Raymie Nightingale

Raymie, Beverly, and Louisiana leave Mrs. Sylvester and walk back to Ida Nee’s house. On the way Louisiana announces that after dark they are going to rescue Archie from Building 10, where Louisiana believes Archie is hiding behind the closed door. Beverly tries to convince Louisiana that Archie is dead, and the argument continues until they get to Ida’s house and see Beverly’s mother, Raymie’s mother, and a police car parked in the driveway. The girls stop by some bushes at the edge of Ida’s property and nervously listen to Ida shouting at the police about a stolen baton. Suddenly Louisiana’s grandmother, who was hiding in the bushes, reaches out and grabs Raymie’s ankle. Granny tells the startled girls that she has a plan. Granny’s plan is for Louisiana to stay at Raymie’s house for the night to keep Louisiana away from the authorities, but once Granny has gone, the girls make a new plan to meet at midnight and break into Building 10.

At Raymie’s house Louisiana surprises Raymie and her mother by addressing Rhonda as Mrs. Nightingale. Louisiana assumed Raymie was named Raymie Nightingale, and Raymie wonder where Louisiana gets all her strange ideas and, more pertinently, what it would be like to be Raymie Nightingale. At their sleepover Louisiana eats multiple servings of meatloaf, followed by an enjoyable evening chatting and reading under functioning electric lights. Before going to sleep, Louisiana “reads” an uplifting story to Raymie that she is writing in her head. Raymie falls asleep listening to Louisiana and dreams that Mrs. Borkowski delivers a happy, healthy Archie to them in a suitcase. A globe of light, like Florence Nightingale’s lamp on the cover of Raymie’s book and the magic globe in Louisiana’s story, is also in the dream suitcase. Before walking away, Mrs. Borkowski hands the globe to Raymie and tells her to hold it.

Raymie wakes up at 1:14am and assumes, since Beverly isn’t there and Louisiana is still asleep, that the rescue is off. While Raymie is thinking this with some relief, Louisiana wakes up, and moments later Raymie sees Beverly’s flashlight outside. Beverly explains to Raymie that she is late because she had “a little sabotaging to do” (211), which involved throwing some of Ida’s trophies into the lake. Raymie is annoyed with Beverly because they still need Ida to teach them twirling. Beverly points out that to win the Little Miss contest you don’t need to baton twirl—you can sing instead. Raymie and Beverly know Louisiana’s singing would win, and in that instant Raymie realizes that she wants Louisiana to win Little Miss Central Florida Tire.

On their way to Building 10, the girls walk past Golden Glen, where they hear sad piano music drifting out. Even though it is dark, the light coming from the nursing home window illuminates a yellow bird sitting up in a tree, which Raymie recognizes as the same bird that Louisiana freed. As they watch, the piano music stops, and the janitor walks to the window and opens it. The janitor whistles, the bird whistles back, the janitor whistles a more complicated tune, and the bird replies again. The janitor, looking sad, says “I know you’re out there” (216), and the bird flies away. Raymie, Louisiana, and Beverly run as fast as they can away from Golden Glen towards Building 10, filled with happiness and love for the yellow bird and each other.

Further along their way, the three friends find a discarded shopping cart that has rolled down the hill from the Tag and Bag grocery store. Louisiana decides they need to take it to put Archie in after the rescue. After much discussion Louisiana wins, and she leads the way, singing and pushing the cart to Building 10, which looks even more ominous in the dark. Beverly expertly picks the lock and opens the door. Raymie is initially too scared to go in, but Louisiana threatens to call off the rescue if they don’t all go in together. They enter Building 10. The same terrible howl starts up behind the closed door of the office. The terrified girls go towards it, and as Beverly is about to pick the lock, Louisiana reaches out and turns the doorknob. The door is unlocked. They enter a ghastly room full of cages, empty except for one. A sad, long-eared dog with one good eye wags his tail and looks at the girls. They pet him through the bars, but when they stop stroking him, he howls. Beverly opens the cage door, and Louisiana instantly wraps her arms around the smelly, dirty dog and declares that she is going to call him Bunny.

They take Bunny outside and sit on the curb while they decide what to do next. A deflated Louisiana says that she believes Archie is still alive but doesn’t know how to find him and that she is too sad to walk any further. Beverly suggests that she get in the cart and they will push her home. Rather than leave Bunny behind, Raymie and Beverly put Bunny into the cart with Louisiana, and they start walking home.