.-Print ed.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Braunfell Books
• Release date: Nov 8, 2022
• ISBN: 9781839749520

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Publisher’s Note

Although in most cases we have retained the Author’s original spelling and grammar to authentically reproduce the work of the Author and the original intent of such material, some additional notes and clarifications have been added for the modern reader’s benefit.

We have also made every effort to include all maps and illustrations of the original edition the limitations of formatting do not allow of including larger maps, we will upload as many of these maps as possible.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TABLE OF CONTENTS 1

DEDICATION 3

Tilly Has a Big Idea 4

Two Letters and a Discovery 13

Cops and Robbers 24

Tilly’s Triumph 30

A Day to Remember 34

Polly and Jenny Have a Secret 42

Christmas at Green Fields! 49

Holiday Happenings 57

Tilly’s Secret 65

TILLY’S STRANGE SECRET

BY

CHRISTINE NOBLE GOVAN

DEDICATION

To my little Alabama cousins

LINDA and PATRICIA KEITH

With love

Tilly Has a Big Idea

The school bus bounced along the road and the children, laughing and screaming, fell up against each other. The dust rolled up on either side and the breeze smelled a little of the hickory trees and drying grass. It was late in August and the county school, to which Tilly Mason was going for the first time, had been open over a week.

In the bus beyond her, Tilly could see her foster brother, Seth Spears, leaning against the doorway talking to another boy. Tilly already knew the names of most of the girls and boys in her room. She liked them all although she missed her old friends, Polly Trent and Jenny Spears with whom she had played and gone to school before she came to live at Green Fields Farm last year.

Perhaps her favorite new friend was Sally Garden who, with her small sister, Louise, got on at the stop beyond Green Fields. Sally Garden was such a pretty name, Tilly thought. It made her think of green leaves and little growing things blowing in the sunshine. Sally was plump and had two shiny brown-gold braids. She was good in arithmetic and Tilly was good in geography and in the writing part of English, so they had fun doing their lessons together. None of the children at this school, however, could do one thing that Tilly and Polly and Jenny had enjoyed so much. They couldn’t play games out of books the way Polly and Jenny had done—games about Indians, or knights and lovely ladies, explorers, hunters and strange, make-believe-creatures. They looked at Tilly as if she had gone out of her mind when she pretended to be Long John Silver, or Barbara Allen, or when they were just walking along the woods paths she said, Look on yonder peak, my brave men. I see the spears of the enemy approaching!

They knew how to play games like stealing base, statues, hide-and-seek, skip-to-my-Lou, wood tag—games that were real games. But when it came to the sort of nonsense that Tilly loved, of pretending to be some sort of romantic character out of a book, they just never had tried it. Tilly might have thought they were stupid, if she hadn’t remembered that not more than two years ago she had never played those wonderful make-believe games, either.

Her town friends, Polly and Jenny, had taught her how to pretend. They had lent her books to read which had made her know and understand all sorts of characters one would never see in real life. Books! That was it. The school had so few books that the children did not even know how to read, that is, how to read for fun. If only they had a lot of books, thought Tilly, then these children would know all about such exciting characters as Robin Hood, Alice-in-Wonderland, Lord Randall’s Daughter and The Princess whose castle was threatened by goblins.

And then they could all have wonderful games together. Not only that, but Tilly herself would have more to read. She had read a good many of the books at Green Fields, where she now lived with her foster parents, Ellen Spears and Ben Spears, and Great-aunt Jenifer. But there was a long, long winter ahead and Tilly wished there were a lot more books for people her age that she could bring home from a school library.

Tilly had worried about it a lot but she hadn’t said anything to anybody yet. She had a grand, fine idea tumbling about in her small head and the more this idea grew the more excited Tilly got about it.

When the bus reached the school she ran in hurriedly, leaving Sally Garden and the other girls behind. Her face was pink and she was a little breathless when she reached Miss Whittle’s desk in the fourth grade room.

What is it, Tilly? asked Miss Whittle, looking up curiously. Tilly’s brown eyes were fairly dancing. She looked as if she might burst.

Oh, please, said Tilly. It’s about books.

Your books? Have you left them on the bus? asked Miss Whittle.

No, ma’am, it’s not about my books. Tilly drew a deep breath and looked over her shoulder. In a few minutes the room would be filling with boys and girls and she wouldn’t be able to talk to Miss Whittle alone.

You see, there aren’t any here—that is, to speak of—I mean in the school. We don’t have a library, we don’t even have many in the class rooms...

Miss Whittle’s face took on a sort of provoked expression as if she thought Tilly shouldn’t criticize a school she had just started to. Tilly hurried on before Miss Whittle could stop her. But then she didn’t know exactly what it was she wanted to say. I was just thinking. I was just wondering, floundered Tilly. I mean, if we could get some books some way, wouldn’t it be fine?

Yes indeed, said Miss Whittle coldly. It would be very fine. But books cost money, a lot of money, and the P.T.A. has all it can do fixing over the cafeteria. We pledged all the money we made this year to finishing that project. The county library is planning to start a bookmobile out here soon, maybe next year, or the year after, and I guess we’ll have to leave the book project to them.

Next year or the year after, and this was just the beginning of this year! Tilly stood there a moment with her mouth open, and Miss Whittle turned away to speak to another pupil. Then Tilly shut her mouth tight, and walked slowly and thoughtfully to her desk. Next year or the year after ain’t—isn’t goner do me any good, she told herself. I’ve got to do something right now.

But what? The thought made Tilly miss her first arithmetic problem and kept her quiet all the way home on the bus.

As Miss Whittle had said, books cost money and Tilly had no money except the small allowance Aunt Ellen and Uncle Ben gave her for lunches and pencils and such. Tilly figured on the edge of her school tablet. If she gave up her lunches for a month and brought an apple and some biscuits and butter from home, she would only save around five dollars. And five dollars would only buy two or three books, even if Aunt Ellen would let her give up the hot lunches she seemed to think were so important.

What’s the matter? yelled Sally over the noise of the bus. Can’t you figure out how to do that sum yet? Look, if the two men walked six miles the first day...

I’m not bothering about that! said Tilly sharply and hugged her tablet and books to her chest as if she were hiding something very secret. She looked out of the window and tried to act as if she didn’t know anybody else was on the bus. She knew she was making Sally mad and she didn’t want to do that but she did wish she had a little peace and quiet in which to think how under the sun she was going to make some money. Well, she couldn’t think on the bus, that was sure-for-certain as Sally sometimes said. So she turned back to Sally and grinned warmly at her.

I didn’t mean to be cross, she said. I’ve just got something on my mind and I can’t think in all this racket.

Sally nodded. Makes my head ache sometimes, she agreed.

She and her little sister got off then and Tilly and Seth left the bus at the next stop. They