City of Orphans

Maks discourages Willa from leaving, explaining that Bruno is just as likely to be after her now as he is for Maks. It will make no difference to them that she is a girl. He wants her to stay to distract the family from their worry over Emma. Willa remembers Maks’s mother’s comments on her appearance and asks if she can wash before dinner. He leads her by candlelight back to the pump and privies, and she washes her face clean. Maks sees that behind the layer of grime is a thin, frightened girl. They move back into the tenement and up the stairs as Maks further explains why Bruno seeks revenge on them, but Willa exclaims that Bruno knows nothing of her. She appears weary and troubled.

The Geless family flat is small but cozy, with not much decoration save two paper pictures of Queen Louise of Denmark and President Lincoln and a wooden clock. Agnes is reading and Papa and the boys have gone to their bedrooms. Maks announces Willa will be staying for dinner and sleeping there for the night. Mama does not appear to care and is sobbing as she cooks the meal. Maks and Agnes discuss her book, Every Girl Her Own Clerk: How to Get a Job in a Fine Business, as she is trying to move beyond working in a factory. Agnes is studying accounting and typing, but Mama disapproves, feeling that is “too high-and-mighty" (57). Maks shows Willa how all the boys share one room and the girls share a room with their parents. Jacob, age eight, asks Maks about the accusations towards Emma. Maks says she is innocent and that none of the boys should discuss the situation with anyone. He calms their fears by explaining that he is going to rescue her the next morning. Ryker, the youngest, has just started school, and Jacob is old enough to sell papers sometimes. Jacob announces that his teacher changed Ryker’s name to Ronald. Willa shares that her name was changed, too, but she says it was given to her by her mother. The boys chatter about Mama’s insistence on keeping their Danish heritage while Agnes feels they need to act more American. Bruno is waiting outside. 

The family sits down to dinner, but Papa cannot eat and leaves the kitchen quite upset. Ryker says he especially loves when Mama makes Danish cookies for birthdays. He asks Willa about her birthday, and she claims she does not remember it. Agnes and the boys inquire about Willa’s homelessness. Maks comes to her rescue by saying that most of his newsie friends live on the streets. Monsieur Zulot, the family’s French boarder, arrives from work. He pays them a dollar a week, which is a great help to the family. He is beloved by the younger boys as he reads to them. The mood between him and Agnes is awkward, and Eric explains that he is in love with her but Papa will not allow their marriage due to their age difference. They agree not to disclose Emma’s troubles to Zulot. The younger boys retire to read with Zulot as Maks and Agnes speak about the plan to rescue Emma. They are most concerned with money, especially since she and Papa are soon to be unemployed. Maks wishes he had more food to offer Willa seeing her sitting alone in the dark kitchen. Willa says that Agnes does not look well. Mama has told Papa that she could have “wasting disease,” and Willa says she knew someone who died from it.

Zulot reads a detective story called The Bradys and the Missing Diamonds by a New York Detective. The kids are held rapt by the story featuring a boy detective helping a lady who has lost her diamonds. Maks tells Willa Bruno is still outside. Willa fears he might come up, so Maks sleeps in the large room with Willa, still clutching her stick. She is illiterate, but Maks assures her that many kids cannot read and that his mother cannot read in English. Maks, inspired by the detective story, wants to consult his friend Chimmie about a detective he knows who might help Emma. Willa offers to go with him to rescue Emma. Maks realizes their clock has stopped. Papa was so distressed by the news that he forgot to wind it. Maks says, “Mama loves it. But she thinks that if it stops, someone in the family will die” (76). He is not sure he believes it, but he loves and trusts his family. Willa says she does not know where her parents are. Maks struggles to understand and simply offers thanks to her again for saving him in the alley and to be her friend. She falls asleep before answering. He hears his Mama and Papa talking in Danish, and Papa is crying. He thinks back to the special times he has shared with Emma. They have a unique bond, and often she shares parts of her life with him that no one else knows.