Chapter 11
The Celebration of Emma
Music Brought Her Back
We went to the conservatory for the celebration. Many people were there. There were children and two visiting dogs. We didn’t know them, but they knew Emma.
Estelle hugged us. So did Richard and Callie.
My mother, Jessie and Noah, Duke and Daisy, Martha and the staff of the shelter were there. Penny and Joe were there, too.
My mother beckoned to Thomas, who came to sit next to her.
Luke and Jenny and I sat up front with Finn.
The orchestra played—the cellos and violins, the viola and bass, the brass and woodwinds—and the child musicians were in the front.
Emma was there, her blue stuffed toy beside her. When the choir began to sing, she saw Finn and brought the toy to him.
Callie, the choir director, turned and directed us along with the beautiful voices of her choir.
We sang.
We all knew the song—our father’s favorite.
“Dona nobis pacem, pacem.
Dona nobis pacem.”
The music fell around us like tumbleweeds.
Tumbleweeds. Like my father’s words.
My father would be happy.
Author’s Note
There are many YouTube performances under the title “Dona Nobis Pacem.”
Swedish orchestral arrangement:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSdGW_HBrLE
Another is a charming rendition of an entire school performing.
Waring School arrangement:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5FZAk497D4
About the Author
PATRICIA MACLACHLAN is the celebrated author of many timeless books for young readers, including Sarah, Plain and Tall, winner of the Newbery Medal. Her novels for young readers include Skylark, Caleb’s Story, More Perfect than the Moon, Grandfather’s Dance, Word After Word After Word, Kindred Souls, The Truth of Me, and The Poet’s Dog; she is also the author of many beloved picture books, a number of which she cowrote with her daughter, Emily. She lives in Williamsburg, Massachusetts.
Discover great authors, exclusive offers, and more at hc.com.
Books by Patricia MacLachlan
Sarah, Plain and Tall
Skylark
Caleb’s Story
More Perfect than the Moon
Grandfather’s Dance
Arthur, For the Very First Time
Through Grandpa’s Eyes
Cassie Binegar
Seven Kisses in a Row
Unclaimed Treasures
The Facts and Fictions of Minna Pratt
Word After Word After Word
Kindred Souls
The Truth of Me
The Poet’s Dog
Back Ads
Copyright
Here: Goodnight Moon Copyright © 1947 and Renewal Copyright © 1975 Albert Clarke III, Trustee of the Albert E. Clarke III Living Trust dated April 3, 2013 and John Thacher Hurd. Used by permission of HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
Here, here, here: From The Year at Maple Hill Farm by Alice Provensen and Martin Provensen. Copyright © 1978 by Alice and Martin Provensen. Reprinted with the permission of Atheneum Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division. All rights reserved.
Poem and text on here from The Poet’s Dog by Patricia MacLachlan. Copyright © 2016 by Patricia MacLachlan.
Used by permission of HarperCollins Publishers.
Here: From All the Small Poems and Fourteen More © 1994 by Valerie Worth. Reprinted by permission of Farrar, Straus and Giroux Books for Young Readers. All rights reserved.
MY FATHER’S WORDS. Copyright © 2018 by Patricia MacLachlan. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
www.harpercollinschildrens.com
Cover art by Kathrin Honestra
Cover design by Andrea Vandergrift
* * *
Library of Congress Control Number: 2018900201
Digital Edition OCTOBER 2018 ISBN: 978-0-06-268772-2
Print ISBN: 978-0-06-268769-2
* * *
1819202122CG/LSCH10987654321
FIRST EDITION
About the Publisher
Australia
HarperCollins Publishers Australia Pty. Ltd.
Level 13, 201 Elizabeth Street
Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia
www.harpercollins.com.au
Canada
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Bay Adelaide Centre, East Tower
22 Adelaide Street West, 41st Floor
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
M5H 4E3
www.harpercollins.ca
India
A 75, Sector 57
Noida
Uttar Pradesh 201 301
www.harpercollins.co.in
New Zealand
HarperCollins Publishers New Zealand
Unit D1, 63 Apollo Drive
Rosedale 0632
Auckland, New Zealand
www.harpercollins.co.nz
United Kingdom
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF, UK
www.harpercollins.co.uk
United States
HarperCollins Publishers Inc.
195 Broadway
New York, NY 10007
www.harpercollins.com