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Show 5-2 Grandmother worried about me and told my Mother that she should see that I had more company. "The child will turn solitary and strange. She needs good, solid friendships at her age." "Imagination does not breed in a group, Mama. Annie makes her own company. Besides, she has all the animals." "Hardly the same, Katherine. Dogs are to be seen and petted, not spoken to." I guess Mother and Father did give my grandmother's words some thought because not long after I had overheard this conversation, Mother suggested that I might like to visit Father at the hospital. When I accused Mother of giving in to Grandmother, she looked at me oddly and then laughed. "The sisters at St. John's are hardly the type of friends your grandmother had in mind, Annie. I just thought you might like the change. And it is close to the library. You could take the trolley another four blocks and be there." I plucked absentmindedly at the burs in Fidelio's long tail. His upkeep was my chore, one neither of us liked. "What would I do there?" I asked. "Everyone will be in bed." "Just try it once. Take your father his lunch tomorrow. He'd like to see you." So I set out the next morning, carrying Father's lunch in a basket and my books in my bookbag from school. The day was cooler than most and I was shaded by my wide-brimmed sailor hat. I felt grown-up and a bit nervous. When I arrived at the hospital, it was close to noon. I stood just inside the high wrought iron fence and looked at St. John's. The hospital was set back from the road on a small hill. The building was three-story, red-brick and looked like pictures of manor houses in Grandmother's picture book about Scotland. |