Raymie Nightingale

At the nursing home, Raymie leads the way. When Martha is out of sight, Raymie guides Louisiana and Beverly to Alice Nebbley’s room. They hear Alice screaming. Louisiana is scared and holds onto Raymie’s hand. Beverly, however, shows no fear and marches straight into Alice’s room, leaving Raymie and Louisiana watching from the doorway. In the dark room, Beverly tries to find the book under Alice’s bed but has no luck. Alice screams again, “I cannot stand the pain,” and, “Take my hand” (107). Alice’s arm creeps out from under the covers; Louisiana screams, Raymie whimpers, and Beverly gently takes hold of Alice’s hand. Alice stops screaming, and Beverly starts to hum as she continues to hold Alice’s hand, comforting her. Louisiana, who has run off to find help, returns with the news that Raymie’s library book is in the janitor’s office. Louisiana doesn’t have the book because she was distracted by a caged yellow bird she found in the janitor’s office. Louisiana forgot to grab the book, but she did release the bird from its cage.

The janitor, angry that his bird is free, runs down the hallway to find it. The three friends creep to the empty janitor’s office, retrieve Raymie’s library book, and run out of Golden Glen Nursing home.