Harriet "Hop-Along" Cassidy

Harriet "Hop-Along" Cassidy

The taunting began early today. Harri rolled over to glare out the window, scowling ferociously at the houses across the street.

Their careless words floated through with the early morning breeze. "One and two and three and four -- I kissed donnie by the bathroom door."

The tiny voices laughed, hands clapping in acknowledgement of the singer. Then another rock went skittering across the cement.

"One and two and four and five -- Time for Harriet to look a-live!"

More squeals and laughter. Harri stared at the ceiling, face impassive. Tears threatened, but she held them back stubbornly.

"Hey, Harriet!" The girls were closer now. "Get up, Hop-Along! Come out, show us some moves!" They laughed louder.

I wish it were Saturday! Harri thought. Then her mother would come in and close the window.

She lay for a few moments longer, as the girls ran through their list of favorite Hop-Along Cassidy quotes. She'd thought that nick-name had died some years back, but after her accident, when she'd come home, there'd been the nick-name, right there, waiting.

A few tears of frustration leaked; Harri wiped them away angrily. Slowly, minding the knot at the end of her pajamas, Harri swung her legs over the side and sat up. One foot, bare, pink and only slightly hairy, with its five pink toes -- one -- one . . . missing.

She flopped over on her stomach and pounded the mattress futilely while the accident replayed itself over in her mind. She gasped her sobs, then wadded the cotton sheets into her fists for a few long, deep breaths. Finally, she let go, yanking a nail free from where the jagged end had caught. She slid down the side, til the one foot touched, her hands seeking her cruthes.

The clock in the hall chimed the half-hour, just as a new voice broke into the game: "Hey, girls!"

Harri's heart did a little flip-flop.

Six voices cooed back, "H-i, Donnie!"

Harri tucked the first crutch under her arm, wincing as the split cover caught a flab of skin.

The boy's voice called up to her, "Hey, Harriet, you awake?"

Oh, no! Harri thought. She clumped across the room to her dresser, tearing through the drawers in a frenzy. Teetering there on one crutch, she looked up long enough to holler, "Be down in a minute!"

Forgetting to feel sorry for herself for the first time in nearly four weeks, Harri threw herself into some clothes, hopping around on one foot at times, and stuffed her hair under a hat.

The door bell chimed.

Harri was at the top of the stairs. "Just a minute!" she called. She stared down the steps, gulping. Stairs. She looked back down the hall. Her other crutch lay there, on the floor. but the door -- !

Gulping a deep breath, Harri moved. Clump. Hop. Clump. Hop. Hand on the railing. One, two. One, two. One -- Woah!!

"Ahh!" Harri yelped as she began to slide, her hands tightening reflexively on the bannister and crutch. She hung there a moment, suspended, half-fallen. then the crutch was gone with a clatter, leaving Harri to clutch after the railing, her good leg trembling under her weight.

There was pounding on the door. "Harri? Harri you okay? Harri!"

Her arms were shaking and she gasped. Breathe. Breathe, Harri! she told herself. "Come on, come on!" she willed her arms to move, to draw her up, her leg to support her.

"Harri!" More pounding.

"I -- I'm coming!" she yelled.

With a violent lurch, Harri pulled herself back to her feet. Foot, she reminded herself. Okay. this is easy. just relax. She clung to the bannister for a few more moments, her body shaking, her eyes stubbornly staying sqeezed shut. Her heart pounded in her ears, her breath rasping in and out.

Harri gritted her teeth. "Come on, feet -- foot, move!"

Slowly, slowly, she pried her arms from the rail. Leaning heavily, she hopped down a step. Then slid down a little. Hop to the next step. Slid some more. That's it, she thought. Just hop. And slide. Hop, slide, and that was it! She'd done it!

The knock on the door was softer, less insistent. "Harri?"

Harri stared at the door, down the hall not five feet away, her chin trembling. She'd forgotten why she'd come so far. Five feet. She used to jump that without even blinking. Two-time long-jump champ in the county. Took second last year at state. And now? She couldn't even hop a few inches without help. Five feet? It was infinitely away.

But there was Donnie's voice again. "Harri? Are you sure you're okay? Let me in, Harri, please."

Dear, sweet Donnie. She really did want to see him, it'd been ever so long. Not since she'd come home, in fact. She'd thought -- she'd thought that maybe he was too busy, or that he hadn't wanted to see her. He had colleges to visit, paperwork to fill out, and his summer job . . . .

"Harri? I decided where I'm going in the fall. Don't you want to know where I've been? Come on, Harri, I don't bite. Harri?"

She didn't want to leave him out there, not just standing there.

"O - K, Harri," she said aloud. "We can do this. Come on, let go. Let go," she repeated, one by one prying her fingers from the bannister. She wavered on one foot a moment, and then -- gone!

Her forward momentum carried her all the way, until she thumped against the door and halted, hands searching wildly for the nob. She clicked back the lock and hopped backwards with the door in hand.

Donnie, his mouth agape, stared at her. "Harri?"

She laughed, overjoyed with her accomplishment and his surprise. "Well, don't just stand there, silly," she said. "Come in -- come in before I faint right here on the doorstep!" She laughed.

And upstairs, in the hall, the clock chimed the hour.