The Quintland Sisters(49)
The girls recognized her right away and were utterly astounded that she’d materialized again. They turned and looked to the door when they heard someone enter the quiet room, then hesitated only an instant before trundling over to her, shrieking her name, Nurse Lewoo! She sat down on the floor to gather them all to her, and they swarmed her, practically wrestling to be the one to climb into prime position on her lap. Ivy had tears in her eyes when she looked up at me, managing to keep her arms around all five of them while they chattered away at her in a mix of French and their own incomprehensible babble, their eyes wide and earnest.
“You missed me,” she said, unable to keep the wonder out of her voice. “You missed me! I missed you too.”
Soon they were on their feet again and pulling her in five different directions, wanting to show her their new toys or new dresses or latest works of art. Fred was there with his camera, snapping away. I could be mistaken, but I think he looked a bit misty-eyed too. He’s seen Ivy several times over the past few months—meeting her at different points of her tour, but he must have loved seeing her back in the place where they’d first gotten to know each other, among the girls that I know mean the world to him too. I had the sense that maybe these pictures wouldn’t be for the papers at all; they’ll be for Ivy herself, and for Fred.
Ivy glanced back over her shoulder at me, beaming with pleasure, as Yvonne and Cécile dragged her toward the games room. “I missed you too, Emma Trimpany,” she called back.
I missed you too, Ivy.
APRIL 10, 1937
AN ACT FOR THE PROTECTION OF THE DIONNE QUINTUPLETS
WHEREAS YVONNE DIONNE, ANNETTE DIONNE, MARIE DIONNE, CéCILE DIONNE, AND éMELIE [SIC] DIONNE, THE QUINTUPLET INFANT DAUGHTERS OF OLIVA DIONNE AND ELZIRE DIONNE, HIS WIFE, RESIDING AT OR NEAR CALLANDER, IN THE PROVINCE OF ONTARIO, AND WHO WERE BORN ON OR ABOUT THE TWENTY-NINTH [SIC] DAY OF MAY, 1934, ARE THE ONLY KNOWN LIVING QUINTUPLETS IN THE WORLD AND AS SUCH ARE THEREFORE OF SPECIAL INTEREST TO THE PEOPLE OF CANADA AND TO PEOPLE OF OTHER COUNTRIES; AND
WHEREAS THE LEGISLATURE OF ONTARIO HAS PASSED AN ACT (1935) FOR THE BETTER PROTECTION OF THE PERSONS AND ESTATES OF THE SAID QUINTUPLETS AND FOR THEIR ADVANCEMENT, EDUCATION AND WELFARE; AND
WHEREAS UNDER THE SAID ACT, A BOARD OF GUARDIANS HAS BEEN APPOINTED AND ARE ENTITLED BY LAW TO POSSESS, HAVE, HOLD, DEMAND, AND RECOVER THE ESTATES OF THE SAID QUINTUPLETS AND THEIR PROPERTIES, MONEYS, FUNDS, ASSETS . . . AND THE BENEFIT AND ADVANTAGE OF ALL CONTRACTS, ARRANGEMENTS, ENGAGEMENTS AND OBLIGATIONS, AND TO PROTECT SAID QUINTUPLETS AGAINST EXPLOITATION.
THEREFORE, NOTWITHSTANDING ANYTHING CONTAINED IN THE UNFAIR COMPETITION ACT, 1932, THE WORDS “QUINS,”? “QUINTS,”? “QUINTUPLETS,”? AND “CINQ JUMELLES”? SHALL BE TRADEMARKS AND THE EXCLUSIVE PROPERTY IN AND THE RIGHT TO THE USE OF SUCH TRADEMARKS IS HEREBY DECLARED TO BE VESTED IN THE GUARDIANS.
THE GUARDIANS MAY LICENSE THE USE OR CONCURRENT USE OF THE WORDS “QUINS,”? “QUINTS,”? “QUINTUPLETS,”? AND “CINQ JUMELLES”? AS APPLIED TO ANY NUMBER OF ARTICLES AND MAY ALSO LIMIT SUCH USE BY THE TERMS OF THEIR LICENCE, AND THE GUARDIANS MAY BRING ACTION IN ANY COURTS OF COMPETENT JURISDICTION TO ENFORCE THEIR RIGHTS UNDER SUCH LICENCES.
ACTS OF THE PARLIAMENT OF CANADA (18TH PARLIAMENT, 2ND SESSION). ASSENTED TO 10TH APRIL, 1937.
April 23, 1937
I met the famous aviatrix Amelia Earhart today. So many dignitaries, film stars, and industrialists have passed through our little nursery and gaped at our girls. Just last week, the brother of the emperor of Japan stopped in to meet the girls on his way to the coronation of King George VI—somewhat out of his way, I would think. Jimmy Stewart and Mae West are rumored to be planning a visit for later this summer. Still, I think my encounter with Miss Earhart may stay with me longer than most. Mrs. Earhart-Putnam, I should say. But isn’t it extraordinary that she should still go by Earhart? That’s how she introduced herself to Dr. Dafoe, and it didn’t seem to annoy Mr. Putnam one bit.
The Putnams missed the public visiting time this morning due to some car trouble in Orillia, but Dr. Dafoe swept them through the door and into the nursery without hesitation. Fred, who had already left for the day, was rustled up from somewhere by telephone and arrived in time to snap a few photos of the doctor with Miss Earhart. The girls were busy with their crayons and books and scarcely looked up at Dr. Dafoe when he ushered the guests into the playroom.
Mr. Putnam trailed right at the doctor’s heels, his eyes popping at the sight of the girls, squatting down beside their tables and marveling at their identical little bodies, their soft brown hair and gentle eyes. Miss Earhart hung back, as if she wasn’t sure what to make of them. She’s like me, I realized, or like I used to be. Unsure around children or not particularly interested in them. We women are supposed to gasp and cluck, yet here it was clearly Mr. Putnam who was entranced, exclaiming at the girls’ drawings and glancing up at his wife, hoping to draw her in. But Miss Earhart had crossed the room and was pacing by the windows, looking out at the sun sinking low over the trees. She kept tousling her own short curls, then raking her fingers through them again as if to set them back in place. There was an energy radiating from her unlike anything I’d ever felt before, at least not from a woman, as if she was pent up in some way, a foal in a stable, kicking to be free. Or not like a foal, I suppose, nothing so earthbound as that. Like a bird in a cage, itching to fly away from all her earthly tethers. I wish I could say I’d had the gumption to ask her about her flying, about her plan to try to fly across the Pacific, but I could not even bring myself to interrupt her thoughts and introduce myself.