Back to School with Betsy by Carolyn Haywood

1. The Other Side of the Garden Wall

    It was a warm evening in August. Betsy was sitting on the top of the wall that ran back of the garden. Mother's garden was lovely. There were roses and spotted lilies, asters and zinnias. The flower beds had neat borders of tiny fuzzy purple flowers.
    Betsy looked down on the other side of the wall. A long time ago there had been a garden there; long, long before Betsy had learned to climb up and sit on the wall. Now there was just a wild mass of weeds and brambles and tall grass. Betsy never climbed over the wall. She didn't like anything on the other side. She didn't like the stone house that stood in the midst of the weeds and the tall grass. No one had lived in the house as long as Betsy could remember.
    Sometimes Betsy would walk around the block and look up at the front of the house. It had a big porch that was covered with vines and cobwebs. Some of the windows had been broken and the chimney had fallen down. Betsy thought it was the spookiest house she had ever seen. She never told anyone, but when it was dark she was afraid to pass the house. Betsy didn't know exactly why she was afraid, but the house just made her feel creepy.
    As Betsy sat on the wall, she looked across the weeds and tall grass. She could see the back of the house. She didn't know which looked worse, the back of the house or the front of the house.
    Just then Betsy's mother came out into the garden. "Why, Betsy!" said Mother. "What are you looking so sober about?"
    "I was just thinking," replied Betsy. "Do you

    suppose that anyone will ever live in that old house, Mother?"
    "I wish someone
would
come to live in it," said Mother. "The 'For Sale' sign has been hanging on it as long as we have lived here."
    "Maybe if someone lived in it there would be a nice garden," said Betsy.
    "Wouldn't that be lovely?" replied Mother. "Then there would be flowers on both sides of the wall."
    "Well, I wouldn't want to live in it," said Betsy. "It's too dark and spooky."
    "Why, Betsy! How silly of you!" said Mother.
    Betsy got down off the wall and began to help Mother pull up some weeds.
    "When does school begin, Mother?" asked Betsy.
    "In a few weeks," replied Mother.
    "I wonder if Miss Grey will be my teacher again?" said Betsy. "I love Miss Grey."
    "Oh, Betsy!" cried Mother. "I forgot to tell you. I met Miss Grey on the street the other day. She told me that she's going to be married. She isn't going to teach anymore."
    Betsy straightened up and looked at Mother. "Miss Grey isn't going to be at school at all anymore?" she asked.
    "That's right," replied Mother.
    "You mean I won't see her anymore at all?" asked Betsy.
    Mother looked up from the flower bed. When she saw Betsy's troubled face, she said, "Why, Betsy darling! Of course you will see Miss Grey again."
    "No, I won't," said Betsy, beginning to cry. "I won't see Miss Grey anymore if she isn't going to be at school. I won't ever see her."
    "Yes, you will, dear," said Mother. "I'll invite her to tea."
    "But that won't be like school. In school I saw her every day," said Betsy.
    That night when Betsy went to bed she felt very unhappy. She didn't see why Miss Grey had to get married and spoil everything.
    The next morning Betsy's friend, Ellen, came to play at Betsy's house. Betsy told Ellen about Miss Grey.
    Ellen felt sorry too when she heard that Miss Grey wouldn't be at school.
    "I wish we could go to the wedding," said Ellen.
    "I don't want to go to any old wedding," said Betsy. "I think Miss Grey is just a meanie to get married."
    "I guess you never saw a wedding cake," said Ellen, "or you would want to go. You get a piece in a box to take home."
    Just then Billy Porter arrived. Billy was in the same room in school as Betsy and Ellen.
    "Hi!" shouted Billy. "What do you know?"
    "Plenty," said Betsy. "Miss Grey isn't coming back to school. She's getting married and we'll never see her again."
    "Married!" shouted Billy. "What does she want to get married for? She must