The Guest Who Needed Quiet

Chapter 1Ready for a Visit

Rivky put the wooden tiles in a bag and set six pencils around the table.

Her cousin Esther was coming for the afternoon. Rivky had planned a game in which each player drew an animal while the others guessed. Wrong guesses were often funnier than the right ones.

Her younger sisters had already chosen seats.

Mommy, whose hair was covered with a navy scarf, helped clear the serving tray from the end of the table.

"Leave that corner free," she said. "We may need it."

Rivky thought they would need it for more paper.

Chapter 2The First Animal

Esther arrived with a little canvas bag. She greeted everyone and sat beside Rivky.

The first drawing looked like a potato with legs.

"A camel!" said Suri.

"A potato trying to become a camel!" Chani said.

Everyone laughed except Esther. She smiled a little, then pressed her hands against her knees.

Rivky gave her the next pencil.

"Your turn."

Esther shook her head. "Could I watch?"

"But drawing is the best part."

"I would rather watch."

Chapter 3A Louder Game

Rivky decided the game must be too slow for Esther.

She brought the tile bag. Now each player would pull out a letter and race to name an animal beginning with it.

Suri shouted before she even looked at her tile.

"Elephant!"

"You have an M," Chani said.

"An elephant named Meir!"

Chani laughed so hard that she knocked two tiles onto the floor.

Esther moved her chair back. She looked toward her canvas bag.

Rivky felt a small knot in her stomach. She had tried to make the visit fun. Why did Esther keep moving away from it?

Chapter 4By the Window

Esther went to the window with a glass of water. Rivky followed.

"Do you want a different game? I know lots."

"I like puzzles," Esther said. "Quiet ones."

"This is quiet when nobody is laughing."

As Rivky said it, another shout came from the table.

Esther looked down at her water.

Rivky stopped defending the game.

"Is the noise too much?"

Esther nodded. "I am tired from the long ride. I want to be here. Just not in the middle of all that."

Chapter 5The Free Corner

In her canvas bag, Esther had a small puzzle showing a garden path. She had brought it in case anyone wanted to help.

Rivky looked at the free corner of the table. It was close to the noisy players.

She asked Mommy whether they could use the little table beside the window instead.

Mommy helped move it away from the busy room entrance.

Rivky carried over a flat tray for the puzzle. Esther tipped out the pieces.

At the main table, Suri called, "Are we stopping?"

"You can keep playing," Rivky said. "Esther and I are trying this."

Chapter 6Four Green Pieces

They found the garden border first. Esther turned a piece with two yellow flowers.

"I think this belongs near the path."

Rivky tried it. The edge did not fit.

"A very stubborn flower," she whispered.

Esther laughed softly.

Chani came to see what they were doing. She wanted to help, but called across the room to tell Suri about the flowers.

Rivky touched the edge of the tray.

"We are keeping this table quiet. You can help here quietly or go back to the game."

Chani sat down and searched for green pieces.

Chapter 7Two Good Tables

By the time Esther's mother came, the garden had a path, a wall, and most of a tree.

The animal game at the other table had become a game about foods. Suri had finally found a proper use for her M.

"Macaroni!"

Esther packed the unfinished puzzle carefully. "Can we finish next time?"

Rivky nodded.

She had imagined a visit where everyone played the same game and laughed at the same moment.

Instead there had been two tables. At one, Suri had shouted macaroni. At the other, Esther had found four green pieces.

Both tables had room for someone who wanted to be there.