“And who are you?” Great-Uncle Thorne demanded, pointing his walking stick at their father.
The walking stick had an ivory horse’s head with an emerald eye. That eye seemed to glare at everyone, too.
“Jake Robbins,” their father said, standing and wiping his hand on his jeans before he held it out to Great-Uncle Thorne. “Their father? Her husband?”
“Ex-husband,” their mother mumbled.
Great-Uncle Thorne reeled around to face James Ferocious.
“And what in the world is that?” he bellowed.
“Maybe we could talk in private?” Felix offered.
“Today is not a good day,” Great-Uncle Thorne announced. “Penelope Merriweather got cold feet.”
“She got cold feet?” Felix repeated.
“You nitwit! She backed out of the wedding!”
“She did?” Maisie said in disbelief.
“Could someone please catch me up here?” their mother said, sitting up straighter and trying unsuccessfully to move James Ferocious’s head from her lap. “The Ziff twins are missing?”
“No, no,” Maisie said quickly.
“Not exactly,” Felix added.
“Could someone give me a straight answer?” their mother demanded.
Great-Uncle Thorne thought for a moment.
“We need to talk in private,” he said, glowering at Maisie and Felix from beneath his bushy eyebrows.
Maisie, Felix, and James Ferocious got up to follow him.
But Maisie hesitated.
“Mom? Dad?” she said.
Her mother was pressing her fingertips into her temples like she had a bad headache.
“What?” her mother said without looking up.
“I think for a bad day, this is a good day,” Maisie said.
She didn’t wait for an answer. Instead, she ran to catch up with Felix and Great-Uncle Thorne, James Ferocious at her side.
AMELIA EARHART
Born: July 24, 1897
Disappeared over the Pacific Ocean on July 2, 1937
Declared dead on January 5, 1939
Amelia Earhart was born in Atchison, Kansas, and her sister, Grace, was born two years later. The two girls were inseparable, with Amelia the leader and Grace her follower. Their childhood nicknames of Meelie and Pidge were used throughout their lives. In 1890, their mother, Amy Otis, became the first woman to climb Pike’s Peak in Colorado, and she used that sense of adventure in raising her daughters. Rejecting frilly dresses and big bows for their hair, Amy sewed them navy-blue bloomers that allowed them to climb and run and play more easily. The girls grew up climbing trees, collecting insects, and creating daring stunts for each other.
In 1907, their father took a job with the Rock Island Railroad in Des Moines, Iowa. Their maternal grandfather, Alfred Otis, who had been a judge and a successful bank president, did not support his daughter’s marriage to Edwin Earhart. His concerns proved to be valid. Within five years of the move to Des Moines, Edwin Earhart’s drinking became such a problem that he lost his job and the family’s belongings had to be auctioned off. Amelia Earhart said that that was the day her childhood ended. The family moved to Minnesota, but when Edwin lost his job again a few years later, Amy Earhart took her daughters to live in Chicago.
Amelia’s love of science eventually led her to attend Hyde Park High School, where the chemistry lab was more sophisticated than the one at her local school. Despite the strong science curriculum there, Amelia did not make friends, and that—combined with her family’s reversal in fortune—made her last year in high school a sad one. The caption under her yearbook photo reads: A.E.—THE GIRL IN BROWN WHO WALKS ALONE.