Such excitement! Mrs. McGregor, the housekeeper, packed a big lunch in a box. She handed it to Jessie with a motherly smile.
Benny peeked in the box and said, “If Aunt Jane doesn’t give you enough to eat, that lunch will last you two or three days.”
Mr. Alden took the girls to the train station. He watched them carefully as they took a seat together.
Jessie and Violet smiled and waved until they could not see their grandfather.
The hours passed quickly for the two girls, because everything was new and exciting. They noticed a young man who was reading a book. He was very tall. He had soft brown hair and brown eyes. Once he passed by them to get a drink of water and smiled at them.
The girls smiled back. When he took up his book again, Jessie whispered to Violet,
“He is very good looking, isn’t he?”
They thought no more about the young man until they came to Centerville early the next morning. There the young man surprised them by saying, “I’m getting off here, too. May I take your bags?”
“Why yes, thank you,” said Jessie. “That blue one and the white one up there are ours.”
“I could guess that,” laughed the young man.
He lifted the bags down. He took both of them in one hand and his own heavy one in the other. The girls looked around the station platform for Maggie.
“Thank you for carrying the bags,” said Violet. “It was very kind of you.”
“Not at all,” said the stranger, politely.
A voice behind them asked, “Are you Miss Alden?”
“Miss Alden?” said Jessie, turning around. “Oh, yes, I’m Jessie Alden. And this is Violet. Are you Maggie?”
“Yes, I’m Maggie. I’m very glad to see you.”
“I don’t know,” said Maggie. “Who was he?”
“I had never seen him before,” said Jessie. “He was very polite, anyway.”
“Not many people get off here,” said Maggie. “I wonder why he came to Centerville.”
“Well, as Benny would say, ‘A Mystery Man,’” said Violet, smiling.
Maggie led the way around the station to a very thin black horse which stood in front of an old wagon.
“Get in,” Maggie said. “There is only one seat, but we can all sit on it.”
Maggie took the reins. The old horse raised his head and walked slowly down the road.
“He’ll walk all the way home,” said Maggie. “He’s not like the horses we used to have. We had riding horses and a herd of cattle, and we raised wheat. It was a fine ranch in the old days. But now your aunt can’t run the ranch any more. Did you know she is in bed?”
“Yes, Grandfather told us.”
“Did he tell you that she doesn’t want to eat, and she won’t let me eat, either?”
“Yes. That seems terrible!” said Violet.
The horse stopped at the back door of an old brown house. The girls got out of the wagon. Maggie opened the back door and let them into the kitchen.
“Your Aunt Jane is in there,” Maggie said. “Put your bags down. I’ll go into her room and tell her.”
“The girls are here,” Maggie said to someone out of sight.
The two sisters went quietly into the bedroom. They saw a tiny woman half sitting up in a big, high bed. She was very thin, and she did not smile, even when she saw the two girls.
“So you’re James Alden’s grandchildren!” a sharp voice said.
Jessie went nearer the bed. “He is very worried about you, Aunt Jane,” she said.
“Worried? Pooh!” said the little old lady. But she couldn’t help liking that friendly voice saying “Aunt Jane.” No one had talked so kindly to her in years.
She raised her head and asked, “What’s the matter with the other girl? Can’t she talk?”
“Yes,” said Violet, smiling. “I shall talk so much you’ll be tired of hearing me.”
Miss Alden said nothing. But she found herself thinking, “I’ll never be tired of hearing that soft voice.”
“I’ll put them in the big bedroom,” Maggie said. “Is that all right?”
“Put them anywhere,” said Aunt Jane. She turned her face to the wall.
Maggie went out and nodded at the girls to come, too.
“Ever see anyone as cross as that?” she asked.
“No,” said Jessie. “We feel sorry for her.”
Maggie led the way upstairs.
They went into a big room with many windows and a big high bed.
“What is really the matter with Aunt Jane?” asked Violet. “Is she very sick?”
Maggie looked at the little girl. “Well,” she said, “I don’t think there’s a thing the matter with her.”
“But why does she stay in bed, then?”
“She isn’t strong enough to get up now,” Maggie answered. “There’s nothing for her to live for. So she doesn’t care about living. I suppose that’s why she won’t eat.”
“Well, we are going to eat,” said Jessie.
“I’m hungry now,” said Violet.
“Let’s go down to the kitchen, then,” said Jessie.
As they went downstairs, Maggie said kindly, “You girls make yourselves right at home.”
When they came to the kitchen, Maggie took one look out the window. She saw the horse still standing by the back door.
“Mercy! I forgot the horse!” she cried. And she rushed out of the door, leaving the girls alone.
It was then that Violet turned to look at her aunt’s door. It was shut.
“Look, Jessie,” she whispered. “Aunt Jane must have shut that door. It means that she can get out of bed if she really wants to.” |