The Gate That Stopped Halfway
Chapter 1One More Basket
The courtyard gate opened halfway and stopped.
Aharon pulled it back, then pushed again. The iron bars gave a short, unpleasant scrape.
Behind him, his little brother Moishy held a basket of folded towels. The basket was wide enough to hide everything except Moishy's nose.
"Is it open?"
"Almost."
"That means no."
Aharon had offered to carry the laundry to Bubby's side of the house. Two baskets had gone through before lunch. Now this third one would not fit.
A workman had been repairing the courtyard paving that morning. There was fresh sand between several stones, and a bucket stood against the wall.
Aharon remembered the workman closing the gate.
"He bent something," he said.
Moishy tilted the basket. A towel slid across his chin.
"Could you hold this instead of telling me?"
Aharon took one handle. The gate waited at its narrow angle.
Chapter 2The Wrong Way Through
They turned the basket sideways. Its handles caught between the bars and the post.
"Higher," Aharon said.
Moishy lifted his end too high. The towels leaned toward Aharon, who pressed them down with his elbow.
The basket still would not pass.
Bubby came to the far side of the gate. Her hair was covered by a cream-colored scarf, and she carried a small empty laundry bag.
"Pass me a few at a time."
"We can get the basket through."
"You can also get the towels through."
Aharon disliked that smaller version of his job. He had promised a basket, not little bundles handed through bars.
He pushed the gate with his shoulder.
The scrape became louder.
Bubby set down the bag.
"Stop pushing. Something is underneath it."
Aharon looked at the top hinge.
"It looks crooked."
"Look lower."
Chapter 3The Bright Line
Along the bottom edge of the gate was a fresh silver line. The old dark paint had been scraped away.
Beneath it, a corner of one paving stone looked brighter than the rest. A little dust lay beside it.
Aharon crouched on the dry path. He kept his fingers away from the narrow gap.
The gate's bottom corner touched that stone exactly where it stopped.
Moishy crouched too, still holding one basket handle.
"Maybe the gate got longer."
Bubby smiled. "Let us ask the person who was working here."
"He broke it," Aharon said.
"We have found where it catches. We have not found what happened."
The workman was eating beside his van at the front of the house. Before Bubby went to speak to him, Moishy passed her a folded towel through the bars.
"One," he said.
Bubby put it in her laundry bag and took the bag with her. Aharon stayed with the basket.
He wished he had made the complaint before Bubby did. Then he could have explained it properly.
Instead, Moishy leaned against the wall and rested his fingers.
Chapter 4Sand Beneath the Stone
Mr. Berg came into the courtyard with Bubby. He wore dusty work gloves and carried a short wooden board.
Aharon pointed at the silver line.
"The gate was fine before."
Mr. Berg opened it until it touched the stone. Then he closed it and checked the hinges without forcing anything.
"The hinges are where they were. I raised this loose stone onto fresh sand. It is sitting a little high at this corner."
He put the board across two neighboring stones. The raised corner touched its underside first.
Aharon could see the difference now. From above, the paving had looked flat.
"Did you open the gate after you fixed it?"
"Only a little. I should have opened it all the way."
Mr. Berg set the board down.
"Please leave me space to work."
Aharon and Moishy took the basket onto the steps. Bubby went back through the house to her own door.
The gate remained closed while Mr. Berg lifted the stone and adjusted the sand beneath it.
Chapter 5Twenty-Four Towels
There was another route to Bubby's room, through the kitchen and a long hallway. Aharon suggested carrying the basket around.
Moishy looked at his red fingers.
"I want to stop holding it."
They set it down. Aharon counted the towels. There were twenty-four, not counting the one Moishy had already passed through.
He had planned to deliver a whole basket in one impressive trip. Now he could not even agree with his brother about the route.
Bubby appeared at the kitchen door with her laundry bag.
"Shall we finish what we started?"
Aharon picked up four towels. He carried them through the house while Moishy rested. Then Moishy carried four while Aharon stayed with the basket.
On the third trip, they met in the hall.
Moishy had a towel balanced on his head.
"That one needs folding again," Aharon said.
"Then it will have two jobs."
Aharon took it off his head, folded it, and handed it back.
Chapter 6A Full Opening
By the time the basket was empty, Mr. Berg had finished.
He opened the gate slowly. It passed the first stone, then the next, and swung all the way to its usual stop beside the wall.
Aharon watched the bottom edge throughout the movement.
No scrape.
"Would you like to try?" Mr. Berg asked.
Aharon opened it once, gently, and closed it again.
"I said you bent it. You did not."
"I left that corner too high," Mr. Berg said. "That was my mistake."
The two statements could both fit in the courtyard. Aharon had been expecting only one person to be wrong.
Bubby brought out the empty basket. Moishy climbed inside it before anybody could take a handle.
"One more delivery."
"Not in that," Bubby said.
He got out with a sigh and carried the basket himself.
Aharon held the gate wide. Its new silver line remained along the bottom, a thin bright stripe against the dark paint.
When Moishy passed through, Aharon did not tell him to hurry. There was room now.
